Allow me also, to express our thanks to Ambassador Medrano, Chairman of the Committee on World Food Security. The progress made, in the last few months in the preparatory process for this Summit would not have been possible without his personal commitment. I would like to express thanks in particular to, the Government of Italy for hosting this major event, and to the people of this city for their warm hospitality and friendly welcome. We are gathered here with a common goal and challenge to revert the present situation in which 800 million people in the world are affected by the specter of hunger and malnutrition. This situation is totally unacceptable, ethically, politically and economically.
Every human being has the inalienable right to be free from the scourge of hunger.
Our presence here today, is a testimony of our acknowledgement that hunger eradication is an imperative need in order to ensure that all human beings have the most elementary right, the right to food and the full compliance with this right must become a priority for the international community, since it is an essential condition for the achievement of all other fundamental human rights. The historical prospective of food security in the world is proof of the close links between hunger, social unrest and political instability both internally and internationally. In the course of history, whenever food security was seriously jeopardized, the inability to restore it was followed by social and political unrest. On the other hand, non-democratic political regimes can also deliberately generate action causing hunger and malnutrition. We must be fully aware that the persistence of hunger is a threat to nations and to the international community itself.