The Director-General emphasised the interconnectedness of conflicts, climate extremes, and economic crises, stressing their disproportionate impact on food security and nutrition for the poor and vulnerable
At a High-Level event organised by the Permanent Delegation of Brazil to the United Nations Rome-based agencies and Global Citizen, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu highlighted today the urgent need to prioritise food security and climate action in 2024 and reaffirmed FAO’s support to the G20 Presidency which Brazil currently holds.
In a keynote speech, Qu underlined the grim reality of global hunger, reminding that 735 million people faced chronic hunger in 2022. The Director-General emphasised the interconnectedness of conflicts, climate extremes, and economic crises, stressing their disproportionate impact on food security and nutrition for the poor and vulnerable.
The high-level event, held at the Brazilian Embassy in Rome, was hosted by the Ambassador of Brazil to Italy Renato Mosca; the Brazilian Ambassador to the UN Rome Based Agencies Carla Carneiro, and the Global Citizen Vice President of Global Policy and Advocacy Friederike Roder.
It also had the participation of other leaders from the UN Rome Based Agencies: Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, of the World Food Programme (WFP).
A high-level panel focused on how the G7 and G20 presidencies, Italy and Brazil respectively, prioritise food security and agricultural adaptation, including the recently announced G20 Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty to be launched in November.
Among the panelists were the Director General for Development Cooperation and Special Envoy for Food Security of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Stefano Gatti; and the Permanent Representative to the UN Agencies in Rome of the Republic of South Africa, Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile.