Hunger 1980 General Resolution

WHEREAS, the number of hungry and starving people on this fertile globe has reached a magnitude that staggers comprehension; and

WHEREAS, international and national agencies, and numerous nongovernmental organizations have come to realize that world resources are not adequate to supply the basic needs of the rapidly increasing numbers of the world's poor, using current strategies, and that food aid from exogenous sources alone cannot bring long-term security from hunger to the world's people; and

WHEREAS, a new approach is developing (a "basic needs strategy") which deals with structural causes of widespread hunger at the same time that it increases the realistic possibility of meeting immediate needs of hungry and starving people (besides calling for substantial international and indigenous financial and technical aid, the "basic needs strategy" calls upon the governments of developing countries to encourage the poor themselves to invest their skills and labor in planning and manAgriculture the development of local resources, with priority being given to their participation in all aspects of the food sector of the economy; it also calls upon their national governments to support efforts toward self-sufficiency in basic foods as an engine for general economic development); and

WHEREAS, food supplies are adequate to nourish the human family today, but human numbers are growing faster than the potential sustainable growth of agricultural productivity warrants and a "basic needs strategy" appears to predispose communities to stabilize their population at a sustainable level;

BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1980 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association reaffirm participation in joint efforts of the religious community and concerned secular organizations to correct in life-affirming ways those problems which underlie much of the human hunger and starvation in the world today; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That this Assembly urge Unitarian Universalist societies to study the complex problems involved and familiarize their members with the structural issues and their import for the future of humanity; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That this Assembly request the Washington Office to inform Unitarian Universalists, through timely reports in the UU WORLD, about pending legislation on such problems.