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World Food Day 2025 FAO Director-General Speech

On October 16th, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) commemorated World Food Day and its 80th anniversary with a landmark event in Rome.

Language English

Country Italy

Duration 18m10s

Edit Version International

Video Type B Roll Video

Date 10/16/2025

File size 1.31 GB

Unique ID UF1B1E6

Production details and shotlist

Shotlist STORY: FAO / WORLD FOOD DAY HIGHLIGHTS
TRT: 18’:11’’
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 OCTOBER 2025, ROME, ITALY

1. Wide shot, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu getting on stage of the World Food Day opening ceremony
2. Top shot, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Pope Leo XIV on stage
3. Med shot, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Pope Leo XIV on stage
4. SOUNDBITE (English) QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General: complete speech - check script
5. Top shot, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Pope Leo XIV on stage
6. FAO Flag

Script Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is an honour and a privilege to welcome you to FAO headquarters today in the heart of Rome, the eternal city, as we celebrate World Food Day and FAO’s 80th Anniversary.

Congratulations to all of us!

I am deeply honoured to welcome the esteemed world leaders who have joined us today:

His Holiness Pope Leo XIV
Her Excellency Giorgio Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy
His Excellency Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign
Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy
His Majesty King Letsie III of the Kingdom of Lesotho
Her Majesty Queen Letitia of Spain
Her Royal Highness Basma bint Ali of Jordan
His Excellency Yamandú Orsi Martínez, President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay
His Excellency Russell Mmiso Dlamini, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini;
Her Excellency Rosangela Lula Da Silva, First Lady of the Federative Republic of Brazil and COP30 Special Envoy for Women;
His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations

To all of you here in Rome, and connected virtually from around the globe:

