In World Where Nearly 10 Per Cent of People Go to Bed Hungry, Urgency, Solidarity Key to Making Food Security Global Reality, Secretary-General Tells Committee

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres' video message for the fifty-third session of the Committee on World Food Security, in Rome today:

You gather at a time of challenge, but also hope. 2024 saw the first decline in the number of hungry people in several years.

Yet, we know progress is uneven, fragile and far too slow. In many places, hunger is rising. Food prices remain unaffordable. Malnutrition is entrenched. And famine has taken hold in Gaza and Sudan. Nearly 1 in 10 people around the globe go to bed hungry. In a world of plenty, that is unconscionable.

The Committee on World Food Security exists to help write a different story.

Your work on urban food systems, resilience and responsible investment is helping to transform the systems that feed the world - along with the lives that depend on them. And we can go further.

The UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake this year focused on reimagining food as an engine for peace, equity and climate action.

That means: delivering through funding and innovation; empowering smallholder farmers; supporting the women, Indigenous People and rural communities who suffer disproportionately; and harnessing science and AI responsibly.

There is enough food to go around. The problem is not scarcity, it is access, affordability and accountability. Let's act with urgency and solidarity. Let's make food security a reality for all.