We must broaden women's economic opportunities;

We must support women by strengthening the family;

We must promote education for all;

We must improve girls' and women's health;

We must protect the human rights of women to enable them to participate in decision-making in society and in the family; and,

We must anchor all of these programs on the precept of sustainability.

"Sustainability" is a word we very often hear in the rhetoric of development these days. But when global estimates place the world population at about 5.6 billion today and is expected to reach 6.0 billion by the turn of the century, just how does one achieve sustainability in real terms?

With some I . 5 million more Filipinos emerging every 1 2 months, how does one strategize sustainability in terms of real basic needs?

Food Security

The realities of development require that we break down and translate "sustainability" into its components - in terms of things we can actually do within areas we can actually influence. One of those components is food security.

Two weeks ago, after a long process of local, regional and national workshops that cul-minated in a national food security summit, we agreed "That every man, women and child has the inalienable right to be free from hunger and malnutrition in order to fully develop and maintain their physical and mental faculties."

It is a principle which I believe is worth adopting not only in the Philippines, but also within your parliamentary plan of action for Asia and the Pacific.

Food security exists when everyone, regardless of age or gender, is assured access at all times to the food that they need for a healthy life.

Food security is achieved if a nation can ensure the availability of food at all times, stabilize food prices, and increase employment as well_ as income and production. This is the basic premise of our food security and action program.

Science, technology and progressive politics have long dealt with this issues of food security. And we know that today, the theoretical means and resources exist to feed the whole world.

The Vulnerable Environment