热烈欢迎
Welcome
Bienvenue
Benvenidos
Ahlan wa Sahlan
Dobro poz-halo-vat
Benvenuti

Your presence here today is a true reflection that hunger knows no borders, and that the challenge of food security demands unity among nations.
The world’s leaders and people everywhere must come together united by our collective belief that the right to food is a basic human right, and that peace is a prerequisite for food security.
I am particularly humbled to welcome His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to FAO headquarters, under the UN family, for the first time.
Your Holiness, your presence on this World Food Day, and on our 80th birthday, reminds us that the fight against hunger is not only about food - it is about dignity and our shared humanity.
Your guidance encourages us to put people - to put humankind - at the center of everything we do.
We heed your call for a more just society, where the poor and the most vulnerable are not discarded or ignored, but are the focus of our combined efforts.
Your call inspires us to be better together, strengthened by our collective compassion.
This conviction further strengthens our dedication to pursue FAO’s noble mandate for a world free from hunger and malnutrition and “free from want” – as laid down by our founding members in the FAO Constitution.
At FAO, for over eight decades, we have recognized that food security cannot be achieved without prioritizing human dignity.
We have worked tirelessly knowing that only by ensuring sufficient and nutritious food for the hungry and the malnourished can we overcome global inequalities and poverty.
Food does not only feed the body, it feeds the soul, it restores dignity, it ensures a better life and a better future for all.
This is FAO’s foundational aspiration of the Four Betters for a holistic and integrated vision that leaves no one behind.
Better Production – to make certain that farmers are equipped to produce more with less.
Better Nutrition – to ensure access for all families to safe, healthy, nutritious and affordable foods.
A Better Environment – to safeguard our land, water and ecosystems for future generations.
And a Better Life – to make sure that all people, especially the most vulnerable, can live in stability, with dignity and opportunity.
But the Four Betters are more than just guiding principles.
They are a pathway towards the global transformation we need, so that the next generations inherit a world where no one goes to bed hungry.
Your Holiness has emphasized that poverty is multifaceted and encompasses material, social, cultural and spiritual dimensions.
At FAO we recognize that hunger is both a cause and a consequence of multi-dimensional poverty, and that it needs to be tackled through a comprehensive, cross-sectoral and multilateral approach that builds on past lessons, while concretely adopting forward-looking solutions.
The transformation of global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable is the only viable way to address the economic, human, social, and environmental facets of poverty and hunger.
Today, we commemorate a historic moment.
FAO was born from hunger, from war, from devastation.
Our founders shared a simple vision: working together we can defeat hunger.
Today, we remain steadfast in our conviction that we are better together.
We must leverage FAO's legacy to leave a world free from hunger for our children and grandchildren.
Progress since 1945 has been immense, from 80 percent down to 8 percent, yet hunger remains a reality for millions of people.
We know that the world produces enough foods for everyone.
Yet, food availability, accessibility and affordability are not equal for all.
For eight decades, FAO has stood with the community of nations.
And together, we have achieved so much.
We successfully eradicated the deadly cattle disease Rinderpest thereby helping to restore millions of livelihoods.
The Codex Alimentarius was established to set international standards to ensure safe foods for all.
And in times of crisis, we acted together. When the desert locusts hit East Africa in 2019, 231 million US Dollars were mobilized, which saved USD 1.7 billion in crops, and secured food for more than 40 million people.
These successes are the result of working together; it is the proof of the power of multilateralism at its best.
History teaches us, however, that progress is fragile.
Climate shocks, pests and diseases, economic downturns, and the devastating effects of protracted conflict, respect no borders, destroy years of advancement, and show that no country can - or should - face these crises alone.
Around the world more than one billion people work in the agrifood systems that feed us.
Our legacy cannot be built without empowering those who produce our foods, and those who will inherit the system.
We must continue to focus on women's empowerment, securing land rights for women, providing them with access to credit and technology, and recognizing their central role in food production and nutrition.
His Holiness reminds us of the intrinsic importance of women's dignity and rights, particularly in the face of poverty and exclusion.
Today, is about looking forward to the future that youth are already shaping.
We must make agriculture attractive to youth, facilitating their access to land, finance, and digital tools.
We must equip them to not just participate, but to lead. We must give them the pen to write their own chapter.
We need to recognize that Indigenous Peoples are essential partners for a sustainable future.
Their role is not just about providing food for their own communities; it is about safeguarding the very foundations of our global agrifood systems.
By supporting them, we are not just upholding human rights; we are investing in food security for all humanity.
And we must strengthen and support smallholder farmers by providing them with the tools they need to gain bargaining power, reduce post-harvest losses, and access larger markets.
Smallholders produce most of the food we eat, yet they are almost always left to sit on the margins of society.
We must ensure that women, youth, Indigenous Peoples and smallholder farmers are the heroes of our legacy!

Your Holiness,
Your Majesties,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues and Friends,

To mark today’s historic event, we are officially opening the doors to the Food and Agriculture Museum and Network here at FAO headquarters.
The Museum is a dynamic educational platform and global network that brings together agricultural heritage and traditions, science and innovation.
The Museum and Network amplifies FAO’s mission, using the universal language of art and culture; it will inform, involve and inspire people to act.
On this World Food Day let us honour our common humanity, by thinking together, learning together and contributing together.
Sharing and collaborating, with mutual respect and understanding, for a better, more foods-secure future for all on this small planet.
On this World Food Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to our shared mission until its accomplishment.
Let the end of hunger be our legacy.
There is a Chinese proverb which says: 仓廪实，天下安 - "When the granaries are full the world is at peace."
Your Holiness calls us to envision a "civilization of love" where the poor are not just objects of charity, but central in shaping a better society.
This calls for policies that promote justice and equality, and for personal conversion as the cornerstone of transformation.
Today, let us heed that call.
A call that transcends borders and beliefs.
Let us be better together.
Let us honour 80 years of progress by securing the next 80 years of food, dignity, and hope for all people, everywhere - leaving no one behind.
I thank you.

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World Food Day 2025 FAO Director-General Speech

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