Worldwide hunger

Reference is made to the article entitled “Pizza Hut, Taco Bell donate P1.2M to WFP” that was published in The Philippine STAR on 30 January 2009. I would kindly draw your attention to one sentence in the article that reads “The WFP said that 800 million Filipinos, mostly women and children, are hungry and malnourished.” This sentence should have stated “people worldwide” instead of “Filipinos” in line with the media information released by Pizza Hut on 30 January during the turn-over ceremony. You may also want to inform readers that, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the number of undernourished people worldwide has increased in 2008 to nearly one billion — 963 million.

Finally, I would like to extend our appreciation to The Philippine STAR for its comprehensive coverage of UN World Food Programme’s activities. — STEPHEN L. ANDERSON, Country Director and Representative, UN World Food Programme, Philippines