Audio: Broad-Based Humanitarian Coalition Unveils Roadmap to End Global Hunger

Bipartisan Legislation Supports Roadmap Calling for More Comprehensive,
Effective Strategy

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Seeking to address a growing
economic crisis that threatens to destroy the health and nutrition of millions
of families worldwide, the nation's top humanitarian aid agencies joined
Representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) today in
calling for a new comprehensive plan for the U.S. government to lead the
international community in alleviating global hunger.

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"In my 40 plus years of public service, there has never been such a united
front, clarity of purpose and general agreement on what actually needs to be
done in order to really end hunger. Now there is," said former Congressman
Tony Hall.

"It is a moral outrage that we have not yet produced the level of political
will required to end world hunger," said former Senator George McGovern. "I
urge Congress and the Obama administration to step up and make hunger a thing
of the past. We live in a world where there is enough food to feed every man,
woman and child."

Both Hall and McGovern are former ambassadors to the U.N. food and agriculture
agencies in Rome.

The new, bipartisan legislation - expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks
- incorporates key recommendations of the Roadmap to End Global Hunger
campaign, an initiative spearheaded by a diverse coalition of international
relief and development organizations including Bread for the World, CARE,
Catholic Relief Services, the Congressional Hunger Center, Friends of the
World Food Program, Mercy Corps, Save the Children and World Vision.

The Roadmap to End Global Hunger and the legislation will set forth a
comprehensive and strategic plan that addresses world hunger in the short,
intermediate and long term. This approach seeks to increase funding for key
interventions needed to alleviate global hunger and ensure better coordination
among existing U.S. government programs.

"I have long said that hunger is a political condition," said Representative
Jim McGovern. "We have the resources to end hunger in our lifetime - what we
need is the political will to make it happen. The Roadmap being released today
is a critical step. It provides concrete solutions and emphasizes the
importance of speed and flexibility. I want to thank my friends in the
international humanitarian and development community for all of their hard
work in making this Roadmap a reality. I look forward to doing all I can in
Congress - working with Jo Ann Emerson and others - to strengthen America's
leadership in the fight against global hunger."

"Hunger is a tremendous problem, and it is not enough for our response to
conditions of malnutrition, starvation and poverty to simply be
well-intentioned. We must construct a complete response to hunger and script
wide-ranging and proven-effective strategies. This Roadmap is a positive step
that establishes commonsense waypoints so we can measure success at
alleviating hunger and set good goals for the future. I'm glad to have
Representative Jim McGovern and other colleagues by my side in the U.S.
Congress who continue to work to raise the profile of this critical issue and
implement solutions," said Representative Jo Ann Emerson.

The world is coping with high food prices and financial and economic crises
that are pushing more people into poverty and hunger. According to the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the number of hungry people
worldwide has increased to nearly 1 billion. An overwhelming majority of these
people live in developing nations.

The United States, a long-time leader in addressing global hunger, led the
international community in responding to this crisis by designating an
additional $1.4 billion in food aid and more than $600 million in cash
resources above already planned funding levels to respond to urgent needs
created by the global food crisis last year. However, given that global hunger
has been a perennial challenge - easily exacerbated by conflict, recurring
natural disasters and high food prices - the U.S. government needs a more
strategic and comprehensive approach to provide relief in the short term and
lay the foundation for a permanent solution.

In establishing a comprehensive approach, the Roadmap to End Global Hunger and
the legislation call on the Executive Branch and Congress for action. The
Obama administration should establish an international hunger coordinator in
the White House. Until now, there has been no single overall accountable
official on global hunger. Congress should also restore the House Select
Committee on Hunger, which was disbanded in 1994, and establish a Senate
Select Committee on Hunger as well. These bipartisan, bicameral select
committees would help ensure that the U.S. government moves forward with a
comprehensive plan.

SOURCE Friends of the World Food Program

Ellen Levinson, Alliance for Global Food Security, +1-202-879-0835,
elevinson@elevinson.com; or Bill Malone, Bread for the World, +1-202-464-8180,
bmalone@bread.org; or Noluthando Crockett-Ntonga, CARE, +1-202-595-2806,
nntonga@care.org; or John Rivera, Catholic Relief Services, +1-410-951-7399,
jrivera@crs.org; or Daniela Colaiacovo, Friends of the World Food Program,
+1-202-530-1060, dcolaiacovo@friendsofwfp.org; or Joy Portella, Mercy Corps,
+1-206-437-7885, jportella@sea.mercycorps.org; or Kate Conradt, Save the
Children, +1-202-640-6631, kconradt@savechildren.org; or Amy Parodi, World
Vision, +1-253-815-2386, aparodi@worldvision.org