Background

Even before its secession from Sudan in July 2011, South Sudan has suffered a long history of famine perpetuated by decades of civil wars between southern and northern Sudan. In 1998, Sudan underwent a catastrophic famine caused by draught and [...]]]> Authors: Jennifer Kim and Gabriella LoConte
World Information Transfer UN Interns, fall 2011

Background

Even before its secession from Sudan in July 2011, South Sudan has suffered a long history of famine perpetuated by decades of civil wars between southern and northern Sudan. In 1998, Sudan underwent a catastrophic famine caused by draught and a lack of expedient action; the fragile infrastructure caused by civil conflicts between southern rebels and the government slowed down aid and made the famine even more severe. (4) In 2001, Sudan was again threatened by protracted periods of drought (5). As a result, in 2001, prevalence of child malnutrition was at 48%; in 2000, prevalence of acute child malnutrition was 22%; and in 2003, the proportion of the population in southern Sudan facing a food deficit was at 23%. (6)

Currently, UN agencies warn South Sudan, having only recently gained independence, is once again in danger of upcoming food shortages due to “internal and border insecurity, erratic rains and a huge influx of returnees from the north”. (7) An estimated 36% of South Sudan’s population were moderately or severely food insecure in 2011. The country also faces problems from security issues with ongoing violence from demobilized South Sudanese troops, as well as from cut profits caused by increasing inflation rates. (7) Additionally, while the secession itself happened peacefully, there remain border conflicts; an estimated over 8,000 refugees have moved to South Sudan in an effort to escape the violence in Southern Kordofan, and 7,500 escaped to the country to flee from the Lord’s Resistance Army. (7)

Reaction from NGOs and the Media

NGOs have a history of prevalence in Southern Sudan. Specifically, many have been very supportive in increasing the food security in this developing country.

BRAC has launched an innovative pilot project in Sudan in 2008 near Juba, an eight-acre collective demonstration farm using modern agriculture methods. In the years following, the program expanded to four other states. They have agencies in the area to coordinate the programme and ensure timely input supply to farmers, organize training for farmers, and also conduct overall programme supervision. The agriculture entrepreneurs/extension workers received 12-day advanced training in modern agricultural practices as well as seeds and tools from BRAC for their own cultivation. (2)
BRAC however is not alone in the cause. The World Food Programme has developed its emergency assistance significantly in 2010. By May, 2.1 million people across Southern Sudan were provided assistance by the agency. Emergency assistance continued throughout the summer during the hunger gap/lean-season period, which lasts between May-July. 60,000 metric tons of food has been prepositioned to over 60 locations throughout the country, making assistance feasible and cost effective. This program ameliorated the food security in locations such as Jonglei, Warrap, and the Upper Nile, which are inaccessible for transporters during the rainy season and also are the states with the highest levels of food insecurity. (1)

The Food and Agriculture Organization, along with 52 partner organizations, have developed programs throughout Sudan, directed toward increasing the yield in crop production during the season running from late March to November. The programs aim to distribute seed packages for cereals, pulses, and oils according to local conditions. Seed distributions have been completed in four states: Warrap. Upper Nile, Central Equatoria, and Western Equatoria. Not all areas have been reached due to inaccessibility. (1)
On October 13, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with Catholic Relief Services and its implementing partners Save the Children and Joint Aid Management, launched the Jonglei Food Security Program to support communities and the government of South Sudan in addressing the root causes of food insecurity throughout Jonglei State. This program aids communities that previously received emergency food assistance in order to help in their recovery. USAID is committing $54 million to the program, which will help meet the needs of nearly 150,000 chronically and temporarily food-insecure households in Akobo, Ayod, Bor, Nyirol, Pibor, Pochalla, Twic East, and Wuror in Jonglei State. Program began in October 2011 and will run for three years. (3)

The media recognizes the threat of famine in South Sudan. Various news outlets like the Guardian, the Sudan Tribune, and The Lancet not only review ongoing efforts made against the threat of famine, but also inform the public about South Sudan’s current famine threat. Additionally, agencies like USAID publish press releases that also keep the public informed about efforts to aid South Sudan. (9)

Sources

9 “USAID Funds Program to Reduce Food Insecurity in South Sudan.” USAID. 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

