Rome: The Alliance also aims to expand high-quality school meals to an additional 150 million children in countries where there is endemic child poverty and hunger while raising billions in credit and grants through multilateral development banks to implement these and other programs.
According to Qatar News Agency, 733 million people suffered from chronic hunger last year, equivalent to nine percent of the world’s population, and about 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. Reports from the United Nations (UN) and its specialized agencies indicate that hunger looms over millions of people during the next decade, and financing remains a crucial issue for the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.
The FAO has joined the Global Alliance as a founding member, along with other UN agencies, governments, international financial institutions, philanthropic foundations, and non-governmental organizations. FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu urged all members of the Organization and its partners to join th
e new Global Alliance, emphasizing that the elimination of hunger is possible and requires stronger collective efforts and strategies.
Qu explained that the FAO will host the Global Alliance support mechanism from the Organization’s headquarters in Rome, in close cooperation with other UN agencies and international financial institutions. The FAO will provide technical assistance to the countries and will share its vast expertise related to food security and rural development, he added.
The UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) also announced that through strategic partnerships, it aims to provide at least USD 10 billion to address hunger and poverty among rural people between 2025 and 2027. IFAD President Alvaro Lario stated that the fastest method to eliminate hunger and poverty is through investments in agriculture in rural areas. He emphasized that eliminating hunger and malnutrition requires investing further and smarter, bringing in new money from the private sector, and having an
ambitious global financial reform that provides cheaper financing to countries that need it most.
World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain said that establishing a future without hunger is possible if the necessary resources and political will are mobilized to invest in proven long-term solutions. The world has the technologies and knowledge needed to eliminate food insecurity, but it is in dire need of funds to invest in them on a large scale.