Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York has just signed on to support the Roadmap to End Global Hunger legislation (H.R. 2817). There are now 37 members of the House of Representatives co-sponsoring the bill, which aims to elevate the U.S. and global response to the world hunger crisis.
Today, there are over 1 billion people who suffer from hunger and this is a tragedy not only of humanitarian concern, but one of national security. As former Secretary of State George Marshall once said, "Hunger and insecurity are the worst enemies of peace."
The Roadmap bill highlights the depth of the crisis, including the impact on children:
"According to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), more than 400,000,000 children suffer from chronic hunger, and an estimated 75,000,000 of these children, two-thirds of whom are female, do not attend school. The United Nations Children's Fund estimates that 9,200,000 children under the age of 5 die every year, mostly from preventable and treatable causes, and that child and maternal malnutrition contributes to approximately 6,000,000 deaths of children under the age of 5 annually."
The Roadmap legislation seeks to establish a White House office on global hunger to coordinate the U.S response to the crisis. Having this office in the White House is essential for keeping the issue of hunger on the plate of the administration.
The State Department announced it was going to open a global food security office in May, although no further information has been provided. This office would likely be overseeing the Feed the Future initiative to increase agricultural production abroad. As important as Feed the Future is, it does not tackle the immediate hunger crisis facing many nations. It's focus is also primarily on twenty nations as the initiative gets started, whereas the World Food Programme fights hunger in over 70 nations. An escalated and broader response to hunger is desperately needed now.
Save the Children, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps and the Friends of the World Food Program are among the groups that are supporting H.R. 2817. The bill was formed on recommendations supplies by these and other charities.
Read an interview with Heather Hanson of Mercy Corps discussing the Roadmap to End Global Hunger.
Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts introduced the Roadmap bill in 2009. You can use this form from the Friends of the World Food Program to contact your representative about supporting H.R. 2817.
originally published at Examiner.com