History

Background

The Great Famine in Ireland of 1845 and 1852 began with blight on the potato crop leaving acre after acre of farmland covered with black rot. Due to poverty, farmers exclusively depended on potatoes for sustenance. Approximately one million lives were lost from hunger [...]]]> Author: Evelyne Ojwang
World Information Transfer UN Intern, fall 2011

Background

The Great Famine in Ireland of 1845 and 1852 began with blight on the potato crop leaving acre after acre of farmland covered with black rot. Due to poverty, farmers exclusively depended on potatoes for sustenance. Approximately one million lives were lost from hunger and disease including cholera and typhus.¹ The Famine also spurred new waves of immigration, causing the island’s population to fall by between 20% and 25%.²

While the blight catalyzed the famine, other arguments suggest that inadequate policy response from the British government, scientific ignorance, enforced poverty, and rural suppression exacerbated the consequences of the famine.

While the Irish poor classes suffered from starvation, historians point that many Irish landowners exported the limited and badly needed grain to England for profit. The loss of crops left the farmers with no income to pay their rent. As a result many farmers lost their lands.

The famine changed the history of Ireland. Its effects permanently changed the island’s demographic, political and cultural landscape. For both the native Irish and those in the resulting diaspora, the famine entered folk memory and became a rallying point for various nationalist movements as Ireland was then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Charity and Remittances

As the famine worsened, relief effort was needed at large scale. English efforts to provide relief were inadequate, and the little help already underway was abandoned in the midst of the famine. The Irish saw the British relief efforts as inadequate, as it was caused by centuries of political and economic oppression of the Irish. The famine was of a great magnitude and could only be saved by a government intervention. The British government was committed to a laisezz la faire economics; they couldn’t offer intervention in economic affairs. Non profit organizations none the less helped save many lives during the famine. The Society of Friends distributed over 200,000 worth of food and clothing. Irish charities donated over 300,000 of relief. The British associations donated over 400,000 but were used by government to prop up bankrupt unions, which should have been their responsibility. A considerable proportion of this money had been donated be Irish people in the colonial services and the military. Remittances from relatives and friends living abroad amounted to millions and saved many from starvation by providing money for food or emigration.⁴

Media Reaction

International aid poured in to add to the money raised in Ireland and Britain. Prints in the London Illustrated News showed pictures of the Famine throughout the world. The new print media had generated what were probably the first global efforts at Famine relief. Yet, not enough money was raised and not enough help was given to stop the tragedy. Newspaper accounts informed the Irish American’s of the horror back in Ireland. This resulted to individuals sending private donations in form of money and ship tickets to assist family and friends. The long drawn-out years of Famine also produced the first recorded examples of “compassion fatigue” and “donor fatigue.” Even the Quakers, who had done so much to bring economic aid to Ireland, could not maintain their economic level of support. As with today’s famines in Africa, people seem to tire of the media coverage.

There is a debate about the economic help given by the British government. The idea of society was very different then. Essentially, God not people was supposed to have established the economic framework of society. The government had a policy of laissez faire, let the market decide the prices. However, unemployed men, let alone sick and starving women and children, could not pay the market price demanded for food in the Ireland of 1847. The British state failed to create a government structure capable of dealing with the starvation of its citizens. It also failed to change its economic thinking in the face of spectacular starvation. Most important of all, the government failed to import sufficient food to feed the 30-40% of the population put at risk because the blight had destroyed their food source.⁵

Sources

1. Gráda, C. (2010). Ireland. In P. Demeny & G. McNicoll (Eds.),Great Irish Famine New York: Macmillan. Retrieved from http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/ograda.famine
2. Great famine (ireland). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Potato_Famine. ibid
3. ibid
4. WARFIELD, B. (n.d.). History corner: The great irish famine. Retrieved from http://www.wolfetonesofficialsite.com/famine.htm
5. What economic features in ireland caused the famine to be so terrible?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://irishfamine.ca/ireland/what-economic-features-in-ireland-caused-the-famine-to-be-so-terrible

History

Overview
In Duran about 2 million people have been displaced by war that began in 2003.  This conflict caused problems with trade and markets, severely affecting people’s livelihoods.  An increase in conflict in the Abyei area and in the state [...]]]> Authors: Joanna Mieczkowska and Dominika Iszczek
World Information Transfer UN Intern, fall 2011

Overview
In Duran about 2 million people have been displaced by war that began in 2003.  This conflict caused problems with trade and markets, severely affecting people’s livelihoods.  An increase in conflict in the Abyei area and in the state of South Kordofan displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.  Strained livelihoods are major concerns and many households are food insecure.

