[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] on Tuesday called for an increased effort to uphold the "fundamental human right" to food for some 854 million around the world who suffer from chronic hunger. In a message marking World Food Day [official website], Ban called for cooperation to uphold the right to food [text], saying that:

Enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the right to food has been strengthened through legislative measures at the international and national levels…

And yet, progress towards eradicating hunger is slow. We need to do far more to place the integrity and rights of every human being at the centre of all our efforts. We need to combine current efforts with stepped up measures to ensure participation and empowerment, accountability and transparency, human dignity and the rule of law.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [official website], 854 million people around the world do not have enough food, despite the fact that there is currently enough food produced in the world to feed everyone.

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights [text] was adopted by the UN in 1948. Article 25 of the Declaration states that "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food." The UN News Centre has more.