China gives hope for MDGs -- WFP official

Source: Xinhua, 28 October 2010
by Eric J. Lyman and Wang Xingqiao

ROME, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Josette Sheeran, executive director of the Rome-based World Food Program (WFP), said on the eve of her visit to China that China's success in beating hunger gives hope for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Sheeran will leave for China on Thursday as part of an Asian trip scheduled to include stops in Japan, South Korea, and the DPRK.
She said she is eager to witness the dramatic growth in China that helped transform the world's most populous country from a recipient of food aid to a key ally in the worldwide battle against hunger.
To achieve the MDGs, which include halving the number of hungry people worldwide by 2015, the world's remaining poor countries could learn from success stories like China's, Sheeran believed.
The MDGs, set in 2000, have been agreed upon by all 192 United Nations member states and some 23 international organizations, including the WFP.
"We know that China, for example, used to be one of the WFP's biggest programs, and today it actually helps support us to fight against hunger in other countries," Sheeran said in a joint interview with Chinese media.
"We think this kind of transformation shows essential progress, even though the number of hungry in the world is very dramatic and needs urgent attention," said Sheeran, a former U.S. under-secretary of state for economic, business, and agricultural affairs.
Sheeran and the WFP have increased their profile in recent weeks, as the organization seeks to call attention to the plight of the world's estimated 925 million hungry people.
In a statement from earlier in October, Sheeran outlined 10 key ingredients needed to combat world hunger, namely the use of humanitarian aid, providing food through schools, focusing on nutrition for the youngest children, developing food safety nets in poor countries, helping poor farmers get their products to markets, empowering women on a local level, relying more on technology, making communities more resilient, building partnerships, and increasing political will.

"It's all part of a multi-faceted approach that is essential to confronting the problem," she said. "The WFP can play a central role, but without help from other parts the battle will clearly be lost."
Sheeran said she believes China's current role as a key partner in the fight -- which is already large -- will grow greater with time.
"China contributed to disaster relief in Haiti, and China has made a huge contribution in Pakistan, to the people who are the victims of the floods there," Sheeran said. "This kind of solidarity is important, and I am sure it will grow over time."
Sheeran, 56, said she is eager to compare this visit with her previous visits to China, as a way to better understand firsthand the kind of inspiring transformation the country has undergone.
"During my first visit in the early 1980s, I saw maybe five cars in Beijing -- almost everyone moved around the city on bicycles," she said.
"But since then, China has made the most progress in the battle against hunger of any nation. China can now enter emergency actions, it has new capabilities, and its understanding of importance of battling hunger make the country a powerful ally."