Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-16-Speech-4-046"
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"en.20020516.2.4-046"2
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"The right of everyone everywhere to a healthy and adequate diet should be recognised and respected in practice throughout the world. It is a fundamental human right. The preparations for the World Food Summit should in fact make it possible not only to affirm this, but also to put it into practice once and for all. The time is over for expressing wishes and making declarations, too few of which are followed by action, when there are 826 million people in the world who are still suffering from hunger – almost 800 million of whom in developing countries – and when there are 2 billion people who are badly nourished. No one can be unaware that in such cases the most vulnerable are women and children.
The commitment we made six years ago was already to halve the number of people suffering from hunger by 2015, but a quick calculation shows that at the current average rate of reduction of 8 million a year we will not be able to meet this objective.
It is therefore a matter of urgency to address the consequences of this tragedy by of course providing financial aid, contributions and programmes, but it is also vital to tackle the root causes of this situation. The liberalisation policies encouraged by the WTO to open up the markets of developing countries pose a serious threat to countries that are already weak, as does the ever present reality of debt. Wars, policies of establishing hegemony and of seeking outlets, at whatever price, for products from the North, and the quest for profits, even when it means privatising the South's natural resources, all threaten food security. Making trade a priority over development can only widen still further the gap between opulent wealth and extreme poverty and make it harder for the South to gain sovereignty over its food supply and have this respected.
Nevertheless, every country has the right to choose freely how it is going to supply itself with food. Access to adequate food and the means of producing it and access to resources are the best ways to guarantee the right to food and make it a reality. A trade policy which respects local production, the income of small farmers and the needs of the local people and where cooperation is based on a relationship between equals is the only possible way to find a lasting solution to the problem of food security in the world."@en1
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