Rome, July 24-26 2023
The UN Food Systems Summit+2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2) convened by the UN Secretary-General and hosted by the Government of Italy took place at FAO Headquarters in Rome from July 24 to 26 2023. This high-level event gathered 3300 participants, including delegations from 182 countries, 21 world leaders and 126 ministers, 225 Non-state Actor organisations and close to 900 UN system representatives.
The event provided the participants with an opportunity to "identify successes, enduring bottlenecks, and priorities to bridge the implementation gap for food systems transformation and SDG acceleration" (UN Food Systems Hub), eventually resulting in the launch of a Call to Action for accelerated Food Systems Transformation (available here) outlining the priorities to be tackled in the next two years. Of particular interest as EWA-BELT Project are four of the six areas of intervention identified:
Incorporating food systems strategies into all national policies for sustainable development, for people’s livelihoods, nutrition and health, for economic growth, climate action and nature, and to address post-harvest losses, leaving no one behind.
Establishing food systems governance that engages all sectors and stakeholders for a whole of society approach, combining the short and long term.
Investing in research, data, innovation and technology capacities including stronger connections to science, experience and expertise.
Deepening joined-up participatory design and implementation inclusive of women, young people and indigenous peoples at the local level, with knowledge sharing, cross-sector programming, multi-stakeholder partnering, context and place-based actions, stronger and more diverse production, and mutual accountability.
As a matter of fact, the EWA-BELT Project is already working on and contributing to the achievement of such ambitious goals through a multi-participatory approach involving universities, research centres, experts, policy-makers, interested stakeholders, but first and foremost farmers on the field, who are given the necessary resources to restore not only their lands, but also their knowledge towards a Sustainable Intensification in Africa.
As such, acting as catalyser towards the launched Call to Action, under the aegis and financing of the European Commission, the EWA-BELT Consortium will cooperate and collaborate to bring about a synergy making "food systems work for the benefit of people, planet and prosperity." (Press Release, UN Food Systems Coordination Hub)
Source: UN Food Systems Coordination Hub - https://www.unfoodsystemshub.org/latest-updates/news/en
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