View as Microsoft Word* | View as PDF

TO:         United Nations Famine Team

FROM:    Secretary General, United Nations

RE:         Recommendation Task Force for Relieving World Famine

Your class has been asked to join a task force with the International Famine Centre to identify ways to address solutions for reducing famine in the world. Your team of five will include a politician, economist/community planner, social anthropologist, agricultural engineer scientist, and medical doctor. This is an extremely important mission, and one for which I am sure that you will give your full support.

Famine is a human tragedy that shreds the lives of millions of people around the world each day. Some famines are created by weather patterns; other famines are caused by war, economic collapse, and governmental incompetence—or maliciousness. Famine is not selective: In the Twentieth Century alone, famines raged through India, China, various parts of Africa, Russia, and North Korea. That does not mean that the famine problem is insurmountable. Despite hunger, the world already produces enough food to feed everyone, according to United Nations statistics.

At the basis for the work of this task force is an essential question: Am I my brother’s keeper? For purposes of this project, however, we are asking you to focus on the international issue of famine:  Can famine be prevented? What should be the United States’ role in the prevention and relief of famine? And, how do different professional perspectives influence prevention and relief recommendations?

You will first identify what your role can contribute to an understanding of famine by creating a brochure about your role and how it can contribute to solving the problem of famine. Then, you will jigsaw to your Task Force Sub-team, and select a current or past major famine in a country/area to research and pose solutions for. This will be presented in a national conference.  Included in each team presentation will be a list of ways to address current relief needs and recommendations for reducing famine in the world. 

Finally, these recommendations will be compiled by the Task Force Chairperson (your teacher) and the information in the brochures and presentations will be combined into a class wiki as a culminating experience.

Thank you in advance for your hard work and dedication.


U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

< Return to Famine