General Manager QU Dongyu led the ceremony at FAO Headquartered in Rome, declared that with food security worsening and the threat of severe hunger levels in Asia and Africa at all-time highs, the world must “leave no one behind.” “.
‘A challenging moment’
Send a special message Addressing the event, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was happening “at a challenging time for global food security”.
An incredible three billion people cannot have a healthy diet; the war in Ukraine has increased the prices of food, fertilizers and energy; and the most vulnerable are being battered by pandemics, the climate crisis, environmental degradation, conflict and deepening inequality.
“The number of people affected by famine has more than doubled in the last three years,” he said, adding that “nearly a million people are living in conditions of starvation, with hunger and death a reality every day.” day”.
Be the one to change
Regarding this year’s theme, Leave no one behind. Better production, better nutrition, better environment and better lifeMr. Guterres said that farmers need access to affordable fertilizers to ensure enough food next year.
Governments, scientists and civil society need to work together to make nutritious and affordable diets available to all, and financial institutions must increase support for developing country.
“Together, we must move from despair to hope and action,” the secretary-general said. “On World Food Day and every day, I urge you to join the change.”
Many threats
The celebration comes at a time when global food security faces multiple threats, driving up food, energy and fertilizer prices amid the climate crisis and protracted conflicts.
Furthermore, the stimulating impact of COVID continues to highlight how interconnected economies and lives have become 970,000 people are at risk of starvation in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.
FAO’s latest Situation of food security and nutrition in the world Reports indicate that worldwide hunger is on the rise.
Raise their voices
A message read on behalf of Pope Francis remind that people are “more than just numbers, data, or an endless stream of statistics.”
Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) speak The day should be a call for increased action to “help small-scale farmers in rural areas who feed their communities and their countries… despite inequality, ease of vulnerable and poor”.
World food program (WFP) Director David Beasley described the food supply crisis as his “biggest concern”, saying that “the world must open its eyes to this unprecedented global food crisis and act right now to prevent it from spinning out of control.”
© FAO / Giuseppe Carotenuto
Secretary-General António Guterres delivers the message via video link at FAO’s World Food Day event held in Rome, Italy.
Anniversary
Event in Rome includes an exhibit featuring space photographs by European Space Agency astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador Thomas Pesquet, which highlights the climate crisis.
FAO’s first Achievement Award was awarded to those whose action is transforming the agri-food system and the World Food Day event for children was celebrated with a wide range of Food Hero.
Global hunger awareness events will continue to take center stage next week.
Meanwhile, FAO’s Joint initiative continue to work to accelerate the transformation of agricultural systems by poverty reduction, stop hungerand reduce inequality.
It aims to promote decent rural employment, promote gender equality, social protection, end child labor, and support Rural and Indigenous Peoples who oversee the majority biodiversity of the earth.
Click here to see the ceremony.
