FAO presents the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2023 in Brussels

12 July – The latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, jointly published by five United Nations specialized agencies – FAO, IFAD, WFP, UNICEF and WHO - highlighted a distressing reality: over 122 million additional people have been confronted with hunger since 2019. The pandemic, repeated weather shocks, and conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, have contributed to this alarming increase.

For the third year in a row, the report was launched simultaneously in New York, Brussels and Geneva.  Events were held to present the report and bring together stakeholders and partners to discuss concrete solutions going ahead.
In Brussels, the event organized by FAO saw the in-person participation of over 100 from all institutions and bodies of the EU, our UN partners in the city, as well as missions, development agencies, NGOs and the private sector. 

Magda Kopczynska, Deputy Director-General at the European Commission DG AGRI gave a keynote address putting the emphasis on the importance of the report in pointing out the areas where additional efforts were needed, in order to leave no one behind. David Laborde, FAO Director of the Agrifood Economics division who flew in from Rome on the occasion presented the main findings and offered insights on the current theme of the report touching on urbanization. 
The panel discussion that followed was equally enlightening. Leonard Mizzi, Head of Unit, DG INTPA European Commission; Nigel Brett, IFAD Director for Operational Policy and Results Division; Fredrick Lee-Ohlsson, WFP Brussels Director; Amaya Fuentes Milani, Counsellor for Development-CODEV/PI, Spanish Mission to the EU;  Ellie Moodey, Head of Development for Africa and Middle East Team of the United Kingdom’s Mission to the EU and Sofie van Waeyenberge, Coordinator desk agriculture of Enabel (Belgian Development Agency) all agreed that despite the grim outlook, strong partnership is needed more than ever if we want to improve the capacity of people to access healthy diets .

The report was received with great interest by international and Belgian news media, food security experts and specialists, and other key stakeholders. 

You can watch the recording of the event through this link (password: @2&m14cw)

Photos from the event can be viewed here