The United Nations (UN) will host a ‘Food Systems Summit’ in October to identify the problems to be solved so that no one goes hungry and to radically transform the way food is managed on the planet, a statement released on Thursday noted.
According to details, the summit will be the turning point in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. With only 10 years remaining, many of the 17 SDGs remain distant, it shared, adding that unsafe or unsustainable food systems are part and parcel of the development challenge.
Rebuilding the food systems of the world enables us to answer the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call to “build back better” from Covid-19 and to leave no one behind.
It stated that as part of Pakistan’s commitment to achieve SDGs by 2030, the government is keen to amplify its participation in the Food Systems Summit in close consultation with the UN organisations.
With this aim, a consultative meeting was held by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR) Secretary Ghufran Memon and attended by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Director Rebekah Bell, the World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director Chris Kaye and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) Country Programme Officer Mohammad Fida.
Under the convenorship of the MNFSR secretary, the partners discussed how to organise dialogues at the provincial and national levels based on five identified action tracks such as ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all, shift to sustainable consumption patterns, boost nature-positive production, advance equitable livelihoods and build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress.
The recommendations generated through these dialogues will be presented in a pre-summit in July in Rome and Italy while final recommendations will be presented in the Summit in October in New York, the statement maintained.
The summit actions and commitments will be informed by the best evidence, ideas, initiatives and alliances from around the world. The summit will develop principles to guide the national and local governments, companies and citizens seeking to leverage their food systems to support sustainable development.
These principles will set an optimistic and encouraging vision in which food systems play a central role in building a fairer, more sustainable world. The Food System Summit also aims to create a system of follow-up and review to ensure that the Summit’s outcomes continue to drive new actions and progress across all member states.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2021.
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