Today is 75th World Food Day 2020

This years #WorldFoodDay marks the 75th Anniversary of the founding of FAO, with a view to looking towards the future we need to build together and the theme “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future.”

You were probably misguided when you had first heard about World Food Day.

Reading about the day that many of us barely even know exists, on our laptops and smartphones, the first thing that pops up, naturally, in anyone's mind may very well be risotto or ribs. But, no. This day, October 16 - the World Food Day - is not about that.

As the website of World Food Day, United States (US) appropriately phrases it, it 'is a day of action against hunger'. A day when a step should be taken towards eradication of hunger, if not globally, locally. The United Nation Organisation's Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) was established on 16th October in 1945. To commemorate this day, World Food Day is celebrated every year with a new theme. The objective is to create awareness about the existing problems of obesity and malnutrition due to hunger. World Food Day (WFD) was established by FAO's Member Countries at the Organization's 20th General Conference in November 1979.

In the year 1945, 16th October marked the founding of the ‘Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)’ of the United Nations. To honor the same, World Food Day is celebrated internationally; on the same date every year with a new theme. Collective action across 150 countries is what makes ‘World Food Day’ one of the most celebrated days of the UN calendar. Hundreds of events and outreach activities bring together governments, businesses, NGOs, the media, and general public. They promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure healthy diets for all.

Every year, a number of events, from marathons and hunger marches, to exhibitions, cultural performances and contests are held across the world to celebrate World Food Day.

World Food Day 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of FAO in an exceptional moment as countries around the world deal with the widespread effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It’s like this year is the year of reflection. The whole world needs to look into the future and needs to come stronger together to emerge victorious in the fight with the pandemic.

Theme for World Food Day 2020 is “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future.” Since it is a ‘collective action’ of communities and countries all over the world to help sustainability and improvement of food and health, the official website for FAO has activities and actions on its page one could go to, and make their own contribution towards the movement.

As per our own country, the honourable Prime Minister of India will release a Commemorative Coin on the occasion of World Food Day. You too can be a part of the positive change by making your own little contribution on this World Food Day, and take your first step toward sustainable nourishment and growth! Happy ‘World Food Day’ to all!

It is also heartening to know that this years Nobel Peace Prize was given to UN World Food Programme for their efforts to end hunger in the world by making food available to all the hungry people. The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger and promoting food security. In 2019, the WFP provided assistance to close to 100 million people in 88 countries who are victims of acute food insecurity and hunger. In 2015, eradicating hunger was adopted as one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The WFP is the UN’s primary instrument for realising this goal. In recent years, the situation has taken a negative turn. In 2019, 135 million people suffered from acute hunger, the highest number in many years. Most of the increase was caused by war and armed conflict.

Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict. The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to a strong upsurge in the number of victims of hunger in the world. In countries such as Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan and Burkina Faso, the combination of violent conflict and the pandemic has led to a dramatic rise in the number of people living on the brink of starvation. In the face of the pandemic, the World Food Programme has demonstrated an impressive ability to intensify its efforts. As the organisation itself has stated, “Until the day we have a medical vaccine, food is the best vaccine against chaos.”

The world is in danger of experiencing a hunger crisis of inconceivable proportions if the World Food Programme and other food assistance organisations do not receive the financial support they have requested. The link between hunger and armed conflict is a vicious circle: war and conflict can cause food insecurity and hunger, just as hunger and food insecurity can cause latent conflicts to flare up and trigger the use of violence. We will never achieve the goal of zero hunger unless we also put an end to war and armed conflict.

The World Food Programme was an active participant in the diplomatic process that culminated in May 2018 in the UN Security Council’s unanimous adoption of Resolution 2417, which for the first time explicitly addressed the link between conflict and hunger. The Security Council also underscored UN Member States’ obligation to help ensure that food assistance reaches those in need, and condemned the use of starvation as a method of warfare.

With this year’s award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to turn the eyes of the world towards the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger. The World Food Programme plays a key role in multilateral cooperation on making food security an instrument of peace, and has made a strong contribution towards mobilising UN Member States to combat the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict. The organisation contributes daily to advancing the fraternity of nations referred to in Alfred Nobel’s will. As the UN’s largest specialised agency, the World Food Programme is a modern version of the peace congresses that the Nobel Peace Prize is intended to promote.

The work of the World Food Programme to the benefit of humankind is an endeavour that all the nations of the world should be able to endorse and support. On the occasion of World Food Day today we congratulate World Food Programme for making food available all over the world to the hungry people. Stay blessed! #kishoreshintre #possessedbywritingspirit