Martin/Clinton to co-host international hunger conference

Food security following the Pakistan floods and Russian fires will top the agenda of a major international conference co-hosted by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and Foreign Affairs Minister, Micheál Martin in five weeks time.

Up to 190 countries are being invited to the event in New York – which is also expected to be attended by United Nation’s Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as well as having input from leading high profile campaigners and the private sector.

Confirming the event Minister Martin said:

“The traumatic events of this summer in Pakistan and the wheat shortage caused by the fires in Russia have given a new focus to the gathering in September. Irish and US officials are now working to ensure as many countries as possible attend the event, which take place on the fringes of the United Nation’s General Assembly.”

“Nutrition and food security are the greatest challenges we face. It is unacceptable and a major failure that over a billion people are hungry in the world today.”

“Ireland will be drawing on its experience in several African countries including Malawi, Ethiopia and Uganda, where through Irish Aid partnerships we are working to reduce hunger, mortality rates and disease. We have supported community and small farm hold projects which are making a real difference in people’s lives everyday.”

“We have worked with partners to ensure that new technology and discoveries are used to deal with this issue. Irish companies have been using Research and Development to ensure the delivery of clean water in areas where it is needed most. We are supporting pioneering work by Irish organisations in the treatment of acute malnutrition which has saved the lives of millions of children. ”

“I welcome the enthusiasm of Secretary of State Clinton in co-hosting the initiative. We agreed to co-host the conference when she visited Dublin last year and since then our officials have been working closely to ensure it comes up with tangible proposals that can ensure we tackle world hunger. We are prioritising the prevention of undernutrition in children under the age of two as the science shows that children never recover from malnutrition at that age, they never develop to their full potential physically or mentally. And we estimate that about 200 million children are suffering from malnutrition globally. We will call on the international community to work together to respond to this crisis.”