In 2004, Darfur, Sudan was described as the “world’s greatest humanitarian crisis” due to conflict.
Twenty years previously, Darfur was also the site of a disastrous famine.
Darfur is affected by sporadic tribal conflict and poor rainfall, resulting in sudden market fluctuations, livelihood changes and displacement.
Seasonal food shortages (hunger gaps) combined with drought are highly dangerous.
In West Darfur, 69% out of the 1.3 million population of the state are depending on monthly rations of the general food distribution.
The May 2010, West Darfur Food Security Monitoring Survey reported that the cost of a minimum healthy food basket has increased 14% between February and May 20101
The November 2009 West Darfur Food Security Monitoring results indicated a significant deterioration in the food security situation as majority of IDPs (80%) and mixed communities (65%) was moderately food insecure.¹

Food Security and Livelihood Assessment²

Started in 2004
Assess the food security and livelihood situation of displaced populations and rural communities and their access to food security assistance and other services.
Ran by the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MOAF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

FINDINGS:

In recent years, the percent of food insecure households has decreased but it was still a staggering 45% in 2008 (1.7 million people).

Involvement Improvements:

Access to clean water in 2007 stood at 76% (Darfur Food Security and Nutrition Assessment 2007), while 3 million conflict-affected people had access to basic health services (UNICEF reports).
Under-five mortality rates have fallen over the last four years from 1.03 in 2004 to 0.67 in 2007 (Darfur Food Security and Nutrition Assessments 2004-2007).

Food Security and Emergency Food Assistance

According to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), approximately 4 million people are moderately or highly food-insecure in Darfur due to ongoing insecurity and a poor 2009/2010 harvest.

During the second quarter of 2010, the cost of the minimum food basket; the amount and type of food required to satisfy basic nutritional needs; increased by 38 percent, 35 percent, and 14 percent in North Darfur, South Darfur, and West Darfur, respectively, according to WFP. Households in Darfur spend between 65 and 75 percent of total income on food items.

The rapid expansion of emergency food aid provision to meet increased requirements in Southern Sudan has decreased resources in other regions of the country, including Darfur. WFP plans to reduce the food aid ration for IDPs in Darfur from 72 to 50 percent of the standard ration of approximately 2,100 calories per day during the July to September lean season; when prices peak and households deplete food stocks; potentially reducing food availability and increasing food prices. However, WFP continues to prioritize life-saving activities and notes that many IDPs in Darfur have developed income-generating livelihoods, reducing dependence on emergency food assistance.

FEWS NET anticipates that food security may deteriorate until the October harvest; however, IDPs and communities with limited access to cultivation will likely remain dependent on food assistance following the harvest. WFP plans to closely monitor the impacts of food ration cuts and will vary the ration for IDPs based on the fluctuation of food prices and the availability of income-generating activities.

To date in FY 2010, USAID/OFDA is providing nearly $3.9 million to five grantees implementing agriculture and food security interventions, including seed and tool voucher programs, throughout Darfur.

Source: USAID.gov

1 United Methodist Committee on Relief (UNCOR) Report: Promoting Self-Sufficiency and Recovery for Conflict-Affected Populations in South Darfur State. (SDN-11/A/37540)
2 Executive Brief on the DARFUR Food Security and Livelihood Assessment – 2008

China’s Great Famine: 1958-1961
-15 million deaths officially, but scholars argue actual numbers are between 30/40 million
-population censuses were inaccurate until 1980s, so the magnitude of the famine was silenced until two decades after it occurred
-“The data on food [...]]]> Author: Erika Boll
World Information Transfer UN Intern, fall 2011

