Scottish Catholic Observer

A major new campaign to end world hunger, backed by the Catholic Church, will be formally launched in Glasgow this afternoon and in cities throughout the UK.

The Enough Food For Everyone IF campaign will call on world leaders to take urgent action to stop the scandal of global hunger that kills two million children every year. More than 100 UK charities and faith groups are backing the initiative, including the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), and the Catholic bishops of Scotland.

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow and other faith leaders in Scotland have also shown their support by writing an open letter, to be published today, which will call on all Scots to join the campaign.

A giant IF logo covered by a 20ft Saltire will unveiled at the Scottish launch on Buchanan Street, Glasgow, at 1pm today at a public exhibition outlining the campaign as African and Scottish music plays.

Representatives of the Scottish charities and faith groups taking part in the campaign will be present at the Glasgow launch to do their part to lobby Prime Minister David Cameron to use his leadership of the forthcoming G8 summit in June to address the root causes of hunger across the world. The campaign wants to see the Prime Minster and other world leaders commit to stopping ‘poor farmers being forced off their land,’ forcing ‘governments to keep their promises on aid and ‘stopping big companies dodging tax in poor countries.’

The campaign’s first report, published on as it launched warns of the human and economic cost of hunger in a world where there is enough food to feed everyone. That report estimates that malnutrition will be costing developing countries an annual £78 billion in lost economic output by 2030 and aims to build on global success to reducing world poverty in recent years.

There will also be at high-profile campaign launch events today in Cardiff, Belfast and other British cities today with a showpiece finale in London at Somerset House attended by more than 1000 campaign supporters.

A campaign of this magnitude has not been seen since the launch of Make Poverty History in 2005.

—Full report in the print edition of the SCO on Friday January 25.