Media examines food summit reaction, malnutrition in Liberia, Yemen

Nov 23 2009

VOA News reports on reactions from last week's U.N. World Summit on Food Security in Rome: "The delegates in Rome promised to continue efforts to reduce by half the number of hungry people by two thousand fifteen. But critics pointed out that world leaders made a similar promise more than ten years ago. Several countries promised to increase aid for agriculture, to help developing nations become more independent. Still, critics deplored a lack of greater action" (Simms, 11/22).

A second VOA News story includes comments by Umar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, prime minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, about the food summit, who "told VOA that Rome's conference had been helpful because it drew the world's attention to the problem of world hunger. But he said it had also shown there's still a long way to go to meet U.N. goals for improving food security worldwide." He said, "It was an issue that really has shown, I think, that people are lagging behind in the goals of the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the food security goals of 2050" (Hennesy, 11/20).

In related news, IRIN News examines efforts to tackle malnutrition in Liberia. "In the Liberian capital Monrovia acute malnutrition is due not only to poverty and inadequate health and sanitation services but also to factors such as high teenage pregnancy and the war's damage to the social fabric, say nutritionists, who call the condition 'a social problem,'" the publication writes. 

The Washington Post reports on Yemen's deepening conflict that has displaced more than 100,000 people. In one UNICEF refugee camp, "[n]early 700 children in the camp are suffering from severe malnutrition, a chronic problem in Yemen. … Eight to 10 families share each tent, said aid workers, who are providing drinking water, food, bedding and other essential supplies to the displaced. But the vast majority of the displaced are still trapped in war-torn areas, inaccessible to aid agencies. Many victims struggle to reach medical and health facilities" (Raghavan, 11/21).