On 13 – 15 October 2020, IDF took part in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) High-Level Virtual Special Event on Global Governance of Food Security and Nutrition.

The session, in lieu of CFS 47 (rescheduled to 8 – 12 February 2021 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic), sought to keep food security and nutrition front and centre on the global sustainable development agenda.

Over the course of these 3 days, CFS held three high-level virtual plenaries, one per day, to:

• Take stock of the global food security situation guided by the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2020 report and the CFS High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) report on Building a Global Narrative towards 2030
• Reflect on the impacts of COVID-19 on global food security and nutrition and efforts needed to “build back better” using the HLPE issues paper on Impacts of COVID-19 on Food Security and Nutrition: Developing Effective Policy Responses to Address the Hunger and Malnutrition Pandemic; and
• Discuss the draft CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition and the draft CFS Policy Recommendations on Agroecological and Other Innovative Approaches and consider their relevance to the objectives of the UN Food Systems Summit.

The Special Event was attended by hundreds of stakeholders navigating global food security and nutrition. A variety of speakers such as the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Heads of UN agencies with a mandate in nutrition and food security, ministers of agriculture, and as well food security leaders from around the globe spoke during the event. All mentioned the importance of putting nutrition and food security at the center of the discussion, especially during these unprecedented times, and highlighting the need for collaboration among all stakeholders to ensure no-one is left behind.

IDF response to CFS-HLPE issues paper

IDF responded to CFS HLPE issues paper on the impacts of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition (September 2020). The IDF position paper in response “Impacts of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition: developing effective policy responses to address the hunger and malnutrition pandemic” was released in advance of the high-level meeting, and shared the perspective of the global dairy sector and how it has responded to the pandemic and its resilience in the face of this new reality, to ensure that there are enough nutritious dairy foods available for consumers around the world even in these very difficult times.

Read IDF’s position here.