Pope Francis and G7 ministers to participate in World Food Day
Pope Francis will join Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva and several G7 agriculture ministers to celebrate World Food Day 2017 on Monday, October 16, at the FAO Headquarters in Rome.
The G7 agriculture ministers include Lawrence MacAulay of Canada, Stéphane Travert of France, Maurizio Martina of Italy, Sonny Perdue of the United States, and the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan.
This year’s World Food Day is being held under the theme “Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development”.
A statement issued by the FAO and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) President Gilbert F. Houngbo and World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley would also participate.
It said Pope Francis would deliver the keynote speech at the ceremony.
It said the World Food Day 2017 takes place in the context of a world where more people have been forced to flee their homes than at any time since World War II due to increased conflict and political instability.
It noted that global hunger, which was on the rise for the first time in decades, poverty, and an increase in extreme weather events linked to climate change were other important factors contributing to the migration challenge.
It said at the event, Pope Francis would unveil sculpture, which was donated to FAO by the Pontiff.
It said the sculpture, by Italian artist Luigi Prevedel, depicts Alan Kurdi, the Syrian boy whose drowning in 2015 had come to symbolise the plight of refugees around the world.
Similar national celebrations would be observed across the globe.
Source: GNA