EVENTS: On 31 October 2023, the Global Observance of World Cities Day 2023, under the theme Financing sustainable urban future for all, will explore how we can unlock transformative investment in urban planning and achieve adequate fiscal decentralization.
Programme - 11:00 – 11:45 Opening address by the Master of Ceremony • Welcome addresses by high-level representatives of the Government of Türkiye • Welcome address by the UN Secretary-General • Welcome address by the USG and Executive Director of UN-Habitat - 11:45 – 12:00 Keynote address by special guest - 12:00 – 12:10 Cultural performance - 12:10 – 12:20 Presentations on financing sustainable urbanization • Video of the Sustainable Human Settlements Foundation • Video of the Zero Waste Initiative by the Government of Türkiye - 12:20 – 12:25 Videos on the theme of World Cities Day and on Urban October - 12:25 – 13:05 Speeches by international speakers - 13:05 – 13:15 Presentation of special citation awards - 13:15 – 13:30 Closing of the morning session by the Master of Ceremony.
It will be a culmination of month-long global deliberations in Istanbul, Türkiye. The high-level segment sessions on October 31st, from 08:30 AM-19:30 PM (UTC+03) will bring together leaders of sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, private sector and governments to focus on the theme of “Financing sustainable urban future for all.” to explore how to unlock transformative investment in urban planning and achieve adequate fiscal decentralization. Two roundtable discussions will be organized for the Global Observance of the World Cities Day 2023.
The second roundtable on “Waste to Wealth” will be held from 16:00-18:00 PM (UTC+03). Building On World Cities Day 2023 and on the transition to a circular economy, This roundtable will discuss the strategies national and local governments can adopt to move towards a circular economy through sustainable operational finance to unlock investments and bring decent job in the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) value chain and shift towards a circular economy. The roundtable will also explore how cities can collaborate with industries to promote circularity and zero waste in the built environment, while simultaneously ensuring that people who depend on the waste value chain for their livelihoods, particularly vulnerable groups such as waste workers, benefit from the transition. It will also discuss how cities can leverage the “value of urbanization” in bridging the financing gap and adopting innovative financing models in collaboration with the private sector and communities to finance capital and operational expenditures to improve solid waste management and to promote a circular economy. UN-Habitat, through its Waste Wise Cities and African Clean Cities Platform programmes, is increasingly working with national and local governments to develop business models and facilitate financial investments to shift towards circular and zero-waste economies.
FORUM: “Your widow to the world.” World Day for Audiovisual Heritage Day 2023. As a window to the world, audiovisual heritage enables us to witness events we do not attend, listen to voices of the past, and create narratives that inform and entertain. Through the exploration of recorded sounds and visual imagery captured on film and video, we not only gain an appreciation for the cultural wealth but also extract valuable lessons from it. Audiovisual materials can tell your story, your truth, and your presence. They provide a window to the world, allowing us to observe events we cannot attend, hear voices from the past who can no longer speak, and craft stories that inform and entertain. By listening to recorded sounds and looking at images captured on film and video we can not only appreciate the richness of this culture but also learn from it. Audiovisual archives tell us stories about people’s lives and cultures from all over the world. They represent a priceless heritage which is an affirmation of our collective memory and a valuable source of knowledge since they reflect the cultural, social and linguistic diversity of our communities. They help us grow and comprehend the world we all share. Conserving this heritage and ensuring it remains accessible to the public and future generations is a vital goal for all memory institutions as well as the public at large. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #WorldDayforAudiovisualHeritage, #WDAH, #audiovisual ,#27october, #AudiovisualHeritageDay#AudiovisualHeritage.
2024 FIAF Congress: The call for papers for the symposium of the 2024 International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) Congress in Bangkok, from 22-23 April 2024) on the theme "Film Archives in the Global South" is now open. In 2023, out of the 173 FIAF members and associates, 41 affiliates were located in what is being referred to as the "Global South", spreading predominantly across Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Despite struggling with developmental and economic challenges, alongside political and social instability, these collections are significant for their cultural diversity, local history, and poignant reflections of societal and political issues experienced by the vast majority of the world's population. As they continue their work on the preservation of the world's audiovisual memory, film archives of the Global South have become important centers for developing specific strategies, approaches and concepts of preservation beyond hegemonic models. More than that, these developments may expand preservation practices to areas and contexts that were previously ignored or considered unreachable through traditional methods and ideas, highlighting the resourcefulness and ingenuity of archival practices in the often under-resourced contexts of the Global South. Participants must fill out the online form before 8 January 2024.
