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CONCERNING RISING HUNGER IN NEAR EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

The situation in Gaza, coupled with protracted crises in Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, is of "great concern," the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, said as he addressed the 37th session of the FAO Regional Ministerial Conference for the Near East and North Africa (NENA).

Language English

Duration 3m12s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 03/05/2024 2:59 PM

File size 423.65 MB

Unique ID UF15S94

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist 1. Wide shot, Conference hall
2. Med shot, Chairperson Jordan's Minister of Agriculture, Khalid Al- Hanifat (center) speaking
3. Close up, Eng. Mohammad Alhyari, Secretary General at the Ministry of Agriculture in Jordan listening
4. Med shot, Riad Attari, Palestine Minister of Agriculture, speaking
5. Wide shot, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu speaking
6. SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “The situation in Gaza, as well as the sufferings in Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, due to protracted crises are of great concern. Together with other development partners, we have been participating in the emergency, relief, and rebuilding efforts in Gaza since the start of the conflict.”
7. Wide shot, Audience listening
8. SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “FAO plans to reactivate the production of perishable, highly nutritious food that cannot be imported as food aid, including fresh milk, meat, and vegetables.”
9. Wide shot, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu speaking
10. SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “The NENA region has been facing multiple challenges such as the negative impacts of the climate crisis, lowest per capita freshwater availability, rising populations and urbanization, as well as heavy dependence on imported food.”
11. Med shot, audience listening
12. SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “We need to transform our agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable. For this reason, the theme of this Regional Conference is ‘accelerating’ this transformation, it could not be more relevant and timelier than now. In the NENA region, not only are we far from achieving SDG2 Zero Hunger, but we are seeing a worrying trend of a continuous increase in hunger and malnutrition in the past years”.
13. Med shot, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu speaking
14. SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “There is no more time to waste in controlling the damage caused, we urgently need to safeguard our agrifood systems for current and future generations. To do this, we need a shared vision, foresight, ownership, an implementation strategy, and a clear path leading to impact and results, in the short, medium, and long-term”.
15. Wide shot, Youcef Cherfa, Algeria Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development speaking
16. Med shot, Eng Mohammed Hassan Qatana, Syria Minister for Agriculture and Agrarian Reform
17. Med shot, Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiya, Qatar Minister for Municipality speaking
18. Wide shot, audience listening
19. Med shot, Abbas Hajj Hassan, Lebanon Minister for Agriculture speaking
20. Wide shot, Iraqi Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Abbas Jabr al-Maliki speaking
21. Wide shot, group photo
22. Zoom out, FAO logo

Script The situation in Gaza, coupled with protracted crises in Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, is of "great concern," the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, said Monday as he addressed the 37th session of the FAO Regional Ministerial Conference for the Near East and North Africa (NENA).

SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “The situation in Gaza, as well as the sufferings in Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, due to protracted crises are of great concern. Together with other development partners, we have been participating in the emergency, relief, and rebuilding efforts in Gaza since the start of the conflict.”

The conference in Amman brought together government officials, academics and representatives of the private sector and civil society from the region and took place against the backdrop of a worrying rise in hunger and malnutrition estimates.

According to FAO's latest figures, hunger in the Arab States reached its highest value since the start of the millennium in 2022, with 59.8 million undernourished people. This represents a 75.9 percent increase from 2000, which corresponds to 12.9 percent of the population, well above the global average of 9.2 percent.

The situation has since reached a critical point in Gaza, where the population is experiencing catastrophic levels of conflict-induced food insecurity and a high risk of famine.

During his address to the conference, QU emphasized the crucial role played by FAO in Gaza, particularly in terms of providing emergency relief and participating in rebuilding efforts. FAO is part of the joint UN flash appeal and is closely coordinating with the wider UN family and partners in responding most appropriately and effectively, in line with its mandate.

FAO has also issued a call for $20 million in the Nov 2023 UN Interagency Flash Appeal and plans to reactivate the production of perishable, highly nutritious food that cannot be imported as food aid, including fresh milk, meat, and vegetables, QU said.

SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “FAO plans to reactivate the production of perishable, highly nutritious food that cannot be imported as food aid, including fresh milk, meat, and vegetables.”

The crisis in Gaza adds to multiple long-standing challenges facing the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region explained the FAO Director-General.

SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “The NENA region has been facing multiple challenges such as the negative impacts of the climate crisis, lowest per capita freshwater availability, rising populations and urbanization, as well as heavy dependence on imported food.”

All these challenges are impacting global agrifood systems, emphasizing the need for an urgent transformation of our agrifood systems to become more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable, QU said.

SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “We need to transform our agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable. For this reason, the theme of this Regional Conference is ‘accelerating’ this transformation, it could not be more relevant and timelier than now. In the NENA region, not only are we far from achieving SDG2 Zero Hunger, but we are seeing a worrying trend of a continuous increase in hunger and malnutrition in the past years”.

With approximately 60 percent of the region’s population suffering from hunger and more than half of the population not able to afford a healthy diet, there is a strong reliance on imported food, leading to rapid soil erosion and depleting agricultural resources.

SOUNDBITE (English), FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: “There is no more time to waste in controlling the damage caused, we urgently need to safeguard our agrifood systems for current and future generations. To do this, we need a shared vision, foresight, ownership, an implementation strategy, and a clear path leading to impact and results, in the short, medium, and long-term”.

The opening of the 37th session of the Conference was also addressed by the Prime Minister of Jordan, Bisher Khasawneh, who expressed his concern over the situation in Gaza and thanked QU for attending the Conference, saying Jordan was working hard to transform its food systems across the value chain to boost food security and economic development.

The event is being chaired by Jordan's Minister of Agriculture, Khalid Al- Hanifat.

The Conference is to discuss four major priorities for FAO to organize its support and maximize its impact across countries in the NENA region over the next two years.

These are: 1) Rural transformation and inclusive value chains, which involves addressing challenges such as high rural unemployment, youth migration to cities, rural poverty and the widening rural-urban divide; 2) Food security and healthy diets for all, which involves FAO providing its support to Members to better respond to challenges posed by the growing divide between food supply and demand driven by population growth and rising income, in the face of limited natural resources (water and land), and the growing problem of malnutrition, poor food safety and quality; 3) Greening agriculture: addressing water scarcity and climate action; and 4) Building resilience to multiple shocks, which involves FAO's support to Members in addressing the challenges arising from protracted conflicts and multiple shocks and crises faced by agrifood systems.