Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development (MICAD), and head of the UAE Committee for the Coordination of Humanitarian Foreign Aid, said the UAE continues to provide aid as part of efforts to eradicate hunger through its international partnerships with countries and organisations thanks to the directives of the country's wise leaders, President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

Sheikha Lubna made the remark as she led the UAE delegation to an international awards ceremony organised in Rome by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, FAO, to recognise the effort made by countries around the world which has led to the near achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to halve the proportion of hungry people by a 2015 deadline, or bringing it below the 5 percent threshold.

A majority - 72 out of 129 - of the countries monitored by FAO, including the UAE, have achieved the MDG target. Out of the total 72 countries, 29 have also met the more stringent goal to halve the number of hungry people as laid out by governments when they met in Rome at the World Food Summit (WFS) in 1996.

And another 12 of the total 72 countries have maintained their hunger rates below 5 percent dating back to at least 1990.

Sheikha Lubna recalled that the UAE founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, once said, "Give me agriculture and I will give you civilisation."

"The UAE has achieved the goal to halve the number of hungry people as laid out by governments at the World Food Summit," she said, adding that the effort is in line with the country's commitments to international development.

Since its establishment in 1971, she noted, the UAE adopted a strategy to close the food gap despite the harsh climate and succeeded in developing its agricultural and food sector.

In the ceremony, FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva paid tribute to the achievements of the countries saying, "Since 1990, 216 million people have been freed from hunger," he said.

Da Silva noted however that almost 800 million people still suffer from chronic undernourishment.

FAO defines this as a state of dietary energy deprivation lasting over one year.

Moving from the reduction of hunger to its eradication The UN State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 (SOFI 2015) report released last month noted that countries that have made progress in fighting hunger have enjoyed stable political conditions promoted inclusive economic growth and the development of agriculture, fisheries and forestry.

This year's annual report, "State of Food Insecurity in the World: Meeting the 2015 international hunger targets, taking stock of uneven progress", takes stock of progress made towards achieving the internationally established Millennium Development Goal (MDG1) and World Food Summit hunger targets and reflects on what needs to be done, as we transition to the new post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda.
Source: WAM