ARSC's 58th Annual Conference: The Call for presentations for ARSC's 58th Annual Conference to be held in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 15 to 18 May 2024, is open until 12 January. The Association for Recorded Sound Collections welcomes all who are interested in any aspect of sound recording to attend or present at the conference. The program will include individual presentations, posters, and panel discussions with sound recording scholars, collectors, preservationists, and creators engaged in a broad range of topics that cross geographic, cultural, and collection boundaries. There will also be a silent auction and social events (screenings, Ask the Technical Committee, a Collector's Roundtable) offered each evening. Get the Conference Flyer and the Call for Presentations.
These include: (1) food systems; (2) energy access and affordability; (3) digital connectivity; (4) education; (5) jobs and social protection; and (6) climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Rooted in the 17 Goals, these transitions are not a new agenda.
I. The Indivisible Goals Demand Integrated Policy
The 2030 Agenda is the result of the most inclusive and expansive
deliberation in human history. Bold, sweeping and ambitious, the
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all
world leaders as essential facets of the sustainable future we want;
of a world transformed for the benefit of all humanity.
These goals are deeply intertwined – any action taken to achieve
one may advance some others. This means an integrated policy
approach is needed to achieve the SDGs – one that navigates the
synergies and trade-offs in taking a certain line of action. This is
akin to solving a Rubik’s cube, where a solution is impossible with
a focus only on one side at a time: all sides must be considered in
relation to each other if the puzzle is to be solved.
Yet, dominant development practice – and in large part, our
institutions, markets, investment incentives and policy processes
– favour siloed approaches. As a result, disparate and competing
strategies and processes proliferate, with planning, policy and
regulatory frameworks unevenly aligned with the Goals. Investment
schemes with limited focus on long-term sustainable patterns,
suboptimal budgets, low public capacities for integration, and
insufficient leveraging of technologies prevail, while increases in
risk factors and intersecting poly-crises impose limitations on the
ability to question “business-as-usual” solutions, entrenching the
status quo.
This disconnect between our 21st century ambitions and our
20th century legacy structures and processes means that SDG
achievement is currently a distant aspiration. Midpoint to 2030,
only about 15 per cent of targets are on track; close to half, though
showing progress, are moderately or severely off track; and some
30 per cent have either seen no movement or regressed below the
2015 baseline. At current rates, only 30 per cent of all countries will
achieve even SDG 1 on poverty by 2030. Hunger has increased and
is back at 2005 levels. Gender equality is some 300 years away.
Too much is at stake and transformation is a matter of utmost
urgency. The most pressing priority for policymakers is to ensure
the integrated approach goes viral so that economic models and
policy processes are revamped commensurate with ambitions, and
investments are galvanized at scale for SDG acceleration.
II. Transitions for Systemic Impact
Scholarship on the SDGs has converged on transformative entry
points - or key transitions - that can have catalytic and multiplier
effects across the SDGs and an outsized determinant impact for
achieving the Goals. These include: (1) food systems; (2) energy
access and affordability; (3) digital connectivity; (4) education; (5)
jobs and social protection; and (6) climate change, biodiversity loss
and pollution.
Rooted in the 17 Goals, these transitions are not a new agenda.
Rather, the transitions represent a useful organizing frame that can
spotlight investment pathways to accelerate SDG progress within
and across countries, with the prevailing country context
determining the priority level and action accorded to each area. This will help ensure a better convergence among the
most impactful entry points to spearhead SDG acceleration,
spurring donor engagement, and improving the alignment of
significant work and investments already undertaken across
these areas by countries, companies, civil society, cities and local
actors, with the support of development finance.
