Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Geneva (Agenzia Fides) - WFP has released the first edition of its new World Hunger Series, an annual publication which will focus on hunger and practical strategies to end it. This inaugural edition examines the relationship between hunger and learning.
Nobel Laureate in Economics, Professor Kenneth J. Arrow, described the report as providing “overwhelming evidence for the extent to which hunger, pre- and post-natal, damages the child’s ability to learn. Individual and national economic and personal growth are correspondingly damaged.”
The World Hunger Series stands out because of the practical interventions it documents for each stage of the life cycle. For example, this year’s issue cites a study in Jamaica which showed that undernourished children scored dramatically higher results on a test of their verbal fluency after they were given breakfast. These results showed how hunger can decrease intellectual ability - and how addressing malnutrition can make a significant impact. Over 300 million children world-wide regularly go to bed hungry and approximately 100 million of these are school-aged children who don’t go to school because their parents are too poor. The publication addresses how learning and hunger impact each other— even if they do manage to go to school, undernourished children are unable to concentrate on their lessons.
In the second half of the report, options are laid out for policy makers for going forward, including basic steps to implement effective strategies to fight hunger and inadequate learning. The analysis calls for long-term commitments on the part of national governments and the international community.
The report is available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. The English edition of the 2006 World Hunger Series is a co-publication of the World Food Programme and Stanford University Press. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 18/7/2006 - righe 27; parole 354)
