Launch of the 2020 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia

Five years after the world committed to ending hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition, neither the world as a whole nor the Europe and Central Asia region is on track to achieve the objective to ensure access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food for all people all year long and eradicate all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, renewed and revitalized the commitment to ending hunger and malnutrition and reducing premature mortality caused by non-communicable diseases. The 2020 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia is the sixth regional report monitoring trends and progress made towards reaching SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) food security and nutrition targets in the region. The report includes studies on the drivers and regional policy responses necessary to achieve SDG 2. In addition, ensuring adequate, nutritious foods supports progress towards achieving SDG 3.4, limiting poor diets high in unhealthy fats, salt, sugar and excess energy and low in fruit and vegetable consumption and thus reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases. Furthermore, a change towards healthy diets contributes to the achievement of SDG 13, which focuses on climate change.

The special theme of this 2020 edition is the affordability of sustainable healthy diets and their usefulness in ending hunger and malnutrition in the region. The sustainability prospects of healthy diets are recognized and analysed throughout this report, but the main focus of this report is a quantitative analysis of the cost and affordability of healthy diets at national and subnational levels.

The report will be launched at a high-level event on Wednesday, 12 May, 10:00-11:30 a.m. (CEST)

The ceremony will be streamed live on YouTube in English and can also be followed on Zoom in English and Russian.

Key-note speakers

• Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General, Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia
• Olga Algayerova, UNECE Executive Secretary
• Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Response in Europe
• Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe
• Milan Dacić, WMO Chief for Europe

Presentation of the report

• Raimund Jehle, FAO Regional Programme Leader

Panel discussion

• Amir Yarparvar, Health and Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF
• Clare Farrand, Nutrition Officer, WHO
• Natalia Berghi, Programme Officer, WMO

The perspective of the private sector and consumer organizations

• Evgeniy Ryazanov, member of the Association of Fruit and Vegetables Enterprises
• Zsófia Perényi, Association of Conscious Consumers, Hungary

The 2020 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia was jointly prepared by the six members of the Issue-based Coalition on Sustainable Food Systems for Europe and Central Asia: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia; the World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Bureau for Asia; the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia; the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe; and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).