WFP Chief welcomes greater funding needed to address global food price rises

Rome, 1 May 2008 - Following President Bush's call on Congress to step up with an additional US$ 770 million for food aid and development programmes, Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, made the following statement:

"We thank the President of the United States for his urgent call to action to combat the advance of hunger among the world's most vulnerable. His call for US$770 million in food aid and developmental support will continue America's leadership in the fight against hunger. Urgent consideration by the U.S. Congress will help prevent wide-scale human suffering due to soaring food prices. Ever since reaching out to a hungry world devastated by World War II, the American people have generously come to the urgent aid of those trapped in hunger. Today, for those living on less than US$1 a day, the impact of soaring food prices is catastrophic."

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