Each of these key transitions requires a consideration of
multiple policy levers spanning economic, social and
environmental dimensions, i.e., actions that recognise the
integrated nature of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. This helps
ensure that collectively, efforts are multiplicative and that all
policy actors amplify each other’s work. Moreover, since the
SDGs are interconnected, so too are these six transitions. For
instance, as significant contributors to greenhouse emissions,
both energy and food systems are inextricably linked with
climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. As such,
achieving these transitions also calls for a transformation of
the dominant traditional, siloed economic models, markets,
incentives, and policies within and across countries.
Critically, the metrics of success for these transitions are
primarily in how they deliver for all persons in our
societies. These must be just and equitable transitions,
with human rights, gender equality and the principle of
Leaving No One Behind comprising their fundamental design
elements. For instance, food systems transition can only
take place if it fully and measurably redresses the
food insecurity that is disproportionately experienced
by women and people living in rural areas. Universal healthcoverage must be a hallmark of the transition on jobs and
social protection. Only when energy is routinely available to
the most disadvantaged groups can it be considered fully
accessible and affordable.
Transitions cannot be achieved without effective means
of implementation, including radical improvements in the
utilisation of science, technology, and innovation, bridging the
data gap, and strengthening SDG localization. It also implies
strengthening governance through transformed policy and
regulatory frameworks and through enhanced national public
sector capabilities to deliver and implement policy action, as
well as mobilize the required investments for market-ready
projects in pipelines. The latter calls for the final critical element
which is a transformation of financing. With an estimated gap of
some US$ 4.2 trillion per year, the SDGs require a quantum leap
in finance flows – from billions to trillions. The primary financing
source for countries remains the national budget, necessitating
a more systematic review and alignment of the budgeting
system to sustainable development financing needs through
Integrated National Financial Frameworks. But public funds
alone are not sufficient to deliver the goals. Additionally,
national budgets in developing countries are depleted after
the massive fiscal response in the last two years to offset the
negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in
Ukraine and the climate emergency. Remaining gaps will need
to be covered by better leveraging all financing flows – public
and private, national and international – including from
international financial institutions, multilateral development
banks, private sector, official development assistance,
philanthropic foundations, remittances, and others;
restructuring debt and lifting trade barriers.
III. Engine Room Actions by the UN Development
System
The reforms of the UN development system have transformed its
ability to support countries with the implementation of the SDGs.
Under the leadership of the Resident Coordinators (RCs), UN
country teams (UNCTs) are now optimally positioned to act as
catalysts to propel progress on the six transitions, building on
the existing optimal entry points that stem from their respective
country-contexts.
The lens of the six transitions – and the critical mass of integrated
policy expertise behind each – will enable RCs and UNCTs deliver
better together to help countries unlock the rapid and deep
transformations needed to achieve the Goals by 2030. As neutral
and trusted arbiters, RCs can harness the expertise and networks
of the entire UN development system and convene governments
and all stakeholders in concerted partnership to accelerate
SDG progress. This means that UNCTs are now uniquely able
to connect the relevant entry points to national ambitions and
priorities, while ensuring that the UN’s collective and entity-specific
programming responses enable policy and financing partnerships
to make these a reality. Evidence-based and data-driven “CommonCountry Analyses” and “UN Sustainable Development CooperationFrameworks” already reflects this revitalisation, with a reinvigorated
ability to help countries address complex, interconnected SDG
challenges.
Within each area, UNCTs will enable and deliver four 'engine room'
actions at the country level, both building on and supporting
regional and global efforts. First, RCs and UNCTs will drive the
shifts across policy and regulatory frameworks, going beyond
the standard sectoral approaches. Second, RCs and UNCTs
will facilitate the identification and development of pipelines of
bankable and market-ready national projects with participation of
both public and private sectors, including by providing access to
world-class expertise. Third, RCs and UNCTs will convene all
relevant actors to attract the needed financing from all sources –
traditional donors, development banks, capital markets,
philanthropic foundations, and remittances, to help develop
the ‘deal room’ – a financing mix with innovative instruments –
for each of the transitions. Fourth, RCs and UNCTs will
commit to capacity-building at scale to support public
institutions and civil society in this process, ensuring a steady
increase in capacities over time to reinforce and sustain these
investments.
