23rd Annual Ministerial Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Landlocked Developing Countries: Building momentum towards Gaborone: Partnering for a Decade of Action and Transformation in LLDCs

Ladies and gentlemen,

1. While the FAO Report on State of Food Security and Nutrition 2024 indicates a slight improvement, the prevalence of undernourishment and food insecurity in LLDCs are still higher than the global average.
2. Moreover, more than half of the population in LLDCs cannot afford a healthy diet. Unhealthy diets, poverty and climate constitute a large share of the hidden costs of their agrifood systems.
3. Against this backdrop, FAO has increased its support to LLDCs- along with SIDS and LDCs with the establishment of a dedicated office for these countries, as well as the flagship Hand-in-Hand Initiative- providing technical, policy and investment support to eradicate hunger, food insecurity, all forms of malnutrition and poverty, and reduce inequalities.
4. Furthermore, FAO continues to leverage its convening power to provide a platform for countries that face similar challenges to share their experiences as well as solutions that spark innovative action.
5. Last year, FAO convened a High-Level Ministerial Event: Transforming agrifood systems to increase resilience and achieve the 2030 Agenda: Harnessing the potential of SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs.
6. The Ministers issued a Call for Action and requested the establishment of an informal Ministerial network, with technical support from FAO, to share experiences for building resilience to climate change and food insecurity, to enable access to healthy diets and secure investments to scale up the transformation of agrifood systems.
7. In the spirit of building momentum towards Gaborone: Partnering for a Decade of Action and Transformation in LLDCs, the Government of Uzbekistan and FAO co-organized this month “The International Forum on Landlocked Developing Countries: Food Security and the Sustainable Development Goals” .
8. Let me conclude by reaffirming FAO’s commitment to supporting LLDCs to transform their agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.
9. Thank you!