Deputy Secretary-General Stresses Complexity of Food Systems, Telling Global Youth Dialogue It Is Much Bigger than ‘What Is on Our Plate’

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to the opening of the Food Systems Summit Global Youth Dialogue today:

Hello, everyone.  It is a pleasure to open this important event.

Youth are not only the leaders of the future but are acting as leaders each and every day.  Today’s actions will affect tomorrow’s world, and now is the time to make the right choices and take the responsible steps.  Only through intergenerational solidarity and international cooperation will be able to secure a better world for all.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep-rooted inequities in our world, including in our food systems.  Those suffering the most are the vulnerable, including young people.  Yet young people are also among the most resilient, taking the challenges and converting them into opportunities for devising innovative solutions, broadening the engagements by going virtual, and mobilizing peer-to-peer support.

The world needs your expertise, ideas and partnership in this Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] by 2030.  We are convening a summit on food systems because they are critical to the achievement of all the SDGs.

Food systems, which involve all the processes that enable us to feed ourselves, our families and our communities, are connected to our health, our environment and our cultures.  In short, food is much bigger than what is on our plate.  This is a complex challenge, but only together will we transform our food systems to be more equitable, inclusive and sustainable and deliver the SDGs by 2030.

This Global Dialogue is just one stepping stone; it is an invitation to be engaged, to be innovative, and to propose solutions while recognizing that one size does not fit all.

I look forward to learning about the conclusion of this Youth Global Dialogue and to obtaining a clear sense of your main concerns and how you would like the Food Systems Summit to address them.

Thank you for everything you are doing to help us keep ambition high and act with urgency towards 2030.  I wish you a fruitful discussion.