World Summit for Children, 1990

MAC/WFY

Page-318

0230_553559_34_cha30

World Conference on Overcoming
Global Hunger, 1993

To register its concern, and in keeping with the institution's motto, `Our dream is a
world without poverty', the World Bank organized and hosted a World Conference
on Overcoming Global Hunger that was held at The American University in Wash-
ington, DC on 30 November and 1 December 1993. The conference was attended
by over 1,200 participants, including former US President Jimmy Carter, the UN
secretary-general, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the president of the World Bank, Lewis
T. Preston, and the administrator of USAID, Brian Atwood.

The World Bank had

responded to the call of US Congressman Tony Hall's appeal

for a conference to

be organized at which those most knowledgeable about hunger and malnutrition
in the developing world could meet to formulate an agenda for action (Serageldin
and Landell-Mills, 1994).

The objectives of the conference were to:

(a) identify the major elements of an effective strategy to reduce hunger and to

generate the necessary political will;

(b) build consensus on a priority agenda to reduce global hunger;

(d) raise international awareness of the scope and magnitude of the problem.

Conference participants were organized into three groups that addressed: the
impact of macroeconomic reform on poverty; the lessons from targeted interven-
tions; and the political economy of hunger. The conference was preceded by a
one-day preparatory workshop attended by representatives of NGOs, researcher
and staff members of bilateral and multilateral agencies, including IFAD, UNDP,
UNICEF, WFP and the World Bank.

The report of the conference noted that `hunger is not a simple phenomenon

that yields to simple solutions'. The means to overcoming hunger cut across the
whole spectrum of development challenges, including raising agricultural produc-
tion, developing human resources, creating jobs and improving governance. The
UN secretary-general, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, said that no one seriously disputed
that hunger was an evil that should be eradicated. Nevertheless, hunger existed
despite the universal consensus that it should not, and despite all efforts to

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Useful links	World Summit for Children, 1990 MAC/WFY Page-318 0230_553559_34_cha30 30 World Conference on Overcoming Global Hunger, 1993 To register its concern, and in keeping with the institution's motto, `Our dream is a world without poverty', the World Bank organized and hosted a World Conference on Overcoming Global Hunger that was held at The American University in Wash- ington, DC on 30 November and 1 December 1993. The conference was attended by over 1,200 participants, including former US President Jimmy Carter, the UN secretary-general, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the president of the World Bank, Lewis T. Preston, and the administrator of USAID, Brian Atwood. 12 The World Bank had responded to the call of US Congressman Tony Hall's appeal 13 for a conference to be organized at which those most knowledgeable about hunger and malnutrition in the developing world could meet to formulate an agenda for action (Serageldin and Landell-Mills, 1994). The objectives of the conference were to: (a) identify the major elements of an effective strategy to reduce hunger and to generate the necessary political will; (b) build consensus on a priority agenda to reduce global hunger; (c) assist the World Bank in defining what it can do; and (d) raise international awareness of the scope and magnitude of the problem. Conference participants were organized into three groups that addressed: the impact of macroeconomic reform on poverty; the lessons from targeted interven- tions; and the political economy of hunger. The conference was preceded by a one-day preparatory workshop attended by representatives of NGOs, researcher and staff members of bilateral and multilateral agencies, including IFAD, UNDP, UNICEF, WFP and the World Bank. The report of the conference noted that `hunger is not a simple phenomenon that yields to simple solutions'. The means to overcoming hunger cut across the whole spectrum of development challenges, including raising agricultural produc- tion, developing human resources, creating jobs and improving governance. The UN secretary-general, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, said that no one seriously disputed that hunger was an evil that should be eradicated. Nevertheless, hunger existed despite the universal consensus that it should not, and despite all efforts to 318 back to top Next page
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