SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2013
EDITORIAL
Giving food
to the hungry
We are on the right track
1.
The good news is that Bangladesh has halved the number of those of its people
who have been going hungry.
2.
Such information, coming against the background of the Millennium Development
Goals set for 2015, should be occasion for good cheer.
3.
And it is. Now that the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has officially
listed Bangladesh as a nation which has successfully reduced the number of its
hungry citizens from the 58 per cent noted in the base year of 1990 to 31.50
per cent in 2010, and that too well before the target year of 2015, it will be
quite reasonable to suppose that we can move ahead in handling other
priorities.
4.
At this point in time, the figures for those living below the poverty line have
dipped (নামানো) to about 29 per cent.
5.
This is no mean feat (কৃতিত্ব)
on the part of the country.
6.
And it demonstrates certain basic truths, among which is the presence of good,
focused leadership in certain areas.
7.
In recent years, for all the difficulties we have faced on other fronts, we
have seen our agriculture remain stable, thus giving the country a solid base
from which to forge ahead-অগ্রগামী হওয়া.
8.
Now that hunger is being tackled, that our efforts towards an amelioration-অপেক্ষাকৃত উন্নত of
poverty are being acknowledged by such global bodies as the FAO, we know only
too well that the achievement is but a call for the momentum-ধারা
to continue.
9.
Being one of twenty countries to have halved the number of the hungry,
Bangladesh can only go ahead.
10.
This achievement makes us proud.
11.
It boosts our sense of optimism.