Sisi to deliver speech at International Food Safety Conference

CAIRO - 11 February 2019: Being the Chairperson of the African Union in 2019, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will deliver a speech at the First FAO/WHO/AU International Food Safety Conference that will convene on Tuesday in Addis Ababa.


The two-day conference aims at bringing food security strategies up for discussion among the world leaders, policy makers, and NGOs' representatives to achieve the sustainable development goals 2030, which focus on ending food hunger, according to a statement issued bythe African Union.

The conference tackles “safe food and sustainable food systems in the context of a changing climate; science, innovation and digital transformations for food safety; and empowering consumers to make healthy choices and support sustainable food systems,” the statement read.

Around 600 million people suffer from food-borne illnesses annually due to unsafe food, which could result from climate change, conflicts, and migration, according to the statement.

Other speakers include ongoing African Union Chairperson President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, African Union Commission Chairperson MoussaFakiMahamat, FAO Director-General JoseGraziano da Silva, WHO Director-General DrTedrosAdhanomGhebreyesus, and President of the African Development Bank AkinwumiAdesina, the statement added.

The conference will convene ahead of the International Forum on Food Safety and Trade, which is organized by FAO, WHO and WTO in Geneva on April 23-24, 2019, said WHO in a statement.