The UAE is a main accomplice in international efforts to ensure food security and eradicate hunger - that was the message conveyed by Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, during the opening of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)s 46th session of the Committee on World Food Security, which is at present in progress at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

The UAE contributes enormously to the endeavors of the United Nations, the World Food Programme, and the Committee on World Food Security, to end hunger in different areas of the world, said H.E. Almheiri, who tended to delegates at the opening of the forum accompanied by H.E. Omar Obaid Mohammed Al Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to Italy; Fatima Obaid Al Kalbani, the UAEs Permanent Representative at the FAO; Dr Abdul Wahab Zayed, Secretary-General of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, and Dr Tarifa Al Zaabi, Deputy Director General of FAOs International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA).

The forum concurred with World Food Day, set apart on October 16 every year to raise global awareness about food challenges and promote efforts to combat hunger wherever it is found. Running from October 14-18, the 46th session of the Committee on World Food Security has a packed programme of discussion panels and seminars, with sessions including: Multistakeholder partnerships to finance and improve food security and nutrition in the framework of the 2030 Agenda; Urbanisation, rural transformation and implications for food security and nutrition; and Celebrating the international day of rural women.

H.E. Almheiri displayed the UAEs endeavors to accomplish the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) which is Zero Hunger by 2030. It is essential that we cooperate to accomplish to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and end hunger across the world, she said. We should start with the individual and raise awareness of the significance and estimation of food, and transform that into a culture that we can pass down from generation to generation.

This years World Food Day reaffirms that our future is the equivalent and that our difficulties are the equivalent we should discover regular solutions to these difficulties that are progressively a threat to the future of humanity, included H.E. Almheiri.

Her Excellency proceeded by featuring that the UAE is putting tremendous putting in finding practical approaches to deliver and manage food throughout the value chain and upgrading the role of modern technologies in food and agricultural projects that are feasible under adverse conditions, such as water shortages and scarcity of arable land. H.E. declared that the UAE is attempting to accomplish the goals of the National Food Security Strategy to promote sustainable food production, the rationalisation of food consumption and healthy nutrition for all members of the community.

Her Excellency also underlined the need to enable young people and women in various countries around the world, with these demographic segments playing an essential role in the improvement of the food ecosystem. We must all work together to provide healthy, nutritious, and abundant food for all members of society and to ensure a prosperous future for generations to come, she asserted.

H.E. Almheiri met with FAOs recently elected Director General H.E. Qu Dongyu during the session, reaffirming the strong ties between the UAE and FAO and reiterating the UAE leaderships commitment to supporting the international communitys endeavors in the food security sector to guarantee adequate, healthy and safe food for regions of the world that are suffering from food shortages.

For his part, H.E. Qu Dongyu thanked the UAE Government for the continuous support it lends to FAO projects around the world, describing the UAE as a strategic partner in efforts to eradicate world hunger. H.E. applauded the Office of the UAE Minister of State for Food Security for the support it provides to FAOs offices in the UAE, the region and the world.

Following the meeting, H.E. Almheiri joined H.E. Qu Dongyu in planting a Ghaf tree inside the FAO headquarters in a ceremony as a living testament of the strong ties between the UAE and the organisation as a symbolic celebration of the year of tolerance. The Ghaf tree is a symbol of the UAE, embodying the legacy of the countrys Founding Father the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who sought to plant hundreds of thousands of Ghaf trees around the country to help preserve the environment in the face of climate change. Sheikh Zayed had a particular affinity for Ghaf trees, planting nearly six million of them in Abu Dhabi and issuing legislation and regulations to protect them. These sturdy evergreen plants now represent 31% of forest trees in the emirate.

H.E. Almheiri focused on that the Ghaf tree will represent a permanent UAE presence in the FAO, filling in as a symbol of long and fruitful cooperation between the nation and the organisation. For his part, H.E. Qu Dongyu expressed his happiness to be planting the Ghaf tree in the FAO headquarters as a testimony to the UAEs commitment to the worldwide endeavors to safeguard the environment, improve agriculture and accomplish food security for all.

Several senior FAO officials attended the session, where they investigated approaches to improve collaboration in the upcoming period and address the various challenges in partnership with the UAE. In her interviews, H.E. Mariam Almheiri stated that the UAE is focused on giving all vital support to the organisation as part of its wider contributions to the UN, its endeavors to accomplish the SDGs, and it commitment to discovering solutions to the issues that most influence peoples lives.