The project coordinator of the FPSC, Carmen Seoane, visited the 39th Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome (Italy) from the 6th to the 13th of June. In the Conference, the Director General José Graziano da Silva was unanimously re-elected for four more years (2015-2018) and the budget for the period 2016-2017 was approved.
12 Heads of State attended the conference, together with nearly 130 Ministers and high-level governmental representatives, as well as representatives from the 197 FAO member countries. The President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, opened the conference, which counted on the participation of Michele Bachelet, the President of Chile and the ex President of Brasil, Lula da Silva, who gave a lecture in memory of Frank Lidgett McDougall, one of the founders of the FAO. In the lecture he spoke about food and nutritional safety.
A prize-giving ceremony at an international level awarded the huge effort of the countries around the world, which has taken us closer to the target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving the amount of people suffering from hunger in 2015, or leaving it under the 5% line.
Most of the countries evaluated by the FAO – 72 out of 129 – achieved the target of the MDGs, and the developing regions got very close. From these 72 countries, 29 achieved also the most ambitious target of the World Food Summit (WFS) that was to halve the total amount of people with hunger according to the terms established in the Summit of 1996 in Rome. 12 other countries kept their hunger rates under 5% since, at least, 1990.
The Director General of the FAO, José Graziano da Silva, honored these achievements during the ceremony, which took place in the headquarters of the Organization. “Since 1990, 216 million people have escaped the longstanding hunger”. Nevertheless, he warned that almost 800 million people are still suffering from chronic undernourishment.
Graziano da Silva urged to double the efforts worldwide in order to fight chronic undernourishment. “One out of nine persons in this planet does not have enough food for living an active, healthy and productive life. That is unacceptable”, he said, and added “if we all do our part, we can achieve zero hunger in the course of our lives. Together we can make this vision a reality”.
In its first statement on policies, José Graziano da Silva revealed information about the worldwide trends on food safety, such as the eradication of hunger as one of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are being negotiated at present and will substitute the MDGs next September. He assured that the eradication of hunger will be among the main priorities of the Organization during the next four years, together with raising the nutrition levels and the fight against climate change.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) named Queen Letizia of Spain “Special Ambassador for Nutrition” in a ceremony celebrated in the headquarters of the Organization in Rome.
With this appointment, the personal compromise of the Queen for a world without hunger and malnutrition is recognized, as well as the efforts of Spain in promoting food and nutritional safety around the world. It is also based in her passion for scientific research for promoting health, education and innovation.
Queen Letizia, as the Special Ambassador for Nutrition, will lead raising awareness actions and build public support towards the efforts of the FAO to eradicate hunger in the world. “My task is that of serving the objectives of this UN agency in the most effective way possible”, said Queen Letizia to the representatives of the member countries of the FAO at the Organization’s governing Conference.
During her speech, Queen Letizia stressed the relevance of a good nutrition for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and children during the first two years of their lives. Moreover, she highlighted that the worldwide agro-food sector needs to participate “in an active and responsible way, helping to raise awareness of the need to support people in living healthy lives free of sickness”. The Queen referred to the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, “the best example of healthy and sustainable eating”.
Pope Francis received in the Vatican the representatives of the 39th Conference and remembered that the international community should answer to the moral imperative, which is that the access to necessary food is a right for all. “If all the member states work for each other, the joint actions of the FAO will arrive in short. Furthermore, the original purpose will be achieved, that fiat panis that can be seen in its symbol”, stressed the Pope regarding the motto of the FAO: “Let there be bread”.