For This Year’s World Food Day, The UN World Food Programme Has A Campaign Called ‘Molly’s World’

Social Issues

October 9, 2012

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Please be sure to circle this date on your calendar - October 16th.

One week from today, it's officially World Food Day - a day to raise awareness and understanding of how we can end world hunger.

Today, a new UN report says more than 860 million people around the world are malnourished or suffering from hunger. That's one in eight people - the vast majority of them in the developing world.

"That is unacceptable, especially when we live in a world of plenty," said Jose Graziano da Silva, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Even more troubling - the UN says progress to reduce hunger has slowed since 2007/08 when high food prices sparked riots in several countries.

And over the past 20 years, the number of hungry people in Africa has gone up.

This year's World Food Day theme is "Agricultural cooperatives - key to feeding the world".

Basically, the idea is to encourage farmers (especially small farms) to pool their resources to produce more food to help reduced hunger.

As part of World Food Day, the United Nations World Food Programme has a campaign based around a young girl from Kenya named Molly.

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She's 12 years old and has grown up in the Mathare slum in Nairobi - home to about half a million people who are in need of food.

Molly is one of the luckier ones, as she gets free, nutritious meals from WFP.

That has made a tremendous difference in her life, as Molly is able to have a more normal childhood, playing with her friends and focussing on school.

But that is only a start. Her classroom is rundown, small and overcrowded. And her daily diet - while nutritious - doesn't have anywhere near the variety as children in this country.

In the spring of last year, WFP gave Molly a small video camera and asked her to record scenes from her day to day life. The series is called 'Molly's World.'

It's a personal, first-hand look at poverty and hunger but it also shows the impact healthy meals can make on a young life.

That said, for a young person like Molly to reach her true potential, more needs to be done.

This World Food Day, October 16th, is a great opportunity for all of us to get involved in the fight against hunger and help build a future for young people like Molly.

Here's a video from WFP, that tells Molly's story and shows how we can help. And be sure to take the quiz at the end of the video.

Every time someone takes the quiz, a meal is donated to a child through an anonymous WFP sponsor.

As well, here's one of the videos that Molly shot herself, entitled 'Your World, My World.'

She shot this one after taking part in a live video link-up with some children in Italy and compares her world with theirs. It's worth a look.

Molly has a Youtube channel, where you can see more of her videos. They're also posted on WFP's Facebook page and on Twitter.

You can leave a comment or question for Molly on Facebook, or on the 'Molly's World' YouTube channel. Or you can send in your thoughts via Twitter (send them @wfp and use the #mollysworld hashtag).

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Each year, on average, it feeds more than 90 million people in more than 70 countries.

George is Canada's ambassador against hunger for the WFP. As part of his work, we have red cups on our set that George and the guests drink from.

WFP uses those red cups (along with other colours) in its School Feeding programs to serve millions of children porridge and other meals.

You can read more about the cups here. Plus, here's a PSA with George and a host of other celebrities urging Canada to 'Fill The Cup.'