World Food Day in Ireland

The 2015 World Food Day Conference will take place in Ireland on Friday morning, 16th October, at The Mansion House in Dublin city centre.

The event will be co-hosted by Gorta-Self Help Africa and Concern Worldwide, and will feature keynote speakers and panel discussions on the topic “Hunger: The Role of Agriculture.”  The event will also include a formal launch and presentation of this year’s 10th annual Global Hunger Index (GHI), a multidimensional statistical tool used to describe the state of countries’ hunger situation, and published annually by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Concern Worldwide and German non-profit organisation Welthungerhilfe.

What is world Food Day?

World Food Day (WFD) is celebrated on 16th October each year to bring attention to the issues that cause hunger and poverty across the globe.

The October date chosen is the anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who were instrumental in formally establishing WFD in 1981.

Each year since then events have been held around the world to mark the occasion. 150 countries mark the day annually with conferences, symposia, exhibitions and an array of awareness raising events.

World Food Day seeks to heighten public awareness to issues surrounding access to food and draw attention to the success and failures of ongoing campaigns. It acts as a focal point for advocacy and allows organisations to strengthen bonds of national and international solidarity in the fight to end hunger, malnutrition and poverty.