UN-organized global walk raises funds to combat child hunger

Over 250,000 people in 70 countries took to the streets yesterday in a global walk organized by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and its largest corporate partners, TNT and Unilever, which raised more than $500,000 to feed hungry schoolchildren.

End Hunger: Walk the World featured events in more than 250 locations around the globe to raise money for WFP’s school feeding programme. In Malawi, more than 50,000 people walked in 13 districts, most of them schoolchildren who received WFP meals.

Indonesia’s colourful walk of 12,000 participants was followed by a concert featuring popular bands. Over 20,000 people turned out on 14 May when Guatemala, a country where approximately half of all children are chronically malnourished, kicked off its walk.

Over the past five years, the event has raised enough money to feed more than 100,000 schoolchildren for one year.

This year’s walk took place just days ahead of a summit on the global food crisis which is set to begin in Rome on 3 June.

“Walk the World delivers a strong message that hungry children in school should not be forgotten, especially in this time of high food prices and hardship,” said WFP Deputy Executive Director, John Powell.

According to WFP, nearly 60 million children around the world go to school hungry. The agency is a major provider of school meals in developing countries. From Afghanistan to Somalia, some 20 million children benefit from WFP school meals at the cost of only $0.25 a day.