At the global level, the Joint SDG Fund has been transformed
to accompany these transitions, incubating and capitalizing
new windows of financing. Such catalytic support to UNCTs
will be critical for results at the country level. Additionally,
regional intergovernmental mechanisms and strengthened UN
coordination platforms are enabling multistakeholder policy
dialogues around these key areas, and collaborative and coherent
responses to country priorities and needs.
The 2023 SDG Summit – the half-way mark to 2030 – represents a
vital opportunity to put the SDGs back on track and secure the
breakthroughs and collective commitments needed to drive
SDG acceleration and help deliver the future we want. The UN
development system remains the world’s best asset to support
countries in this process and is committed to continuous
improvement to accelerate momentum.
In commemoration of United Nations Day, the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Tonga sponsors a concert featuring the Environmental Symphony: The Movement and world renowned cellist Michael Fitzpatrick in the General Assembly Hall on the theme of "The Frontlines of Climate Action." The theme of this year's Concert reinforces Secretary-General António Guterres's call for "faster, bolder climate action," and is intended to galvanize world leaders ahead of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai later in the year, and the 2024 International Conference on Small Island Developing States in Antigua and Barbuda.
The United Nations is a reflection of the world as it is – and an aspiration of the world we know it can be.
It is our responsibility to help build that world of peace, sustainable development and human rights for all.
I know we can do it. The Charter of the United Nations – which entered into force 78 years ago today – points the way.
Above all, it is rooted in a spirit of determination to heal divisions, repair relations, and build peace.
To expand opportunities, and leave no one behind.
To ensure justice, equality and empowerment for women and girls.
To provide life-saving relief to those in need.
And to be flexible enough to address challenges that did not even exist when the UN was born – from the existential climate crisis to the perils and promise of artificial intelligence.
The United Nations is guided by timeless values and principles, but it must never be frozen in time. That is why we must always keep strengthening ways of working and applying a 21st century lens to all we do.
On this United Nations Day, let us commit with hope and determination to build the better world of our aspirations.
Let us commit to a future that lives up to the name of our indispensable organization.
We are a divided world. We can and must be united nations.
During the day, we will highlight these intimately linked ‘decent work’ and ‘social protection’ as drivers in ending poverty and achieving dignity in practice. To achieve our goals, choices have to be made between racing to the bottom or racing to the top. Let us choose the latter and aspire to attain the highest standards for every human being giving a chance for everyone to shine and offer their best to family, community and the world. As required by international human rights law, we urge the States to use maximum available resources to progressively fulfil their human rights obligations.
People living in extreme poverty, many of whom work in the informal economy – unregistered, unrecognised and unprotected under labour legislation – face difficult and dangerous conditions. The most excluded have no choice but to accept unacceptable situations and are often seen and treated as ‘disposable’. Despite working long hours, they are unable to earn enough to support themselves and their families. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that almost 2/3 of the world’s working population, over two billion people, are informal workers with Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa having the highest levels of informality. In 2020, only 46.9% of the global population were effectively covered by at least one social protection benefit, leaving more than half of the world’s population wholly unprotected.
Informal work is also present in high income countries especially among the marginalised and undocumented workers. And even those who have access to social protection often suffer from the stigma and control that come with it. For the people experiencing persistent poverty, their lack of decent working conditions and respectful social protection creates insecurity that denies them to take charge of their lives and exposes them to exploitation, humiliation and feelings of futility preventing them from participating fully in their communities. Over the next decade, the World Bank estimates that one billion young people will try to enter the job market, but less than half of them will actually find formal jobs.
