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FAO Media Advisory

[cid:a24a2f5b-93c4-41be-b2ba-2e175efa1726]



World Food Day and FAO at 75



Friday, 16 October 2020, FAO



Each year, over 150 countries around the world hold events to mark World Food Day, making it one of the most celebrated international days.







But this year’s World Food Day is no ordinary day.







It comes as the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic - a global scourge that has exposed the fragility of our agri-food systems; threatens to push millions more into hunger; has made many of us rekindle our appreciation for food security: what some take for granted and many go without; but has also provided an opportunity to transform an agri-food system that is out of balance.







It also comes as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) turns 75. FAO was founded on 16 October 1945 – a few days before the United Nations itself - to further agricultural knowledge and nutritional wellbeing.



With the theme<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/themes/en/> “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future”, World Food Day 2020 will call for more resilient and robust agri-food systems, and for global solidarity - both vital for our recovery from this crisis, and for building back better.







The Day will also provide an opportunity to thank Food Heroes – farmers and workers throughout the food supply chain - who, no matter the circumstances, continue to provide food to their communities and beyond.  





What can you do?







Help us give this Day the visibility it deserves, by: following the global celebrations on 16 October; requesting one-on-one interviews with FAO experts before or on the Day; making the most of our communications resources. Details below:







Global events on 16 October 2020:







A ceremony with live speeches and video messages from FAO’s Director-General QU Dongyu; Pope Francis; Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella; UN Secretary-General António Guterres; FAO Special Goodwill Ambassadors for Nutrition – King Letsie III of Lesotho and Queen Letizia of Spain; International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) President Gilbert F. Houngbo and World Food Programme’s (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley.







A lecture, after the ceremony, by Professor Joachim von Braun from Germany on the “Role of Policy, Innovation, Bio-economy and SDGs in Agri-Food System Transformation”, followed by a Q&A session. Read more<https://www.iza.org/people/fellows/6359/joachim-von-braun> about Professor von Braun.







Register to watch the ceremony (14.00-15.00 Rome time) and lecture (15.00-16.00 Rome time) by webinar here<https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JZhFUConRRCbgoIGOjeeqQ>. Or watch them via live webcast here<http://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/5363/icode/>.







A video mapping show starring food heroes and celebrating FAO’s 75th anniversary, at the Colosseum and FAO headquarters’ building in Rome. FAO’s Director-General and representatives of the Italian government, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio and Rome’s Mayor Virginia Raggi, will inaugurate the show at both locations, and then visit a traveling SDGs installation<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/join-us/events-detail/en/c/1310618/> that will arrive in Rome for the Day.







Tune in here<http://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/5364/icode/> at 19.30 Rome time to watch the video mapping show by live webcast. A live video signal in broadcast quality from the Colosseum and FAO’s headquarters will be distributed on EBU News Exchange and AP Live Choice. The signal can also be downlinked from satellites in Asia, Europe and the Americas, and BT Tower. More details here<https://digital-assets.fao.org/home/action/browseItems?categoryId=136185&categoryTypeId=2>.







A limited number of broadcast journalists can attend the video mapping show at FAO and the Colosseum upon requesting accreditation. Please send the request to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> by 17:00 Rome time, 14 October 2020, including scanned copies of a valid press card or letter of assignment on company stationery and a copy of a valid ID (passport, identity card). Please bring your ID materials with you to the video mapping show.







Resources:







Statements by FAO Director-General QU Dongyu that can be used in the lead up to or on the Day:







“The UN’s food agency was born in the wake of catastrophe. Three-quarters of a century later, its mission has been made more relevant to the world at large by another global scourge.”







“At 75, FAO is far from thinking of riding off into the sunset. We are not day-dreaming either. COVID-19 has made it abundantly clear that our mission is as relevant as when our founders created FAO in 1945. Cataclysms spur renewal. The pandemic has reminded everyone that food security and nutritious diets matter to all. This is why FAO is today embarking on the next chapter in its story with a renewed sense of purpose.”







