World Summit for Children, 1990

MAC/WFY

Page-308

0230_553559_32_cha28

308

The 1990s and Beyond: International Conferences

approval represented the thinking of the entire United Nations family. For the
first time, a world meeting was dealing with a topic that had `implications for the
survival of humanity'. He said:

We have always known that people's health and their physical and mental
development and thus their capacity to learn, to work, and to play their full
role in society are wholly dependent on nutrition. Humans' most fundamental
need and right is access to sufficient supplies of nutritionally adequate food. The
major declarations on human rights mention this only in passing, so obvious
and inalienable does it seem. But sometimes even the most obvious truths must
be spelled out; and so we hail the Declaration of Barcelona, adopted in March
1992, which, in solemnly reaffirming the right of all humans to their fair share
of food, defined the nature and scope of this right.

Saouma recalled the view of his predecessor, B. R. Sen, that `one person's hunger

is everyone's hunger', the inference being that if some are hungry, it is the duty
of all to come to their aid. He referred to his World Food Security Compact that had
been adopted by the FAO Conference in November 1985, which he considered
was `of continuing relevance'. FAO's role in nutrition was `both varied and wide-
ranging

the entire range of FAO's activities is directly and indirectly aimed at

advancing nutrition'. He was not asking for the creation of a special fund or of
new agencies. What he wanted was `the world to feel the weight of the nutrition
challenge inherent in every political, economic, and social decision in the fight
against poverty, and the establishment of a new world economic order'.

The director-general of WHO, Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, recalled that the conference

was being held 18 years after the 1974 World Food Conference, which had focused
on food-security issues. He said:

We now know that food security alone is not enough to prevent problems of
nutrition. This is why we address the nutritional security of all people. We
are building a bridge that spans health and agriculture to achieve sustainable
development.

He considered that the impact of nutrition could not be underestimated. It was
central to health. Good nutrition prolonged a healthy life. And sound nutritional
status was essential to good health, which was the key to socio-economic develop-
ment. Therefore, he felt that, in a larger sense, the conference was also about the
place of nutrition in development policy. Nutrition was an investment for human
development and the aim of development was to improve the human condition.
If this fundamental connection were kept in mind, `difficult matters of direction,
priority and resource allocation will be made clear'. The guiding principle was that
`nutrition is the key to health, long life and investment of human resources'. But
programmes were needed to put this principle into practice.

In his view, reforms to improve health and nutrition throughout the world

could not be carried out by any one international agency. The full participa-
tion of all multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental organizations must be

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Useful links	World Summit for Children, 1990 MAC/WFY Page-308 0230_553559_32_cha28 308 The 1990s and Beyond: International Conferences approval represented the thinking of the entire United Nations family. For the first time, a world meeting was dealing with a topic that had `implications for the survival of humanity'. He said: We have always known that people's health and their physical and mental development and thus their capacity to learn, to work, and to play their full role in society are wholly dependent on nutrition. Humans' most fundamental need and right is access to sufficient supplies of nutritionally adequate food. The major declarations on human rights mention this only in passing, so obvious and inalienable does it seem. But sometimes even the most obvious truths must be spelled out; and so we hail the Declaration of Barcelona, adopted in March 1992, which, in solemnly reaffirming the right of all humans to their fair share of food, defined the nature and scope of this right. Saouma recalled the view of his predecessor, B. R. Sen, that `one person's hunger is everyone's hunger', the inference being that if some are hungry, it is the duty of all to come to their aid. He referred to his World Food Security Compact that had been adopted by the FAO Conference in November 1985, which he considered was `of continuing relevance'. FAO's role in nutrition was `both varied and wide- ranging the entire range of FAO's activities is directly and indirectly aimed at advancing nutrition'. He was not asking for the creation of a special fund or of new agencies. What he wanted was `the world to feel the weight of the nutrition challenge inherent in every political, economic, and social decision in the fight against poverty, and the establishment of a new world economic order'. The director-general of WHO, Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, recalled that the conference was being held 18 years after the 1974 World Food Conference, which had focused on food-security issues. He said: We now know that food security alone is not enough to prevent problems of nutrition. This is why we address the nutritional security of all people. We are building a bridge that spans health and agriculture to achieve sustainable development. He considered that the impact of nutrition could not be underestimated. It was central to health. Good nutrition prolonged a healthy life. And sound nutritional status was essential to good health, which was the key to socio-economic develop- ment. Therefore, he felt that, in a larger sense, the conference was also about the place of nutrition in development policy. Nutrition was an investment for human development and the aim of development was to improve the human condition. If this fundamental connection were kept in mind, `difficult matters of direction, priority and resource allocation will be made clear'. The guiding principle was that `nutrition is the key to health, long life and investment of human resources'. But programmes were needed to put this principle into practice. In his view, reforms to improve health and nutrition throughout the world could not be carried out by any one international agency. The full participa- tion of all multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental organizations must be back to top Next page
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