Speech by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, at the side even of the Rome Nutrition Week, 'Food Security and nutrition under pressure: consequences of the conflict in the Middle East'

SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN, PEDRO SÁNCHEZ

Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Allow me to speak in Spanish. Dear Director-General, dear ladies and gentlemen.

A hungry child does not fail in school because he does not study. A hungry child fails because his brain is busy trying to make it to the end of the afternoon. For the child's body, the priority is simply to survive. That's all.

And that is why a humanitarian worker's red flag for severe malnutrition is silence. Hungry children talk less, play less, ask fewer questions.

There is a great Portuguese Nobel Prize-winning writer, José Saramago, who said that hunger slows down the thinking and makes the heart fiercer.

Today, malnutrition is not only robbing millions of children around the world of their present. It is robbing them of something far more precious, which is the future before they even know they have one.

And its impact is irreversible because any neurons that are not formed in the first thousand days of life will never form at any point in their lifetime. So hunger doesn't just kill, which it certainly does; it condemns millions of children for life.

That is why, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honour for me to be here. I am, of course, grateful for the FAO's invitation to contribute to this much-needed debate, which is all the more important at a time when UN agencies in Rome matter more than ever.

I am therefore addressing all of you with a message of hope and full confidence in these agencies, whilst also expressing deep concern about the current international context, which we have just heard described by the leaders of the main agencies present here today.

It is hard to believe that humanity has not won the battle against hunger once and for all. It really does seem unbelievable. Today, more than 700 million people worldwide are food insecure. More than 700 million human beings, including 2.8 million children, die each year from causes related to malnutrition. More than 5 children every minute.

Science never fails, it offers solutions that were unimaginable only a few decades ago. You know better than I do.

Nor does the earth fail us, despite the mistreatment we subject it to. So make no mistake, the world produces more than enough to feed its entire population.

No, we are the ones who failed. And especially those bent on leading us into disaster.

And there is no greater disaster than war or wars. Especially when, as is often the case, they go hand in hand with hunger.

In fact, hunger today is exactly that: another weapon. A very cheap weapon indeed, much cheaper than the missiles used in wars. And it is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law that continues to grow. More than 20,000 attacks, more than 20,000 attacks have been recorded against markets, farmland and food distribution systems. Only in the last eight years. More than 20,000 years.

And this happens in many war-torn places that we all have in our minds and hearts. Certainly in Gaza, where some seek to win a war by starving the people there. They are, incidentally, the very same people who last week humiliated, abused and mistreated the members of a flotilla that was just trying to deliver humanitarian aid.

That is why I think it is very important for societies around the world to see and hear that; with the same determination with which we reject wars, we also say no to hunger. Because we refuse to live in a world where a single human being - just one - does not live to see the end of the day because they have nothing to put in their mouths.

These wars, which are undoubtedly unjust, illegal of course, and also unnecessary, are creating global food crises on an unprecedented scale. It is the result of disrupted supply chains and the blockade of ports and key transport routes; and as already been said here, it is the farmers themselves who are bearing the brunt of the rise in fuel prices.

In Europe we feel it in our pockets, it is the increase in food prices.

In other parts of the world, the consequence is much more dramatic because of the risk of famine. You are well aware of this. We see this with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which almost half of the maritime trade in nitrogen fertilisers passes. The result is a price increase of up to 50% for these products that are vital to farmers around the world.

I therefore believe it is very important that we are aware of what is at stake - and there is a great deal at stake - because the decisions taken today will determine, as has been said here, whether the world faces a new food crisis in six or twelve months' time.

And I believe that we must bear in mind that behind every blockade, behind every escalation and behind every geopolitical irresponsibility, there are many families, millions of families who stop eating.

People who are going to die, as has already been said.

Up to 45 million people could suffer acute hunger as a direct consequence of this crisis. 45 million people. 55 million more human beings will see their situation worsen drastically. 100 million people condemned to live much worse, or simply not to live at all.

I believe that the consequences can undoubtedly be devastating. This is already the case in regions hard hit by the climate emergency, such as, for example, the Sahel, very close to a country like mine, such as Spain, or West Africa. There, the sowing window closes between February and May, so not sowing this year means hunger for the next.

And this, of course, is not only unfair, which it is. It is an outrage that the poorest households have to foot the bill for other people's geopolitical delusions. Because those who set the world on fire are never those who end up going hungry. And the only shortage they suffer from is, in my view and with all due respect, that of empathy and decency.

I would therefore like to make my own the words of Pope Leo XIV when, in this very room, he said, and I quote: hunger is a scandal and a collective failure of humanity.

We must therefore react. And we must do so with a deep conviction that respecting international law is not just a diplomatic imperative, which it is. It is the only guarantee that we can achieve global prosperity together.

For this reason, Director-General, Spain firmly condemns attacks against the civilian population and against critical infrastructures. It demands full respect for international humanitarian law and freedom of navigation. And it supports all mediation efforts aimed at bringing about a definitive end to the violence.

Spain, as you know, is an advanced economy, open to the world, and part of the most valuable cooperation project in history, which is the EU.

We are a leading nation in many fields. Also in food security, it has been said here. And I am grateful for the words, because not only are we producing enough to cover our basic needs, but we have also become an export power: the fourth in Europe and the tenth in the world when we talk about the agricultural sector. And always, with quality and sustainability as our guiding principles.

This progress is, of course, has not come about by chance. It has come about because of a commitment to innovation, to family farming - including professional farming - to the vital role of women in the countryside; to trade liberation; and, undoubtedly, to international cooperation.

It has been said before and I would like to thank you for it: the agri-food sector represents 10% of our country's GDP. An investment of €1.3 billion. And, despite the difficulties of the context, which we also have in our country, Spain, agricultural income in Spain grew by 12% compared to the previous year.

