It’s World Food Day today, Monday October 16, and naturally philanthropic Dubai royal, HRH Princess Haya, has been doing her bit for the very important cause.
HRH Princess Haya, goodwill ambassador of the World Food Program, visiting a Lebanese refugee camp in 2006 (Getty Images)
“Today, on World Food Day, we need to remember that ending hunger would help solve so many of the world’s most pressing problems — forced economic migration by the poor, diseases and stunting among children, deaths among pregnant women,” the wife of HH Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, wrote on her Instagram page. “You can reach out to the hungry through the Red Crescent, Red Cross, and charity organisations such as Tkiyet Um Ali on the local level, as well as the World Food Programme, FAO, and MSF — there are so many agencies that do wonderful work. Please find a way to get involved with these organisations to help the poor and hungry people they serve.”
World Food Day has been organised by the FAO, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, with the aim of eliminating world hunger by 2030 and the theme this year is to “change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development”.
According to World Food Day, “11.3% of the world’s population is hungry. That’s roughly 805 million people who go undernourished on a daily basis, consuming less than the recommended 2,100 calories a day… In 2010, an estimated 7.6 million children — more than 20,000 a day — died. Poor nutrition plays a role in at least half of these deaths.”