The Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition will address three major themes that will be approached from the angle of parliamentary actions, which include the legislative action as well as monitoring the Executive. In themes 1 and 2, the emphasis will be on the legislative action in different areas of public policy relevant to each case. In the third theme, the discussion will focus on proposals for actions to improve the impact of public policies and enhance the contribution of the different actors in achieving SDG2: budget and resource allocation, promotion of responsible investments and monitoring the implementation of budgets and policies.
Gender, climate change and sustainability will be cross-cutting elements of the three themes.
Theme 1: Priorities on the path towards Zero Hunger
Despite the progress made over the past two decades, there are still 815 million undernourished people today. This thematic bloc will deal with experiences and lessons learned on the legislative front to guide food security and/or food sovereignty policies and the realization of the right to adequate food, from a multi-sectoral perspective, but also from the perspective of sectoral policies that can deal with the root causes of hunger. Factors that impede or limit the capacity of the population to develop its potential and feed itself adequately and with dignity should be mentioned.
There are factors, for instance, that affect numerous farmers, shepherds, fishers and rural populations, with a distinct focus on women, who produce food but suffer from hunger. There is a vast wealth of experiences dealing with themes such as tenure of land, fisheries, forestry, family farming, small-scale fishing and aquaculture, agro-forestry, agroecology and access to appropriate technical practices that allow for the sustainable use of resources, access and use of water, access to markets and reduction of food loss, as well as development-based social protection policies that can contribute to ignite concrete and significant aspects of the debate for participants.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that this thematic bloc includes the perspective of sustainability and the necessity to not only eradicate hunger by 2030 but to achieve it in a sustainable manner to prevent future setbacks.
Theme 2: The challenge of healthy nutrition for all
Micronutrient deficiencies affect more than two billion people. The rates of overweight and obesity are growing across the globe. Undernutrition and obesity generate an additional cost for health-related public policies. Malnutrition also generates substantial social and financial costs.
Addressing the negative effects of the food and nutrition transition as well as changes in lifestyles pertaining to nutrition and health requires a wealth of new policies and legislative measures capable of producing behavioral changes not only in individuals as consumers, but also in the culture of care and in the actors of the food system.
Theme 3: Effective action to achieve SDG 2
The third bloc addresses actions that Parliamentarians can undertake to render more effective public policies and actions of non-governmental actors in positively impacting the eradication of hunger and malnutrition. This bloc will examine both the work of the Parliament in monitoring the action of the Executive, one that follows and redirects the implementation of policies to address shortcomings and promote improvements, and the action on concrete cases such as accountability of macro results and the achievement of progresses according to indicators.
Another element is the allocation of resources (financial and human) and improving their quality and capacity through budget-related debates.
What is more, alliances and collaborations that some Parliamentarians have established with universities, research centers and think tanks, foundations and civil society organizations to benefit from increased analytical and monitoring capacities may be of interest.
Lastly, but no less important, there are legislative actions that do not only pertain to sectoral regulations such as the adequate framework for investments and the work of non-governmental actors, responsible investment frameworks, mechanisms of public-private partnerships, or inclusive frameworks on access to finance and guarantees that allows to trigger the potential of vulnerable groups.