Walk to Fight Hunger: Jakarta, West Java

By Barrie | May 10th, 2007 | No Comments

Thousands of Jakartans are expected to take to the streets Sunday for a five-kilometer walk to raise US$150,000 to help feed hungry and undernourished children in the country. The walk, dubbed “Fight Hunger: Walk the World“, is part of a global effort organized by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), along with global sponsors, logistics and delivery company TNT and consumer products company Unilever.

The event will bring together hundreds of thousands of people in more than 100 countries to raise funds to fight world hunger and malnourishment.

Sunday’s walk, the fifth for Indonesia, was first initiated in 2003 by TNT employees in Asia and their family members.

Last year, 10,000 participants joined the event and raised $75,000 to feed around 80,000 schoolchildren as part of the WFP’s school meals program.

“We hope to double that amount this year,” WFP deputy country director Bradley Busetto said Wednesday.

So far this year WFP has raised $70,000 from various sponsors.
Hunger and malnutrition has become the number one cause of death in the world, surpassing AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Every five seconds a child dies from hunger.

According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2006 around 854 million people in the world suffered from chronic hunger, 820 million of which lived in developing countries.

More than half that number, or around 350 to 450 million, were children. In Indonesia, some 13 million children suffer from chronic hunger.

Busetto said the money raised will be used to fund a school meals program as well as food programs at community health posts for mothers and children.

He said the school meals program, in which children are given fortified biscuits for lunch, sparked a rise in school attendance.

“Children did not have to think about what they were going to eat for lunch and could concentrate on their studies.”

“This year, we would like to expand the program to include eastern Indonesia, especially NTT and NTB,” he said, referring to East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara.

The global walk will start in Auckland, New Zealand, and continue respectively in cities in Asia, Europe, Africa and America.

In Indonesia, more than 10,000 people are expected to join the walk in Jakarta, Surabaya and Banda Aceh. The walk in Jakarta will start at the west plaza of the Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, South Jakarta at 10 a.m.

Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, WFP friend model-cum-actress Luna Maya, comedian Aming and singers Shanty and Dewi Sandra are scheduled to join the walk.

Prodita Sabarini