People directly impacted by extreme poverty will face discrimination, unable to obtain decent work because of their socio-economic status, lower levels of education and training received as well as the stigma attached to being poor. UNICEF estimates that in the least developed countries, slightly more than one in four children (ages 5 to 17) are engaged in labour that is detrimental to their health and development, jeopardising the possibility to ever lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
Discrimination is also felt by women, who according to the ILO women form 58% of the informal labour force. Women are likely to be the lowest paid, most marginalised and more susceptible to sexual harassment at work. Despite women’s work contributing to the economy, well-being of individuals, families and societies, the care and household work is unpaid, undervalued and left out of policy agendas. Similarly, the most excluded among us also perform useful jobs, often under precarious conditions. They have, for example, been on the forefront of environment protection and trendsetters in repair, reuse and recycle long before the ‘circular economy’ concept became popular. Despite their economic, social and environmental contribution, their work is not recognised or dismissed by society. Dignity of the human person is inherent and yet the lived experience of people in poverty, the reality of their situation, access to decent work and social protection are a far cry from the promise of the right to work and a life in dignity enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirmed in Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. The reality check is all the more shocking in view of the tremendous wealth, know how and technological advances that could have ended poverty already many decades ago. Yet the discriminatory social institutions, unjust systems, laws, policies and actions cause poverty to persist and inequalities to increase.
In aspiring for the highest attainable standards, we call for:
Decent work for all – The ILO defines decent work as “productive work for women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and human dignity.” Ensuring that jobs enable women and men to work in conditions of dignity is key to ending poverty. Decent work must be understood in the context of a dignified life and address the hidden dimensions of poverty, the social and institutional maltreatment, the unrecognised contributions that disempowers people living in poverty and causes suffering of the body, mind and the heart. In addressing the hidden dimensions, decent work combats social exclusion and promotes cohesion by inviting excluded individuals, those who have been left behind back into public life. It provides an environment supportive of non-judgement context assisting and most wider excluded individuals to access decent jobs in locations close to where they live. Decent work transforms unequal power relations by recognising the worker as a rights holder who needs to be supported and provided with the necessary education and training to do their work, who has the right to a fair wage, social security and safe working conditions. Decent work is work that empowers and enables their control over income earned. The income security that comes with social protection provides agency for people to confidently plan their future. Moreover, the dignity of work gives respect to the worker without discrimination, thereby regarding work as ‘bearer of humanity’ .
Universal social protection (USP) – Life’s journey is full of uncertainties and everyone, including those outside the labour force (eg. children, elderly and people not able to work), have a right to income security, to be ‘protected against poverty and risks to livelihoods and well-being’. States are required to deploy their maximum available resources to make social protection a reality for all. Anyone who needs social protection should be able to access it and barriers to accessing social protection rights should be addressed. In doing so, special attention must be paid to the most excluded and people trapped in extreme poverty, some of whom do not take up their rights due to lack of legal identity or shame associated with being poor. In designing and operationalising universal social protection schemes, states must involve the rights holders to ensure effective take up by those in need. In our efforts to move forward, let us use dignity as our compass, so the attainment of fundamental human rights and social justice is at the heart of national and global decision making. Using dignity as our compass will also help shape a global economy that prioritises the wellbeing of the people and planet over maximisation of corporate profits and ensure social justice, peace and prosperity. In moving forward, strong partnerships are needed. In this regard, Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection, and Global Coalition for Social Justice to reduce and prevent inequalities should be supported.
In our world of plenty, poverty should have no home.
Yet, as we mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, nearly 700 million people are barely scraping by, living on less than $2.15 per day.
Over a billion people are deprived of basic needs like food, water, health care and education. Billions more lack sanitation and access to energy, jobs, housing and social safety nets.
Meanwhile, conflicts, the climate crisis, discrimination and exclusion — particularly against women and girls — are deepening the distress.
This is compounded by an outdated, dysfunctional and unfair global financial system that hinders developing countries from investing in alleviating poverty and achieving the SDGs.
At current rates, almost 500 million people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030.
This is unacceptable.
At the SDG Summit in September, world leaders recognized the need to reform the international financial architecture and committed to a bold plan to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals and accelerate efforts to eradicate poverty everywhere.
This includes support for an SDG Stimulus of at least $500 billion per year in financing for investments to achieve this.
Leaders also agreed on targeted action aimed at alleviating poverty and suffering for all people — from transformed food and education systems, to decent jobs and expanded social protection, as this year’s theme highlights.
Ending poverty is the challenge of our time.
But it is a challenge we can win.
On this important day, let’s renew our commitment to a world free of poverty.
