Pesaro, Italy - UPF-San Marino held a conference in Pesaro on January 29 to support the World Food Program's campaign to end world hunger by 2015, the first of eight Millennium Development Goals.
We invited representatives from various NGOs working in the field to discuss the World Food Program's statement and what we can do as NGOs to help fulfill this goal.
A week after progress on ending global hunger came under the spotlight at the Millennium Development Goals summit in September, World Food Program Executive Director Josette Sheeran reiterated that a world without hunger is within reach and mapped out ten key strategies for achieving it.
We invited NGO representatives to talk about how their organizations are implementing some of these strategies: A Kenyan representative described ways to connect small farmers with markets. A representative of the Women's Federation for World Peace focused on empowering women, and a young representative of Religious Youth Service described ways young people are learning the power of the individual and developing their leadership capacities.
Other strategies recommended by the World Food Program include giving food assistance in crisis situations, serving meals at school, setting up safety nets, providing adequate nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life, utilizing new technology to expand people's purchasing power, and building resiliency in vulnerable communities.
A representative of Lega Ambiente (an environmental organization) talked about protecting forests, and a Christian pastor from Nigeria talked about a new ethic of governance.
We introduced UPF's peace principles as a way of cooperating with the UN to develop a culture of peace.
At the end six new Ambassadors for Peace were appointed. The conference was attended by 37 participants from San Marino and 13 from Urbino, Italy.