(fa fede solo il testo effettivamente pronunciato)
Distinguished panelists,
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
I feel privileged and I am thankful for having been included in this first distinguished panel of UN authorities.
Please allow me to consider it as a sign of recognition for the role of Italy, as the host country of the UN Rome-based Agencies, in advancing food security and nutrition, last – but not least – through ExpoMilan.
The six months of the Universal Exhibition on “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” have marked the extraordinary commitment of Italy to the global values enshrined in the mandates of the Roman hub of the UN.
We are deeply convinced that this hub is, at the end of the day, truly about human security also due to its mandate on nutrition.
Over 21 million visitors and over 100 Country Days held within the Expo premises, with the participation of Heads of State and Ministers, are proof of the outstanding success of the exhibition.
The World Food Day celebration on 16 October last, which most of you attended, was the ideal conclusion of the Expo, at the presence of our President Mattarella, of UNSG Ban Ki-moon and, of course, of DG Graziano, highlighting 70 years of FAO.
What did, concretely, Expo 2015 do for nutrition, to move forward also on the basis of its legacy?
In the first place, it played a huge dissemination role, to which the UN contributed marvelously through the Expo Team led by FAO and the RBAs. A real game changer for global awareness on the crucial issue of nutrition and the importance of balanced diets locally based and owned.
I believe that the Milan Charter, signed by over a million people in their individual capacity, as well as by a great number of decision and opinion makers, constitutes a strong “Expo legacy” that can contribute, from a non-State perspective, to achieving the nutrition-related Sustainable Development Goals, SDG2 in the first place.
At the core of the new Agenda, indeed, is the idea that sustainable development can be reached only with the active participation of all stakeholders, from governments to international organizations, from academia to philanthropic foundations, from private sector to civil society.
And in this respect, let me also stress the key role of the UN Committee on World Food Security – salam alaikum, Ambassador Gornass – as the ideal platform for policy coordination on nutrition, among the other topics included in the CFS MYPoW for 2016/17.
And I wish to stress that the contribution of FAO, IFAD and WFP – as “co-owners” of the CFS – will be crucial to assure implementation at country level.
Together with the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition, soon to be based in Rome within FAO premises, and with other relevant mechanisms such as the HLTF, the SUN Movement and of course the Special Representative of the UNSG Dr. Nabarro, the CFS is called to streamline its efforts to oversee the advancement towards the fulfillment of SDGs on nutrition.
I take this opportunity to call for renewed efforts aimed at clarifying the role of each institution to this end, in a division of labor spirit to reach the goal of efficient management for development results.
We do not consider Expo as a finished business. Much to the contrary, to us it is a starting point.
Italy is increasingly interacting with FAO in a sort post EXPO mood, in promoting nutrition, including through financial contributions, projects and dedicated events, like the side event we organized with FAO and WHO at the last CFS Plenary in October.
A new project, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation under the 2015 voluntary contribution, is now being developed, with a total amount of approx. 1,5 million Euro.
After a very fruitful meeting between DG Graziano and the Italian Minister of Health, Beatrice Lorenzin a few weeks ago, our Ministry of Health is in the process of launching a project for at least 300.000 Euro to promote, through FAO, the Mediterranean Diet in some specific North Africa and Near East countries.
Before concluding, I would like to reassert here the strong Italian commitment to make sure that ICN2 – to the organization and successful outcome of which we actively contributed – has the concrete and timely implementation it fully deserves.
In this respect, Italy has co-sponsored the UNGA Draft Resolution on the right to food that was approved by the III Committee in New York a couple of weeks ago. And we are also active in the frame of the collective efforts against Food Losses and Waste, in close coordination also with our G77 partners and of course with FAO, following up on the seminar we organized here at FAO last September.
Thank you.