China’s Great Famine: 1958-1961
-15 million deaths officially, but scholars argue actual numbers are between 30/40 million
-population censuses were inaccurate until 1980s, so the magnitude of the famine was silenced until two decades after it occurred
-“The data on food availability also suggest that, in contrast to many other famines, a root cause of this one was a dramatic decline in grain output, which continued for several years and which in 1960-61 involved a drop in grain output of more than 25%.” (Ashston, et al.,614)

Historical Context of Famine

China’s Vulnerabilities
- “China has been living in the shadow of famine for centuries” (Ashton, 620).
- 1876-79: drought in north China led to famine, which resulted in between 9.5 and 13 million deaths
- geography makes north China more vulnerable: flooding from the Huai and Hai rivers as well as dikes of the Yellow River
- human intervention, despite geographical vulnerabilities and natural disasters, can help:
- rail transport and international relief efforts (the China International Famine Relief Committee) provided grain and reduced number of deaths to 500,000 (example from the 1876-79 China famine in northern regions)
- quality of crops contributed because modern techniques were not employed
- China has significantly improved agricultural practices for better reliability
- famine was a result of both food shortage as well as government policies called the Great Leap Forward (Ashton, 624-630)
- populations were forced to work in iron mines, cut trees for charcoal, build clay furnaces, and smelt metal
- agricultural policy: commune system which created a reliance for non-agricultural services- agriculture subsequently was neglected and produced much less than previous private, individual entities, weak incentives for private farmers
- little response to early food shortage indicators and indicators came slow because statisticians were criticized before for making too grand of assumptions that reflected poorly on the country
- urbanization policy: in the 1950s, China experienced extensive migration to urban areas; population almost doubled to 100 million in 1957- thus, millions were sent back to the rural areas
- international trade policy: no imported food until 1961
- natural disasters: drought, floods, typhoons, plant disease, or insect pest resulted in many areas without any crops; in 1960, around 60 million hectares were affected

Knowledge of China’s famine (Ashton, 630-632)
- little was known as it occurred and it was difficult to believe for two reasons:
- Chinese government was commended for raising health and nutrition levels
- globalization gained momentum in the 1950s
- “The lack of democracy and of freedom of information have been pointed to as reasons behind why China experienced a major famine between 1958 and 1961 with excess mortality “gures ranging between 16.5 and 29.5 million” (Besley, 639).

Media:
- mainstream media noted agricultural production declines, but because of the lack of transparency, access to real numbers of effect on the population was unknown
- Chinese government issued false reports; thus, the media did not reflect the situation accurately (Ashton, 631; Devereux, 27)
-not until 1961 was the famine widely accepted and known in the international community

NGOs:
- little international intervention was due to the lack of information about northern China
- International Red Cross Societies offered aid in early 1961, but China rejected assistance
- China International Famine Relief Commission: a national organization that was responsible for aid; started by (Becker, 12)
- American Red Cross: completed reports for earlier famines in north China before the Great Famine (Becker, 19)

Sources:
Ashton, Basil, Kenneth Hill, Alan Piazza, and Robin Zeitz. “Famine in China, 1958-61.” Population and Development Review 10.4 (1984): 613-45. Print.

Becker, Jasper. Hungry Ghosts: Mao’s Secret Famine. New York: Free, 1996. Print.

Besley, Timothy, and Robin Burgess. “Political Agency, Government Responsiveness and the Role of the Media.” European Economic Review 45 (2001): 629-40. Print.

Devereux, Stephen. “Famine in the Twentieth Century.” Southern African Regional Poverty Network. Web..

Rise of the Khmer Rouge
As the Vietnam war ended in 1975, a US AID report observed that the country faced famine,  with 75% of its draft animals destroyed by the war, and that rice planting for the next harvest [...]]]> Authors: John Li and Sarah Rothstein
World Information Transfer UN Intern, fall 2011

Rise of the Khmer Rouge
As the Vietnam war ended in 1975, a US AID report observed that the country faced famine,  with 75% of its draft animals destroyed by the war, and that rice planting for the next harvest would have to be done “by the hard labor of seriously malnourished people.” Out of this social and economic unrest emerged the Khmer Rouge Regime (the Communist Party of Kampuchea), which ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979. It strove to create an agriculture-based proletariat class, collectivizing family farms and forcing city dwellers into the country. Thousands of families were displaced and made to live in makeshift villages, where they farmed virgin soil. The goals of this reform were food self-sufficiency, the reconstruction of the production of the vital rice crop, and greater equality of food distribution. However, despite the employment of slave labor in farming and irrigation, flooding was so great that rice yields were insufficient to feed Cambodia’s population. Anticipating war with Vietnam, the government stockpiled rice to trade with China in exchange for munitions, further escalating the food deficit. Austere rations were imposed, with the daily ration of rice per person ranging between 250 and 500 grams per day. Children, the sick, and the elderly were the most directly affected by malnutrition and starvation.

