Food

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ statement on the awarding of the 2020 Nobel Prize for Peace to the World Food Programme, today:

To mark Space Week, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs will hold a webinar tomorrow on the KiboCUBE programme, a collaboration with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency giving developing countries an opportunity to deploy a satellite from Japan’s module of the International Space Station free of cost.

The United Nations is increasingly concerned about the impact of Syria’s economic downturn.  Food prices there have more than tripled in the past year, a record 9.3 million people are food insecure, and without future support, over 2 million more risk being pushed further into hunger, according to the World Food Programme.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, observed today:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the high-level World Bank Group virtual event, held in conjunction with the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, today

We are devastated by the sudden passing of our long-time friend and colleague Reynaldo Naval of the Media Documents Centre.  Rey proudly served the United Nations for 39 years, and we always appreciated his kindness, sunny disposition, dedication and pride in belonging to the Organization.

On 23 September, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu announced the appointment of Gina Casar of Mexico as WFP Senior Adviser at the Assistant Secretary-General level.

The Human Rights Council held an urgent debate on conditions in Belarus, with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement, noting the continuation of mass demonstrations and expressing alarm over hundreds of claims of torture and ill treatment while in police custody.  She urged authorities to facilitate independent, prompt and impartial investigations.

With the number of people suffering from food insecurity projected to double in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, those in conflict zones still face the most severe threats of hunger and even famine, experts told the Security Council during a 17 September videoconference meeting on conflict-induced hunger, as they issued a clarion call for donors to step up their support.

A record 13.4 million people in Burkina Faso, Mali and western Niger need humanitarian assistance and protection, as fast-growing crises spread across the Central Sahel region.  The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the number of internally displaced people has grown 20-fold to 1.4 million in less than two years.