ONU Celebrates World Food Day

Rome_ The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) celebrates the central act for the World Food Day today at its headquarters in Rome, Prensa Latina reports.

The commemoration of the anniversary is marked, in this opportunity, by a constant growth of hunger in the planet, which included 821 million people in 2017, a panorama that moves away the goal of reducing to zero the hunger in the world traced by the United Nations Organization (UN) in its 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development.

In coincidence with the founding day of the FAO in 1945, the celebration takes place since 1979, when the UN decided to proclaim the date with the aim of drawing attention to the issue and adding wills against hunger and malnutrition.

This year the day has as its central motto “Our actions are our future. A world #HambreCero for 2030 is possible” and is inspired by FAO's principle that all institutions and people play a role in the goal of achieving Zero Hunger, for which they must work together.

The general director of FAO, José Graziano da Silva, will speak at the ceremony as well as the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Gilbert F. Houngbo, and the Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP), David M. Beasley.

Goodwill Ambassadors from FAO for Nutrition, King Lestsie III from Lesotho and Queen Letizia from Spain appear on the program as keynote speakers.

There are also expected messages from Pope Francis and the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.

After the opening, two panels on the challenges and solutions to achieve the goal of Zero Hunger, in which heads of State or government, ministers and high-level representatives of the private sector will participate, will be held in the plenary room of FAO’s civil society.

Among other topics, FAO announced, the speakers will discuss climate change, conflicts, migration, poverty and the double burden of hunger and obesity.

Ways to adapt or overcome these challenges will also be addressed through nutrition education, improved food systems, social protection, agro-ecology, preservation of biodiversity and the empowerment of family farmers.

To the central activities for the World Food Week, will be added the realization of around a hundred parallel events such as round tables, panels and conferences, as well as these and other activities in 130 countries around the world.