[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 141 (Monday, October 20, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S10864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       WORLD FOOD DAY AND THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

 Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, to mark the celebration of World 
Food Day on October 16, I rise today to recognize the work of the 
United Nations' World Food Programme. The U.N.'s World Food Program is 
the largest international food aid organization in the world. Last year 
alone it fed over 45.3 million people in 84 countries, transporting 2.2 
million tons of food by ship, canoe, river barge, on the backs of 
donkeys and elephants, and by parachute drop in remote areas.
  The World Food Programme distributes food at hospitals, clinics, and 
schools to fight malnutrition, which kills 11,000 children under the 
age of 5 every day and stunts the physical growth and intellectual 
development of those it does not kill.
  When disaster strikes, the World Food Programme is there. When severe 
droughts threatened North Korea and Southern Africa, the World Food 
Programme helped prevent famine by feeding millions of people, 
especially children. The World Food Programme has also provided food to 
ensure the stability of the peace process in Mozambique and to assist 
refugees when war hit the Caucasus.
  The World Food Programme helps people escape the poverty trap by 
promoting economic self-reliance. In exchange for food, workers repair 
dykes in Vietnam, install irrigation systems in India, replant forests 
in Ethiopia, and construct mountainside terraces in Peru which prevent 
topsoil erosion.
  As an essential element of its strategy of combating hunger, the 
World Food Programme encourages the empowerment of women. In places 
like rural Pakistan, the World Food Programme promotes female literacy 
by giving vegetable oil to parents who send their daughters to school.
  In war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Guatemala, Cambodia, 
Mozambique, Angola, and Bosnia, the World Food Programme trains local 
people to carry out demining operations which clear roads and land, 
allowing the delivery and production of food and the safe return of 
refugees.
  Americans can take special pride in the accomplishments of the World 
Food Programme. Not only is the United States the program's single 
biggest donor, it also played a central role in its creation, when 
President Kennedy committed the resources and leadership necessary to 
make it a reality in 1963.
  I urge you, my fellow colleagues, and all my fellow Americans to 
support the work of the World Food Programme.

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