CFS54. National Statement

Statement held by Special Envoy for Climate and Food Initiatives (Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Paul Gulleik Larsen

| Rome, Italy

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Norway supports CFS as the central multi-stakeholder platform for policy action to realize the Right to adequate food and good nutrition. The participation of civil society is a priority for us. 

We thank the UN agencies for the SOFI report, a good example of the indispensable global public goods that the UN system provides. 

We must support the capacity of FAO, WFP and partners to provide data on food crises and hunger hotspots. Their recent reports tell us that rising food prices are creating risks of more hunger and food crises in the coming months, not least in Africa.  

The crisis is exacerbated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, compounded by the fuel and fertilizer supply crunch stemming from conflict in the Middle East. 

Norway remains committed to fight hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, with a high level of ODA (0,9%), in partnership with the UN, governments, civil society and the private sector, and with increased focus on job creation, which of course involves food systems. 

As chair of the Global Action Network, Norway promotes the importance of food from the oceans and inland waters for food security and nutrition. Sustainable aquatic food systems are vital if we are to reach SDG2 targets within planetary boundaries.  

We highlight sustainable management of land, soil, water and genetic resources, agroecology, climate-robust production, plant protection, soil health and nutrition, and the role of CGIAR research and CFS recommendations in this regard. 

We insist that women are included and empowered as producers and participants in the food value chain with equal rights. 

Norway praises UN-led humanitarian workers providing food, nutrition and other emergency relief, often at great risk, to the millions of people facing hunger and suffering - which is all too often a result of wars and man-made conflicts, such as in Gaza and Sudan.  

We call on UN partners to follow up on UN80 and humanitarian reforms with structural and operational measures to enhance efficiencies and create synergies between humanitarian response and protection, longer-term development and peacebuilding.  

In this regard, Norway welcomes the RBA coordination efforts to consolidate logistics, supply chains and needs assessments, which should be led by the agency best placed in the field. 

Finally, we welcome and encourage strengthening of the One Health approach through the Quadripartite Partnership and highlight the importance of combating AMR and transboundary animal diseases.  Close cooperation between all relevant stakeholders is crucial, and member states must shore up this work with financial and political support.