World Food Programme chief in Rio for UN summit

BRAZIL: UN World Food Program chief ErtharinCousin arrived here Sunday to attend a United Nations summit on sustainable development and discuss plans to fight world hunger with governments and the private sector. "WFP believes that there can be no sustainable development when so many people have been left on the sidelines of mainstream development, and WFP's attendance aims to ensure that the voices of the most vulnerable populations are heard," the organization said in a statement.

It said Cousin plans to tour Rio's Rocinha favela (slum) on Monday and speak the following day at an event on food security.

World leaders are due to debate prospects for a greener world committed to poverty eradication and environmental protection at the UN Rio+20 summit, which runs from Wednesday to Friday.

Meanwhile the cornerstone document of the June 20-22 "Rio+20" summit aims at setting a path for nurturing the planet's natural bounty and promoting green growth.

But after five months of wrangling, talks on the draft entered their final scheduled day on Friday with agreement on only 28 percent of the 81-page text, they said.

Responsibility for steering the haggle was expected to be handed on Saturday to Brazil, the conference host, said Nikhil Seth of the UN's Division for Sustainable Development.

"It's everyone's hope that by (June) 19 at the latest, everything will be wrapped up," he said.

AFP