- First I want to thank you, Madame Chairwoman, for your leadership. CFS remains the central multi-stakeholder arena for member states’ policy action for realizing the Right to adequate food and good nutrition. The active participation of civil society in CFS is a priority for us.
- We thank the UN agencies FAO, WFP, IFAD, WHO and UNICEF for the SOFI report 2025, an example of the global public goods that show the need for supporting the UN multi system’s normative and operational work, as part of the UN80 reform process.
- The SOFI report shows clearly how Russia’s full-scale war of aggression has not only created massive humanitarian suffering in Ukraine, but led to higher food prices and increased malnutrition, including in Africa.
- Also, many donors are now compelled to redirect ais from Africa and the Global South to boost support for defense and Ukraine. The international community must counter Russia’s violations of international law, also with legitimate sanctions, as EU said.
- Therefore, it is more important than ever that domestic public and private resource mobilization steps in to scale up, as agreed at the FFD4 in Seville, in order to meet national hunger and nutrition needs.
- At the same time, Norway remains committed to pursue our government’s strategy to fight global hunger. Since 2022, we have allocated almost 2000 million USD for humanitarian and global food security, via UN, World Bank, CGIAR, NGOs and other partners.
- Norway will continue to provide support to the UN-led humanitarian system, to the millions of people facing hunger and starvation, most often as a result of wars and man-made conflicts and crises, including in Gaza and Sudan.
- And Norway will support African and other countries working to improve food security and self-sufficiency for their people, with a special focus on small-scale producers, family farmers, and the role and rights of women, including the FASA fund with US, UK and South Korea.
- As we near COP30, Norway values our alliances with Brazil and other champions for food and nutrition systems that can reduce hunger and malnutrition, with social protection such as school meals, and ensure agro-ecological food production, for forests, biodiversity, and climate.
- Finally, Norway, as chair of the Global Action Network on sustainable food from the oceans and inland waters, of course want to highlight the importance of aquatic food production, which will and must grow in order to reach SDG2 targets while respecting planetary boundaries.
CFS 53. Statement on The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) Report.
Statement held by Special Envoy for Climate and Food Initiatives (Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Paul Gulleik Larsen.
| Rome, Italy