- Title: ITALY: U.N. INTERNATIONAL FOOD SUMMIT OPENS IN ROME.
- Date: 10th June 2002
- Summary: (W4) ROME, ITALY (JUNE 10, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV: EXTERIOR OF FAO HEADQUARTERS 0.03 2. GV/LV/PAN: TIGHT SECURITY AROUND FAO BUILDING, HELICOPTER OVERHEAD (2 SHOTS) 0.13 3. GV/GV/PAN: LEADERS GATHER FOR INAUGURAL CEREMONY, FLAGS (2 SHOTS) 0.22 4. MV: EUROPEAN UNION COMMISSION PRESIDENT ROMANO PRODI GREETING SPANISH PRIME MINISTER JOSE MARIA AZNAR 0.29 (W4) LESOTHO (FILE - APRIL 2002) (WFP - ACCESS ALL) 5. GV/CU: FIELDS OF MAIZE DAMAGED BY DROUGHT (4 SHOTS0 0.47 (W4) BLANTYRE, MALAWI (FILE - APRIL 2002) (WFP - ACCESS ALL) 6. GV/MV/CU: MALNOURISHED AND SICK WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN NUTRITION REHABILITATION UNIT (4 SHOTS0 1.03 (U5) ROME, ITALY (JUNE 10, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 7. GV/MV/CU/MV: DELEGATES AT FOOD SUMMIT (4 SHOTS0 1.21 8. GV: ZIMBABWE PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE ADDRESSING DELEGATES 1.24 9. MV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT MUGABE SAYING: "Zimbabwe's land must rightly belong to Zimbabweans, that being also the true test of our national sovereignty. Where previously only a handful of colonial settler farmers were undertaking commercial farming the country now has over 260,000 farming families on varying sizes of land, sharing a total of 12 million hectares of prime agricultural land. Contrary to widely disseminated misrepresentation by our detractors there is now a brighter future for our farming community across colour, gender and ethnic divides." 2.12 10. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN SAYING: "Absolutely. We cannot talk of free trade and truly open markets if we are going to do that. You put yourself in the shoes of a small developing country, which cannot export agricultural products because of restrictions and tariffs, a developing country that cannot export and compete on world markets because its richer partners are heavily subsidised." 3.21 11. GV/MV/PAN: ROBERT MUGABE MEETING WITH UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN (2 SHOTS0 3.33 12. GV: VARIOUS DELEGATES AT NON-GOVERNMENTAL ALTERNATIVE FOOD SUMMIT 3.41 13. GV: BANNER READING: LAND AND DIGNITY 3.45 14. GV: DELEGATES EATING LUNCH 3.49 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 25th June 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ROME, ITALY
- City:
- Country: Malawi Italy Lesotho
- Reuters ID: LVADKYYW8XO090NT5QDK1GRCA8AF
- Story Text: World leaders at a U.N. sponsored Food Summit have
vowed to redouble efforts to halve the number of hungry people
in the world by 2015, but failed to resolve long-standing
differences over how to go about it.
Leaders and officials from more than 100 countries
descended on Rome on Monday (June 10) for a United Nations
Food Summit aimed at reviving flagging efforts to cut hunger,
but top world leaders were conspicuous by their absence.
Italy has thrown a ring of steel around the summit, which
is billed as the biggest gathering of heads of government
since the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
hopes the four day event will rekindle the political will to
halve the number of hungry people by 2015 and pump billions of
extra dollars into farm and development aid.
But U.N. officials expressed dismay over the low key
turnout from the major powers with only hosts Italy and the
holder of the rotating European Union presidency Spain
represented at the highest level.
The Zimbabwe President used U.N. diplomatic immunity to
sidestep a European Union travel ban slapped on him by the
15-nation bloc because of his treatment of political
opponents.
He presented a defiant face at the World Food Summit
defending his much-condemned land acquisition programme.
"Zimbabwe's land must rightly belong to Zimbabweans, that
being also the true test of our national sovereignty," Mugabe
said addressing the summit in the afternoon.
"Where previously only a handful of colonial settler
farmers were undertaking commercial farming the country now
has over 260,000 farming families on varying sizes of land,
sharing a total of 12 million hectares of prime agricultural
land," he continued.
"Contrary to widely disseminated misrepresentation by our
detractors there is now a brighter future for our farming
community across colour, gender and ethnic divides," he said.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe came under damning
attack from U.S. and European officials after turning up at
the summit in Rome despite a ban on him entering the European
Union.
After his speech he briefly met with the United Nations
Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, who had said the Zimbabwean
President had every right to attend the summit.
Earlier in the day Kofi Annan had urged wealthy nations
not to subsidise their agriculture, saying such protection
prevented poor countries from competing in agricultural
markets.
Asked whether rich nations should drop protection of
their agriculture through subsidies, Annan told Reuters in an
interview:
"Absolutely. We cannot talk of free trade and truly open
markets if we are going to do that.
"You put yourself in the shoes of a small developing
country, which cannot export agricultural products because of
restrictions and tariffs, a developing country that cannot
export and compete on world markets because its richer
partners are heavily subsidised," Annan said.
Non-governmental organisations at an alternative food
summit organised to run in tandem with that at the FAO
headquarters were angered by the lack of attendance of the
worlds most powerful nations, stating the lack of attendance
equalled lack of will power to resolve the worlds food
problem.
cah/cr
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