FAO's Participation in the Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development 2025

FAO was a key contributor to the Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development (APFSD), held 25-28 February 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. Over 1 000 participants gathered under the theme "Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no one behind in Asia and the Pacific".

This annual forum, hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), serves as a platform for countries to assess regional progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) share best practices and strengthen collaboration across the region, to ensure no one is left behind. 

FAO's call to action in answer to regional challenges

© UN ESCAP / Cory Wright	© UN ESCAP / Suwat Chancharoensuk

Stefanos Fotiou, Director of the FAO Office of Sustainable Development Goals, speaking that the Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development.

With less than five years remaining until the 2030 Agenda deadline and only one-sixth of SDG targets on track, delegates called for prioritized actions that would have a strong multiplier effect across sectors, so that the Asia-Pacific region can move closer to as many targets as possible.

In response, FAO underscored the need to transform agrifood systems, through strengthened policy coherence, increased investment and evidence-based policies. It highlighted the economic, social, and environmental benefits of such reforms, including improving health and well-being, reducing gender inequalities, fostering decent employment and supporting sustainable marine life. Given that the region is home to half of the world’s undernourished population, FAO stressed the importance of targeted solutions to address its unique challenges. Representatives from major stakeholders and other groups reinforced this position, identifying resilient, equitable, and sustainable agrifood systems as essential for regional progress (as noted in the Forum Report).

Looking ahead, FAO pointed to the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake in July 2025 in Addis Ababa as a key moment to review progress, strengthen accountability and unlock investments for transformative action toward resilient and inclusive food systems.

Supporting comprehensive Voluntary National Reviews

Of the 39 countries that will present Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) at the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on 12 July, 12 are from the Asia-Pacific Region. During the 26 February session on VNRs, FAO stressed the importance of shifting from analyzing SDGs in isolation to adopting an integrated approach. This perspective is essential to understand the interconnectedness of challenges and for identifying holistic solutions. To facilitate this process, FAO has developed a suite of tools, including an eLearning course series and a guide to support countries in preparing these reviews.

SDG roundtables

The forum organized five roundtables to review regional progress on the specific SDGs under review at the 2025 HLPF:

• SDG 3 - Good Health and Wellbeing: FAO advocated for a One Health approach and emphasized the need for governance frameworks recognizing the interconnectedness of agrifood and health systems.
• SDG 5 - Gender Equality: FAO identified agrifood systems as a crucial sector for women's empowerment in the Asia-Pacific region, offering the opportunity to increase GDP and reduce food insecurity.
• SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth: FAO highlighted eradicating child labour, protecting migrant workers' rights and implementing targeted strategies to modernize agricultural education as key priorities.
• SDG 14 - Life Below Water: FAO emphasized that in the face of growing challenges such as hunger, malnutrition, climate change and environmental degradation, aquatic foods stand out as a transformative long-term solution to achieving the SDGs and ensuring a healthy and well-fed population. 
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: FAO stressed the essential role of science, technology, and innovation in building sustainable agrifood systems; identified significant gaps between scientific advancements and their accessibility at local levels; and emphasized technology transfer as crucial for narrowing agricultural productivity gaps, especially for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Side events

©ESCAP/Panumas Sanguanwong

FAO co-organized a side event on "Convergence for a Healthier Future: Integrating Health, Food, Climate Systems for a Just Transition", together with the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, UN ESCAP and Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN). The event explored integrated solutions to transform agrifood systems for improved food, health and climate resilience, addressing the estimated USD 4.2 trillion annual cost of food system-related health and environmental issues in Asia-Pacific.

H.E. Kop Roly, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Environment from the Kingdom of Cambodia and MPs. Qurrota Ayun, Senior Planner, Directorate of Family, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports, Ministry of National Development Planning, from Indonesia presented their countries’ approaches to ensuring policy coherence and implementing effective actions within their national food system transformation pathways.

Indonesia detailed how the country is leveraging marine and coastal resources to ensure food security, mitigate climate change, and enhance coastal resilience. Cambodia highlighted its participatory multi-stakeholder approach, which has led to digital transformation in the agrifood system, expanded social safety nets, and addressed infrastructure and staff limitations through private sector collaboration.

FAO Senior Food Safety and Nutrition Officer, Sridhar Dharmapuri, presented key trends and risks in the Asia-Pacific region. He highlighted the high cost of healthy diets in the region (USD 4.20/person/day), which has contributed to stagnant malnutrition rates since the launch of the SDGs. Particular attention was then given to integrated solutions under a One Health Approach. Scott Newman, FAO Senior Animal Health & Production Officer, discussed opportunities using systems approaches and tools like the One Health Assessment Tool to address the health-climate-food nexus. He showcased Laos' integration of One Health with biodiversity strategies and FAO's global action on sustainable livestock in Asia-Pacific. This was complemented by Rishi Sharma, FAO Senior Fishery Officer, who presented Blue Transformation as a framework to meet the triple challenges of food security, poverty eradication, and environmental sustainability, emphasizing the need for increased financing to empower countries in addressing sector challenges.

Irish Baguilat, Women Farmers' Agenda Coordinator of the Asian Farmers Association, contributed to the roundtable discussion, stressing that this holistic approach must include investment in farmers' organizations and a strengthening of community organizations and cooperatives to support women farmers and promote greater gender equality.

Marian Amaka ODENIGBO, from SUN, emphasized the critical role of integrated solutions in transforming food, health, and climate systems for a just transition. She stressed the need for multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral collaboration, policy coherence, and concrete actions to drive this meaningful change.

Additionally, FAO's Director of the Office of SDGs, Stefanos Fotiou, participated in a side event on "Leveraging digital innovations to improve the work of women in agriculture", organized by the Permanent Mission of China to UNESCAP. His intervention highlighted FAO initiatives, in collaboration with partners in the Asia-Pacific region to close the resource gap that exists for women in agrifood systems, emphasising the wide-ranging benefits generated from addressing gender inequality in the sector.