Riyadh, May 19, 2022, SPA -- The Ministerial Conference for Global Food Security affirmed its commitment to act with urgency, at scale, and in concert to respond to the urgent food security and nutrition needs of millions of people in vulnerable situations the world. The statement is issued by the US Department of State, as the United States of America’s Chair of a Global Food Security Ministerial Meeting held at United Nations Headquarters, and endorsed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Albania, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Guyana, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mauritania, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Romania, Senegal, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Ukraine, and Yemen. It committed to provide immediate humanitarian assistance, build resilience of those in vulnerable situations, support social protection and safety nets, and strengthen sustainable, resilient, and inclusive food systems in line with the objectives of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, and the objectives of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. The participants note with grave concern that the newly-released 2022 Global Report on Food Crises indicates that the number of people facing acute food insecurity greatly increased from 135 million in 2019 to 193 million in 2021 in the 53 countries most in need of assistance, and that nearly 40 million people across 36 countries experienced emergency levels of acute food insecurity, just one step away from famine. Driven by conflicts, extreme climate-related events, such as historic multi-season droughts and floods; economic shocks, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on livelihoods, incomes, and food prices; and a multitude of other threats to human, animal and crop health. They reaffirmed the vital role of the UN system, its implementing partners, and non-government organizations in responding to the global food security crisis, in particular through the work of the World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, International Fund for Agricultural Development, United Nations Children’s Fund, and the Global Network against Food Crises. We strongly support the swift initiative of the UN Secretary-General in ensuring a coordinated and comprehensive response through the UN Secretariat’s Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance (GCRG). They welcome the G7’s efforts under the German Presidency’s leadership to prioritize and respond to the escalating global food security crisis, most prominently the shaping of a Global Alliance for Food Security, looking forward to addressing food security as a core component of social, economic, and environmental development under Indonesia’s G20 Presidency, recalling also the G20 Matera Declaration on Food Security, Nutrition and Food Systems promoted under the Italian G20 Presidency. -- SPA 20:05 LOCAL TIME 17:05 GMT 0029 www.spa.gov.sa/w1734762