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UN agency proposes holding World Food Summit in Rome rather than Rimini

UN agency proposes holding World Food Summit in Rome rather than Rimini

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The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today that following consultations with the Italian Government, it was now seeking the agreement of members of the FAO Council to transfer back to Rome the different meetings - including the "World Food Summit: Five Years Later" - that were envisaged to take place in Rimini.

Last week, the FAO Council had accepted a proposal from the Italian Government to move out of Rome the part of the FAO Conference from 5 to 9 November 2001, which includes the global Summit and related events, the agency said in a statement issued in Rome.

After considering several alternate locations, the Italian government had proposed that the meeting be moved to Rimini. The proposal was then submitted to the 48 member countries of the FAO Council, which concurred.

The Summit was called for by the FAO Council last year when it became clear that the original Summit goal of cutting the number of hungry in half by the year 2015 would not be met without renewed effort.

In light of recent global events and a worsening economic picture, FAO believes the plight of the hungry may grow ever worse, requiring a major recommitment from all States to press forward to reduce the number of hungry people in the world.