2008.10.18: October 18, 2008: Headlines: Figures: COS - Thailand: Diplomacy: Hunger: New York Daily News: Tony Hall writes: The public, private and nonprofit sectors must come together to help the poor stand on their own feet
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2008.10.18: October 18, 2008: Headlines: Figures: COS - Thailand: Diplomacy: Hunger: New York Daily News: Tony Hall writes: The public, private and nonprofit sectors must come together to help the poor stand on their own feet
Tony Hall writes: The public, private and nonprofit sectors must come together to help the poor stand on their own feet
"Governments need to support programs that take poverty seriously and empower ordinary people, such as Mayor Bloomberg's Center for Economic Opportunity. Corporations need to behave more responsibly, helping to build strong communities where their coffee, cars and computers are produced. Nonprofits need to break out of cycles of business as usual and embrace innovative approaches to giving the poor a true hand up. This big shift will not happen unless ordinary citizens demand it. It is unconscionable to sit back and allow 25,000 people around the world to die from hunger every day. Last week, a new space in lower Manhattan called the Action Center to End World Hunger opened. It will educate, motivate and activate this great city in the fight against hunger. New York City remains the epicenter of Western culture and leadership, and when people here adopt an issue, it takes on global significance. Visitors to the Action Center will experience the daily struggles and triumphs of people on the front lines of the battle against hunger and find practical ways to get involved. This promises to be a transformative experience - a place where people can take direct, meaningful actions to fight the scourge of hunger. In the middle of grim economic news, it is empowering to discover ways to take the reins of our collective destiny and launch a movement to end hunger in our time. " Former Congressman Tony Hall of Ohio was ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand in the 1960's.
Tony Hall writes: The public, private and nonprofit sectors must come together to help the poor stand on their own feet
Tackle hunger crisis far from Wall St.
BY TONY HALL
Saturday, October 18th 2008, 8:22 PM
The downward spiral of the economy is having a dramatic impact: Wall Street giants fail, panicky investors unload stocks and the U.S. government endorses the largest bailout in history.
With all of this turmoil, it is difficult to focus on what may be the most disturbing result of the meltdown: another devastating spike in global hunger. From Brooklyn and the Bronx to Mali and Mongolia, more people are hungry and fewer are able to help.
According to the Food Bank for New York City, 1.3 million people in New York City rely on soup kitchens and pantries for food; two-thirds of them are women. The number of New York City residents who have a hard time affording food increased from 2 million in 2003 to 3.1 million last year. The greatest increase was among middle-class residents.
And if you thought things were bad at home, they are far worse abroad.
Globally, hunger has spread like wildfire, engulfing nearly 925 million people, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. With food prices up 52% since last year, the world's poorest people are stuck in a hunger trap. Poverty begets hunger, which renders people unable to go to work or school, more frequently ill and more desperately poor.
Just as needs are increasing, donors are pulling back. Aid dollars from developed countries - after inflation - have been dropping for years, and now the same is true for private funds. It is safe to assume that the almost $83 million that Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers gave to charity last year will not be matched this year.
With the challenges of hunger and poverty growing, and philanthropic dollars dwindling, what can be done? The answer is not for each of us to give a little more, but to radically alter the way we think about the problem.
Finding a long-term solution to this fundamental problem requires a big shift.
The public, private and nonprofit sectors must come together to help the poor stand on their own feet. Governments need to support programs that take poverty seriously and empower ordinary people, such as Mayor Bloomberg's Center for Economic Opportunity. Corporations need to behave more responsibly, helping to build strong communities where their coffee, cars and computers are produced. Nonprofits need to break out of cycles of business as usual and embrace innovative approaches to giving the poor a true hand up.
This big shift will not happen unless ordinary citizens demand it. It is unconscionable to sit back and allow 25,000 people around the world to die from hunger every day.
Last week, a new space in lower Manhattan called the Action Center to End World Hunger opened. It will educate, motivate and activate this great city in the fight against hunger. New York City remains the epicenter of Western culture and leadership, and when people here adopt an issue, it takes on global significance.
Visitors to the Action Center will experience the daily struggles and triumphs of people on the front lines of the battle against hunger and find practical ways to get involved. This promises to be a transformative experience - a place where people can take direct, meaningful actions to fight the scourge of hunger.
In the middle of grim economic news, it is empowering to discover ways to take the reins of our collective destiny and launch a movement to end hunger in our time.
Hall is the former United States ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and was a member of Congress for 24 years. He is also a member of the Board of Advisers for the Action Center to End World Hunger.
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Headlines: October, 2008; RPCV Tony Hall (Thailand); Figures; Peace Corps Thailand; Directory of Thailand RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Thailand RPCVs; Diplomacy; Hunger; Ohio
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Story Source: New York Daily News
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