UN – 25,000 empty plates mark daily hunger death toll
Twenty five thousand empty plates lined the street in front of the UN in New York today – the same number as those dying of hunger on a daily basis.
The plates bearing messages from all over the world call on the UN to end hunger once and for all.
“Stop Injustice, End Hunger,” said one message on a plate from Sierra Leone.
The plates were lined up on First Avenue following a meeting of the UN Deputy-Secretary-General Asha Rose Migiro with the anti-poverty agency ActionAid.
The meeting focused on the need for states to implement the UN General Assembly resolution on the Right to Food.
“Hunger is still increasing worldwide despite international and national commitments on the right to food,” said Colm O’Cuanachain, ActionAid’s International Head of Campaigns.
Every day 25,000 people die from hunger related causes, and there are now over 850 million hungry people in the world. The HungerFREE campaign is demanding that the UN and governments deliver on their obligation to provide access to food for all.
Since launching HungerFREE last year, more than 25,000 people from at least twenty countries have signed plates demanding an end to hunger.
ActionAid is demanding that hunger is placed at the top of the agenda for the upcoming meeting of Heads of State on the Millennium Development Goals and the 2008 UN General Assembly.
