Dimensions of Poverty and Food Insecurity

Abstract

‘Make poverty history’ was the clarion call of Nelson Mandela at a mass rally in Trafalgar Square in London on 3 February 2005. The former South African president, world statesman with the greatest moral authority who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, called on world leaders ‘to act with courage and vision’. For him: ‘Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom’. He repeated his message at a meeting of the finance ministers of the G7 leading group of industrialized countries the following day.