World Food Day “Right to food for a better Life and a better future” & the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty “Ending social and institutional maltreatment acting together for just, peaceful and inclusive societies”

His Excellency, General. Vilay Lakhamfong, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Public Security, Lao PDR; His Excellency, Dr Linkham Douangsavanh, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Mrs Martine Thérer, United Nations Resident Coordinator ad interim (UNRC a.i) / United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ms Kyung Mee-Kim, FAO Representative to Lao PDR, honoured to cut the ribbon for the opening of the event on this occasion.

World Food Day, and International Day and National Week for the Eradication of Poverty serve as platforms for individuals, changemakers, organizations, and government agencies, to come together to make a meaningful call to action, to ensure Zero Hunger by 2030 can be achieved both locally and globally. 

Under the World Food Day theme “Right to Food for a Better Life and a Better Future” and the International Day and National Week for the Eradication of Poverty “Ending Social and Institutional Maltreatment Acting together for just, peaceful and inclusive societies”, this joint commemoration urges us to reflect on the millions suffering from chronic hunger and malnutrition in Lao PDR and around the world. Challenges to food security and improving outcomes on health and well-being remain.

His Excellency, Dr Linkham Douangsavanh, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, highlighted several factors that lead to famine, such as climate change, natural hazards, disease outbreak, war and high prices of goods and materials. Despite these challenges, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry achieved significant progress in 2024, meeting 95% of the rice production target and 75% of the meat production target. His Excellency, Dr Linkham Douangsavanh noted that this result contributes to the national vision for the sustainable transformation of agribusiness practices, strengthened domestic agriculture production to minimise the needs for imports, and to creating valued-added agriculture products for exports.

Ms Kim Kyung-Mee, FAO Representative to Lao PDR, affirmed “the right to food is not just an aspiration, but a fundamental human right. Every individual should have access to sufficient amounts of nutritious, diverse, affordable, and safe foods”. Even though Lao PDR and the rest of the world have experienced economic shocks, extreme weather events and the lingering impacts of global crisis, affecting our most vulnerable communities, “the path to food security is one we must walk together. It requires us to transform our food systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. It demands that we integrate the right to food across agrifood systems policies and programs, and it necessitates that we ensure equitable access to land, water, forests, fisheries, and livestock for all; and this is well resonated through the theme of the World Food Day: Rights to Food for a Better Life and a Better Future”, she added.

Ms Martine Thérer, Resident Representative, United Nations Resident Coordinator a.i., /United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and noted that poverty reduction is central to the protection of the right to food, including access to adequate and sufficient food, and that the right to food is crucial to the enjoyment of all human rights. She advised that building resilience for communities through a whole of society approach is essential, as all walks of life in our society need to be on board and be part of the plan for ending poverty. Aligning with the theme of the International Day and National Week for the Eradication of Poverty, Ms Thérer emphasized that working with partners, the UN has a clear commitment to help tackle the most pressing development issues contributing the continued presence of poverty and ensuring that we work to ensure no one is left behind from national progress.

The celebration of the World Food Day and the International Day and National Week for the Eradication of Poverty was well witnessed by line ministries, development partners, civil society, private sector and other stakeholders, including youth and the general public, in the country.

**********

Media Contacts:

FAO Lao PDR – 

Tel: (856-21) 413 205, 414 503, 450 455

Fax: (856-21) 414 500

Email: vilaylack.khounvisith@fao.org

UNDP –

Tel: (856-21) 267 777

Fax: (856-21) 264 939

Email: info.la@undp.org