Celebrated since 1987 as the World Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty and recognized by the United Nations in 1992, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty promotes dialogue and understanding between people living in poverty and their communities, and society at large.“It represents an opportunity to acknowledge the efforts and struggles of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make poor people concerns heard, and a moment to recognize that poor people are in the forefront in the fight against poverty.” (United Nations, Report of the Secretary General, A/61/308, para. 58)
The theme of this year's World Food Day centers on water, emphasizing its critical role in nutritious and healthy food. Sustainable water management for agriculture and food production is indispensable to ending hunger, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and preserving water for future generations. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #16october, #waterislife, #waterisfood, #Leavenoonebehind, #worldfoodday, #wateraction, #sdg2.
World Food Day 2023 comes during a global food crisis, with the world moving backwards on ending hunger and malnutrition.
Some 780 million people around the world are going hungry; almost fifty million children are at risk of death from severe wasting. Yet funding for this year's global humanitarian appeal stands at just 32 percent.
In our world of plenty, it is outrageous that a person dies of hunger every few seconds, while the World Food Programme has been forced to cut its essential aid programmes.
In 2015, after years of progress, Governments set the goal of zero hunger by 2030.
But eight years later, the number of people suffering from hunger has increased significantly.
This crisis demands action – first and foremost from national governments, which have a responsibility to make sure their people have enough to eat.
But many governments lack the resources to do so, and so effective international solidarity is also essential.
The long-term causes of the global food crisis include conflicts, climate extremes, inequality, and economic instability.
The UN system is addressing these root causes through our support for sustainable, equitable food systems that put people over profits.
That means massively scaling up investments in resilient agriculture, and aligning them with climate action.
It means leveraging science and technology to improve the efficiency and reach of food systems.
This year's theme for World Food Day focuses on water – a necessity for nutritious and healthy food.
The sustainable management of water for agriculture and food production is essential to end hunger, achieve the SDGs, and preserve water for future generations.
Zero hunger is achievable.
This World Food Day, I call on governments, the private sector, civil society and academia to work together;
to prioritize feeding the hungry;
to bring ending this crisis to the top of the global agenda;
and to invest in long-term solutions that provide everyone with enough to eat.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
The World Food Day 2023 Ceremony and Achievement Award will start at 10:00 AM Rome time; The World Food Forum grand opening will start at 14:00 PM Rome time. A dynamic launch event, uniting global leaders, innovators and activists, marks the beginning of the 2023 World Food Forum. Join us for inspiring speeches and performances as we ignite a movement to transform agrifood systems and accelerate climate action. A brighter future starts here. The Concert and Global Youth Forum opening will be held at 18:00 PM Rome time to celebrate the power of music as a catalyst for change while we kickstart the Global Youth Forum with the WFF's annual concert featuring young upcoming artists from around the globe.
World Food Day 2023 Ceremony and Achievement Award.
We'll be kick-starting the World Food Day 2023 global events at FAO headquarters with the annual ceremony. The Heads of the Rome-based UN agencies and other special guests will be invited to attend the ceremony, which will feature special messages from Pope Francis and the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres and as well as the presentation of the FAO Achievement Award.
The World Food Day annual ceremony will see the participation of His Excellency Sergio Mattarella, President of the Republic of Italy, His Excellency Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, and Her Excellency Mariam Bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri, Cabinet Member, Minister for Climate Change and Environment of the United Arab Emirates. Special messages from Pope Francis and the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres will be delivered and they will be followed by the intervention of the Heads of the Rome-based UN agencies Mr Alvaro Lario, President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and Ms Cindy Hensley McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP). The World Food Day ceremony will end with the presentation of the FAO Achievement Award. Watch the World Food Day 2023 Ceremony and Achievement Award.
Junior 2023 World Food Day.
Join us for a journey of inspiration filled with stories, music, art, the launch of the new music video and more. Influencers and renowned chefs like Max Mariola, Bela Gil, Fatmata Binta and Anahita Dhondy look forward to meeting young minds for an engaging, cross-cultural conversation guaranteed to inspire water action for food.
