AMERICA/GUATEMALA - Latin America: 222 million people living in poverty. Chronic hunger in Gutemala ever more serious and tragic

Rome (Fides Service) - In the occasion of the “Latin American Conference on Chronic Hunger and Millennium Goals” to be held in Guatemala, a group of experts will disucss plans to fight the scourge of poverty.
The goal is to eliminate extreme poverty and radical improve living standards in developing countries by 2015 .
Although in its 2005 report the UNDP United Nations Development Programme mentioned important steps forward made all over the world, many countries are still very much behind. It is true that 130 million human beings no longer live in extreme poverty but there are still 2.5 million living on less than 2 dollars a day. And in Latin America there are over 222 million poor.
An average 17% of people in developing counries do note at enough food. In central American countries hunger affects 20% of a total population of 30 million. In Asia the percentate is 22%, in central Africa 55% , in west Africa 40%.
The situation is different in Latin America where hunger affects 10%; in central America 20% of over 30 million people need of food aid and in Haiti 45%. (AP) (12/9/2005 Agenzia Fides; Righe:20; Parole:228)