The Pre-Summit of the United Nations Food Systems Summit has opened in Rome, Italy.
A Ghanaian delegation of 15 persons led by Madam Eudora Hilda Quartey Koranteng, Ghana’s Ambassador to Italy is attending the huge global platform.
The three-day summit is being hosted by the Government of Italy in partnership with the UN, under the leadership of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
It is serving as the preparatory meeting for the culminating global event to be held in New York in September this year.
Due to COVID-19, the Summit is featuring a small in-person component, complemented by a vast virtual programme and platform that opened to all persons, including the marginalised.
The meeting has brought together, diverse actors from around the world, including Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Yaw Frimpong Addo, who is billed to read Ghana’s statement of Commitment at the summit.
Also, thousands of food systems actors, including youth, food producers, women farmers, Indigenous Peoples, civil society, researchers, private sector, policy leaders, among others are participating in the summit.
The Pre-Summit will leverage the power of food systems to deliver progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the world’s shared vision for people, planet, and prosperity.
Information available to the Ghana News Agency indicates that the Pre-Summit would consolidate all of the substantive work of the Summit into a common vision and set a tone of bold ambition and commitment to action.
It would deliver the latest evidence base and scientific approaches from around the world; strengthen coalitions of action and mobilize new financing and partnerships.
Through the Pre-Summit, the September UN Food Systems Summit would reaffirm its commitment to promote human rights for all and ensure everyone, everywhere had the opportunity to participate.
As part of the events, Ministers of states or heads of delegations would speak about their national perspectives on the contributions that food systems could make towards realizing the vision of the 2030 Agenda in their own country, particularly through the national pathways emerging from Food Systems Summit Dialogues as well as to make progress towards the common objectives.
Their statement, would give them the opportunity to speak to the emerging coalitions for action coming out of the Summit that would contribute to the transformation of food systems, as well as to other related commitments and priorities for the Member State.