After the success of previous editions, Junior World Food Day is back for another inspiring event. Special guests, including international food heroes and chefs, such as Rodrigo Pacheco, FAO National Goodwill Ambassador for Ecuador, Fatmata Binta, Anahita Dhondy, Bela Gil, Michael Haddad, Olivia Mandle, Max Mariola, as well as influencers and innovators from different parts of the world, will join young people for an inspiring conversation to learn concrete water-saving actions. There will be stories, music, art and dance, accompanied by a live performance of the 2023 youth music video by the multicultural Piccola Orchestra di Tor Pignattara and friends. Watch the Junior World Food Day!
Enter the world Food Day 2023 Poster Contest!
The entry period will begin at 12:00 (CEST) on 1 June 2023 and will close at 12:00 (CEST) on 3 November 2023. The 2023 World Food Day Poster contest competition is divided into the following categories: 5 to 8, 9 to 12, 13 to 15, and 16 to 19. Only one entry should be submitted per person.
IN FOCUS: Water is life, water is food - World Food Day 2023 will highlight how water is essential to life on Earth and the foundation of our food
According to the latest FAO report, Rural women play a crucial role in agricultural and non-agricultural activities, which emerge as agrifood systems develop and economies change. There, women work as farmers, retailers, wage laborers, entrepreneurs, among other tasks. However, gender inequalities in agrifood systems cause women to be disproportionately affected by food and nutritional insecurity, monetary and time poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #15October, #ruralwomenday, #MujeresRurales#MujeresConDerechos.
The seminar will be held from on October 10th, 9:00 to 11:30, from FAO Santiago de Chilewill seek to provide a regional overview of the advances and challenges that promote or obstruct the economic empowerment of rural women in all their diversity, and will make recommendations to strengthen the economic empowerment program for rural women and generate inputs for the FAO Regional Conference -LARC 38, the Regional Conference of ECLAC-UN Women, among other initiatives within the framework of the rural women's agenda in the region. In view of this situation, the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, in the framework of the Commemoration of the International Day of Rural Women and the strengthening of its program for the economic empowerment of this group, invites counterparts from government, civil society, academia, private sector and United Nations agencies to discuss and propose strategies for closing gender gaps in agrifood systems.
During the seminar, examples of legislation, policies and programs will be presented with a focus on what has worked and specific recommendations will be shared on how to make more and better interventions with and for rural women. From a vision of collective action, the seminar will seek to generate alliances and identify strategies and interventions with scalability potential, based on the agenda of rural women in the region, to accelerate rural women economic, social and political empowerment. The Seminar will begin with welcoming remarks by FAO, followed by thematic talks that will delve into the central aspects of sustainable rural development from a transformative gender equality approach, followed by a space for guided reflection, and ending with a session of agreements and closing. The interventions will incorporate success stories and review the strategies mobilized to bring about the necessary change towards an egalitarian welfare state.
Statement from the United Nations Secretary-General on International Day of Rural Women 2023; October 15th.
CAMPAIGN: “17 Days of Activism for the Empowerment of Rural Women Leaders and their Communities 1-17 October 2023”.
The “Rural women, women with rights” campaign, convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is a collaborative work initiative that joins efforts, articulates networks, and disseminates knowledge and positive experiences to promote the full autonomy of women in the rural world. Since 2016, this campaign has articulated government entities, civil society organizations and United Nations agencies around regional and national political advocacy actions, in favor of the empowerment of rural women.
Excerpt of the Report : "Five key areas for urgent action".
1} Heads of State and Government should recommit to seven years of accelerated, sustained and transformative action, both nationally and internationally, to deliver on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals.
2) Governments should advance concrete, integrated and targeted policies and actions to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and end the war on nature, with a focus on advancing the rights of women and girls and empowering the most vulnerable
3) Governments should strengthen national and subnational capacity, accountability and public institutions to deliver accelerated progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
4) The international community should recommit at the SDG Summit to deliver on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and to mobilize the resources and investment needed for developing countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those in special situations and experiencing acute vulnerability.
