Brussels, 28/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - “European Professional Football against Hunger” - the 2012 campaign to raise awareness of the threat of hunger and malnutrition in the Sahel was kicked off by the European Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the Association for European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) in Brussels on 28 February. Under the banner Together We Can Save Lives, the three organisations will work to raise European public awareness of the over-riding need to help some 12 million people in this region of Africa who do not have enough to eat, and to put them back on the road to self-sufficiency.
Football matches, field visits, actions at fairs, exhibitions, and social media activities will take place during the campaign, drawing attention to the plight of the hungry people in the world. The high point of the campaign is the European Match Day Against Hunger which will take place in 15 European countries on 31 March and 1 April - the 20th anniversary of ECHO, the European Commission's humanitarian aid department. The event will bring together 20 European football leagues in matches played by over 300 professional football clubs from Lisbon to Vladivostok. All the players will wear Sahel emergency tee-shirts and a ball, the symbol of the event, will be auctioned after all the matches. “This is a fight we must win. We live in a world of plenty, we can be proud of extraordinary technological successes, yet one billion people go to bed hungry, 12 million are suffering from hunger in the Sahel and 300,000 children die of starvation every year”, said International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva. EPFL and English Premier League Chairman Sir David Richards said: “European football wants to contribute to alleviating the plight of those who suffer from hunger”. Raul Gonzalez, Blanco, football star and FAO Goodwill Ambassador for the past eight years highlighted “how important it is to have the stadium on your side to win the match”. (AN/transl.rt)