SEMINAR- FOOD FOR LIFE: The role of Women in Integral Human Development
17 May 2021 - 14.00-17.00 hrs
Simultaneous translation in Italian, English and Spanish
Hosts: Permanent Mission of the Holy See to FAO, IFAD, and WFP – Rome Forum of Catholic Inspired NGOs
Co-hosts: Secretariat of State of the Holy See - Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
Summary: The year 2021 will be decisive for the Decade of Action towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda and will be marked by high-level summits and events to raise awareness and to coordinate and to support initiatives aimed at achieving SDG2: Zero Hunger. Specifically, the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit, which will take place in New York, and which will be preceded by a pre-Summit in Rome between the 26th and 28th of July 2021, will focus on the need “to transform agricultural food systems so that they may become catalysts of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; increasing resilience in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, strengthening local value chains, improving nutrition, educating producers on the re-use and recycling of resources so that food waste may be reduced, supplying healthy diets accessible to all, and being environmentally sustainable and respectful of local cultures”.1 Given that food security and nutrition are intricately linked to the impacts of climate change, the conservation of natural resources, ecosystems and agricultural production, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, has affirmed that the upcoming Summit will focus on giving due recognition to the inextricable link that exists between food security, the climate crisis, and biodiversity.
In light of this global event, the Holy See seeks to offer its contribution through a series of seminars, scheduled throughout the month of May and inspired by the levers of change identified for the Summit; women, finance, human rights, and innovation. These seminars will exchange ideas, testimonies, and the Holy See's perspective on food justice in the post-Covid recovery.
The present seminar, the first of its series, aims to stimulate debate and share experiences and expertise about the role of women in caring for our common home (based on Catholic Social Teaching, especially in the light of the encyclical, Laudato Si'), as well as in the promotion of integral human development and resilient food systems. In this context, emphasis will be placed on the presence of the Holy See in international fora, as well as its close collaboration with the Organisms of the Roman branch of the United Nations. The concrete experiences and expertise of each speaker will highlight the special and irreplaceable role of women in the Church and in society, in light of their capacity to contribute to improving relations with others and with the planet.
Invited guests: Permanent Representatives and Members of Diplomatic Missions to the FAO, IFAD, WFP and the Holy See; international officials; representatives of Catholic Inspired NGOs, of civil society, and the academic world; representatives of farmers and rural women and men; and other stakeholders.
Technical information: It is possible to register for this seminar through the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KQQC_NAbQyexhYO5dhIiZA
Alternatively, the event will also be live-streamed on Dicastery's YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/VaticanIHD
For more information, please contact foodforall@humandevelopment.va
1 Cf. Statement of His Excellency, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, at the Workshop on Science and Innovations for a Sustainable Food System Preparing for the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, organized by the Scientific Group for the UN Food Systems Summit in cooperation with the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, on 21 April 2021.