A Filipino boy in Manila takes part in the 2009 Walk.
ROME -- Tens of thousands of people yesterday took to the streets in cities around the world to show their support for the work of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in the fight against global hunger.
The annual ‘End Hunger: Walk the World’ initiative mobilised an estimated 300,000 people to raise awareness and funds for WFP’s school feeding programmes. At least 200 walks took place in 70 countries across all 24 time zones.
Now in its seventh year, the Walk the World event is sponsored by three of WFP’s global private sector partners: global mail company TNT, consumer goods company Unilever, and nutrition and life-science specialists DSM.
“Walk the World – both in its global scope and in its diversity – showed that the problem of hunger and undernutrition resonates with people from all walks of life,” said Nancy Roman, WFP’s Director of Public Policy, Communications and Private Partnerships. “Hunger is a problem that touches one out of every seven people on this planet, and it is our responsibility to take action collectively to fight hunger.”
The worldwide series of walks kicked off in Australia with a climb up Sydney Harbour Bridge. In the Philippines, monsoon rains gave way to a bright sunny day for 6,000 people to walk together in the streets of Manila, while in Indonesia an early-morning walk followed by a concert attracted 12,000 supporters.
The largest walks took place on the African continent, with 64,000 people walking in 53 locations in Malawi and 50,000 people gathering in Tanzania under the enthusiastic leadership of Prime Minister Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda, who walked in Arusha. In Burkina Faso, Walk the World became a flagship event for the women of the country. Under the patronage of the first lady Chantal Kompaoré and many other eminent women, the walk and concert attracted 15,000 people. In Kenya, WFP Ambassador Against Hunger Paul Tergat – a champion marathon runner and former school feeding beneficiary – joined walkers in Nairobi.
In Europe, the largest walks took place in Portugal and Spain with about 5,000 participants each, while top managers of the three global sponsors of the event walked in The Hague in The Netherlands. In Denmark, participants braved blustery weather to walk together and to taste a rice-and-beans dish prepared by a celebrity chef inspired by the meals WFP distributes to schoolchildren in Tanzania.
Supporters of the fight against hunger in Egypt walked through the old citadel of Cairo. In the Americas, walks began in New York City with a walk in Battery Park. WFP’s Filipina Ambassador Against Hunger KC Concepcion, on tour in Canada, joined walkers in Toronto. In Latin America, walks included a massive 30,000 participants in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and several thousand determined walkers on the island of Trinidad.
Hundreds of supporters also joined a virtual online walk, where donations were counted as miles walked with the objective of ‘walking’ 25,000 miles around the world. At the time of writing more than US$17,600 had been donated. The online walk will remain open at www.wfp.org/walktheweb until the end of June.
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TNT is a global mail and express delivery company serving more than 200 countries. Since 2002, they have been an active partner of WFP and to date have invested over $50 million in the partnership. TNT founded Walk the World in 2003 as an engagement event for its employees.
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast-moving consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe. Unilever joined forces with WFP in January 2007 for a three-year partnership to improve the nutrition and health of poor, school-aged children around the world.
DSM is a life sciences and materials sciences company. In April 2007, DSM and WFP joined forces to ensure the nutritional needs of WFP beneficiaries are met through the creation of cost-effective micronutrient interventions to improve the general food basket.
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For more information, photos and video footage contact:
World Food Programme
Silke Buhr
+39-345-227-4900
silke.buhr@wfp.org
TNT
Berthilde Heijmeskamp
+31 6 20 979 424
Berthilde.heijmeskamp@tnt.com
Unilever
Lucila Zambrano
+44 (0)78 252 73767
Lucila.Zambrano@unilever.com
DSM
Nelleke Barning
Tel: +31 (0) 46 4764077
nelleke.barning@dsm.com
