By Mary Lyn Fonua

IN a world that has 1.6 billion people who are overweight, the biggest challenge to mobilizing action against hunger is that hunger is becoming invisible in places, "and in a world exploding with prosperity and possibility we have become morally bankrupt, we have lost the sense of compassion. . .," UN Messenger of Peace HRH Princess Haya Al Hussein said this weekend, appealing to leaders who can make a difference for the rural poor.

Calling for an urgent global response to food shortages and extreme poverty, HRH Princess Haya Al Hussein on February 20 challenged governments and other donors to fulfil their commitments to food programs, warning of a looming devastating global food crisis.

In a keynote address to the International Fund for Agricultural Development's (IFAD) Governing Council, in Rome, Princess Haya was appealing to the well-dressed delegates of 167 member states, including Tonga, to change attitudes towards rural poverty at all levels and to hear the alarm call for change.

Morally bankrupt

"Somehow, in a world exploding with prosperity and possibility we have forfeited our moral authority. We are morally bankrupt," she said. "We have lost the sense of compassion and community that makes life worthwhile. We can spend over a trillion dollars for armaments as we fight over scraps of land, ideology and religion and, yet, we let 300 million children starve. . .

"Many of our politicians remain out of touch, uncomprehending of life for those who live at the brink of starvation. They do not deliver funds on the scale we need for real progress. Even worse, they fail to honour the pledges they make. Promises are made, but not kept. That is morally bankrupt.

"In 2009, for example, at the G8 Summit here in Italy, there were $22 billion in new pledges of funds for agriculture - FAO tells us less than $1 billion in new money has actually materialized. ACTIONAID concluded there was no gain in investment in agriculture at all. Increases by some donors were simply offset by cuts by others."

Alarm call

Princess Haya said recent events in the Middle East have highlighted the impact of food-related issues. "The price of food has been one of the driving forces as Arab youth have taken to the streets to demand change from the Mahgreb to the Arabian Gulf. You can argue about how much of the turmoil was about economics or politics, but food is the most basic human need. When it is not met, people take action," she said. "The events in the Middle East have been described as an alarm or a wake-up call for the region, but they should be an alarm for the entire world," she said.

"IFAD does not often make the news, but your work has never been more timely or urgent, Man and nature are on a very dangerous path. Floods, fires, drought, corruption, incompetence and greed are converging with the potential to create a devastating global food crisis," she said.

Food programs

As a UN Messenger of Peace with responsibility for issues related to hunger and extreme poverty, Princess Haya frequently visits food programs around the world. She previously served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Food Program and founded Tkiyet Um Ali, the first non-governmental food aid program in the Arab world, in her native Jordan.

The daughter of HM Late King Hussein Bin Talal of Jordan and HM Late Queen Alia Al Hussein, the princess is the wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai. The UAE is one of the few countries that has met UN targets for development aid.

Quoting the words of her late father HM King Hussein that, "the precondition of peace is justice. When we have achieved justice, we can achieve peace. . .There is no peace when it’€™s called for by a successful aggressor, nor when it is achieved through the submission of the victim," the Princess said those words, accurately describe hunger today. "We the well fed are the successful aggressors, and the victims of this war of greed are those who die of hunger."

"When we optimistically adopted the Millennium Development Goals in 2000 there were 830 million hungry people. A decade later we reached 925 million. I am standing here asking for solutions with none in sight,” said the Princess.

Africa

Also speaking at the IFAD general council meeting in Rome was Kofi Annan who is leading a vision of food security in Africa as chair of AGRA the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their futures.

Hunger and malnutrition remain the biggest single threat to public health worldwide - more than heart disease, cancer or any other malady. Nearly every country on earth faces some degree of food insecurity.

IFAD projects offer an avenue to cope with massive rural unemployment, especially among the young. Youth unemployment is a tremendous challenge globally, but even more so in the developing world where half the population is under 25 years old.

Tonga

Representing Tonga at the IFAD General Council is Sione Sonata Tupou, First Secretary of the Embassy of Tonga, United Kingdom.

From Nuku'alofa, Soane Patolo General Manager of the IFAD-funded programme for Mainstreaming of Rural Development Innovations (MORDI) is participating in a panel on rural youth today.

International media representatives from 20 countries through the Thomson Reuters Foundation, attended the weekend meeting and side events, with Matangi Tonga Online's Mary Lyn Fonua from the Pacific Islands.