Guadalupe Valdez, a prominent Dominican economist and former Congresswoman, has been named Special Ambassador for Zero Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean, in recognition of her contributions to the fulfilment of the right to food throughout the region.

The Zero Hunger Challenge is a global initiative launched by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and aims to eradicate hunger worldwide.

"My pledge to fight to eradicate hunger and malnutrition is a non-negotiable ethical commitment, not only to my country but to all peoples of the world," Guadalupe said while accepting the appointment.

The FAO Special Ambassador was congressional representative for the Dominican Republic during the period 2010-2016, and coordinated the Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean, a voluntary association of lawmakers created in 2009 to build appropriate legislative frameworks for the eradication of hunger across the region.

Guadalupe also headed the Parliamentary Front of the House of Representatives of the Dominican Republic, promoting important initiatives for the eradication of hunger, such as the national Law on Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Security of the Dominican Republic.

Guadalupe Valdez has for decades made key contributions to regional food security, creating spaces for dialogue in civil society and working to make food security a strategic issue and a legislative priority.

"The dream that we can attain zero hunger in this generation is a forceful appeal from FAO that I take on with the firm conviction that it is possible and necessary to achieve, if we work together," she said.

A life marked by social commitment

Valdez’s interest in family farming and the rural sector was sparked while studying economy at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. One of her teachers encouraged her to collaborate with the rural community in the municipality of Padre Las Casas, which had been hard hit by Hurricane David in 1979. She travelled there every weekend for more than a decade, teaching farmers' organizations and developing her economics thesis on peanut production in the region.

Since then, Guadalupe Valdez has supported the needs of Dominican peasants, working on problems related to land tenure, access to water, fair trade and lack of access to markets for local products.

"They need comprehensive policies to ensure that men and women can leave poverty and social exclusion," she said.

Making hunger illegal

Later Guadalupe Valdez worked in the public sector, first as Deputy Minister of Education and then in 2010 a congressional representative, a position she held until August 2016.

In that role, she joined the Parliamentary Front against Hunger for Latin America and the Caribbean, twice acting as the group’s coordinator And she spearheaded important legislative initiatives, notably including the recently enacted national Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Security Law.

Guadalupe Valdez remains committed with organizations and institutions to create specific public policies and actions to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in the shortest possible time.

"Being FAO’s Special Ambassador for Zero Hunger will allow me to contribute to making this a reality both in the Dominican Republic and in all Latin America and the Caribbean," she said.

Guadalupe Valdez’s new role complements that of Carlo Petrini, the Italian chef and founder of the Slow Food movement, who earlier this year became FAO’s Special Ambassador for Zero Hunger in Europe. Special Ambassadors for Zero Hunger help ensure a better understanding of FAO’s vision of a world free of hunger and malnutrition, where food and agriculture contribute to improve livelihoods, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable populations.