It is the right of all children to grow up with food and education. Yet so many go without. But if we can give children worldwide a holiday gift, why not let it be school meals for the New Year.
See my commentary at The Huffington Post.
My Orlando Sentinel Column on Nuclear Weapons
Recently, a college student in Boston asked, “How can we get young people interested in nuke disarmament?” As a presidential election year is upon us, eliminating nuclear weapons should be taking center stage as a campaign issue.
Youth, after all, have the most at stake when it comes to nukes. For it is they who will be paying for these weapons of mass destruction for years to come. And it is an expensive tab.
See my full commentary at The Orlando Sentinel:
Filed under nuclear weapons, Uncategorized
The Sound of Music and Feeding Refugees
The Sound of Music, a television adaptation starring Carrie Underwood, airs tonight on NBC. The story is based on the von Trapp family of Austria during the gathering storm of World War II.
The war in Europe led to an unprecedented number of refugees who needed food to survive. Even when the fighting ended in 1945, the struggle was far from over for the war affected population. Famine threatened as war causes food shortages. As one displaced Austrian said, “hunger is the most cruel enemy of mankind.”
Read my full commentary at The Huffington Post:
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
Syria Needs Its Own Peace of Christmas Eve
Secretary of State John Kerry says, “the time is now to stop the killing in Syria and lay the groundwork for a government that the long-suffering people of that battered land can support.”
Ending the civil war in Syria can bring relief to the over 13 million Syrians who have suffered from food and medicine shortages. Peace in Syria can rally all the necessary power to defeat the terrorist group ISIS (Daesh) which has thrived because of the chaos of the war.
Clearly we all need peace in Syria. That would be the best holiday gift for the whole world.
See my commentary at The Huffington Post.
Filed under History, Uncategorized
The Year America Saved Russia from Starvation
This holiday season there is a gathering storm of famine. El Nino related drought threatens over ten million with food shortages in Ethiopia. Millions of war victims are starving in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen.
These hunger emergencies demand the world’s attention. We can look to history for inspiration and remember America’s greatest Christmas gift.
It was 1921 in Russia and an AP journalist had just attended a mass in the town of Volsk. As he was leaving the church, the priest rushed after him. He had a message he wanted the reporter to share with America: Please send food and save us from starvation!
See my commentary at the History News Network.
Yemen: struggle against famine continues
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) continues to bring life-saving aid daily to starving civilians in Yemen. WFP just delivered food Thursday to the besieged city of Taiz.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
Syria: airstrikes displace civilians, food supplies destroyed
The United Nations says that airstrikes by Syria‘s government and allies have intensified in the northwest part of the country. Also, in a report released yesterday, the Norwegian Refugee Council says relief agencies have been forced to suspend operations in these conflict zones. This at a time when civilians are most in need.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
Central African Republic gets early holiday gift
The Central African Republic (CAR) just received an early holiday gift that will benefit hungry children and farmers. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday that Germany, the United States and Japan had donated to support the Purchase for Progress plan in the CAR.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
Humanitarian award winner Sandy Berger dies
Sandy Berger, the former national security advisor to President Bill Clinton, passed away today at age 70. Berger was suffering from cancer.
Yesterday, Berger had been presented by the World Food Program USA with its inaugural Global Humanitarian Award. Berger had been a leader in helping the organization advocate for world hunger relief.
Rick Leach, President and CEO of World Food Program USA, said yesterday, “We are honoring one of America’s most devoted and influential humanitarian champions. On behalf of WFP USA, Sandy has been our principal voice in advocating that the U.S. and the world respond effectively to the greatest humanitarian challenge of our generation.”
Berger had served as the Treasurer/Secretary of WFP USA’s Board of Directors and as a member of its Executive Committee and Public Policy Working Group. His work closely integrated national security and fighting world hunger. He believed that feeding the hungry should be a top national security priority.
In an article at Foreignpolicy.com earlier this year, Berger wrote, “the presence of hunger and homelessness in large numbers weakens the grip of central authority, creating open spaces and desperate people for Islamic extremists and other militants to exploit.”
He served most recently as a Chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group. The World Food Program USA said today “Those who suffer from hunger, those in need around the world, directly benefited from the life of Sandy Berger. For much of his career, Sandy worked as a statesman dedicated to building peace.”
You can read the World Food Program USA’s full statement on Sandy Berger here.
Read more at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
WFP reaches Haditha and Al Baghdadi in Iraq
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday distributed food in two besieged Iraqi cities for the first time in months. Around 70,000 Iraqis in Haditha and Al Baghdadi of the central governorate of Anbar received WFP rations.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
Author William Lambers 