This week, the G-8 leaders including President Obama have been meeting in Italy to discuss a range of issues including climate change and the world economic crisis. Today, leaders will turn their energies to the issue of global hunger and are expected to unveil a new “food security initiative” pledging $12 billion from their economies to help spur agriculture development activities over the next 3 years in Africa and other hunger prone regions. This is an important initiative that Feed The Children strongly supports. To make long term progress against hunger, developing nations need help in their efforts to advance their agricultural sector in order to feed their own people.
News coverage of the rising problem of hunger has been unavoidable of late: the United Nations just made a stunning announcement that more than 1 billion people in the world are hungry. Last week, the USDA reported an 11% increase in the number of people experiencing food insecurity in 70 of the world’s poorest nations. All this is happening as food prices rise and poor nations, often dependent on food imports, find it harder to feed their own people – and its impoverished children that often suffer the most.
This week, I head to Kenya - one of those countries devastated by years of hunger, famine, drought, political strife, and HIV/AIDS. Joining me on this trip will be celebrities, stars of daytime television, helping Feed The Children to bring public attention to the issue of childhood hunger.
I’m grateful for their help. You see, even when things look bleak, there is still hope for the future. In Kenya, our school feeding programs and Abandoned Baby Center are providing not just meals to nearly 200,000 children, but we provide these kids with love, counseling, security and hope. Feed The Children is grateful for our friends who graciously use their celebrity to bring awareness to our cause. While I’m in Kenya, I’ll pray - and I ask you to pray as well - that the G-8 leaders will take decisive action to bring hope to hungry and hurting world.
