HIGH LEVEL EXTERNAL COMMITTEE ON THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs)

FAO, Rome, 3 and 4 May 2007

Good morning Colleagues and Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a true pleasure for me to once again welcome you to FAO and to Rome for this second meeting of the High Level Committee on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate Prof. Swaminathan, the Chairman of this Committee, for his recent appointment to the Upper House of Parliament of the Republic of India. This is a testimony to the excellent work you have done, and continue to do for humanity at large, including in promoting food security and agricultural development.

First and foremost, I wish to express my deep appreciation for all your valuable contributions and insights provided during your last meeting and for the useful guidance and inspiration to the work of the Organization and to our common relentless efforts to help achieving the MDGs, the World Food Summit targets and to win the fight against hunger and poverty.

This year marks half way of the period from year 2000, when the MDGs were established and the year 2015 when they are to be met.

As you may have read in FAO’s report The State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI) 2006, the number of hungry has decreased by only 3 million people since 1990. This is a grim reality that is, only to a limited extent, compensated by the fact that a smaller percentage of people in developing countries is undernourished compared with 1990‑1992: 17 percent today compared with 20 percent in 1990. It is encouraging that FAO’s projections show that this percentage would be further reduced in 2015 – to 10 percent, providing a basis I hope that the MDG 1 can be met.

However, the same projections show that the more ambitious World Food Summit target could be missed because some 582 million could still be undernourished in 2015. If the WFS goal is to be met, this figure should be at a maximum of 412 million.

Correct policies will have to be implemented at all levels and in all sectors of society, globally and nationally to ensure that the necessary resources are provided. The fact that hunger and malnourishment is predominantly a rural phenomenon increases demands on our Organization to tackle the root causes. FAO will continue with the support of its member states to take on this challenge. With your wisdom and guidance, we hope to improve the effectiveness of our activities and programmes to achieve the 2015 goals.

Turning to the agenda of this second meeting, which will continue for today and tomorrow, the themes selected by you for this meeting are very topical and highly relevant for the MDGs – especially for MDGs 1 and 7, and as a consequence also for the rest of the MDGs.

The meeting will address four important areas of work for the Organization, as follows:

1)	Firstly, as a follow up to this Committee’s first meeting and your report on FAO’s Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) and its impact on MDG1, the meeting will examine the lessons learned from this programme. As you may know, from the outset, the ultimate objective of the SPFS was to assist countries to develop National Programmes for Food Security (NPFS) on a large-enough scale to make a significant difference in the fight against hunger and poverty. Through projects in 105 countries worldwide, the SPFS has undertaken the pilot activities providing the basis for the NPFS to promote effective, tangible solutions to the elimination of hunger, undernourishment and poverty. Currently, FAO is concentrating on providing support to countries and regional organizations to formulate and implement national and regional programmes for Food Security. The programmes are nationally or regionally owned and you will find that FAO’s support covers a broad range: from information gathering and dissemination for improved decision-making to technical support to agro-industries development, food crop production and sustainable land and water management, just to mention a few. In the framework of the UN reform at country level, FAO is driving cooperation in rural development in Mozambique and Viet Nam. Together with IFAD and WFP, FAO is establishing Food Security Theme Groups in member countries.
2)	Climate Change and Food Security: the phenomenon of climate change is seen by many as a challenge to the achievement of the MDGs. As scientists now agree on the impact of human activities on climate change, they also show that the threats posed by climate change will affect vulnerable groups the most. Poor countries and people that also lack the means to deal with the effects of climate change will be the worst affected. Africa is particularly exposed to this change. Droughts and floods can increase food insecurity and there is an urgent need to face the new circumstances and the emerging threats if we are to have any chance of achieving the MDGs. The need to mitigate and reduce green house gases is evident. But, even if emissions were to stop today, adaptation will still have to be promoted. To be successful, such a major shift in behaviour, in transfer of resources and of knowledge will have to put the poor and vulnerable at the centre. You will hear later today how FAO is taking the lead in the field of agriculture and climate change by introducing programmes and policies that, if supported and implemented, would combine alleviation of poverty and hunger with adaptation to climate change. Naturally, increased awareness about the impact of climate change on our livelihood will be an eye-opener on the crucial role of rural development.
3)	Transboundary Pests and Diseases and Food Security: the world’s ability to handle transboundary pests and diseases is an essential global public good. Avian influenza has so far been quite successfully contained. But, the introduction of higher biosecurity standards in poultry carries with it fundamental changes that risk negative impacts on the rural poor. Stricter regulations have to be combined with alternative development opportunities for the poor in production, trade and finance. This afternoon you will listen to how FAO’s work relates to the entire spectrum, ranging from reducing risks for the spreading of the disease to supporting work to uphold food security and to secure rural development.
4)	FAO as a knowledge Organization: sharing of knowledge is central to the achievement of the MDGs. Access to knowledge may be difficult to measure concretely in the context of the Goals, but is critical to development and for any country to make a sustainable progress. In this regard, I wish to recall your attention to the fact that FAO reforms are giving particular attention to ensuring the mandate of the Organization as an effective knowledge institution.

Tomorrow, my colleagues will give you an overview of how we are progressing. Let me just mention the Thematic and Best Practices Knowledge Networks established to make it possible for peers to share knowledge. Through Forum web-sites we share lessons learned and best practices from FAO’s experience, both successes and failures. And, in the web-based question and answer service called “Ask FAO” we want to give members access to the knowledge they as for and really need.

Colleagues and Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you are aware, the UN-system is presently running a pilot project in eight countries in order to improve coordination and cooperation in the entire UN family. The efficiency of the UN delivery system is key to achieving the MDGs. FAO, conscious of this fact, is a very active participant in the eight country pilots. It would be a pleasure for me to come back to the issue of UN reform at our lunch today.

Finally, I wish to thank you once again for being willing to share your wisdom with FAO and to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs.

I wish you every success in your meeting, and thank you for your kind attention.

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