On June 4 and 5, 2024, the extraordinary "Policies against Hunger" conference entitled "Twenty Years of Action: Advancing the Human Right to Food" took place in Berlin.
At the conference, around 200 participants from 38 countries took the opportunity of the 20th anniversary of the "Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Food in the Context of National Food Security" to jointly discuss the successes and challenges in realizing the right to food.
The joint findings and recommendations of the conference participants were presented to the Chair of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile, as well as the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture on behalf of all governments at the end of the conference and will be incorporated into international efforts to realize the right to food.
Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture Cem Özdemir opened the conference. State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and CFS Chair Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile welcomed the guests. The chair of the conference and Deputy Director-General of the German Institute for Human Rights, Michael Windfuhr, also welcomed the guests. Maurizio Martina, Deputy Director-General of the FAO, then gave a keynote speech on the role and importance of the right to food in the transformation of agricultural and food systems.
A total of six working groups discussed, what an agenda for the right to food up to 2034 could look like and how the various stakeholder groups can make a concrete contribution to the realization of the right to food. The results of the working groups were evaluated and discussed in the follow-up panel by CFS Chair Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile, Chafik Ben Rouin (OHCHR), Prof. Elisabetta Recine, CONSEA Chair, Juan Jose Echanove (FAO Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division) and Swantje Nilsson, Head of Department International Cooperation, Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).
In several panel discussions, various aspects of the right to adequate food were reflected upon with the participation of the audience. A tête á tête between Ms. Künast (Member of the German Bundestag and former Minister of Agriculture) and Michael Windfuhr shed additional light on the successes of the last 20 years and the prospects for the role of the right to food nationally and internationally.
Parliamentary State Secretary Müller from the BMEL closed the conference, by giving a conclusion of the conference and an outlook on the future.
