12/07/2021

G7, world hunger and food security, our letter to Mario Draghi

Dear President Draghi,

We welcome the G7 pronouncement in support of the Compact for the Prevention of Famine and Humanitarian Crises , signed by the G7 foreign and development ministers in May, and the encouragement of efforts on food security, food systems and nutrition addressed to the G20, the UN Summit on Food Systems and Nutrition, the upcoming Tokyo Summit on Nutrition for Growth.

As an Italian network of historic NGOs in the field of development cooperation, LINK 2007 shares the concern expressed by the ICVA (International Council of Voluntary Agencies), a global network of non-governmental organizations, on the real effectiveness of the leaders’ final declaration in the face of the growing number of people facing famine and very serious levels of food insecurity.

As part of the #FightFamine campaign , launched in April with an open letter to donor governments signed by over 300 humanitarian organizations from around the world, ICVA expresses real concern and its members are now urging the G7 and G20 governments and their representatives in UN missions, to put into practice the commitments undertaken by disbursing without delay the programmed appropriations and those necessary to face the scale of the humanitarian crises .

In particular, to be effective, the G7 Compact should provide certain, flexible and long-term financing , in order to reach the populations where the needs are, at the right time and with the appropriate methods, with the support of the operators in the first place line, down to the last mile, of both international and local humanitarian and development organizations. Only the certainty of the size and timing of the financial disbursements can guarantee the maximum effectiveness of the efforts of these organizations.

We are also all aware that the Compact’s commitments, while important, will not be sufficient to provide the necessary answers through prevention action, response to malnutrition, food security. Providing additional financial resources becomes an imperative for the G7 and G20 . These are commitments that will have to complement, and not replace as sometimes happened in the past, those equally indispensable for refugees and displaced persons.

The G7’s commitment “to principled humanitarian assistance by ensuring that humanitarian action is guided by humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence” remains fundamental, also in order to ensure that any population at risk, overcoming political discrimination, can be helped.

We ask you, Mr President, to promote, as far as possible, any initiative at the Italian government level and in international fora that can speed up the translation into concrete decisions and allocations of the verbal commitments undertaken at the recent G7 summit in order to prevent and timely address malnutrition, famine and humanitarian crises and take appropriate action to ensure food security by increasing investment in nutrition and implementing policies and programs to improve nutrition.

With best regards,

Roberto Ridolfi
President
LINK 2007 – Network cooperation

G7, world hunger and food security, our letter to Mario Draghi