ROME
Governments around the world must build a platform for healthier diets and improve nutrition for all people in their respective countries, UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said Wednesday.
Da Silva made the comments ahead of the Second International Conference on Nutrition in Rome, which would address international nutrition issues and develop policies for 2025 global nutritional targets. The conference will be held for three days between Nov. 19 and 21.
“Improving nutrition requires a collective effort,” Da Silva told delegates.
“It requires well-designed laws that improve food systems, ensure healthy diets and strengthen school meals,” he said.
Director-General World Health Organization Dr. Margaret Chan said "we have all the knowledge, expertise and resources to overcome all forms of malnutrition. In fact, there is already enough food in the world for everyone to eat adequately."
Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon said "a great progress has been made since I issued the zero-hunger challenge, calling on governments, civil society, the private sector and research institutions to unite and end hunger, and eliminate the worst of forms of malnutrition.”
Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano called for "mobilization against the plague of hunger and malnutrition that still affects millions.”
“Global hunger continues to decline. Today, 805 million people are still undernourished; in 1992, it was over one billion people," Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said.
"Our priority is to invest more in agriculture…farmers must get access to markets, especially in developing countries," Gentiloni added.
The first International Conference on Nutrition was held in 1992 in Rome. The conference resulted in the creation of Millennium Development Goals to eliminate poverty and hunger and improve living conditions worldwide.
Undernourishment continues to be the main reason of child deaths around the world, with over 45 percent of such fatalities reported in 2014.
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