World Hunger Day 2020 – Significance of World Hunger Day

• As we observe the World Hunger Day on May 28 amidst the pandemic’s onslaught, it is time to revisit the structural challenges behind this human crisis. According to the United Nations website, till 2015 the number of people suffering from hunger was falling consistently and has only risen after the passage of that period.
• Nearly 135 million people also face chronic hunger owing to calamities caused by armed conflict and climate change. The World Food Programme predicts the current statistic of 135 million could go up by another 130 million by the time 2020 ends, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Since 2011, the aim of this initiative has been to not only spread awareness about the malaise of chronic hunger but also to solve hunger and poverty through sustainable undertakings.
• The initiative recognizes the dire need to save nearly quarter of a billion lives from malnourishment and chronic hunger.
• The need to provide outreach globally during the pandemic for the distribution of food is seen as paramount to save those who have been vulnerable even in pre-pandemic times.
• In India, this need has been addressed through the Union Finance Minister’s announcement to provide a relief package worth 3500 crores through which grains and pulses will be distributed to 8 crore migrant workers by the Centre for a period of two months.
• Several measures have been taken to ensure they are provided with food even while they are on the move, as shared by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her media briefings on how the Centre is empowering states with funds to enable this initiative of providing food to migrant workers on the move.
• The United Nation’s second goal of sustainable development earmarks the importance of increased agricultural productivity to nourish the existing 820 million people with inadequate food security and 2 billion people who are estimated to be a part of the population by 2050.

 जीके और दैनिक करेंट अफेयर्स अपडेट हिंदी में प्राप्त करें – क्लिक करें