Morocco's Ambassador to the UN Omar Hilale and Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan co-chaired on Thursday a high-level online conference on food security and innovative agriculture. Co-organized by the permanent missions of Morocco and Israel to the UN, the meeting took place on the sidelines of the 54th session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development. Speaking on this occasion, the Moroccan ambassador to the UN noted that this Moroccan-Israeli initiative bears witness to the driving role that cooperation can play in the field of sustainable agriculture, climate change, and the management of water, renewable energies and trade cooperation, among other various crucial dimensions of sustainable development. «As we prepare for the Food Systems Summit next September, it is the time to work on strong partnerships and accelerate much needed action», said Hilale. For his part, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, noted that the year 2020 «has taught us the urgency and the importance of bringing up the issue of food security, and the technologies that will help us achieve this important goal, which is a top global priority». This event, which also coincided with the celebration of International Mother Earth Day, was attended by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the Food Systems Summit 2021, Agnes Kalibata, the Director of the Israel Agency for International Development (MASHAV), Eynat Shlein, and the Director General of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI), Mohamed Methqal.
