Vietnam launches Zero Hunger Challenge
(VOV) - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, with the collaboration and support of the United Nations, has launched a national Zero Hunger Challenge, a major initiative to eradicate hunger in the country by 2025.
At the launching ceremony on January 14 in Hanoi, PM Dung applauded the National Zero Hunger Challenge (NZHC) launched by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in June 2012.
The PM underscored that in the world, daily 805 million of people now live in hunger and that more than 160 million children under 5-years-old suffer from malnutrition and about 2 billion people lack basic essential nutrients.
PM Dung added that as one of first eight countries responding to the initiative, Vietnam is fully committed to support the goals of the initiatives. Vietnam’s response to the initiative not only shows the responsibility of Vietnam in the international community but also meets the needs of the country.
Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific in turn said he highly appreciated Vietnam’s achievements in poverty reduction.
He pledged that FAO is a firm partner of Vietnam Government and would provide essential technical assistance to help Vietnamese people say no to hunger.
Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative committed to support Vietnam to carry out the (NZHC) through the One Plan for 2012-2016 signed by the Government of Vietnam and the UN in March 2012, which worked out a strategic and focused joint programme of work to assist Vietnam in addressing its development priorities in five-year period.
