17 October 2012: In preparation for a global meeting on how to end world hunger, individuals are invited to post questions via Facebook and Twitter. According to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is co-hosting the event with the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Second Committee, this input process aims to provide the widest possible audience the opportunity to shape the meeting’s conversation.

Experts and government officials participating in the special meeting on “Food Security and Nutrition: Scaling up the Global Response” will answer selected questions on 1 November 2012.

The event aims to: promote coordinated international action to address immediate issues such as food prices and long-term issues including consumption, production and trade; address underlying causes of food insecurity; scale up global responses; examine and draw upon lessons learned; analyze the role of different stakeholders in enhancing food security and scaling up nutrition; and present specific solutions. The event is part of the UN’s ‘Building a Future Free of Hunger’ campaign.

Noting the importance of the event, Miloš Koterec, ECOSOC President, highlighted the effects of rising food prices, stating that “Food prices have climbed by tens of percentage points in recent years, after a century of steady decline. For the world’s poorest, this can make the difference between feeding a child or sending her to school.” George Wilfred Talbot, Chair of the UNGA Second Committee, emphasized “the need to focus global political and policy attention on the plight of the more than one billion of the world’s citizens that struggle with acute hunger and malnutrition.”

The social media forum is being launched by ECOSOC in collaboration with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the UN Department of Public Information.

Questions can be posted on Facebook at http://bit.ly/UNfood or via Twitter using #FutureWEwant and #UNFoodSec. [UN Press Release] [ECOSOC Event Website] [Concept Note]