The president of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), José Narro, said that in the year 2013 and in light of the country's potential, it is unacceptable that "millions of Mexicans" might be living a shameful and "extremely painful poverty". He added that there comes a time when society must say:
"We've had it up to here!"During the signing at the UNAM of a cooperation agreement with the Secretariat of Social Development (SEDESOL) for students to perform their social service in the context of the National Crusade Against Hunger, the president stated that the problem of poverty is ongoing, but
"what greatly concerns us is that many years have passed, and it is the same problems, at times aggravated."He reflected that this is about
"Mexico's historical and secular problem, the poverty, inequality and exclusion."
To think that in this country every year thousands of Mexicans die because of malnutrition "ought to seem to us unacceptable," he stated in his speech to officials from SEDESOL and UNAM. He considered that given the country's poverty
"now is the time to say 'no'. I believe that you are mistaken, you who--for political reasons--want to begrudge some possibility to the millions of Mexicans who live in these conditions."
He explained that the [hunger] policy should be an instrument on behalf of society's challenges.
"The Crusade Against Hunger has to be one of the top issues," he considered.He explained that the UNAM will start a special program within the proven strategy (the Comprehensive Community Care Model) under which the university students can perform their social service.
General counsel for the UNAM, Luis Raúl González, was responsible for presenting the agreements to be signed with the federal government. He explained that through the Comprehensive Community Care Model, which in its diagnostic phase aids in the identification and determination of priority programs for community development in areas of high poverty and extreme poverty, the social service program will be initiated in support of the National Crusade Against Hunger, and multidisciplinary teams made up of students will be trained.
The head of the SEDESOL, Rosario Robles, considered that the UNAM can take on the Crusade as a research challenge, particularly in the intervention in urban areas, which have so far been left out of social programs.
With this agreement, which extends to 2018, the SEDESOL pledged to contribute 2 million pesos [$165,087 USD] semi-annually, of which 1.8 million pesos [$148,578 USD] will go to pay financial support to social service providers, and the rest will be for operational expenses.
Yesterday, the SEDESOL also signed cooperation agreements with Nestlé Mexico and with the governments of Tamaulipas and Nayarit. When Tamaulipas Governor Egidio Torre was asked about what security the Crusade teams would have, he maintained that it will be "every day", and now we are going to do it with this new support of the team that contributes to this Crusade. Spanish original