Highlights
- International Day of Rural Women
- World Food Day
- International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
- 2020 Dubai Expo
Rural women and girls play essential roles in food systems, from production, to processing, preparation, consumption, and distribution of food as well as in securing household and community nutrition, says UN Women. Yet, gender inequality and discrimination at the workplace, home and society, continue to leave rural women and girls disproportionately impacted by food insecurity.
This year, following the first-ever UN Food System Summit, the International Day of Rural Women, to be marked under the theme – Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All – urges more efforts to advance rural women’s voice and agency, their livelihoods, rights and resilience to ensure that they can continue to cultivate good food for all.
This World Food Day, the United Nations is asking people to think about the food they choose and the way they consume it, raising awareness of how our actions have an impact on the way agri-food systems can affect both our health and that of our planet.
The official commemoration of the Day will take place on 15 October, including a lecture on Food System Transformation and a Dialogue of Tea and Coffee. On 16 October, Expo 2020 in Dubai will mark the Day with a series of activities and events on rethinking and reshaping food systems for people and the planet.
The Day is also an opportunity to recognize and celebrate #FoodHeroes throughout the agri-food system who not only produce, harvest or transport our food, but also advocate for improving the world’s food systems. Check out how we all can become food heroes – from eating more fruits and vegetables, reducing food waste to even growing your own food – from Peter Rabbit and his friends!
Check out digital assets from FAO and WFP for the Day.
Focusing on ending persistent poverty in our efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and cope with the climate crisis, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty pays tribute to people at the forefront of fighting poverty, including farmers, women and many others.
Observed under the theme, Building forward together: Ending Persistent Poverty, Respecting all People and our Planet, the International Day will focus on how we can dismantle structures of discrimination that exacerbates poverty, and build on the moral and legal framework of human rights that places human dignity at the heart of policy and action. The United Nations will commemorate the Day with a virtual event on 15 October.
AT A GLANCE:
- The global extreme poverty rate rose for the first time in over 20 years, and 119 to 124 million people were pushed back into extreme poverty in 2020.
- 2020 saw the first rise in the extreme poverty rate since 1998, from 8.4 per cent in 2019 to 9.5 per cent in 2020, undoing the progress made since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015.
- According to current estimates, the global poverty rate is expected to be 7 per cent (around 600 million people) in 2030, missing the target of eradicating poverty.
SOURCE: UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS REPORT 2021
Other events
The delayed 2020 Dubai Expo, the first to be held in the Middle East, officially opened on 1 October. The United Nations will hold events and exhibits at a dedicated “UN Hub”, explaining the Organization’s central role in addressing the world’s problems. Here are some things to look out for during this six-month-long “mega-event.”
People everywhere – from world leaders to UN staff and senior officials to business leaders to social media users – have joined the UN’s Keeping the Promise campaign are to help achieve a better world for all.
To take part, people can choose from 11 promises – inspired by the #GlobalGoals – in the form of a frame. After selecting the promise they want to keep, they can add their photo and share the image on their social accounts, inspiring others to do the same.
Check out a unique map visualization demonstrating the global momentum created by people’s promises around the world.