ROME ROME, June 10 (Hina) - Addressing a summit of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome on Monday, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said talk about the lack of food should stop and action finally be taken.
ROME, June 10 (Hina) - Addressing a summit of the UN's Food and
Agriculture Organisation in Rome on Monday, Croatian President
Stjepan Mesic said talk about the lack of food should stop and
action finally be taken. #L#
Mesic said the lethal effects of lack of food were well-known and
that it was high time something was finally done. He said it was not
enough to be aware of the fact that people die of hunger on a daily
basis and that lack of food deprives hundreds of thousands of
children of the right to live. "I say it is not enough because we are
still talking," he stated.
Mesic called for making "development a global process." He said it
was not enough to focus on increasing the production of food alone,
but to pay attention to the preservation of nature as well. The
pollution and destruction of the environment constitutes a threat
to food sources and manufacturing, he said, adding that developed
countries "must understand they must help the poor in their own
interest too."
Mesic said massive aid was needed to kick-start the development of
the undeveloped, aid that will not be only humanitarian. He also
called for cutting the "astronomical costs of armament."
"Let our message from Rome be: Let's stop the dying from starvation,
let's give the prospect of life to those who have been deprived of it
only because even the minimum quantity of food which would keep them
alive is unavailable to them. Let's start the global campaign
against hunger with action and not only words, for development and
for peace, which is crucial for development," said Mesic.
He said Croatia was willing to responsibly participate in every
action aimed at resolving the food issue. "We consider it our
commitment to our own future, as well as to the future of the world
we live in," Mesic said.
(hina) ha