– Royalty, philanthropists, the pope –
Star guests at the conference will include Queen Letizia of Spain, King of Lesotho Letsie III, philanthropist Melinda Gates and economist Jeffrey Sachs, as well as Pope Francis, a fervent campaigner against hunger who is expected to give a speech on Thursday.
Delegates will adopt a “Rome Declaration on Nutrition” and “Framework for Action”, which FAO said were based on a consensus reached by over 200 national governments after consultations with civil society organizations and the private sector.
The declaration focuses not only on access to healthy food but also the growing problem of inactive over-eaters, finding that “dietary risk factors, together with inadequate physical activity, account for almost 10 percent of the global burden of disease and disability.”
It stresses that “food should not be used as an instrument for political or economic pressure,” and that food price volatility can have a knock-on effect on food security and nutrition and therefore “needs to be better monitored and addressed for the challenges it poses.”
The action framework presents 60 recommendations, including developing and implementing national plans and policies to better nutrition, as well as upping related investments.
It stresses the need for universal health coverage, because “for health systems to be able to deliver improvements in nutrition, it is essential that there is access to health services for all, including the most marginalised and most vulnerable.”
It also urges governments to ensure universal access to safe drinking water and protect children from infections, such as diarrhoea, malaria and intestinal worms.
The framework said it backed commitments made by the WHO to reduce deaths from NCDs – diet related non-communicable diseases – by 25 percent by 2025, as well as reducing salt intake by 30 percent and halting the increase in obesity prevalence in adolescents and adults.
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