Former Congresswoman Eva Clayton, Honorary Chair of The Alliance
to End Hunger and Max Finberg, Director of the Alliance, will lead a
delegation of interfaith anti-hunger leaders from the United States to attend the Near East Regional Forum on Hunger from December 4-5 in Amman, Jordan. The forum
is organized by the Jordanian National Alliance for Combating Hunger
and Enhancing Food Security (JAAH), under the auspices of Her Royal
Highness Princess Basma bent Talal.
"This
gathering is a powerful demonstration of the universal desire to ensure
that no one suffers from hunger," said Finberg. "I commend our
Jordanian hosts for bringing us all together around the same table to
focus on this issue. It is only by working together, across different
faiths, countries and sectors, that we will be able to overcome hunger
in this region and around the world."
National
Alliances focus a nation's efforts to alleviate hunger by coordinating
across private, government, charitable and religious sectors.
Currently, Alliances exist in 23 countries.
The Near East regional forum regional will:
· Facilitate dialogue between governments and representatives of civil society and the private sector in the Near East region;
· Provide the opportunity for representatives of current National Alliances to exchange experiences and advice;
· Commit participants to forming additional National Alliances in the Near East region.
Representatives
of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Lebanon, Palestine and Mauritania will
participate in the forum. Additional participants from the UN Food and
Agricultural Organization, World Food Program, the International
Alliance Against Hunger and other National Alliances will share their
experiences.
Jordan
was the first country in the Near East to create and develop a National
Alliance. Jordan continues to be a concerned and active leader in
building the will to end hunger in the Middle East. The U.S. Alliance
to End Hunger has engaged in a partnership with the JAAH and plans to
sign a formal working agreement at the forum. "It is appropriate to
gather in the Fertile Crescent, to remind us that we have the means to
feed the world, but lack the political will to do so," said Finberg.
Contact: Emily Nohner (202-464-8127). The
Alliance to End Hunger engages diverse institutions in generating the
public will and political support to end hunger at home and abroad. The
Alliance builds innovative partnerships among our members; political
commitment to urge our leaders to act; and global connections with
groups working to end hunger worldwide. www.alliancetoendhunger.org
