Geneva joins hands in the World Food Day 2020 and FAO 75th Anniversary commemorations

21/10/2020

Monday, 19 October 2020. Geneva took the centre stage in the commemorations of the #WorldFoodDay 2020 that took place on 16 October and celebrated in over 150 countries. Celebrated under the theme “Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together: Our Actions are our Future”, this year of commemorations also marked the 75^thanniversary of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN specialized agency established in 1945 to support efforts to end hunger and build better food systems.

FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in Geneva joined hands with our traditional partners - the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), the Partage food bank, and this year, joined also by Ville de Geneve – in organizing several activities in Geneva to mark the World Food Day. This year’s celebrations came in a very particular moment of human history given the challenges posed by the current and unprecedent health crisis which requires making food and agriculture an essential part of the COVID-19 response.

A very beautiful World Food Day Exhibition was installed at the Gare Cornavin in Geneva for another consecutive and attracted attention of several visitors who demonstrated a great interest to learn more on the World Food Day as well in the work of FAO and partners.

Celebrities and important people from Geneva also came over the exhibition to show their support to the WFD theme and interacting with the Geneva public to call upon their support to end hunger and fight food waste. A high moment of the exhibition was the participation in the Voices of Food Systems Live, a 24-Hour Global Relay Conversation which marked the launch of a path of dialogues towards the World Food Summit 2021.The event gathered international community, stakeholders and public to unlock the potential of innovation in agriculture and food systems and making greater efforts towards a more sustainable and healthy food that is available for all.

FAO also joined, as partner, the second edition of the Forum on Sustainable Food organized by the Ville de Geneve; marking the fight against food waste a key issues on the discussions with the Geneva population. Mr. Ahmad Mukhtar, Officer-in-charge of the FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in Geneva took part in a public forum held on the eve of the World Food Day.

“Before wasting food, lets us not forget that every night there is more than 700 million people in the world going to bed hungry”, said Mr. Mukhtar. He invited participants to develop a more cordial relation with food, a suggestion that was greatly welcomed by the public. “take food more seriously and do not only go for the most beautiful and nicely shaped fruits and vegetables, and do not forget the old, he stressed. This point was also well taken by Eldora, our partners at the UNOG Cafeteria who joined us in the World Food Day commemorations and prepared special menus made from locally produced food.

Celebration of the World Food Day also honoured all #FoodHeroes, those who despite all difficulties have continued their efforts to provide food to their communities and beyond. We received with great pleasure the nomination of Partage food bank as one of WFD’s food heroes. This was a recognition of the important role played by the food bank in the fight against food waste and solidarity to the most vulnerable parties of the society so importantly, particularly in times of COVID-19.

The week-long of commemorations in Geneva was closed with a beautiful illumination of the symbolic Geneva jet d’Eau in blue to mark the World Food Day. This is another special event that, together with all the other several activities to celebrate the World Food Day, is putting Geneva a centre stage in the worldwide commemorations of this important day.

FAO's global 75th Anniversary and World Food Day virtual commemoration had its high moment with an event in Rome hosted by FAO’s Director-General Mr Qu Dongyu and with virtual participation of H.H the Pope Francis; H.E the President of Italy; H.M the King of Lesotho and H.M the Queen of Spain - FAO Special Goodwill Ambassadors for Nutrition; Secretary General of the United Nations; and the heads of IFAD and WFP. The day of commemorations was concluded with a wonderful video mapping show reflected at the building of FAO headquarters and the historic Colosseum. Watch the video here.