By Prensa Latina
Geneva : More than 850 million people world-over are hungry and suffering from diseases and malnutrition, a United Nations report has said.
The report was tabled Monday during the fifth session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) discussing world food security and the right to food.
"Our planet is today richer than ever, it produces more food, but it also shelters millions of human beings who suffer from hunger, malnutrition and starvation, which is a human rights violation," UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler told the meeting and called it a "shameful" situation.
The Swiss expert said six million children every year die from starvation before they are five years of age.
Ziegler said midday meals for poor children at schools in India, South Africa, Cuba and Brazil are great and encouraging efforts to ensure the right to food in developing countries.
He also described as useful the experiences in Bolivia, Venezuela and South Africa where governments are meeting great challenges to fight hunger in the poorest sectors of the population.