October 29, 2018
Nadim Khouri, Independent Researcher - The World Bank
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The annual meeting of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) is an opportunity for the leaders of all countries around the World, and their high-levels officers, to discuss specific themes, exchange ideas and agree on priorities at the global, regional or bi-lateral levels. This year’s UNGA meeting had as a general theme: “Making the United Nations Relevant to All People”.
Food security, in particular the efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal on fighting hunger and promoting sustainable agriculture and food security (SDG2), was incorporated in many discussions—here are three themes that are worth following as well as new initiatives to move forward:
Updated metrics: in the “what gets measured gets done” category, the recent UNGA meetings had a number of organizations and country representatives decrying the “slippage” on SDG2. Indeed, data show that 2018 witnessed an increase in the numbers and incidence of hunger and malnutrition globally. The reasons most commonly cited were man-made crises: conflict, and climate-change as a close second.
A new partnership to improve SDG2 data gathering and analysis was launched at the UNGA. It is called “Data to End Hunger: the 50 X 2030 Initiative” and aims at significantly improving data inputs with reference to transparency and prioritization of investment funding targeting SDG2.
Increased Investments: There was a high-level UNGA meeting dedicated to financing of the overall Agenda 2030 in all 17 SDGs. The challenge is daunting as the funding gap for developing countries to reach the SDGs is estimated at US$2.5 trillion per year and present levels of official development assistance or ODA cannot be increased to fill the gap. Ways to involve the private sector –in SDG2 and other global goals--were therefore major point of discussion at UNGA and in parallel events.
Another potentially significant initiative that was launched at the UNGA is the Famine Action Mechanism (FAM) initiative which links investment sources to new tools for early warning on hunger and malnutrition. Learning from the response to health emergencies such as the recent outbreaks of the Ebola virus, the FAM initiative will have innovative financing instruments to quickly release funds for the prevention—not only relief—of famine in critical areas. In doing so, it will build on existing early warning systems such as Famine Early Warning System Systems Network (FEWSNET).
Migration: There were no major events or initiatives at UNGA specifically focused on MENA, but many of the global initiatives (such as the ones above) include countries of the region, if not the entire region. One other major theme that was discussed at length is refugees and migration in general. The UNGA was an opportunity for discussing and promoting consensus around the various recommendations of a Convention on Migration. Next, an inter-governmental conference will be held in December 2018 in Marrakesh, Morocco, for the adoption of the Convention for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
These are three important initiatives with many potential areas for partnering – in the MENA region – with researchers, policy-makers, civil society and the private sector, in order to improve food security, equity and growth.
