The University of Oviedo hosted this morning the signing of the Memorandum by means of which the support network for the National Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition (ACHM-E) is created: an international initiative sponsored by the United Nations that aims at fighting against extreme poverty. Rector Vicente Gotor, presided over the ceremony for this agreement that was signed by the Government of the Principality, UNICEF, the Alimerka Foundation, the Food Bank and several town councils, apart from the Red Cross, Agricultural and Food Cooperatives of the Principality and the Asturian Network for Rural Development (READER).

Alongside the Rector, the initiative of the support network was endorsed by the Councilor for Social Welfare, Esther Díez, Juan Núñez, President of the Food Bank of Asturias, Juan Luis Mallada Martínez, President of the Alimerka Foundation, and Ángel Naval Balbín, President of UNICEF Asturias. Among the institutions that signed the agreement was Yolanda Alonso, Councilor of Social Services of the Principality; Celia Fernández, President of the Red Cross of Asturias, and Jesús Álvarez, secretary of the Asturian Network for Rural Development. The Town Council of Gijón will join these institutions and entities in the near future.

The Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition is a global initiative of progress that links organizations and institutions that hold the same views and which are involved in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. It aims at being a forum that congregates the will of these entities and then sets in motion concrete actions to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, one of the Millennium Development Goals established by the UN in 2000.

The Rector stated that this network is born with the clear aim of improving society and giving direct assistance. "The actions aimed at increasing awareness, promoting debate and disseminating knowledge are vital to create a social consciousness on the problem of hunger and malnutrition, but we must take a step further and attack the core of the problem, with the economic and material resources available, as scarce as they may be, and with something even more valuable: the human resources. Social organizations play a basic role in this last aspect, since without their volunteers it would be impossible to start any initiative of this kind.