And, for that reason, what we must do now, what we must do, is help others to move forward. And we do it with humility, without forgetting where we come from.

I simply want to look back. Talk about three generations separating my country from the post-war famine. That memory still lives on among us, particularly among our elders, a generation that, even today, considers it a moral affront when someone leaves food on their plate.

It is the weight of the memory of hunger, which Spain also edured and which never quite fades.

Last week in Geneva, at the headquarters of the World Health Organisation, I said something that I want to reiterate here before you all, and that is that no one is safe until we are all safe. Global health security, therefore, knows no borders. And the same goes for food security: it is not a matter for some countries more than others; it is a responsibility we all share equally. As humanity and for humanity.

That is why Spain is committed. And with even more determination, given the current context, where even an agenda, which I believe is the agenda of common sense, which is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, has become polarised.

In 2025, Spain increased its development aid by 13% - and I would also like to express my gratitude for the recognition expressed in the previous remarks - while global aid as a whole fell by 23%. In short, the biggest drop in history.

In other words, Spain is taking a step forward when, unfortunately, many countries are taking a step backwards. And we do so with determination and conviction.

And for the same reason, we are strengthening our commitment to global health and food security, nutrition, as well as humanitarian action.

And let me illustrate this with three very simple, but also very relevant, examples for Spain.

First, €320 million over the last two years for food security and nutrition projects. In particular in Palestine, Lebanon, Mali, Venezuela and Haiti, together with the Red Cross and UNICEF.

Second, and this has also been specified here - and I would like to thank you very much for this - with the hosting of the WFP logistics centre in the Canary Islands, on the island of Las Palmas, which is key for all aid operations in West Africa and the Sahel.

And finally, co-leading, together with Brazil, the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, a sign, therefore, of our commitment to multilateral action and to renewed, effective and inclusive multilateralism, with the United Nations at the centre.

Spain, with its humble capacities, has the strength of deeds and also the leadership of people. And that is why we have supported the renewal of the term of the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Alvaro Lario, who has done an excellent job in facilitating countries' access to resources. And that is why we also put forward a strong candidate to chair this organisation, in the form of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas.

I am sure that both candidates represent the values of the vast majority of the countries present in this room.

Let me tell you that multilateral institutions are not sustained by inertia. They need political commitment, resources, of course, but also vision and leadership capable of defending them, of strengthening them in particularly difficult times for international cooperation, and you know this particularly well.

Let us say it with full conviction: I believe that we have a very valuable multilateral architecture. It has saved millions of lives in recent decades. And if it didn't exist, it would have to be invented, and it would most likely be the system we have right now.

The agencies that are here in this wonderful city of Rome, like FAO, like IFAD, like WFP, are at the heart of this multilateral architecture. Y

I believe its ability to anticipate risks, monitor markets and support coordinated responses is more necessary today than ever.

The UN80 Initiative offers an opportunity, in my opinion, to strengthen this mandate, and I believe we must take advantage of it, because it is our duty, our obligation. Because if we are to rise to the challenge, we need to redouble our efforts rather than cut back. We must move forward, rather than backward.

And to do so, in my view, in five high-priority policy areas. This concludes my speech, but I would like to share it with all of you.

Firstly, I believe that we need a fair, transparent, rules-based agricultural trade system. A system at the service of the many, not the few. Put those who need it most at the centre.

Secondly, we need, and this has been said before, to guarantee access to fertilisers and the efficient use of water, which is an increasingly scarce resource, especially in vulnerable countries, but not so much, because in Spain it is also increasingly scarce.

Third, we must make progress in the incorporation of women and young people into agriculture, which is particularly relevant because we are celebrating the international year of women farmers. Closing the gender gap in productivity, in wages, could therefore increase global GDP by a huge trillion dollars, and reduce food insecurity for 45 million people.

Fourth, we must pursue the One Health approach with ambition, with great ambition, because we approach human, animal and planetary health as absolutely inseparable and interconnected elements.

And finally, and I think this is also very important, technological innovation and training, which should reach those who need it most, not just those who can afford it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am aware that the multilateral system we have built together is not perfect, it is not perfect. In fact, there are some who take advantage of the imperfections to say that it is a multilateral system that no longer works. I know there is much room for improvement, certainly reform. But the alternative of national selfishness and lack of empathy is infinitely worse. And not only in diplomatic fora. It is also in the markets, in the fields and on the tables of the world's most vulnerable families.

So I conclude with something that, by the way, I shared earlier in a bilateral meeting with the current FAO Director-General.

In 1943, delegates from 44 nations gathered in a small town in Virginia. At that meeting, held in the midst of World War II, they discussed how to ensure that every human being had sufficient and nutritious food. In other words, there was talk of what the great President Roosevelt had described as the freedom not to starve, I repeat: the freedom not to starve.

This organisation is, ladies and gentlemen, heir to that dream: the dream of a world that respects the human right to adequate food.

Eighty years later, we are still pursuing that dream.

And the paradox is that, eighty years later, if we have all the means to make it happen, if we have the science, the technology, we have the resources to make it happen, the question, therefore, is why don't we do it?

We are the generation of artificial intelligence, a topic on which the pope himself spoke yesterday in the context of the challenges facing humanity. We are the generation of the human genome sequence, the generation that will conquer space.

But posterity will not judge us by those achievements. It will judge us by how, with all the means to prevent it, we allowed millions of people to continue to starve to death every year.

Let us therefore ensure that this question is never asked. Let us sow hope.

Let us at last satisfy our moral debt to history. That is all, thank you very much.

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat for Communication)