5) Member States should facilitate the continued strengthening of the United Nations development system and boost the capacity of the multilateral system to tackle emerging challenges and address Sustainable Development Goals-related gaps and weaknesses in the international architecture that have emerged since 2015.“
2023 has shattered temperature records, and seen record drought, fire and floods around the world. Poverty and inequality are exacerbating these disasters.
Those with least are often at greatest risk from extreme weather. They may live in places that are more susceptible to flooding and drought; and they have fewer resources to deal with damage and to recover from it. They suffer disproportionately as a result, and may be pushed further into poverty.
Fighting inequality for a resilient future, is the theme of this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. Countries must work to break the cycle of poverty and disaster by honouring the Paris Agreement, striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
We must also tackle inequality at the global level, by operationalizing the Loss and Damage Fund at COP28 [twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] this year and ensuring that every person on Earth is covered by an early warning system by 2027.
This International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction let us reaffirm our commitment to investing in resilience and adaptation, and building a safe and just future for everyone, everywhere.
90% of climate-related deaths occur in poorer countries. Even in wealthier countries, the majority of disaster victims are the poorest and those already facing social and economic inequality.
In the shocking findings of our disability survey, launched today, 84% of persons with disabilities feel they are unprepared to respond in the event of a disaster.
Inequality, in all its forms, is a major driver of disaster risk. That is because poverty and inequality create the conditions that force communities to live in hazardous areas, with weak infrastructure and housing. Inequality inhibits access to information, services and warnings.
And after a disaster, it takes vulnerable communities much longer to recover and people are often driven further into poverty. We must break this cycle of inequality, disaster, repeat.
On the 2023 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction we say: “No more”. No more inequality. No more leaving people behind. No more climate injustice. No one is safe from the threat of disasters, until everyone is safe.
This means countries must urgently prioritise the roll out of inclusive, multi-hazard early warning systems so that everyone, regardless of where they are, is protected and prepared.
It also means adequately funding disaster risk reduction, whether that is through international assistance, public or private investment, and prioritising developing countries to help them avoid disasters.
By supporting the poorest and most vulnerable countries and taking care of the most at-risk within all countries, we can ensure no one is left behind and empower people to prosper with equality and resilience.
With the right decisions and actions now, we can protect every life from disasters.
We can and we must.
Thank you.
UNDRR Director general.
KEY MESSAGES
Poverty, inequality and discrimination are causes and consequences of growing disaster risk.
Inequality creates the conditions that render people exposed and vulnerable to disasters. Disasters also disproportionately impact the poorest and most at risk people, thus worsening inequality. Reducing vulnerability to disasters requires addressing these dimensions.
By 2030, with current climate projections, the world will face some 560 disasters per year. An additional estimated 37.6 million people will be living in conditions of extreme poverty due to the impacts of climate change and disasters by 2030. A “worst case” scenario of climate change and disasters will push an additional 100.7 million into poverty by 2030.
We can curb the destructive power of hazards—in other words, stop them from turning into disasters—through careful and coordinated planning that is designed to reduce people’s exposure and vulnerability to harm.
Greater investments are needed in the collection and use of disaggregated data, both to better understand disproportionate disaster impacts and exposure, and to inform resilience-building plans.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED:
We must break the cycle of disaster > growing inequality > repeat.
We can curb the destructive power of hazards—in other words, stop them from turning into disasters—through careful and coordinated planning that is designed to reduce people’s exposure and vulnerability to harm.
We must accelerate the implementation of the Early Warnings for All initiative to ensure everyone on earth is covered by early warnings in the next four years, prioritizing the most at-risk communities
Greater investments are needed in the collection and use of disaggregated data, both to better understand disproportionate disaster impacts and exposure, and to
Member States must prioritise their commitments to achieving the Sendai Framework and SDGs, especially the reduction of poverty and inequality, while urgently addressing disaster risk and vulnerability with a focus on the most vulnerable communities
Global decision makers must make our financial system fit for purpose in delivering finance for the most climate-vulnerable countries.
We need to deliver economic resilience for the most at risk from disastersCountries must engage, build capacity and empower groups in all DRR decision making processes.
Countries must ensure that the most at risk, including women, older persons and persons with disabilities are meaningfully included.
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