Read-out of the FAO Director-General’s meeting with H.E. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group
Rome - Director-General QU Dongyu and Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) of the United Nations met today at FAO Headquarters, together with Dominik Ziller, Vice-President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Valerie Guarnieri, Deputy Executive Director for Programme and Policy Development at World Food Programme (WFP). The DSG was joined at the meeting by Ms Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The DSG informed the Director-General and the RBAs that following her earlier meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Antonio Tajani, the UN Secretary-General would announce that the UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment (STM) will take place in Rome, Italy, from 24 to 26 July 2023 at FAO headquarters. The STM will be hosted by Italy, in collaboration with the RBAs, together with the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub (the Hub) and the wider UN system.
The Director-General expressed his full support for the STM along with his appreciation for the leadership of the Secretary-General and the DSG, and for the ongoing commitment and support provided by the Italian government to global food security issues and to FAO’s mandate in support of agrifood systems transformation. He stressed that the STM will provide an opportunity to highlight the interwoven global challenges of food availability, food accessibility, and food affordability, due to the current overlapping crises affecting food security globally.
He also reiterated that political commitment, ownership and partnership - including with the private sector, academia and other key stakeholders – are key to mobilizing action. The Director-General specifically highlighted the critical role that National Convenors play in advocating for agrifood systems transformation at country and policy level, while noting that all agrifood systems stakeholders need to be included in implementation to ensure that the objectives of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit (2021 FSS) are landed effectively.
For her part, the DSG also expressed her appreciation for the Director-General’s leadership and thanked the RBAs and the Hub for the work carried out thus far in the follow-up to the 2021 FSS. She noted that this first STM can provide inspiration towards the SDG Summit and other key convening events during 2023, and stressed the importance of reversing negative trends and galvanizing political will and support in the face of global challenges, including food security.
Following the meeting segment on the STM with the RBAs, the Director-General and the DSG also discussed FAO’s ongoing engagement with the UN Secretary-General’s Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) on Food, Energy and Finance, including its Food Workstream, and workplanning for the GCRG in 2023, as well as other matters related to global food security.
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