The Food Coalition launched by the government through the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation is at the centre of Italy's global efforts to help eradicate the scourge of hunger, deputy foreign minister Marina Sereni said on Monday.
“Italy's challenge is to encourage a global mobilisation of all countries, bringing together the public and private sectors and civil society for the greater common goal of achieving Zero Hunger'," Sereni said during a video conference with FAO chief Qu Dongyu.
The talks focused on the G20 joint Foreign Affairs and Development Ministerial Meeting in Matera, southern Italy, on 29 June during Italy's presidency of the Group this year, and on a pre-Summit meeting for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, which will be held in Rome in late July, according a foreign ministry statement.
Italy is working with the other G20 partners on the issue of food security, especially via the Food Coalition initiative, now a central FAO programme which seeks to counter the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the world’s agri-food systems, said the statement.
The UN pre-Summit in Rome on 26-28 July is key to efforts to transform food systems in a more inclusive and sustainable way, Sereni told Qu.
"It is essential for our future to be able to recognise and value diversity, as well as the different traditions and cultural paths that underpin food models and systems, which are a source of wealth for the whole of mankind," Sereni stated.
