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Press Release – Italy/ONU: Italy Chair of the Group of Friends on Food and Nutrition for 2018

New York, 9 March 2018: Italy has taken over from the Kingdom of Netherlands the chairmanship of the Group of Friends on Food and Nutrition with a meeting hosted today at the Italian Permanent Mission to the United Nations. The meeting, chaired by the Deputy Permanent Representative Ambassador Inigo Lambertini and the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Netherlands Ambassador Karel van Oosterom, was attended by more than forty Member States. Italy’s role as chair of the Group for 2018 attests to its role as a frontrunner on the issues of food security and nutrition, which are crucial to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

“Ending hunger in the world – Ambassador Lambertini commented – is one of the most ambitious targets set by the 2030 Agenda. Improving institutional capacities, developing public-private partnerships, reducing waste are key to achieve a sustainable agricultural development with women and young people as leading actors. As Chair of the Group of Friends on Food and Nutrition, Italy intends to frame the discussion on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals along these lines, consistently with our long standing commitment in the field of food security and nutrition and protecting local productions.”

With Piero Gennari, FAO Chief statistician, Giorgio Alleva President of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and the Head of international relations at Netherlands Statistics Carina Fransen as keynote speakers, the Group discussed about SDGs indicators measurement and data collection, which are particularly difficult in several developing countries. The exchange of views highlighted the need to strengthen cooperation with developing countries to develop statistical capacities aimed at assessing the advancement of the 2030 Agenda. Italy has been focusing on this goal, also through the ISTAT, by concluding agreements in many countries in Africa, Asia and with the small islands’ states especially in the Caribbean.

Italy hosts in Rome the United Nations’ Agencies FAO, WFP and IFAD; actively participates to their activities and is among their major financial contributors. The UN Hub for food security and sustainable agriculture is the main point of reference globally on policies aimed at eradicating poverty and hunger and promoting sustainable development.

According to the FAO, 800 million people suffer from undernourishment in the world and around 3 million children under the age of five die each year of illnesses related to malnutrition.