MAY 13: GLOBAL WALK TO END CHILD HUNGER

- On Sunday, 13 May 2007, hundreds of thousands of people worldwide will walk together through a 24 hour period in each of the planet’s time zones, to deliver a message: child hunger has no place in this world and collectively, citizens across the globe can put an end to it. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) together with its major corporate partners, TNT and Unilever, are teaming up with an array of celebrities, dignitaries, employees, partners, family, friends and people affected by hunger themselves, to literally “Fight Hunger: Walk the World”. Beginning in Auckland, New Zealand, at 10:00 in the morning and moving sequentially through major capitals and small villages in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, Walk the World aims to engage citizens worldwide to raise awareness and funds and assist more hungry children to go to school. WFP provides school meals for 21.7 million children in 74 countries. All too often children – particularly girls – are deprived of education because their families cannot afford to send their children to school. Yet education is one of the best ways of permanently escaping the vicious intergenerational cycle of poverty, illiteracy, poor health and hunger. In 2006, hundreds of thousands people in sub-Saharan Africa joined the growing chorus of voices across every demographic and every region of the world saying that it is unacceptable that 400 million children are chronically hungry in the world today. This year the word has spread and more children are walking across sub-Saharan Africa, from Liberia to Swaziland, South Africa to Uganda. As with every successful movement, the core force for change is coming from the very people who know what is like to be hungry, turning this unique event into a global manifestation against child hunger. “Walk the World brings together any and all who care about child hunger,” said Josette Sheeran, WFP Executive Director. “This unique event, involves the very people who suffer from hunger themselves- men, women and children displaced by civil conflicts and children who receive daily meal at schools in developing countries.” The money raised through Walk the World will go directly to WFP’s Global School Feeding Programme. This initiative links food and education by offering free meals to some of the world’s most vulnerable children. “Few people know that it only costs 19 US cents a day to feed a hungry child in school. It proves that even the smallest contribution can help make a huge difference,” said Peter Bakker, CEO of TNT (global leader in mail and express delivery) and the initiator of Walk the World in 2003. Hunger is the greatest threat to health worldwide. Every year more people die from hunger and hunger related causes than from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. There are more than 850 million chronically hungry people in the world today. The CEMS Club (Community of European Management Schools) and the Student Association at the Stockholm School of Economics are joining the local TNT branch to Walk the World 2007 in Stockholm. The walk takes place at Cirkusplatsen on Gärdet from 10am onwards. Participation fee for adults is 100 SEK and 50 SEK for children. The 5km walk will be followed by a social gathering as well as a tombola. All money raised on the day will go to the School feeding project in Africa. Furthermore the Stockholm School of Economics will donate 1,000 Euros to the Fight Hunger Project. For more information consult www.FightHunger.org. 2007 marks the fifth anniversary of this unique event and also the arrival of Unilever (one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies) to work collectively with other partners to end child hunger. “If ignored, child hunger will remain a daily reality that ravages millions and goes unseen by most. Walk the World brings this otherwise invisible problem into the spotlight, said Patrick Cescau, CEO Unilever. “There is no excuse for children to be chronically hungry, day in and day out in the 21st century. The world community still has to make a huge progress in order to improve the lives of children.” Those wishing to step in may do so by organising a walk, joining a walk, by sponsoring a participant, donating to a Walk or by making a general donation all through www.FightHunger.org. The website carries information about each of the Walk the World events, stories, photos, blogs, an online shop, videos, music, helpful hints and more, providing a global forum and map of action to fight child hunger. ********** WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 58 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world’s poorest countries. WFP -- We Feed People. For more details about how to support or take part in “Walk the World”, please contact Julia-Caroline Schmidt, 070-466 7638, 91549@student.hhs.se. Hanna Pettersson Informations- och marknadsavdelningen Handelshögskolan i Stockholm Box 6501, 113 83 STOCKHOLM Tel. 08-736 90 15 Mobil. 070-689 90 15 www.hhs.se