FAO Headquarters
16 October 2008

Egypt’s First Lady Suzanne Mubarak said that Quality Education - for Egypt and the rest of the world - deserves great priority to address the food crisis as well as others such as the financial and credit crisis. During her keynote speech on 16 October - at FAO Headquarters, for the celebration of the World Food Day - she stressed that gender disparities represent a challenge, that “school feeding programs contribute to the improvement in nutritional status of children and enhance learning capacities” especially in crisis circumstances.

During the opening session, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf highlighted the plight of 923 million undernourished people in the world, called for a political and financial push to boost sustainable agriculture in poor countries, double global food production and free the world from hunger and malnutrition, and underlined the importance of peace and security for humanity