Second Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and (…) – Gabonews

2023-06-19 17:59:21

Second Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition

June 19, 2023

From June 15 to 16, 2023, a delegation of Gabonese parliamentarians took part in the 2nd Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition, organized by the FAO in Valparaiso, Chile.

The Gabonese delegation was led by the Honorable Martin Mabala, representing the Honorable Faustin Boukoubi, current President of the Network of Parliamentary Alliances of Central Africa for Food and Nutritional Security (RAPAC-SAN), accompanied by the Honorable Serge Ndong Obame, General Rapporteur of the Gabonese Parliamentary Alliance for Food and Nutritional Security (APGSAN), Venerable Jean René Nzamba Mombo, Secretary General of APGSAN and Mr. Hugues Ngosso, Focal Point of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN) in Gabon.

This second World Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition, at the initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), brought together for two days in the Chilean parliament 150 elected officials, in addition to dozens of others present at a distance.

The latter exchanged on the mechanisms allowing to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in the world.

At the end of this meeting, during which the Honorable Martin Mabala took stock of the activities of RAPAC-SAN to date, he did not fail to point out that the human-wildlife conflict was an obstacle to the production agricultural sector, the Parliamentarians signed a global pact whose objective is to encourage Member States, in particular their legislative bodies, to fight against hunger and malnutrition.

For example, it provides for the consolidation of international parliamentary alliances and the creation of new ones, in order to promote the exchange of experiences, good practices and the development of solutions. “It is about entering a new phase of interaction between parliaments. Parliaments must take on more and more responsibilities“, said FAO Deputy Director Mario Lubetkin.

According to the UN, 828 million people suffered from hunger in 2021 worldwide, 46 million more than in 2020 and 150 million more than in 2019. A situation aggravated among other things by conflicts, change climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. “Every day around the world, 8,500 children die from malnutrition.“, lamented the Chilean MP Carolina Marzan, who chairs the Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Chile. Women are more exposed than men, according to the FAO and the goal of Parliamentarians is to leave no one behind.

After Europe (Spain) in 2018, Latin America (Chile) in 2023, the third summit will be organized in Africa in 2026, following a plea by the Gabonese delegation, supported by other African countries, to assess the effects arrangements made in Chile.

SNO