23 February 2024, Brazil: QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), appealed for peace, recognition of the right to food, and reform of multilateral institutions as cardinal imperatives during the G20 Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday in Brazil.
“FAO calls for the prioritization of actions that promote food security globally to achieve the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind,” Qu said at the first session, focused on the G20’s role in dealing with conflicts and ongoing international tensions.
“We need a global governance system that is fit for purpose, works in an efficient, effective, and coherent manner, is accountable to its members, and fully aligned and committed to achieve all the SDGs,” he said at the second session. “When it comes to hunger and poverty it must prioritize people, while also protecting the planet. Agrifood systems are solutions based on science and data.”
The Meeting brought together the foreign affairs ministers of countries that together represent around 85 percent of global gross domestic product, 75 percent of world trade and around two-thirds of the world’s population. The FAO Director-General was joined at the Meeting by the heads of other international organizations including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization as well as UNESCO, UNCTAD, the ILO and numerous regional development banks.
The Meeting was the first major event of Brazil’s 2024 G20 presidency, which features hunger, sustainable development and global governance as the key priorities. President Lula da Silva of Brazil has also set up a task force with the intention of establishing a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty by the end of the year and open to all countries, not just G20 members.
FAO’s Director-General praised Brazil for leading that initiative.
