U.N. SG Ban announces 'Zero Hunger Challenge' in message to Rio+20 summit

In a video message addressing the Rio+20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "announced a 'Zero Hunger Challenge' to rid the world of malnutrition," Bloomberg News reports. "'In a world of plenty, no one, not a single person, should go hungry,' Ban said. 'I invite you all to join me in working for a future without hunger,'" the news agency notes. "Ending hunger would boost economic growth, reduce poverty and help protect the environment, as well as foster peace and stability, Ban said," Bloomberg writes, adding that the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 13 percent of the world's population, or 900 million people, suffer from hunger. Barbara Stocking, CEO of Oxfam, said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg, "This is the first big idea on food to come out of the Rio+20 debacle. ... But it is in total contrast to the lack of any action in the summit conclusions" (Ruitenburg, 6/22).