When Vietnam invaded Cambodia at the end of 1978, much of the fighting took place in the countryside, destroying Cambodia’s agrarian economy. This war was extremely disastrous to the overall welfare of the country. The Cambodians were already suffering from a lack of food, but the situation worsened with the destruction of the agricultural infrastructure. The ensuing economic turbulence, as well as the continued preaching of the gospel of self-sufficiency by the Khmer Rouge, escalated the food crisis into full-blown famine.

Western media reaction
The onslaught of media attention from Western news sources was immediate. A 1979 issue of Time Magazine featured a host of articles recounting the suffering of the Cambodian people in its historical and economic context. It even went so far as to compare the situation to that of Auschwitz, which is regarded as the international symbol of genocide and other such heinous human rights abuses. This parallel has been commonly drawn by the media and official institutions. Furthermore, the cover issue did not fail to acknowledge the obstacles posed by bureaucratic red tape in sending aid to Cambodia. By calling attention to the immediacy of this issue and the relative slowness of the response of the major world powers, media attention mobilized many private individuals and institutions as well as NGOs to aid Cambodia.

NGO Reaction
There was a strong NGO reaction towards the suffering in Cambodia. Most NGOs wanted to aid in the relief of the country. The international Red Cross had supplied emergency rations to the refugees. Also in 1975, the NGO Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) established its first large-scale medical program during the famine, providing medical care for waves of Cambodians seeking sanctuary from Pol Pot’s rule. MSF has been in the country and has continued to provide medical support. Since Cambodia’s change of power, there has been a strong emphasis on aid to reinvigorate the country after decades of warfare. With regard to the human rights abuse issues intertwined with the larger food security question, Amnesty International has been actively persecuting Khmer Rouge officials charged with committing war crimes, and calling for an end to impunity.

Sources:

Good morning and welcome to this Conference on Food Insecurity: Role of Media and NGO’s co-sponsored by the Government of Ukraine and H.E. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev and supported by the Government of Kenya.

Food is the core of culture and civilization according to Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist [...]]]>
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Colleagues and Students, 

Good morning and welcome to this Conference on Food Insecurity: Role of Media and NGO’s co-sponsored by the Government of Ukraine and H.E. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev and supported by the Government of Kenya.

Food is the core of culture and civilization according to Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist who is quoted for the past 22 years on every issue of the World Ecology Report published by World Information Transfer. 

When food is politically used to starve people, it oversteps the boundaries of civilization and destroys the culture and that is one of the reasons that the UN Millennium Goal #1 emphasizes the need to prevent and avert starvation regardless of the cause or purpose. 

As we know, famine can also be the result of natural disasters, as we witness in the Horn of Africa today.  The same social factors giving rise to hunger also aid and abet population growth rates and overpopulation.   Lester Brown, founder of the WorldWatch Institute in Washington, DC, said that food shortages will continue due to eroding soil and depleting groundwater and family planning should be the most urgent item on the global agenda in those parts of the world suffering from resource depletion, overpopulation and lack of access to birth control.   Unfortunately, between the religious denial of scientific findings and weak governments, the issue of over-population is not seen as a threat to the evolution of civilization or sustainability.
The foremost question is whether we can ensure that all children born are nourished well enough to go to school and become educated enough to solve the problems they will face as adults?   That is Millennium Goal #1.

Today, we will begin by focusing on the historical perspectives of what has caused the starvation of millions of people by their own governments who used man-made famines as a weapon of genocidal warfare. As we listen to our experts, we need to remember that if we do not learn from the past, we WILL repeat it. Thank you for your attention.

