International advocacy organization Global Citizen has announced a partnership with the United Nations’ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as part of Global Goal Live: The Possible Dream. Both organizations are calling on world leaders to help mobilize new investments in rural and agricultural development.
With an additional $10 billion, 100 million rural people could be lifted out of extreme poverty and hunger.
2020 marks five years of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and 10 years until their 2030 deadline. This year, Global Citizen will be offering a platform and visibility for governments through its Global Goal Live: The Possible Dream campaign, in partnership with Teneo. This will support IFAD’s Twelfth Replenishment, the process whereby its Member States commit additional resources.
By showcasing bold political and financial commitments that support the development of rural and agricultural growth, the campaign will catalyze Global Citizens to take actions that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, feed a growing world and prevent and respond to the climate change crisis.
With the vast majority of the world’s hungry people living in rural areas, global food security can only be improved by focusing on transforming rural communities and food systems to make them more inclusive, productive and resilient. IFAD, the only multilateral institution exclusively focused on rural areas, is therefore uniquely placed to help support the United Nations’ Global Goal 2: Zero Hunger.
“Global leaders have committed to ending hunger by 2030. Unfortunately, since 2015 progress has stalled, and hunger is again on the rise. More than 820 million people go to bed hungry each night,” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. “We won’t end hunger unless we invest in small-scale producers and in transforming the rural communities in which they live.”
Michael Sheldrick, Chief Policy and Government Affairs Officer, Global Policy and Government Affairs, Global Citizen continued, “We simply cannot end extreme poverty across the world without alleviating rural poverty through sound investments in agriculture and by empowering marginalized groups. Through our partnership with IFAD, and our 2020 campaign, ‘Global Goal Live: The Possible Dream’ we will call on major donor governments to double their investments in order to reach the poorest and most marginalized people around the world in support of United Nations’ Global Goal 2: Zero Hunger.”
The campaign will culminate on September 26, 2020, with a historic 10-hour global broadcast event spanning six locations. Currently announced events include, Central Park in New York City; Lagos, Nigeria; Seoul, South Korea; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with events in to-be-announced cities in Latin America and Europe.
