New Resource for Media Launched on World Food Day

Today, MADRE joins with its sister organizations to recognize
World Food Day and to decry the rising numbers of people suffering from
hunger. As the food crisis continues to rage across the globe, it has
only been compounded by the current financial crisis. By the end of
2008, the number of malnourished people is set to reach one billion.

However, the food crisis is not an issue of shortage but of inequitable
distribution. Even as global crop yields are projected to reach record
levels, rising prices place basic necessities out of the reach of
millions.

Vivian Stromberg, MADRE Executive Director, said today, "On World Food
Day, we must emphasize that the right to food has been fatally
undermined. The first step towards a solution is to recognize the
central role of women in agriculture, as they make up more than half of
that labor force. The next step is to listen to their solutions. One
concrete solution is underway in Sudan, where a MADRE partner Fatima
Ahmed is creating a women farmers' union. Another solution can be
found in Nicaragua, where MADRE partner Rose Cunningham is coordinating
a network of women-run organic farms."

Today, MADRE also announced the launch of a new initiative, the International Network of Women's Human Rights Experts.
Through this Network, MADRE connects journalists with women activists
and human rights experts working at local, national, and international
levels. Two such experts are available today and listed below.
Membership includes women who span every region of the world and who
share a commitment to defending women's human rights. More information
can be found here: https://www.madre.org/index.php?s=4&b=15.

Available for interviews:

Rose Cunningham
is a Miskita Indigenous leader from Nicaragua and an expert in popular
education, international labor law, and the rights of migrants,
refugees, and displaced persons. She is the Founder and Director of
Wangki Tangni ("Flower of the River" in the Indigenous Miskitu
language). Through Wangki Tangni, she has worked to serve more than
104 poor and marginalized communities along the Coco River by
developing programs that promote self sufficiency, sustainable
agriculture and assisting Indigenous Peoples to develop the skills they
need for self-government, protection of their region's biodiversity,
and preservation of their traditional cultures. (Languages: English,
Spanish)

Fatima Ahmed is a community leader from
Sudan. She is a Ph.D candidate from the University of Gezira, Sudan and
holds a Masters Degree in plant physiology. Her research background led
her to focus on women farmers, and she has worked to organize the first
women farmers' union in Sudan. In 2000, she founded Zenab for Women in
Development in order to promote peace-building, women's rights, women's
reproductive health and girl's education. (Languages: English, Arabic)

To request an interview with a member of MADRE's International Network
of Women's Human Rights Experts, contact MADRE Media Coordinator Diana
Duarte at 212-627-0444.

For more information about MADRE, click here: www.madre.org.