Emergency meeting on hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa

Norway took part in the UN’s emergency meeting on the hunger crisis in and around Somalia.

Political Adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arvinn E. Gadgil represented Norway at the emergency meeting on the Horn of Africa. The meeting was organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome. It is the first international meeting that Norway has taken part in since the terrorist attacks.

Mr Gadgil thanked the international community for all the sympathy shown to the Norwegian people. “Now support and international media coverage must be directed to the Horn of Africa, where life is equally valuable,” he said.

Listen to Mr Gadgil’s address here.

He was given a standing ovation and a huge number of messages of condolence both by the UN and by individual countries.

“It was an extraordinary experience,” he continued. “The Norwegian people received a standing ovation at a meeting to address the fact that 10 million people could die of hunger.”

Twice the population of Norway are at acute risk of dying of hunger. Fifteen million people are severely affected by the worst hunger crisis in 60 years.

Read more about the hunger crisis here: Questions and answers (lenke)

“The question of whether I should travel to Rome when so many people have lost so much in the terrorist actions in Norway was a difficult one. But, as Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has said, we will respond to these atrocities with more humanity. Norway’s fight against poverty, for development and humanitarian compassion are what define us as a nation,” said Mr Gadgil.

See video from the FAO meeting here

(Photo: Fao News)