United Nations chief urges world leaders to attend to Food Systems Summit on Sept 23

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked the world leaders on Monday to attend the Food Systems Summit with significant commitment which will be held on September 23. The summit will take place during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly's 76th session, which will be from September 21 to September 27.  

As per ANI, Guterres stated in a statement before the summit, "As leaders prepare for the historic Food Systems Summit on September 23, I urge everyone to come with ambitious commitments to feed hope for a better future.” He further said that the world leaders must keep their promises to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030.   

Objectives of the Food Systems Summit

Guterres also stated that by reforming the production, preparation, and consumption of food, the global community has a significant chance of achieving the objective of the 2030 Agenda. He even explained with anticipation that a well-operated food system may prevent the occurrence of conflict, will safeguard the environment, as well as the important provision of health and livelihoods for everybody.  

While the COVID-19 outbreak has physically separated individuals over the last 18 months, the Food Systems Summit will draw them together via a unique context of international participation. He highlighted that they are unified around the basic concept that is food which can assist in expedite activities and pull in options to accomplish all of the SDGs and recover more quickly from the COVID-19 consequences.

UN Chief Antonio Guterres declared the UN Food Systems Summit on World Food Day in October, as a part of the Decade of Action to accomplish the SDGs by 2030. The Summit's goal is to make development on all 17 SDGs using a food systems perspective, utilising food systems' interconnectivity to address global issues including hunger, climate change, poverty, and discrimination. 

More about the UN General Assembly's 76th session

The President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Volkan Bozkir, said on Thursday that 83 heads of state are expected to join the UNGA's 76th session, which starts on September 14. Bozkir has previously stated that 83 heads of state had shown an interest in attending, and 26 have requested a recorded appearance. As per Xinhua, one vice president, 43 chiefs of administration, three deputy prime ministers, and 23 foreign ministers are among those who will attend in person.  

He also claimed that they have a large number of individuals, including leaders, who intend to attend, but that the number of individuals who would enter the facility is restricted. As there are more accompanying delegations than expected, the UNGA president stated that there will only be 1+6 total for each delegation.

(Image: AP/ UN.org)