World Food Day 2020 Events

16 OCTOBER 2020 WORLD FOOD DAY/FAO75 EVENTS

1. “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our Actions are our Future.”

World Food Day 2020 (16 October) marks the 75th anniversary of FAO with the theme: “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future”. As countries are dealing with the widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Food Day and FAO75 will call on countries to build more resilient and robust food systems and for global solidarity to help all populations, and especially the most vulnerable to recover from the crisis. We celebrate #FoodHeroes, farmers and workers throughout the food system, who are making sure that food makes its way from farm to table despite these challenging times, and call on the public to become food heroes themselves. Read more about this year’s theme here.

2. World Food Day events
2.1 World Food Day digital ceremony

Virtual conferencing platform Zoom, at 14.00 CET

The official World Food Day (WFD) ceremony will take place on Friday, 16 October through the virtual Zoom conferencing platform at 14.00 CET.

The Ceremony will open with a screening of the official World Food Day promotional video celebrating the food heroes who produce, plant, harvest, fish or transport our food, no matter the circumstances, helping to grow, nourish and sustain our world.

Speeches will be delivered by the FAO Director-General, FAO Special Goodwill Ambassadors for Nutrition, including His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho and Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain, and other keynote speakers yet to be confirmed.

Video messages will be screened from His Excellency Sergio Mattarella, President of the Republic of Italy, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and His Holiness Pope Francis.

The ceremony will close with speeches from the Heads of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP).

With events organised in over 150 countries around the world, #WorldFoodDay is one of the most celebrated days in the UN calendar.

2.2 Digital Lecture

Title: Role of Policy, Innovation, Bio-economy and SDGs in Agri-Food System Transformation

This digital event will follow the ceremony through the same virtual conferencing platform Zoom.

Following the success of the World Food Day 2019 lecture delivered by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, a digital lecture will be hosted by Professor Joachim von Braun from Germany on the “Role of Policy, Innovation, Bio-economy and SDGs in Agri-Food System Transformation” after the ceremony. This will also include an interactive Q&A session through the virtual conferencing platform Zoom. Professor Joachim von Braun is the Chair of the Scientific Group for the UN Secretary General’s Food Systems Summit, Professor for economic and technological change and Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at University of Bonn.

2.3 Virtual Video Mapping Show

Colosseum and FAO headquarters façade 19.30 CET

This special digital event is set to take place in the evening on the world-renowned Colosseum in Rome (16 October) and on the façade of FAO headquarters (from 16 October until 18 October). The video mapping show aims to connect with the public, engaging them in global solidarity efforts and spurring them to take simple actions that can contribute to the transformation of food systems.

The inauguration event will take place on 16 October with the FAO Director-General and high-level representatives of the Italian Government and Municipality of Rome.

The event will open at the FAO, where the high-level delegation will inaugurate the video mapping show at 19.30 hours. The delegation will then walk together to the Colosseum and inaugurate the show there around 19.50 hours. The event will conclude with a visit to the SDGs/FAO75 installation organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The video mapping is supported by the Government of Italy and the Municipality of Rome.

2.4 How to watch WFD global events

Pre-register to watch the ceremony and the lecture by webinar here: https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JZhFUConRRCbgoIGOjeeqQ

After completing your registration, you will receive confirmation from FAO by email and information on how to join the webinar.

The video mapping show can be viewed at the following webcast link (no pre-registration required) http://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/5364/icode/

The ceremony and the lecture will be also available by the webcast at this link:

http://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/5363/icode/

2.5 Other WFD events around the world

Every year, a large number of events – from marathons and hunger marches, to exhibitions, cultural performances, contests and concerts – are organised in up to 150 countries across the world to celebrate World Food Day. In this challenging and exceptional year, many FAO offices and partners are reconsidering the format of World Food Day events with a view to developing new activities that respect physical distancing, or by holding online events.

A number of countries and partners have already announced WFD events for this year. These are available on the WFD website and anyone can upload an event using the online form (http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/join-us/en/).

3. World Food Day content and products

• Website
• Visual Identity Poster, web banners, backdrops, roll-ups and gadgets
• A set of actions per target audience
• Communication Handbook and Get Involved Guides
• Brochure
• WFD promo video 30” – 60” versions are coming
• World Food Day 2020 Activity Book: Food Heroes
• Human-Interest Stories: 20 stories gathered from the field on #FoodHeroes
• WFD Poster Contest – Open to youth from 5 to 19 years old. The deadline is 6 November2020.
• Food Heroes video animation
• Circular State Letter issued each year by the Director-General to Ministers of Agriculturearound the world, informing them of the World Food Day (WFD) theme and calling on them to mark the day through events or outreach activities.

All materials are available on the WFD website in low resolution, while the materials in high- resolution are available in FAO75 & WFD 2020 ASSET BANK

4. Contacts

Ms Clara Vélez Fraga
World Food Day Team: World-food-day@fao.org

www.fao.org/world-food-day/

#WorldFoodDay #FoodHeroes