World leaders and officials gathered in Rome Monday for a three-day summit on food security, aiming to relieve over 1 billion people in the world from hunger.
"The silent hunger crisis, affecting one sixth of all of humanity, poses a serious risk for world peace and security. We urgently need to forge
a broad consensus on the total and rapid radication of hunger in the world," Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said on the eve of the summit.
The Rome-based FAO, which organized the event, warned the global food insecurity situation has worsened and continues to represent a serious
threat for humanity.
With food prices remaining stubbornly high in developing countries, the number of people suffering from hunger has been growing relentlessly in recent years, while the global economic crisis is aggravating the situation by affecting jobs and deepening poverty.
It was estimated by the FAO that there were 1.02 billion people in the world suffering from hunger and malnutrition this year, more than at any
other time, and a child dies of malnutrition every six seconds.
In response to the serious situation, around 60 world leaders and officials were expected to join the summit, including U.N. Secretary General
Ban Ki-Moon.