The Diplomat
Spain has presented the candidacy of Gabriel Ferrero for the chairmanship of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), the main platform of the United Nations system for the fight against hunger and for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals on food security and nutrition.
The candidacy was presented during the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conference, held virtually from June 14-18, and at the last informal meeting of European Union development ministers last Monday. The election of the chairman will take place at the 49th meeting of the Committee on October 11-14.
Gabriel Ferrero, ambassador in Special Mission for World Food Security since April and, previously, director general of Policies for Sustainable Development in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has an extensive professional career in sustainable development and international cooperation, according to the Ministry, which highlighted “his work in the construction of the 2030 Agenda and in the promotion of the Zero Hunger Challenge” during his time as advisor to the former UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon.
He was also coordinator of the UN High-Level Task Force on Food Security and Nutrition (HLTF) and head of the office of the UN Special Representative on Food Security and Nutrition. A development worker, researcher and academic, he is also a professor on leave of absence from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the author of more than 50 publications. In Ferrero’s opinion, chairing the CFS is a task of great responsibility, the aim of which is to guarantee “one of the most essential human rights”, which is food.
With the participation of civil society and the private sector, the CFS adopts global agreements, guidelines and recommendations on the most relevant issues for food security and nutrition in the world. Its guidelines are submitted to the UN General Assembly and the FAO conference. It is one of the most inclusive and participatory platforms in the UN system, integrating multiple international actors, including civil society and the private sector.
