282

  • Issue: March 1963
  • Designer: A. Kalderon
  • Plate no.: 81
  • Method of printing: Photogravure

During man's long journey through history, hunger has dogged his footsteps. The world's earliest record of hunger is found on a stone slab discovered in a tomb near the First Cataract of the Nile. Like a warning to posterity a Pharaoh of Egypt inscribed in granite his despair about the "lean years" of famine plaguing his kingdom.

Hunger haunts the pages of the Bible. It shadows the pages of Genesis, Exodus, and the Book of Kings. The prophet Joel bewailed the famine that followed in the wake of hordes of locusts: "The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted; the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth" (Joel 1:10).

Unfortunately, hunger and famine do not belong only to the past. However, the scientific revolution of the twentieth century has given mankind the skills and knowledge to fight the age-old affliction and to contribute to a world of plenty. With this, and the fact that millions still suffer from hunger and malnutrition throughout the world, in mind, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations decided to launch its Freedom from Hunger Campaign in 1960.

The campaign had two main objectives: first, to create a world-wide awareness of the problems of hunger and malnutrition which, in addition to human suffering and degradation, are a serious threat to peace and progress; and secondly, to create a climate of opinion in which solutions could be devised on both a national and international basis.

The Freedom from Hunger Campaign was a focus for cooperation of international organizations, governments, and various citizens' groups. This effort to create informed and active awareness culminated in the World Food Congress in Washington DC, held in 1963 under FAO auspices.

This stamp was issued in 1963 in commemoration of the World Freedom from Hunger Campaign. A symbolic picture depicts an outstretched hand offering food to a small bird. The Hebrew inscription reads: "No more hunger" and on the tab Yehezkel 36:29 is quoted: "...And I will not burden you with famine."

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Freedom From Hunger Campaign