The FINANCIAL — ROME, The World Summit on Food Security will open on November 16 in the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome.
The summit will focus on the reform of the current global food distribution system, which has demonstrated its weaknesses during the global recession. According to FAO, 31 economically poor countries that are net importers of food but lack money for imports were affected by famine caused by high food prices, though crop production was good this year.
According to FAO's annual report on food security, the number of people suffering from chronic malnutrition worldwide has topped one billion as the global financial crisis affected food supplies to the poorest countries. East African countries, where some 20 million people are currently in the need of emergency food aid, are the worst affected.
In the run-up to the forum, FAO Director General Jacques Diouf began a 24-hour hunger strike and slept on a makeshift mattress in the unheated FAO headquarters to call for an end to famine on November 13 evening.
"I slept pretty well," Diouf said in a statement. "The only problem was the cold."
The FAO chief said that he had to put on his hat, scarf and overcoat over his pajamas to keep warm.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemannî later followed Diouf's example.
International experts and media are skeptical about the successful outcome of the summit, saying that leaders of the majority of developed states will not attend the event. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is hosting the forum, will be the only G-8 leader in attendance.
"It seems that the heads of states will gather on Monday in Rome, deliver numerous speeches, shake hands in front of cameras, but will not meet FAO's demand to spend 44 billion dollars on agriculture each year and will not declare the year 2025 a deadline to eradicate famine," a respected Christian newspaper, Avvenire, said.
The three-day event will gather representatives of more than a hundred states, including 60 heads of states and governments. The Russian delegation will include agriculture minister Yelena Skrynnik and a deputy foreign minister, Alexander Yakovenko.
Pope Benedict XVI will attend the event on Monday to deliver a speech to participants of the forum and to hold meetings with the heads of African states.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who is also taking part in the event, is set to organize a number of celebrations to mark his visit to Rome. Some 500 Italian women aged 18 to 35, with a height of at least 170 cm (5' 7"), have been selected to join him, ANSA reported.
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