World Food Day and World Food Forum 2023 Overview of Geneva celebrations

On the occasion of World Food Day (WFD) and the World Food Forum (WFF) 2023, the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva celebrated the week and carried out a wide range of activities. From a Media Breakfast to a side event on Climate action in emergency and humanitarian livelihood assistance, FAO in Geneva engaged with the themes of WFD (Water is life, water is food) and WFF (Agrifood Systems Transformation accelerates Climate Action) through its activities.

A week before kicking off WFD and WFF Flagship week, the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva organized a Media breakfast with the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) and the UN-accredited journalists based in Geneva to raise awareness on the role of food and agriculture in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Media breakfast gave journalists an opportunity to be briefed on WFD – and most notably on FAO's work to improve water resource management – as well as to uncover news items for WFF flagship week. This event was an occasion to continue to build a stronger relationship between LOG and the Geneva-based press corp, towards a more productive engagement.

On World Food Day – 16 October, also the first day of WFF flagship week – FAO in Geneva co-organized two events: A Jeu de piste, also known as the Youth Challenge Game, at the University of Geneva and a World Food Day Dialogue: Improving water management through agroecology. Both events were organized under the WFD theme “Water is life, water is food” to build awareness about improving water management.

FAO in Geneva and local partners, Association Ma-Terre and Fondation Partage, organized a Jeu de piste at the University of Geneva Uni Mail Campus. The three organizations were set up to boost youth engagement, raise awareness about WFD and its theme, and get students and other participants in on the Water Action Agenda.

Later in the day, the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva and the FAO Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP) organized a hybrid dialogue on “Improving water management through Agroecology.” United Nations agencies, Member representatives, the private sector, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations discussed agroecology’s role in water management to improve water conservation. Participants emphasized how agroecology offers sustainable water management solutions.

The second day of the WFF flagship week was dedicated to the youth's talents, innovation, and determination through a photo exhibition displaying the 10 best photographs of the FAO in Geneva World Food Forum Photo Contest 2023 at the Palais des Nations. This global competition called for young photographers around the globe to illustrate the World Food Forum’s 2023 theme “Agrifood Systems Transformation accelerates Climate Action.” Hosted by FAO in Geneva, the vernissage of the exhibition invited several United Nations agencies’ representatives, among which UN Geneva, UN Women, the World Food Programme, and the United Nations Development Programme, who spoke on the important role of the youth in climate action within sustainable agrifood systems.

Alongside the WFF photo exhibition, the World Food Day ‘Food Heroes’ exhibition took place, paying a tribute to individuals around the world who are taking water action in their local communities and making waves of global change. The Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture also produced a video message from Guy Parmelin, Federal Councillor and head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, on this special day. The WFD Branding of trams and buses in Geneva and other cities in Switzerland and the illumination of Geneva’s trademark Jet d’eau, as well as a month-long campaign throughout Eldora cafeteria branches in Switzerland, added to WFD 2023 celebrations in the country.

The week finished with a WFF side Event on Climate action in emergency and humanitarian livelihood assistance. The panel discussion aimed to demonstrate how integrating climate and environmental considerations into FAO programmes contributes to delivering on the Climate Charter and the 2030 Agenda, while protecting the environment, as well as communities and the agrifood systems that sustain them. Panelists from FAO, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) shared the critical message that governments must have a central, leading role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of humanitarian interventions.