Intervento dell’Ambasciatore Maurizio Massari, Rappresentante Permanente dell’Italia presso le Nazioni Unite, al Meeting in formula Arria del Consiglio di Sicurezza su “Conflict and Hunger” —
Thank you Madame President and we thank Ireland for organizing this meeting.
Italy aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union and wishes to add a few remarks in its national capacity.
As indicated in relevant UN reports, the number of people suffering from severe malnutrition continues to rise exponentially due to conflicts. The current context, which the Secretary-General has recently described as a “perfect storm”, encapsulates the crucial importance of acting along the “Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus”, with Food Security being a crucial priority.
Conflict-induced hunger stems also from the denial of safe, rapid, and unhindered humanitarian access, which further contributes to a growing number of internally displaced people and refugees.
Referring to Ukraine, we call on Russia to comply with their obligations under International Humanitarian Law and allow humanitarian actors to reach all people in need of food assistance.
In order to tackle the dire effects the unjustified and unprovoked Russian aggression to Ukraine is having on global Food Systems and food security, both in terms of access to food and higher prices, we welcome and support full implementation of the Food Recommendations presented in the UN Global Crisis Response Group Brief, but first and foremost, Madame President, the aggression against Ukraine must stop immediately.
Italy also recalls that the recently adopted General Assembly Resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine, has already expressed concern about the impact of the conflict on increased food insecurity globally.
Moreover, we need to increase global action to address the alarming humanitarian consequences of existing conflicts and very fragile situations, such as in Afghanistan, Haiti, Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan but also Sahel, Lake Chad and in the Horn of Africa.
Madame President,
Less than one year ago, the international community met in Rome and in New York for the UN Food Systems Summit, committing to make food systems more resilient and sustainable and aiming to achieve Zero Hunger. We need to accelerate all actions, including along the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, to achieve this goal.
Italy remains fully committed to address global food insecurity worldwide and achieve SDG 2, as we did during the pandemic, when Italy launched a “Food Coalition”, which is now a flagship program of FAO, or by promoting the first ever G20 Matera Declaration on Food Security, Nutrition and Food Systems as a concrete call to action for SDG2. We will continue to support proactively the UN Rome Based Agencies and the UN-System-wide action, standing ready to continue our collective work, also in our capacity of Chair of the Group of Friends of Food Security and Nutrition in New York.
Among our most recent actions, we are stepping up financial support to respond to emerging food security needs in Africa. In addition to our support to UN Rome-based Agencies, Italy has also progressively increased its financial contribution to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, in support of timely and effective humanitarian interventions, increasing also our humanitarian contribution in the field of food security.
In the context of the current crisis, we remain fully committed to advance global action for food security for all.
I thank you.
