Mo Farah, and other Olympic athletes will attend the hunger summit at the end of the Olympics. Credit: EMPICS Sport/EMPICS Sport
10,000 metre gold medal winner Mo Farah is expected to be among the Olympic stars to attend a hunger summit with Prime Minister David Cameron this Sunday. The event, co-hosted by Brazil, is designed to show that the Olympic family is aware of the gaping inequalities from which competitors come.
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:
"We think it's a terrible thing that 170 million children go to bed starving every night in our world, one in three of the poorest children in the world.
It's a chance for Britain, together with the next hosts of the Olympics, the Brazilians, to put a real flag in the sand about the importance of tackling malnutrition in the future."
David Cameron has told Daybreak that the 'coalition will go all the way' despite the political differences with the Lib Dems.
He also told the show that he doesn't want to put a cap on Boris Johnson's ambitions to be Prime Minister and that he sees him as a great mayor of London and a great titan for the party.
Prime Minister David Cameron will host a Global Hunger Summit in London on Sunday - the last day of the Olympic Games in London .
Prime Minister David Cameron. Credit: Press Association
Speaking to ITV's Daybreak he said: "We are thinking about the next medal but there are millions of children around the world thinking am I going to get my next meal? There are 170m children who are malnurited."
Great Britain's Mo Farah receives his gold medal for the men's 10,000m final Credit: Mike Egerton/PA Wire
The Guardian reports that British 10,000m gold medal winner, Mo Farah, will be one of a clutch of sports figures to attend a global hunger summit hosted by David Cameron on Sunday.
Former England footballer David Beckham, a Unicef ambassador, has already been to Downing Street to campaign on the issue of malnutrition and hunger.
Save the Children urges PM 'to fire the starting gun on a race against hunger'
As all eyes fall on London and its Olympic legacy, we urge the Prime Minister to fire the starting gun on a race against hunger.
There is currently no greater threat to children worldwide.
This is the first time in history that a nation can build an Olympic legacy beyond its immediate doorstep and improve the chances of millions of children worldwide.
The race baton must be picked up by David Cameron and taken forward to the next Olympics in Brazil.
– Justin Forsyth, Chief Executive of Save the Children
Last month, David Beckham visited the Prime Minister at Downing Street to promote this Sunday's summit aimed at tackling world hunger.
The former England footballer is a member of the children's charity UNICEF.
He told David Cameron that he welcomed the chance to campaign on the issue "while the eyes of the world are on our country".
Mr Cameron said it was "absolutely right" for Britain to take advantage of the presence of world leaders to "challenge the world to tackle the problems of malnutrition, hunger and stunted growth."
Warnings of 'catastrophe' in West Africa due to malnutrition
Nineteen-month-old Raya Kabirou, who is severely malnourished, sits in her grandmother’s lap. Credit: UNICEF
UNICEF have recently warned of a potential catastrophe among children in the Sahel region of West Africa.
Martin Dawes, Regional Spokesperson UNICEF West and central Africa said:
"1.1 million children over the course of this year will need life saving intervention because of severe acute malnutrition. This is a crisis with multiple causes where adults will suffer but children will die."
Prime Minister David Cameron will host the food summit on Sunday Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Wire
Prime Minister David Cameron will host a Global Hunger Summit in London on Sunday - the last day of the Olympic Games in London .
The summit will bring together world leaders, non-government organisations, campaigners and other figures in an effort to galvanise efforts to tackle malnutrition in Africa and other parts of the world.
It is being held amid a backdrop of spiralling food prices, crop failures and rising fuel prices which Save the Children say is making it more difficult for parents to feed their children properly.
