Message from Jacques Diouf, Director-General of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) prior to the Hunger Summit organized by FAO 16 November, 2009, Rome, Italy

Dear Sir/Madam,

On Monday 16 November the Hunger Summit will begin at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome to raise awareness on the unacceptable situation of the one billion people living in chronic hunger, and a child dying of hunger every six seconds.

In the days leading up to this event, FAO has launched the following three initiatives:

1. A 15 second spot on children dying of hunger, available at http://www.1billionhungry.org .

2. A petition also available at http://www.1billionhungry.org , where concerned people can express their support to end world hunger.

3. An appeal for world-wide hunger strike in solidarity with the one billion hungry people to take place either on Saturday 14 November or Sunday 15 November, on the eve of the Summit.

I myself will be going on a 24-hour hunger strike from Friday 19:00 GMT to Saturday 19:00 GMT. Participants may limit their hunger strike to any period they deem appropriate.

I would be grateful if within the framework of the social responsibility of your institution, you could kindly assist in disseminating this information as widely as possible.

For more information please visit http://www.1billionhungry.org or contact us at: One-Billionhungry@fao.org .

Thank you very much

Jacques Diouf
Director-General
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations