Water is life, water is food. Leaving no one behind
On the 16th of October 2023, the world celebrates the Global World Food Day. This year’s theme is “Water is life, water is food”.
Water and food are closely connected and are essential components of our daily lives. Nonetheless, for some people access to and availability of water and food is not given for granted and represents a subtle border between being healthy and being sick, between life and death.
That is what makes this year’s World Day theme so important.
World hunger has been worsening in recent years, with 122 million more people pushed into hunger since 2019, according to the 2023 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report. The figure of 735 million people currently facing hunger reveals the incapability of governments to follow the solid path laid out by SDG2 in the 2030 Agenda.
World hunger is a multi-factorial problem and needs to be addressed first and foremost with humanity, fraternity, and the certainty that human rights belong to everyone. In fact, while it is important to have a World Day dedicated to “food”, it is equally important to remember every day, through our daily choices, that food and water are basic human rights.
