INTERVENTO INTRODUTTIVO PRONUNCIATO DALL’AMBASCIATORE SEBASTIANO CARDI, RAPPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DELL’ITALIA PRESSO LE NAZIONI UNITE ALL’EVENTO: “ADDRESSING FOOD SECURITY, NUTRITION AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE THROUGH THE PRISM OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS” (4 giugno 2015) 

Excellencies, distinguished speakers, ladies and gentlemen,



At the outset I would like to thank each and all of you for your participation in this panel discussion on the challenge of food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture through the prism of the SDGs.

I would like to thank in particular Amb. Ahmad Kamal, Senior Fellow at UNITAR and former Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN for accepting the invitation to be our moderator today.

What we would like to explore today is the extent to which the proposed SDGs call upon us to change the way we should approach this critical challenge for the future of humanity at the 2030 horizon. These are issues which are being currently debated also within the context of “Expo Milano 2015” dedicated to the theme “Feeding the planet, energy for life”.

While the MDGs agenda is drawing to a close with undeniable important results, we must recognize that much remains to be done to free humanity from hunger and to ensure sufficient, healthy and nutritious food to the world’s population as the International Conference on Nutrition hosted last November in Rome has clearly shown.

If we agree that the overarching goal of our common endeavors is to put an end to extreme poverty, than there is maybe no other objective that should receive more attention than eradicating hunger. It is indeed evident that undernourishment and hunger structurally hinder any human being’s ability to be autonomous and live in dignity and freedom.

The MDGs with their achievements and also with their shortcomings have taught us many lessons. We must build on those lessons to complete the unfinished agenda.

The critical innovation the proposed SDGs imply is a new way of bringing together the multiple actors that are indispensable to ensure food security. They include public authorities, international organizations, farmers, academia, the private sector, social enterprises and cooperatives, civil society.

In the past – and to some extent even today – our ability to bring forward an effective agenda has been hindered by misunderstandings on the principles that should guide such a multi-stakeholder approach.

That is why we have proposed to convene representatives of all those stakeholders around this table at a critical juncture for the future of the development agenda to identify how we can build new partnerships based on mutual confidence and correctly designed incentives.

We will discuss principles but we will also draw on some concrete cases that may serve as sources of inspiration for designing an effective new agenda.


Thank you.