Interlinkages between the SDGs

 

 

 

Interlinkages between the SDGs
An expert group meeting in preparation for HLPF 2018 transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies

Carla Mucavi, Director, FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York

It is a pleasure to be here today.

Last year, FAO, IFAD and WFP partnered with DESA to organize an Expert Group Meeting on SDG 2, in preparation for the High Level Political Forum.

We synthesized the outcomes of the meeting in 10 key messages, that informed the negotiations of the HLPF Ministerial Declaration and the HLPF itself. Copies of these messages are available in the room so, for the sake of time, I will try to summarize some of the main ideas that came out of it.

The meeting reaffirmed the importance of political commitment, nationally driven and country specific responses and inclusive partnerships were essential to achieve SDG 2.

I want to emphasize the national ownership and the importance of the participation of local level in this effort. Communities, and especially rural communities, indigenous peoples, family farmers, fisherfolk and forest people possess knowledge and experience that cannot be ignored and must be the agents of change if we are to achieve SDG2 and the 2030 Agenda. In this regard, it is crucial that our efforts empower them so that they can reach their full potential.

There was also a strong convergence on the need to transform our food systems in a holistic way so that it is sustainable, inclusive and resilient, supporting not only the production, but also access and consumption of safe and nutritious food.

Malnutrition was also, of course, an important part of the EGM on SDG2. The experts highlighted that it was a major cause of the global burden of disease with significant costs to the global economy. They highlighted that it was critical to ensure that healthy food systems support healthy diets, as called for in the Decade of Action on Nutrition.

The urgency to act was also stressed and this is even more important now as we have seen an uptake in the number of hungry people in the world.

Ladies and gentlemen,

To end, let me say that the key messages of the expert group meeting on SDG 2 were echoed in the HLPF Ministerial Declaration, the summary of the President of ECOSOC and in the HLPF debates themselves.

We can consider that this was an effective and successful exercise. And I attribute its success in a great part to the engagement of the experts in the expert group meeting. I am sure that this EGM on nutrition and interlinkages will be as useful to the HLPF as last year’s EGM on SDG2.

Thank you for your attention.