In September 2007, stars from Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood joined ActionAid’s week-long HungerFREE campaign in New York, questioning US President George Bush’s opening speech, during which he told delegates that they were not doing their “duty” in the world.

ActionAid challenged the president, demanding actions instead of words.

“President Bush is rightly giving priority to hunger as a global issue. Now, the US must put its money where its mouth is by ratifying the UN resolution on the right to food. It is currently the only country in the world which has failed to do so,” said ActionAid’s Campaign Director Colm O Cuanachain.

Campaigners, who protested at the Ralph Bunche Plaza, also presented case studies showing violations of poor people’s right to food during meetings scheduled with the UN missions in New York.

Film stars Shabana Azmi, Hilda Dokubo and Tim Meadows joined HungerFREE campaigners from across the globe in calling on the UN to honour its commitment to halve world hunger by 2015.

Ex-Miss Nepal and UN Ambassador Malvika Subba met Madhu Raman Acharya, Nepal’s Ambassador to the UN, to ask the Nepali government to support the campaign.

“It is important for us to make our case directly to the Nepali government and to convey the message from the thousands of people in Nepal who are campaigning on this issue,” she said. “We hope for positive results.”

At the meeting Mr Acharya expressed his support and interest in the campaign calling hunger “the silent crisis” and reiterated the Nepali commitment to the resolution.

Outside the UN, the protest attracted passers-by from around the world, who stopped by to sign their personal messages on HungerFREE plates.

Members of the press came too, including BBC Afrique, who conducted an interview with Ibrahima Niasse, who came all the way from Senegal.

In his native country, he serves as the Head of The Farmers’ Platform, which stands up for the rights of small family farmers.

“We are at a place in history where there should absolutely be no hunger,” he said. “That’s why I’m here. Lives are on the line. The United Nations must take action.”

© Charles Eckert/ActionAid. Click to see the slideshow. 17 images