An open exchange on the Food Systems Summit took place on Friday 30 April between the UN Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, and the FSS Liaison Group of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism. The meeting was facilitated by the CFS Chair, Thanawat Tiensin, in response to a CSM request presented in a Letter on the Food Systems Summit in February 2021. The call was also joined by the UN Special Envoy for the FSS, Agnes Kalibata, and other members of the UNSG office as well as from the CFS and FSS Secretariats.

The thoughtful and cordial conversation found areas of common concern, as well as key areas on which participants agreed to disagree. The Deputy Secretary General (DSG) underlined the centrality of human rights to the implementation of the SDGs, the need for an increased pace of food systems transformation, and full respect for the independence of civil society. She also expressed concern that the UN System and multilateralism are being seriously challenged.