President Michael D Higgins shared a stage with Brazilian football star Kaka at a United Nations conference on world hunger today.

Mr Higgins was the key note speaker at a sidebar session at this weekend's landmark UN Summit on sustainable development in New York

At the Mobilising Generation Zero Hunger event in the UN conference centre, Mr Higgins sat beside Kaka, who is a UN ambassador against world hunger, at the top table.

The discussion was moderated by British television presenter and journalist Femi Oke and included contributions from organisations involved in tackling world hunger.

During his address, Mr Higgins said it is "simply unacceptable" that there are currently 800 million people hungry in the world when vast quantities food are being produced.

Read More

"This is one of the greatest failures of contemporary life and it indicts our global policies and actions," Mr Higgins said.

"The source of hunger is not a lack of food, it is in endemic poverty that is sourced in injustice, sustained and deepened by inequality – an inequality that we can have the capacity to address if we build the political will required for a new departure in our global interdependence," he added.

Kaka, who spoke in Portuguese, said he became involved in tackling world hunger when he was told how many children are hungry across the world.

He was also asked about how he celebrates after a success on the football field. The footballer said he puts on a special shirt which says 'Jesus loves me' on it.

Kaka is a former AC Milan star who now plays for Orlando City.

Online Editors