Thank you Chair.
Excellencies,
Colleagues,
Italy welcomes today’s joint consideration of the items on poverty eradication and on agriculture, food security and nutrition by the 2nd Committee. We thank the UN Secretariat for the presentation of the informative Reports of the Secretary-General.
Eliminating Poverty and Hunger must continue to be at the top of our course of action.
These two pillars of the 2030 Agenda – SDG 1 and SDG 2 – are structurally interlinked. In 2023, 28.9 per cent of the global population, or 2.33 billion people, were moderately or severely food insecure.
Inequalities are evident, with low-income countries having the largest percentage of the population that is unable to afford a healthy diet.
It is time to accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems to strengthen their resilience to the major drivers of hunger and food insecurity and address inequalities to ensure that healthy diets are affordable for and available to all.
The global stocktaking exercise we had at the Food Systems Summit + 2 held in Rome in 2023 revealed the two thirds of the participating countries had successfully embedded their food systems transformation vision into their national strategies and sectoral plans.
But more needs to be done.
To tackle the many dimensions of food insecurity, we need a portfolio of actions.
The Secretary General’s Report highlights that displacement is a driver and outcome of food insecurity.
In this regard, let me recall the launch of the “Rome Process” on Migration and Development, launched by the Heads of State and Government of the African continent and the Italian Prime Minister at the Summit on Migration and Development in Rome in 2023. We are working to intensify efforts to address the root causes of forced migration, in full partnership with Countries of origin, transit and destination.
Another key nexus to keep in mind is the one with climate change. Agrifood Systems account for one third of total greenhouse gas emissions overall and at the same time they are highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Integrated policies and measures are necessary.
Bearing that in mind, at the COP28, Italy announced a 10 million Euro contribution for accelerating the implementation of the newly launched COP28 Declaration on Climate, Food and Agriculture.
We also believe that climate finance should be additional to the ODA. That is why we set up an ad hoc national Climate Fund, recently inaugurated. Up to 75% of its resources will be earmarked for initiatives in the African continent.
In addition, we are intervening in the regions with the most acute food insecurity needs, from the Sahel to the Mediterranean, with multi-dimensional response, from humanitarian relief to longer term measures for sustainable and resilient food systems.
This year, Italy is holding the Presidency of the G7 and in this capacity we proposed a new G7 initiative on Food Security, the Apulia food systems initiative, fully aligned with existing, relevant UN and global frameworks and initiatives.
The Italian Cooperation has a longstanding record in supporting projects aimed at strengthening the sustainability of the food value chain, addressing at once environmental sustainability, economic growth and poverty alleviation. Most recently, in the framework of the Mattei Plan for Africa, a coffee flagship initiative is been developed in collaboration with UNDP and partner countries in East Africa.
The upcoming Resolutions in the 2nd Committee on these items will advance our collective action, also in the run-up to the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Sevilla next year.
Colleagues, you can count on Italy’s full engagement and support, also in line with our role of Chair of the Group of Friends of Food Security and Nutrition in New York, to advance global action and leave no one behind.
I thank you.
