Youth 20 Summit

Youth 20 Summit

Speech by
Dr. QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General 

19 July 2021

As prepared 

 

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My Young Sisters and Brothers,

1. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.

2. There is one concept that cannot be overlooked when it comes to the future state of food, agriculture and the path to achieve Zero Hunger for all:

3. The future of food belongs to the young people of today!

4. It is therefore our responsibility to join forces and ensure,

5. that the youth inherit a world, where affordable, nutritious food is available for everyone, everywhere.

6. We commend the efforts of the Young Ambassadors Society in mobilizing young delegates from the G20 countries.

7. A more systematic and meaningful inclusion of youth in decision-making processes is an instrumental step,

8. to support the Decade of Action, transform our agri-food systems and achieve the SDGs.

9. The Y20/G20 youth delegates are presenting concrete solutions that are efficient, innovative and sustainable.

10. I am a firm believer in the necessity to leverage the passion, creativity and commitment of youth as a key driver towards positive change.

11. Today’s youth are very aware and engaged for more sustainable and inclusive approaches.

12. Shortly after taking office in 2019, I launched the FAO Youth Committee to increase youth engagement and foster their innovative spark.

13. Since then, the Youth Committee has been actively networking among young and youthful FAO staff,

14. and reaching out to major youth groups from around the world with the launch of the World Food Forum.

15. In addition to the World Food Forum, we at FAO, have numerous areas and ways to support and engage youth.

16. FAO hosts the Youth and United Nations Global Alliance (YUNGA).

17. This is a partnership formed by UN agencies and youth organizations to create a gateway for children and youth to participate in the activities and initiatives of the United Nations.

18. YUNGA empowers children and young people to have a greater role in society and to become active agents of change to achieve the SDGs.

19. YUNGA programs and resources are used in over 100 Member countries.

20. FAO is working on both formal and informal climate change, environmental and biodiversity education programs.

21. This includes school textbooks and guides, as well as challenge badges.  

22. FAO has developed a new vision and model for food education, where children and youth are at the center. 

23. Our vision is that of a world of food competent, reactive and proactive children, adolescents and families.

24. All of them contributing to health-promoting and sustainable food practices and outlooks.

25. The model is based on theories of behavioural change, implementation science, expert consultation;

26. and on FAO’s decades of programmatic experience in improving school food education.

27. In collaboration with young farmers, FAO systematically documents and analyses national and local policies, programs and strategies on access to productive resources, markets and knowledge.

28. These are important to establishing an enabling environment to make rural areas attractive for young women and men.

29. In this way, they can enhance their engagement in rural-urban linkages and strengthen the generational sustainability of agri-food systems under the framework of the UN Decade of Family Farming.

30. FAO also provides capacity development for young family farmers to increase their active engagement in decision-making processes;

31. and to strengthen their participation and leadership role in rural organizations.

32. We have recently launched the FAO Rural Youth Action Plan developed in collaboration with governments, UN entities and youth organizations.

33. In our new Strategic Framework for the next decade, we have placed “youth, gender and inclusion’’ as cross-cutting themes for all our programmatic work,

34. We have also placed human capital development as a key accelerator.

35. Youth and building their capabilities play a crucial role in this,

36. to make sure that no one is left behind. 

37. FAO has been working closely with Indigenous youth to integrate their perspectives in key policy processes.

38. In 2017, the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus met at FAO Headquarters and issued the Rome Declaration on the Contribution of Indigenous Youth towards a World without Hunger.

39. Following their recommendation, more than 30 Indigenous youth were selected to work as interns at FAO.

40. This has been continued through the FAO Indigenous Internship Programme, which provides Indigenous youth with opportunities to receive on-the-job training.

41. The work of FAO and Indigenous youth was picked up by UNDESA, which recommended that FAO organize and host a Global Indigenous Youth Forum in Rome.

42. I’m very pleased to share with you all that in June this year, in collaboration with the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, FAO hosted the First Global Indigenous Youth Forum.

43. Over three days, input was gathered from more than 150 Indigenous youth from across the world to feed into the UN Food Systems Summit 2021.

44. The ‘Indigenous Youth Global Declaration on Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems’ that emanated from the forum will be delivered to relevant policy makers and stakeholders at the Summit.

45. The declaration highlights the importance of meaningful engagement with indigenous youth in food systems policy processes,

46. the importance of intercultural education for Indigenous Peoples,

47. as well as the need to recognize Indigenous youth’s innovative approaches in new policy development. 

48. Finally, I invite you all to join the World Food Forum, which will be held for the first time from 1 to 6 October of this year.

49. This week-long celebration will feature a range of youth-driven events, including:

• a film festival and innovation labs;
• agri-food system education initiatives;  
• culinary events and music concerts.

50. Beyond this year, the Forum will live on and build momentum as an ongoing platform,

51. engaging and empowering youth to transform our agri-food systems,

52. and to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

Friends,

53. The time for action is now!

54. I invite you all to join the WFF movement and transform our agri-food systems for a better future.

55. We must seize this opportunity to uplift our youth,

56. to build back better,

57. for a world free of hunger.

58. Thank you.