Hunger is the world’s number one health risk. It kills more people every year than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. The world produces enough food to feed everyone yet one in seven people on our planet go to bed hungry each night.
In recent years, this problem has been compounded by changing weather conditions, escalating food prices, the global financial crisis, and the soaring demand for land as investors look for places to grow food for export, biofuels, or as an investment.

For already impoverished communities, this means that not only has land become even more out of reach, but all too often people are kicked off their land, in some cases forcibly and without compensation, after having been there for several generations. Loss of land can also deeply affect identity and connection to culture and tradition. For women, who have key responsibilities for feeding their families and for sustaining culture, loss of rights and access to land poses a huge challenge.
Competition for land is a constant factor in human history. It’s not necessarily a problem when wealthy companies invest in agricultural land in poor countries for commercial use. But when families are displaced with nowhere to go, people are unable to feed themselves and livelihoods are taken away as a result, that’s a very big problem indeed.
By 2050, it is estimated that demand for food will have grown by 70% globally. Can we meet this demand? How can we manage competition for land in a way that is fair to those who have the least power? And what are the rights and responsibilities of corporate investors?

What can we do to help prevent further abuse of human rights, displacement and to ensure that poor communities can access land to grow food and generate income?  

The world’s poorest face a constant battle to survive. They have inadequate access to health, education and other services. They face problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease. They are also typically marginalised from society and have little representation or voice in public and political debates making it even harder to escape poverty. And with women and girls making up a disproportionate number of world’s poorest, but often being the most afflicted, how can we ensure their voices are heard and needs and rights addressed as well?

International aid is one way to help. But when it comes to the distribution of aid there are many opinions on the best method. So how do we ensure that the $5.2 billion that the Australian Government plans to spend in 2012-13 is being used most effectively? How do we ensure that aid is creating lasting and sustainable change? What say do the world’s poor have in how the money is spent? And most importantly, are we doing enough?
 

The Olympic spirit is about building a peaceful and better world with mutual understanding, a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. The most important part of the Olympic Games is not necessarily to win, but to do one’s best while taking part.

Billions of people around the world, through no fault of their own, struggle just to take part in life. Every day is a test of wills, a test of survival with limited access to water, healthcare and education. What if there was a way to turn this around? What if sport was involved?

Sport is a major part of the lives of many Australian’s. It brings people together to work towards common goals and is a universal language that can help bridge divides and promote the core values necessary for lasting change. On the sporting field, everyone is equal. And through sport, children and adolescents learn to exercise judgement, think critically while finding solutions to problems, and to develop a winning spirit. Sport unites and fans the flames of a community, and it’s in this spirit that people, working together, can really start to make a difference.

But is the thought of sport instigating meaningful social change completely absurd? Can we really use sport to help those in need? In the spirit of the Olympics, how can sport lift billions out of poverty and help to change the world for the better?

The Olympic spirit is about building a peaceful and better world with mutual understanding, a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. The most important part of the Olympic Games is not necessarily to win, but to do one’s best while taking part.

Billions of people around the world, through no fault of their own, struggle just to take part in life. Every day is a test of wills, a test of survival with limited access to water, healthcare and education. What if there was a way to turn this around? What if sport was involved?

Sport is a major part of the lives of many Australian’s. It brings people together to work towards common goals and is a universal language that can help bridge divides and promote the core values necessary for lasting change. On the sporting field, everyone is equal. And through sport, children and adolescents learn to exercise judgement, think critically while finding solutions to problems, and to develop a winning spirit. Sport unites and fans the flames of a community, and it’s in this spirit that people, working together, can really start to make a difference.

But is the thought of sport instigating meaningful social change completely absurd? Can we really use sport to help those in need? In the spirit of the Olympics, how can sport lift billions out of poverty and help to change the world for the better?