Hunger 2009: Global Development: Charting a New Course
Global Development: Charting a New Course analyzes the inefficiencies in the current structure of U.S. foreign assistance and maps out a series of reforms to elevate development as a foreign policy priority.
As the first decade of the 21st century winds down, the world is facing a hunger challenge unlike anything it has seen in the past 50 years. A steep rise in food and fuel prices has already undone some of the progress achieved in recent decades, and now a global financial crisis threatens to do worse damage still. It has been more than a decade since prices were increasing as quickly as they are now. Unlike earlier spikes in global food prices, today’s higher prices are expected to remain for up to a decade, perhaps longer.
The challenges to development are real, but they are not insurmountable. Ample proof exists that large gains have and can be made. Triumph depends on the commitment of developing countries, a commitment that must include promoting good governance and building strong institutions, establishing peace and stability, and preserving and respecting environmental resources. To make development work on a grand scale, the kind of scale envisioned in the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, developed countries also have to do their part, providing much-needed assistance and ensuring that other policies they put in place do not harm development. This partnership between the developed and developing worlds is the key to achieving the MDGs. It will take a stepped-up effort on the part of everyone. Continuing with “business as usual” will mean that hope of achieving the MDGs will fade out of sight.
Taken together, the MDGs represent a comprehensive vision of human development—one marked by dignity, equality, and opportunity for all. The MDGs include reducing poverty and hunger, increasing school enrollment, empowering women and girls, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, halting and then reversing the spread of deadly diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability.
Download Hunger 2009 as a PDF or visit the website at www.hungerreport.org/2009.
More Reports
For previous hunger reports, visit Bread for the World Institute's Web site.
