FAO Digital Media Hub - World Food Day 2025 Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, speech

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World Food Day 2025 Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, 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. Hosted by FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, the celebration brought together prominent global figures, including the 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon.

Language English

Country Italy

Duration 9m25s

Edit Version International

Video Type B Roll Video

Date 10/16/2025

File size 696.17 MB

Unique ID UF1B20F

Production details and shotlist

Shotlist STORY: FAO / WORLD FOOD DAY BAN KI-MOON SPEECH
TRT: 9’:26’’
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 OCTOBER 2025, ROME, ITALY
1. Med shot, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon arriving
2. Med shot, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon with Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General
3. Top shot, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon speaking
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations: complete speech - check script
5. Wide shot, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon speaking
6. Top shot, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon speaking
7. FAO flag

Script Thank you for your warm introduction. Honorable QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; your Excellencies, Majesties, Your Highnesses; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

It looks like I'm the last speaker, so I hope I'll give you some sense of relief and some feeling of achievement, so I'll try to be brief as much as possible.

At the outset, ladies and gentlemen, I'm deeply honored to address the FAO, a cornerstone of the United Nations system at a time when our shared commitment to multilateralism is more urgent than ever.

Indeed, for eight decades, since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945, the FAO has stood at the forefront of the global fight against hunger and malnutrition, working tirelessly to ensure that no one is left behind.

Food is not only a human right, it is the very foundation of dignity, peace, and sustainable development. And for me, and for my country, Korea, this is not only a matter of policy, but of hard-lived experience.

I grew up in Korea during a time of war and hardship. I knew what it meant to go to bed with a hungry stomach as bombs fell and families were forcibly displaced. And I also knew how the gift of food provided by United Nations agencies, including FAO, UNICEF, UNDP, gave them great hope and dignity.

I was just a six-year-old child, and at that time, everybody knew that it was the United Nations. And at the core of the United Nations, 28 countries supported the Korean Peninsula at the time, and I am the real witness to how poverty and war have a deep relationship. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that the United Nations and all the political leaders of the world work for peace and stability before we talk about food systems.

That experience has never left me, and that is why I believe so deeply in the FAO's guiding mission. The United Nations saved my country during the Korean War, as I said. The UN has, therefore, always meant a great deal to me personally, long before I became its Secretary-General for 10 years.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, no nation can achieve food security alone. Climate change, conflict, economic shocks, and pandemics do not respect borders. Thus multilateralism is not just an option, it is the only path forward to addressing these closely interconnected challenges.

Food security is inherently interlinked with both peace and sustainable development. Quite simply, there is no food security without peace, and vice versa. Yet all around the world today, we see how conflict fuels hunger, and how hunger in turn deepens instability among and between countries.

From displaced families struggling to eat, to farmers cut off from their land, the human toll is devastating. But at this moment of increasing conflict and division, we must work together across borders and communities to break this cycle.

Many speakers have talked about that we must work together. And investing in food security is investing in peace. It is also investing in sustainable development and actively advancing progress on SDG 2, zero hunger. It is enhancing sustainable agri-food systems, which means better health, better economies, and a better environment for all.

In order for us to transform agri-food systems to be more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable, we must cooperate by ensuring diverse, nutritious, safe, and affordable food while protecting the planet's biodiversity and natural resources.

To do so, dynamic partnerships among government, civil society, the private sector, farmers, indigenous peoples, the United Nations, and especially young people, are vital.

In addition, equality is essential to achieving food security and sustainable development, and also particularly empowering women is both a moral imperative and a practical necessity. It increases productivity, improves nutrition, and fosters resilience.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, with the FAO leadership and the solidarity of the international community, it is imperative that we turn food systems into pillars of stability, dignity and hope for all people around the world.

Let us reaffirm our commitment to multilateralism and solidarity. Let us recognize food as a bridge to peace and cooperation, and not as a source of division. And let us work together, across borders, across sectors, and across generations, to build a world free of hunger where sustainable food systems nourish both people and the planet.

Today the world looks to the FAO, and to all of us, to show that solidarity is stronger than scarcity and that cooperation can triumph over conflict. Therefore, it is very important that we must work together and leave no one behind.

Let us ensure that every child in every community has the right to a healthy meal and the hope of a better future. Together with courage and unity we can transform the vision of zero hunger into a lasting reality for the present generation and our succeeding generations.

My experience as Secretary-General is that there is not a single country in this world, however powerful or resourceful one it may be, Americans or Europeans, China. We must join all our hands on our deck together. That's the hard and important lesson that I have learnt and I'm now conveying to you.

Let us work together. That's the only way we can save humanity for succeeding generations.

Thank you very much!

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20251016 World Food Day

World Food Day 2025 Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, speech

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