Guyana was awarded for attaining the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for hunger at the 39th session of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations Biennial Conference.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder attended the Rome, Italy conference and received the award on the country’s behalf. In addition to the award, “Guyana has also met the more stringent World Food Summit (WFS) goal, having reduced by half the absolute number of undernourished people between 1990-92 and 2010-2012.”
Guyana, the release said, “is also among 38 countries which have met internationally established targets in the fight against hunger, ahead of the deadline set for 2015.” The presentation of the award took place during a ceremony at the Special Event on June 7 themed “Completing the Millennium Development Goals Round: recognising achievements in the fight against hunger.” There were four other Caricom countries honoured for either “World Food Summit (WFS) targets and/or the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in relation to hunger.”
The discussion also included issues related to the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as rising sea levels, increasing air and sea surface temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, impact of natural disasters and the degradation of coastal and marine ecosystems. There was also the unopposed re-election of Dr Jose Graziano Da Silva as the Director General of the FAO with a unanimous vote of 177 of the 179 eligible countries.
The conference also had the SIDS sharing their experiences and highlighting priorities for achieving sustainable development for “Food Security and Nutrition.”
