Rio de Janeiro – QU Dongyu, Director-Normal of the Meals and Agriculture Group of the United Nations (FAO), appealed for peace, recognition of the suitable to meals, and reform of multilateral establishments as cardinal imperatives in the course of the G20 Overseas Affairs Ministers Assembly held on Wednesday and Thursday in Brazil.
“FAO requires the prioritization of actions that promote meals safety globally to realize the 4 Betters: higher manufacturing, higher vitamin, a greater surroundings, and a greater life, leaving nobody behind,” Qu mentioned on the first session, targeted on the G20’s function in coping with conflicts and ongoing worldwide tensions.
“We want a worldwide governance system that’s match for objective, works in an environment friendly, efficient, and coherent method, is accountable to its members, and absolutely aligned and dedicated to realize all of the SDGs,” he mentioned on the second session. “With regards to starvation and poverty it should prioritize folks, whereas additionally defending the planet. Agrifood techniques are options primarily based on science and knowledge.”
The Assembly introduced collectively the overseas affairs ministers of nations that collectively signify round 85 p.c of world gross home product, 75 p.c of world commerce and round two-thirds of the world’s inhabitants. The FAO Director-Normal was joined on the Assembly by the heads of different worldwide organizations together with the Worldwide Financial Fund, the World Financial institution, the World Well being Group and the World Commerce Group in addition to UNESCO, UNCTAD, the ILO and quite a few regional growth banks.
The Assembly was the primary main occasion of Brazil’s 2024 G20 presidency, which options starvation, sustainable growth and world governance as the important thing priorities. President Lula da Silva of Brazil has additionally arrange a job power with the intention of creating a International Alliance In opposition to Starvation and Poverty by the tip of the yr and open to all nations, not simply G20 members.
FAO’s Director-Normal praised Brazil for main that initiative.
FAO function and message
Rising meals and vitality costs within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, pure disasters, in addition to ongoing conflicts and wars and asymmetrical fiscal and financial strains, impacted meals safety past conventional starvation hotspots.
The FAO Director-Normal emphasised the significance of “elevated funding to rework world agrifood techniques to be extra environment friendly, extra inclusive, extra resilient and extra sustainable,” noting that will probably be vital to cut back starvation and produce folks out of poverty in addition to guarantee wholesome and nutritious meals for all.
He pointed to a few predominant pathways by which FAO helps and enhances the efforts of the broader UN system: tackling acute starvation; bolstering environment friendly agricultural markets; and growing the resilience of all Members and their populations.
The meals safety work entails a spread of actions starting from FAO’s internet hosting of the Built-in Meals Safety Classification (IPC) world assist unit, which maps rising starvation crises world wide, to taking an lively function in fostering the objectives of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which aimed to mitigate battle’s influence on massive world commerce flows.
The markets work is geared to growing manufacturing and value info and transparency and consists of internet hosting the Agricultural Market Data System (AMIS), which was established by the G20 in 2011 and performed an essential function in stopping extreme market volatility in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
FAO’s work in growing Members’ resilience to permit their communities to forestall and address disaster and shock is geared to probably the most weak folks, together with girls, youth, Indigenous Peoples and rural farmers. “We have to create alternatives for the poor to extend their incomes and enhance their livelihoods,” Qu mentioned, including that digitalization and innovation as properly infrastructure and higher schooling and well being companies are all precedence funding areas.
The Director-Normal provided FAO’s full assist of UN Secretary-Normal António Guterres’s name to overtake and renew world governance establishments in step with “twenty first century financial and political realities.”
FAO, working as knowledgeable facilitator serving 194 Members, is on the middle of a worldwide governance structure for meals safety, partaking the Worldwide Fund for Agricultural Growth (IFAD), the World Meals Programme (WFP), the WHO and the WTO together with a partnership of 60 years with the World Financial institution and different worldwide monetary organizations and multilateral growth establishments. The Director-Normal highlighted that FAO presents a novel platform for governments, educational establishments, civil society, the non-public sector and different key companions for change of information and dialogues
Qu pointed to the International Roadmap for Attaining SDG2 with out breaching the 1.5C threshold, which FAO launched on the COP 28 local weather summit late final yr. That roadmap can act as a catalyst to information financing for accelerated local weather actions to rework agrifood techniques and assist remodeled agrifood techniques obtain “good and nutritious meals for all immediately and tomorrow,” he mentioned.
