The UN 2030 Agenda urges countries to redouble their efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goal 2, which pledges to "end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture" in order to build a world in which "no one is left behind".
According to FAO, the number of undernourished people in the world increased to 821 million in 2017, an increase that threatens previous achievements. Malnutrition problems are aggravated by increasing rates of overweight and obesity, which went up in most regions. In 2017, according to the World Health Organization, 38 million children under five were overweight.
The Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition is a joint initiative of the Spanish Parliament, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Latin America and the Caribbean Parliamentary Front against Hunger.
The Summit builds on those partners’ work through the support of FAO’s Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative, incorporating the legislative powers in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.
Other key players in the legislative world such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (UIP), the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (PARLATINO), as well as various parliamentarians from Africa, Asia and Europe who have already shown their interest in supporting and participating in the Summit.
This is the first meeting of its kind, seeking to advance political will to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) at the international level.
Objectives
The Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition seeks to advance political will, as expressed by parliaments, to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) at the international level, following specific objectives:
- Highlight the role legislative bodies can play and the need to use it with other governmental and social actors (civil society, universities, producers, companies) to achieve a hunger-free world by 2030.
- Identify and share political experiences, legislation and good practices which are fundamental in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.
- Build a network of parliamentary alliances that contribute to the achievement of SDG2: Zero Hunger, progress towards the commitments of the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), and the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, paying particular attention to the most vulnerable people and territories.