FOOD SECURITY, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE URGENT ISSUE AT TIME OF ECONOMIC TURMOIL, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MESSAGE TO BANGKOK MEETING
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in Bangkok, 27 April:
I am pleased to send greetings to your session, which coincides with the sixtieth anniversary of ESCAP in Thailand. I thank the Government for its generous support to the United Nations over the years as host of our largest presence in Asia and the Pacific.
You have rightly chosen to focus on the critical issue of food security and sustainable agriculture, which has taken on even more urgency at this time of economic turmoil. Last year, market pressures drove food prices so high that many families could no longer afford to eat. By the end of 2008, some 1 billion people suffered from hunger. We must remedy this appalling situation. An entire generation is at stake.
Food and fuel insecurity are part of a triple threat that also includes the economic crisis and climate change. We must confront these problems in tandem, and protect the world’s poorest people above all. That was my message earlier this month to the G-20 Summit in London. I called for a truly global stimulus that advanced the interests of all nations. I stressed that we must honour our pledge to reach the Millennium Development Goals. And I urged the G-20 to promote a “Green New Deal” that would address climate change while tackling the economic crisis.
The G-20 committed more than a trillion dollars to deal with the crisis, reaffirmed the MDGs, and pledged to embark on a green recovery. These are welcome steps ‑‑ but they will be meaningful only if all promises are kept. As we move ahead and seek to ensure proper follow-up, the United Nations has a critical role to play. The G-20 asked the United Nations to monitor how the current crisis ‑‑ and any others in the future ‑‑ affect the poor. We are preparing to launch a global vulnerability alert system to track changing patterns of vulnerability as they emerge in real time.
The United Nations had already mobilized to address the food crisis when the economic crisis hit. Now we must build on those efforts, and make them even more comprehensive. This means not only reducing hunger and promoting food security, but also broadening social protection, improving agricultural production and making sure trade works for the poor. We must also galvanize leadership at the highest level to protect the planet, save lives, build a more sustainable global economy, and seal a deal on climate change in Copenhagen later this year.
How the Asia-Pacific region deals with food security will determine the fate of two thirds of humanity. The challenge is monumental, but we must rise to it. I hope you use this session to take concrete steps toward eliminating the scourge of hunger across the region. I wish you all success in this important undertaking, and look forward to clear and tangible results.
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