“What we now need is smart, systemic action to get the food to those who need it and improve it for those who have it. Action to prevent crops from rotting in the field, for lack of efficient supply chains. Action to enhance the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence, so as to predict threats to harvest, automatically trigger crop insurance and cut climate risk. Action to rescue biodiversity from relentless erosion. Action to turn cities into the farms of tomorrow. Action by governments to implement policies that make healthy diets more accessible. Action by agencies like FAO to turn to think-tanks and action-tanks rolled into one, linking up with the research community and the private sector to unleash the power of innovation.”







FAO experts can answer a range of questions, including:



  *   Why are our agri-food systems out of balance?

  *   What are the impacts of COVID-19 on food security and systems, and how can we tackle them now and in the long run?

  *   What are some concrete ways we can build stronger and more robust agri-food systems, and build back better?

  *   Can our cities become the farms of tomorrow? This recent FAO paper<http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb1020en/?utm_content=buffera9a49&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer> - based on responses from 800 cities<http://www.fao.org/3/cb0407en/CB0407EN.pdf> and 14 case studies<http://www.fao.org/in-action/food-for-cities-programme/news/covid-19/en/> - highlights key food-related challenges and responses by cities during the pandemic as well as the importance of increasing local urban and peri-urban food production.

  *   What are some of the main events that have shaped FAO, and how has agriculture evolved over the last 75 years?



Topics that can be explored with FAO experts include: healthy diets and their costs, food loss and waste, biodiversity, climate change, trade of food commodities, hunger hot spots, digital innovation in agriculture.



Food heroes’ stories:



Read stories of food heroes<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/food-heroes> celebrated by FAO, such as: Elijah Amoo Addo<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/food-heroes/detail-food-heroes/en/c/1308423/> a chef in Ghana and founder of Food for All Africa, a non-profit organization that distributes food that otherwise would go to waste; members of the Centro Agroalimentare Roma<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/food-heroes/detail-food-heroes/en/c/1308425/> food consortium who helped renew a long tradition of buying fresh, buying local, and helping neighbors in need; Raquel Diego Díaz<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/food-heroes/detail-food-heroes/en/c/1305876/>, a Mexican anthropologist and farmer who has helped promote native varieties of corn and indigenous farming knowledge while helping local women to thrive; Naima Penniman<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/food-heroes/detail-food-heroes/en/c/1305716/>, the Program Director of the US-based Soul Fire Farm that aims to help Black, Indigenous, and People of Color have greater say in, and control over, their food systems.



Everyone has a role to play in ensuring nutritious food is available for all – from governments, private businesses to individuals. Find out more what actions everyone can take<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/take-action/en/>.



Promotional videos and radio public service announcements:







For information on promotional videos, radio spots in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Somali, Kiswahili,



and other resources on the Day, see the right-hand column. Please notify [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> of any radio spots secured.







LIVE WEBCAST



The event will be webcast live here<http://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/5363/icode/>







ON TWITTER



@FAOnews @FAO



#WorldFoodDay, #FoodHeroes





WORLD FOOD DAY RESOURCES



Website<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/home/en/>



Radio spots for download here<https://soundcloud.com/unfao/sets/world-food-day-2020-public>.



Videos, including FAO Director-General’s message, highlights from the ceremony and video mapping show, are or will be available for download here<http://tv.fao.org/event/index/cId/35175141/evId/184171953>.



Social media assets<https://trello.com/b/wgKlFNYa/world-food-day-2020>



Other materials<http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/communication-toolkit/en/> - brochure, web banners, activity book for children, video animation.



(Materials are in several languages. For materials in high resolution, go here<https://digital-assets.fao.org/home/action/browseItems?categoryId=135781&categoryTypeId=2>.)



Statement<http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1312712/icode/> of FAO Director-General on the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to WFP.







MEDIA CONTACTS



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Journalists & editors:



For photos, audio clips, video material & b-roll, contact: (+39) 06 570 53625 or [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.



Online tools:

Photos via the FAOnews Flickr account<http://www.flickr.com/photos/faonews>

RSS feed<http://www.fao.org/news/rss-feed/en/> of FAO news releases

@FAOnews on Twitter<https://twitter.com/faonews/>



This media advisory was issued by the Media Office at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). To unsubscribe from this news service click the link below or send an email to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> with "signoff Media-G-Eng-L" as the only text in the message body. You can also manage your subscription online, here<https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa>.



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