The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

WFP Bangladesh presented the Hunger Quiz Awards 2008 to three winners, for participating in the competition and contributing to raising awareness about food security, hunger and nutrition issues.

The three lucky quiz winners-Sabbir Mahbub Siddique, Latiful Karim Khan and Tahseen Amin Hemel-received the awarded prizes yesterday afternoon at a ceremony held at the WFP Country Office at the IDB Bhaban.

Asked how they felt about being part of the global effort to reduce poverty, Tahseen Amin Hemel said, "Hunger is part of life in Bangladesh, but I have never felt the pain of real hunger. I feel a sense of guilt for that and want to do what I can to alleviate it." He did the quiz because "it was a way of stepping forward and doing what he could to help hungry children by raising awareness."

Another winner, Latiful Karim Khan, said, "I did not know about the WFP school feeding programme until I picked up the quiz form at KFC. I got on the WFP website and researched the answers to the question. It was then I learnt about food security issues in Bangladesh. I did the quiz because I wanted to try and help contribute to society and help the children of Bangladesh."

How many people in Bangladesh are chronically hungry due to poverty ? Poverty and Hunger claim how many lives every day? These were just two of the brain bending questions in the World Hunger Quiz. Supported by KFC, Pizza Hut and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the quiz was part of the World Hunger Relief Campaign.

The international campaign led by Yum! (A and W, KFC, Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell)- with a network of over 35,000 restaurants in 112 countries, was created to raise awareness of hunger and help support WFP. All proceeds from the campaign were given to WFP for their school feeding programme.

The WFP School Feeding Programme, in collaboration with the government of Bangladesh, provides a 75 gram packet of biscuits fortified with vitamins and minerals, to around one million poor children in 7,000 targeted schools across the country.

While presenting the awards, WFP Representative John Aylieff said that the contest encouraged students and professionals to broaden their knowledge on food security and hunger issues.

"Every six seconds a child dies because she or he is hungry. In Bangladesh, over 40 percent children under the age of five are underweight and stunted which result in a reduced mental capacity and physical development," said the WFP representative.

Food insecurity affects over 923 million people worldwide. It is the largest global health threat, ahead of AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Each day 25,000 people die of hunger related causes.