Some of you who are participating in our event for the first time may ask why Ukraine has repeatedly [...]]]> Dear Dr. Durbak, Dear Colleagues! Ladies and gentlemen! At the outset I would like to present my words of gratitude to honorary Dr. Durbak for her continued leadership in convening this annual Conference on Food Security.

Some of you who are participating in our event for the first time may ask why Ukraine has repeatedly taken a flagship role in discussing this crucial issue in its particular dimension – preventing the use of food as a weapon.

This initiative comes out from the tragic experience of my people, who were the object of a man-made starvation used for political purposes, almost 80 years ago.
In 1932-1933 the USSR communist regime started a terror by famine aimed at physically exterminating its political opposition, represented by the Ukrainian peasantry, in order to have a loyal environment on the western borders of the USSR. This famine led to millions of deaths of men, women and children and now is called the HOLODOMOR (which means “killing by starvation”).
Turning back the tragic pages of Ukrainian history, we are pursuing the following goals:

Firstly, to expose the truth to our compatriots about the reason of the extermination of Ukrainians by famine, in order to never allow dictatorship regimes to appear in the future on our land;
Secondly (and the most importantly) we discuss the HOLODOMOR in the framework of the United Nations in order to uncover the methods and purposes of this crime in Ukraine from the international law viewpoint and, thus, to prevent the further use of food as a weapon in other parts of the contemporary world.

The Conference participants today will be speaking about the crime of 1932-1933 in Ukraine, as well as on similar artificially created famines in other States. Unfortunately, we have to admit that some notorious contemporary political regimes are still using the same horrific methods in their countries, taking thousands and thousands of human lives.
In my country, where the soil is blessed to be fertile as nowhere else and in the times when the harvest was traditionally rich – millions of deaths were caused by:

1) The imposition of excessive grain procurement quotas;
2) The confiscation of everything considered as a food;
3) The prohibition of the trade in foodstuffs;
4) The deployment of internal and border troops to keep the starving people from traveling to other regions of the USSR in search of food.

Today’s international law clearly qualifies the HOLODOMOR as a crime. It is widely described in article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Court of Justice entitled “Crimes against humanity,” and I quote:

“Extermination” includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population.”

Ukraine lost millions.

The Ukrainian law on the Holodomor states that this crime has all indications of genocide, which, according to article 2 of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, means, inter alia, I quote, “Deliberately inflicted on the group of people conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is extremely important to take into consideration the tragic experience of Ukraine – while talking about the role of NGOs and free media in preventing food insecurity. Although we are going to address this subject closely in the course of our further discussion, let me make some brief introductive remarks in this regard – from the point of view of the Ukrainian experience.

“It is only due to the efforts of inspired enthusiastic researches and work of different NGOs and free media, basically guided by Ukrainian Diaspora, the world started to uncover the truth.”

Since 1932 and until the USSR collapse in 1991 the Soviet authorities were making everything possible to hide the truth about the Holodomor.

This truth, sad and terrifying, was the unifying reason for those peoples of the world who shared our pain and national sorrow, and condemned this crime of the communist regime against Ukrainians, having created an “Alliance of Solidarity.”

In this regard we are grateful to all United Nations Member States who co-sponsored the UN Declaration on Holodomor, which is still open for signature.

To secure our future we should never forget our past. I thank all of you for your attention and encourage having a vibrant and fruitful discussion.

I thank you.

This terrible tragedy created [...]]]> As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, a testament to the spirit and the determination of the people of the Ukraine, we also remember the suffering they endured 78 years ago during the catastrophic famine, which has come to be known as the holodomor, the death by hunger.

This terrible tragedy created by the international seizure of crops and farms across Ukraine by Joseph Stalin was one of the communists’ greatest atrocities. Today Americans join with the people of Ukraine and Ukrainians around the world in remembering those who suffered and died senselessly as a result of this man-made famine. In the wake of this brutal and deliberated attempt to break the wheel of the people of Ukraine, Ukrainians showed great courage and resilience. They established a proud and independent Ukraine 20 years ago, which shows the remarkable depth of the Ukrainian people’s love of freedom and independence.

The United States values the friendship between our peoples and offers our deepest condolences on this solemn occasion as we remember this tragedy. We recommit ourselves and reaffirm our shared determination to prevent similar tragic acts from ever happening again. To secure our future, we should never forget out past.