UN agency lauds creative efforts to fight global hunger in 2007
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has hailed new, creative efforts in 2007 that galvanized more support in
the fight against global hunger, ranging from the world's first and most popular humanitarian video game to a
partnership with the International Rugby Board.
The agency noted in particular that "the Internet, with its immense power and reach, combined with social networking,
chalked up many successes."
Effective initiatives included "Food-Force.com," a humanitarian video game which helps kids understand more about
hunger, "Freerice.com," a web-based vocabulary game that has donated 11.5 billion grains of rice to WFP, and
"Hungerbytes!," a unique online contest to produce the best, short video about 'byting' global hunger on YouTube.
Among other laudable efforts were "Fight Hunger: Walk the World," a global walk in which over half a million people
participated and which raised $1.5 million, and the "Tackle Hunger" campaign launched during the Rugby World Cup in
France.
While the many initiatives held throughout 2007 have helped to strengthen efforts to feed the hungry, WFP stresses that
more needs to be done given that 25,000 people still die each day from hunger-related causes.
ENDS