When is World Food Day:
Monday, October 16, 2024

On World Food Day and on every day, Save the Children recognizes that every child deserves to grow up well-nourished. But for millions of children across the world, hunger is their everyday reality.

It doesn’t have to be this way. With your support, our frontline health teams are working across the world to deliver emergency hunger and nutrition programs to save vulnerable children. Critically, we’re also working to prevent malnutrition from occurring in the first place. But we can’t do it without you!

What is World Food Day

World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year worldwide on October 16 to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with hunger and food security, including the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. WFP received the Nobel Prize in Peace for 2020 for their efforts to combat hunger, contribute to peace in conflict areas, and for playing a leading role in stopping the use of hunger in the form of a weapon for war and conflict.

About Our Hunger and Nutrition Programs

Relentless hunger is devastating for children. It weakens their immune systems, impacts their physical and mental development and leaves children at risk of infection, including pneumonia, the single biggest killer of children.

Thanks to the generous support of our donors, our teams are saving children’s lives in some of the hungriest places on earth, such as Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen.

Save the Children is on-the-scene now, providing lifesaving support to children and families in response to this devastating hunger and famine crisis.

Our Emergency Food Security and Livelihoods team helps families meet their basic needs and protect their livelihoods before, during, and after a crisis.

Our Food Security Programs help families increase their agricultural production, diversify their incomes, save for the future, and ensure that their children are well-nourished, so that they thrive and reach their full potential. They also help to improve their long-term food security and increase their resilience to shocks and stresses with context-specific, integrated approaches.

Inspiring Stories of the Children We Serve

Oumar’s life was on the line when his mother, Mariama, rushed him to a Save the Children-supported hospital in rural Niger. His mother Mariama grew increasingly concerned for her baby boy. A terrible drought killed their crops, leaving them with almost nothing to eat. The doctors and nurses did whatever it took to make sure he would survive.