Ireland has appointed a veteran food-aid official to be its first "hunger envoy" to fight famine worldwide.
Foreign Minister Micheal Martin says Kevin Farrell's appointment Wednesday reflects Ireland's own experience of suffering mass starvation in the mid-19th century.
Ireland's Hunger Task Force had recommended creating the new position in a report last year to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The panel includes rock icon Bono and Farrell.
Farrell's new job will be to spearhead Irish efforts to meet the U.N. goal of halving world malnutrition by 2015.
Previously Farrell has overseen aid projects in Bangladesh, Iraq, Somalia, Uganda and most recently as U.N. World Food Program director in Zimbabwe.
