Fight Against Hunger goes to Ho Chi Minh City.

AFC Media Release: Kuala Lumpur: AFC and UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will take their joint fight against hunger to the southern Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh city from October 14 to 16 during the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship.

The reigning AFC Women’s Player of the Year Kathryn Gill has also been invited as a Goodwill Ambassador for the ‘Asian Football against Hunger’ campaign.
According to the latest statistics, 578 million people in Asia live in a condition of serious food insecurity. AFC and FAO are committed to reduce hunger and malnutrition through FAO’s tele-food projects by giving women the tools, empowerment and financial support to create better lives for their families.
AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong recently explained that “The exceptional power of Asian football is now mobilising the willingness, the decisions, and the resources to eradicate food insecurity throughout Asia.

As such, on October 14, Kathryn Gill, along with AFC and FAO officials, will visit FAO’s tele-food project sites in Hai Tien village where women are able to develop new aquaculture initiatives and sustain their families due to AFC’s donation.

The Australian women’s football ace will address a press conference the next day at 12 noon at Kimdo Hotel. Before the kick-off of the final match on October 16, AFC in collaboration with FAO will celebrate the ‘World Food Day’ through a stadium campaign at the Thong Nhat Stadium.

AFC and FAO

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of Asian football. As part of AFC’s commitment to Social Responsibility, AFC has established the Dream Asia initiative which aims to contribute to Asian society by creating opportunities for people to explore their dreams through football.

It also seeks to make social responsibility a lifelong practice that is developed among local communities throughout Asia. AFC’s objective is to develop model programmes that contributes to social development and that can be adopted by AFC’s 47 Member Associations.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) is the United Nations lead agency in international cooperation to combat hunger and malnutrition, and has 65 years of experience assisting the poorest to feed themselves through numerous programmes and projects and defending each individual’s fundamental right to food security.

FAO has 191 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. World Food Day, celebrated on 16 October was three decades ago to mark the anniversary of the foundation of FAO and to draw the attention of society and government to the inalienable right of all human beings to feed themselves in dignity and independence.

AFC and FAO work together with the same spirit as both football and the fight against hunger need: commitment, patience, endurance, perseverance and investment.