(Adnkronos) – The United Nations World Food Programme welcomes the latest efforts by Italy’s G7 presidency to put food security and nutrition in during conflict and “fragile” setting at the centre of its development agenda, WFP said in a statement on Friday.
At the G7 development meeting on Tuesday to Thursday in Pescara this week, ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the G7 Apulia Food Systems Initiative (AFSI), to improve food security and nutrition and recognised the need for innovative solutions to increase public and private funding for food security, the statement pointed out.
The latest commitment comes as 309 million people face acute hunger driven by conflicts, economic shocks and the climate crisis, said the statement.
“By leveraging innovative financing like debt swap agreements to invest in resilience and bolster food security, we can drive progress toward a world where no one goes to bed hungry,” said WFP executive director, Cindy McCain.
“The global effort to eradicate hunger and malnutrition requires all of us – governments, partners and communities – to collaborate on lasting solutions that create the conditions for long-term, sustainable development,” McCain added.
At the Pescara meeting, G7 ministers assessed progress made on G7 development-related commitments with a focus on Africa, with a view to informing future G7 development cooperation strategies, the statement said.
During a special session of the meeting, the ministers endorsed the need for joint action for humanitarian access and accelerated coordination to address the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, the statement underlined.
During its presidency of the G7 this year, Italy has prioritised addressing food security, building sustainable food systems and improving nutrition among its wider G7 commitments, the statement concluded.
