About the Conference
The theme of the 33rd annual UNIS-UN Conference was "The Food Crisis: A Global Challenge." The conference was held on a Thursday and Friday, March 5th and 6th, 2009, in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), a United Nations Agency, the total number of undernourished people worldwide has increased from 854 million to 923 million over the past five years. Victims of poverty and malnourishment are not able to consume the recommended 2,100 calories per day. The WFP states that "today, one in nearly seven people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life, making hunger and malnutrition the number one risk to health worldwide – greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined."
The food crisis is becoming increasingly critical in today's world. Oxfam International recently said that a combination of soaring food prices and the current global financial meltdown have caused an additional 119 million people to live below the poverty line. This crisis has stirred people around the world to find ways to understand and address this situation.
The 2009 UNIS-UN conference was focused on the global food crisis and its effects on the socio-economic and political spheres of our world. The goal was to educate youth through critical examination of the causes, effects and potential solutions to the problem and simultaneously allow them to gain a greater insight into this pressing issue. As a result, students were encouraged to take their own initiative to combat this global challenge.