Food

This morning, David Beasley, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Executive Director, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on his organization’s behalf.  With 270 million people approaching starvation and only $5 billion needed to save 30 million from famine, he said, in the Nobel spirit of peace and brotherhood, let’s feed them all.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today issued its largest ever emergency funding appeal, seeking $6.4 billion to reach 300 million people, including more than 190 million children.  An estimated 36 million children, more than ever before, are living in displacement due to conflict, violence and disaster.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message at the launch of the “Leaving No One Behind – A Regional Outlook on Gender and Agrifood Systems” report at the thirty‑first session of the Regional Conference for Africa, held on 28 October:

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the meeting of the Executive Board of the World Food Programme, held today:

COVID-19 could push more people to move out of necessity, as hunger surges among migrant and displaced communities, the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Programme warn in a new report.  The World Bank expects a 14 per cent drop in remittances to low- and middle-income countries by 2021 which will impact food security.

The Emergency Relief Coordinator reported that six humanitarian workers were lost in targeted attacks in Somalia, in two separate incidents in South Sudan, and in north-west Syria.  “This cannot be tolerated,” he said, calling the attacks a violation of international law and an “obscene act against people working hard” to help the world’s vulnerable.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Food Coalition, a multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral alliance that aims to ensure global food access and increase the resilience of agri-food systems.  The pandemic could add 132 million more people to the world's undernourished in 2020, FAO says, on top of the 690 million hungry people in 2019.

A new Food and Agricultural Organization report warns that the Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved by 2030 unless the world’s forests are restored.  Regional responses are making significant advances and 63 countries and other entities have committed to restoring 173 million hectares, but more needs to be done.

The fourth round of the Libyan 5+5 Joint Military Commission talks began at the Palais des Nations in Geneva this morning, with the participation of Stephanie Williams, Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya.  The deliberations in this round will continue until 24 October.

The United Nations migration agency and the African Union launched their first‑ever report on African migration, showing that present-day African migration takes place mainly by land, not by sea, and that migrants’ destinations are overwhelmingly each other’s countries and not Europe or North America.