Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Ho Chi Minh City: The Asian Football against Hunger Campaign was held at the Thong Nhat Stadium, Vietnam, on Sunday before the final match of the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship coinciding with the World Food Day.
The competition's players including both finalists Japan and Vietnam promoted the ‘578 Message’ which signified the 578 million people in poverty in Asia which was the focus of the joint-cooperation between the AFC and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The important message was driven through banners, photo opportunities with both competing teams, escorting children wearing T-shirts with the ‘578 Message’, flags and A-boards around the pitch, among others.
Goodwill Ambassador for the campaign, Australian Kathryn Gill, who is also the reigning AFC Women’s Player of the Year, was also on the pitch wearing the ‘578 Message’ T-shirt to promote awareness of the problem which FAO says afflicts close to one billion people throughout the world.
Earlier, on Friday, Gill visited AFC-funded FAO TeleFood projects in Hai Tien Village, Hue province, Vietnam, highlighting women's efforts to reduce hunger in their own communities.
At the end of the visit, Gill organised fun beach football activites for 60 village children using 32 new Nike balls donated by the AFC (Please watch video below).
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The World Food Day this year focuses on rising food prices throughout the world, which represents a major threat to food security in developing countries. According to the World Bank, in 2010-2011 rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty.
By celebrating the World Food Day in conjunction with the final match of the AFC U-19 Women's Championship, the AFC aimed at highlighting women's fight against hunger as many women feed their families but often lack access to key inputs and have little voice in decision making.
For more information on FAO's events and the World Food Day, click:
http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/worldfoodday/en/
http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/worldwideevents/detail-events/en/item/93024/icode/