25 September 2014: A high-level event, titled ‘Delivering Zero Hunger – Demonstrating Impact,’ was organized by the Permanent Missions of Ireland, Mexico and the Netherlands, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP). Femi Oke, Al Jazeera, served as moderator. The event took place on 25 September 2014, at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s 69th session.

A statement from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said “food security is everyone’s business,” and welcomed the launch of the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture during the Climate Summit on 23 September 2014.

Mark Rutte, Netherlands Prime Minister, said achieving zero hunger requires a food system that can provide enough quality food. He noted partnerships between WFP and the Dutch private sector, which he said is playing an increasing role including in smallholder agriculture, input supply, and local processing.

Charles Flanagan, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said we have the tools to end hunger in a generation, and “this is the inescapable challenge for the world’s leaders” currently gathered in New York. He highlighted climate change as the main obstacle to nutrition security, and noted ways to focus on climate, nutrition and gender at the same time, for a “triple win,” not compromising any issue to make gains in another. Finally, saying the 19th-century famine in Ireland “scarred our country and lives on in our consciousness,” Flanagan offered its experiences and its resources to end hunger.

Rosario Robles Berlanga, Mexico’s Secretary of Social Development, explained her country’s focus on extreme poverty and lack of nutrition, stating that one who is hungry cannot exercise her freedom.

Jose Graziano da Silva, FAO Director General, noted that while the number of hungry people has been cut by 40% since 1990, more than 800 million are still hungry. Encouraging using this momentum to move forward, he welcomed the second proposed Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), and said the Rome-based Agencies are prepared to support governments in taking an extra step forward. He said all countries that succeed have political will to end hunger, a coordinated plan and approach, and move together. He emphasized that “ending hunger is a decision of a society, not a government.”

Kanayo Nwanze, IFAD President, said zero hunger means “reaching the unreachable,” and that this requires building bridges between unequal groups, including rural and urban areas. With the smallholders who produce 80% of the world’s food also remaining the world’s poorest, he said something is wrong. But, he added, “we know what to do” – zero hunger means transforming rural space and providing opportunities for rural people to enter markets. In this regard, he stressed the effectiveness of “public-private-producer partnerships” (PPPPs).

Amina Mohammed, UN Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, urged seeing opportunities rather than burdens, such as the opportunity to leave no one behind. “Women are half of this opportunity” she said, calling for better partnerships that include women.

In a series of comments to demonstrate the impact of zero hunger efforts, participants from Indofood (Indonesia), Chirapaq (Peru), NEPAD (Africa), DSM (Netherlands) and El Garucho de R.L. (El Salvador) spoke. El Garucho’s president Karla Trujillo said “my experience as a farmer has been quite wonderful,” as they have learned how to produce surplus with new technologies, increase the standard of living, and contribute to eradicating hunger with high-quality products.

Tom Arnold, Interim Coordinator of the Movement on Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN), said nutrition has to be part of the SDGs.

Ertharin Cousin, WFP Executive Director, spoke of the sense of pride in every hungry mother and father, who want to feed their own children. She praised private sector actors who are “just as committed to changing the world as they are to their bottom line,” and the evident commitment of Prime Minister Rutte and other high-level officials who participated. She said that, in order to eradicate abject poverty by 2030, hunger must be ended by 2025. She noted that this leaves ten years and called for not just dreaming big dreams, but for having big action plans. [UN Website on Zero Hunger] [Statement of UN Secretary-General] [IFAD Press Release] [FAO Press Release] [WFP Press Release] [WFP Zero Hunger Webpage]