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Madam Chair,

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
At the outset, the Group wishes to commend FAO, IFAD, WFP, UNICEF and WHO on the quality of the report “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017”. We believe the new report represents an improvement in monitoring progress towards achieving a world free from hunger and malnutrition in the context of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Unfortunately, the report has showed us that we are getting far from achieving the goals we set in Agenda 2030, as the number of undernourished people increased to 815 million in 2016, 38 million more than in 2015.
This negative development comes after a period of prolonged decline in the number of malnourished and is so much a result of the increasing number of conflicts as well as exacerbated by climate-related shocks. G77 is calling the international community to adopt urgent measures, otherwise the achievement of SDG2 will not be realized by 2030.
Food security and nutrition deteriorated sharply in parts of Near East, sub-Saharan Africa, South-Eastern Asia, Western Asia. 155 million children under the age of five were stunted in 2016, 52 million faced wasting, while child and adult obesity rates are on the rise.
Famine was declared in South Sudan. Food security was severe in northeast Nigeria, Somalia and in Yemen where 17 million people, or 60% of its total population, required urgent humanitarian assistance last March.
This demonstrates the multiple burdens of malnutrition, especially in protracted crisis countries.
Madame Chair,
Conflicts and violence have led to the displacement of millions of people, causing and protracting food insecurity, especially in the developing world. The number of displaced people because of conflicts has increased to 64 million persons, out of which 37 million are Internally displaced persons. Currently there are nine countries with 10% of their population classified as refugees or displaced.
Economic recession and consequences of climate change have worsened food insecurity in many parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Conflict is a key driver of severe food insecurity. The G77 and China reaffirms the importance of taking urgent and timely measures to strengthen universal sustainable peace and the fulfilment, promotion and protection of all human rights including the right to development and the right to food.
Madame Chair,
We recognize the important roles of FAO, WFP and IFAD in the promotion of sustainable agricultural development and food security and nutrition.
We also recognize the important role CFS can play in building policy coherence and inclusive dialogue in food security and nutrition at the global level, while helping countries to better design and implement their national FSN strategies, policies and programs. In this regard, we encourage all donors, especially from the developed world, to increase their financial contributions to CFS. Implementation of the CFS products can be done through the support of the three Rome based agencies.
We call on the implementation of the CFS products, in accordance with national laws, and in particular the “Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crisis” which is more urgent than ever before.
Madam Chair,
Developing countries continue to face unique challenges in implementing the SDGs.
The achievement of the 2030 Agenda depends on enabling an international environment for development. In this regard, we call once again for a sincere and effective follow-up to the global commitments of all actors, in particular developed countries.
We call on Official Development Assistance providers to fulfil their commitments of providing 0.7% of GDP as ODA. As indicated in the report, a boost in development action can help people become self-reliant as quickly as possible and build resilience to future shocks. We also note that the bulk of the increase in ODA has gone into humanitarian aid and much less into economic and social development. We are in a situation in which the ratio of humanitarian assistance to total ODA is rising while the ratio of ODA going into agriculture, forestry and fisheries is declining. This is not positive for long term development with the aim of building resilience.
In this context the international financial institutions can help support developing countries in improving their food security conditions. The availability of adequate and customized financing mechanisms can improve food security in protracted crisis affected communities and deal with the root causes of malnutrition.
We also urge developed countries to scale up financial support, technology transfer and technical assistance for the establishment of agricultural systems and sustainable agriculture practices, and to combat the adverse impacts of climate change through meeting their commitments under the Paris Agreement.
We stress the importance of South-South Cooperation as a collective endeavour of developing countries and as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, North-South cooperation.
We stress the important roles of responsible agriculture investment and the application of advanced technology as a way of improving agriculture productivity and enhancing food security and nutrition.
We also highlight the important role of new seed resistant drought technology for climate change mitigation in arid zones of the world.
We reiterate the world Food Summit Declaration which stated that food should not be used as an instrument for political and economic pressure. We reaffirm the importance of international cooperation and solidarity as well as the necessity of refraining from unilateral measures not in accordance with the international law and the Charter of the United Nations and that endanger food security.
We call for a universal, rules-based, open, transparent, predictable, inclusive, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system. We stress the importance of the multilateral trade negotiations towards MC11 in Buenos Aires.
We also highlight the importance of a fair multilateral trade system that can lead to better food security and nutrition conditions and avoid food price hikes as an important trigger of food insecurity.
We firmly believe that all states and stakeholders should devote themselves collectively to the pursuit of "win-win" cooperation for global development on the basis of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. This can bring huge gains to all countries and all parts of the world, so we can truly leave no one behind.
Thank you.