ROME, Italy, July 24, 2023 – The UN Food Systems Summit+2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2) kicked off on Monday at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome with a high-level opening ceremony attended by over 20 heads of State and Government, and a strong call for accelerating action to transform global agrifood systems.
The three-day high-level event is convened by the United Nations Secretariat and hosted by Italy, in collaboration with the Rome-based UN Agencies (FAO, IFAD, WFP), with the objective of taking stock of the progress achieved since the first UN Food Systems Summit in 2021.
The opening ceremony was led by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni.
In his opening speech, FAO Director-General, Qu Dongyu, highlighted that the UN Food System Summit process has made it clear that agrifood systems hold huge power and potential in contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
“In the face of increasing uncertainties and multiple crises, we need to urgently undertake this transformation to fulfil the high expectations we have from our agrifood systems,” he underscored.
To speed up progress, he said, it is necessary to leverage cross-cutting accelerators, and FAO is focusing on four key areas: science and innovation, improved data capabilities, increase in targeted and coordinated public and private finance, and establishing inclusive agrifood systems governance mechanisms.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, as the convenor of the event, delivered the keynote speech, and also noted the progress made since the first UN Food Systems Summit in 2021.
Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell and Bahamas Ambassador to the United Nations Food Agricultural Organization Winston Pinnock are participating in the summit.
Mr. Mitchell shared a group of photos on on Facebook on Monday, July 24. We decided to share them with reads of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, which has a huge following among the Bahamian diaspora across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean.
The photos were posted with the following narrative:
“Fred Mitchell with Ambassador Winston Pinnock at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FA0) Summit on Food ( Stock Taking Moment)in Rome speaking with Ambassadors of Argentina and Cameroon.. 24 July 2023.”
