Munir Akram calls for 'plan of action' to grapple with poverty and hunger

• Pakistan has called for an urgent “plan of action” to grapple with poverty and hunger that have worsened the current geopolitical tensions
• The event was co-organized by five United Nations agencies — FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO — to report on progress toward ending hunger, achieving food security, and improving nutrition
• Ambassador Akram also called for moderating food prices, especially for inflation-hit developing countries, through appropriate international, national, and market mechanisms
• “Let us work together to eradicate poverty and achieve zero hunger by 2030,” Ambassador Akram added.

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  NEW YORK: Pakistan has called for an urgent “plan of action” to grapple with poverty and hunger that have worsened the current geopolitical tensions, especially for the people facing war and occupation for decades. “The impact of recent geopolitical uncertainties is coup de grace for the poor: prices of food and energy have twisted; food and related entities, including fertilizers, are in short supply and unaffordable for the poorest people and the poorest countries – in Africa, Afghanistan and elsewhere,” Ambassador Munir Akram said at an event held at UN Headquarters in New York. The event was co-organized by five United Nations agencies — FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO — to report on progress toward ending hunger, achieving food security, and improving nutrition, as well as to provide an in-depth analysis of key challenges to achieving these goals in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The theme of this year’s edition is repurposing food and agriculture policy to make healthy diets more accessible. Supply chains should be maintained fully operational, especially for food processing and related logistics, he added, hoping that the UN Secretary-General and friends like Turkey would be successful in enabling access not just to Ukrainian wheat but also to Russian wheat. According to the Pakistani envoy, assistance must be provided to allow food producers, particularly smallholders in developing countries, to contribute to increases in local and national food production by providing enough access to seeds, fertilizer, and money.
Ambassador Akram also called for moderating food prices, especially for inflation-hit developing countries, through appropriate international, national, and market mechanisms. In addition, he said, emergency grants and concessional financing must be provided to countries experiencing social and financial distress to secure adequate food and related supplies, proposing the creation of a Special Food Emergency Fund under the UN auspices. Longer-term action must begin with supporting sustainable food consumption and production systems, eliminating waste and pollution, saving water, boosting forestation, and protecting biodiversity and the world’s natural environments, claims the ambassador.

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“Let us work together to eradicate poverty and achieve zero hunger by 2030,” Ambassador Akram added.

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