Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
New York, New York
May 18, 2022
AS DELIVERED
Thank you for joining us today to open up a dialogue about a wide range of shared issues, particularly on climate, conflict, prosperity, and on food security.
We also want to talk to you about how we can strengthen our partnership here at the UN. I recently had a series of meetings, that I call listening tours, with African ambassadors here at the UN. And in those meetings, I heard loud and clear that people in Africa are hurting from food and fuel price surges that have been exacerbated by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
As you know, the United States is making food security a core focus of our Presidency of the Security Council for the second year in a row. And right now, we’re hosting a series of Days of Action to bring this crisis to the forefront. When I first raised this issue in the Security Council in March of 2021, we discussed how COVID, climate, conflict, and strained global supply chains were driving millions more people closer to hunger and malnutrition.
In recent months, the war in Ukraine – a major supplier of wheat and other agricultural commodities – has further disrupted global food supplies. And let me just note that we have a very strong statement – a Road Map for Action – that we encourage you all to sign as a concrete outcome of the Food Security Ministerial later today.
This meeting is an opportunity for us to hear directly from you, at the highest levels, about this issue and so much more. We want to know what you are seeing and experiencing on the ground and how we can find ways to work together on a path forward.
To that end, I now have the great privilege of introducing the United States Secretary of State, Secretary Blinken. I am so grateful he took time out of his busy schedule to bring us together here today, and I know he is looking forward to hearing from all of you what you all have to say.
Secretary Blinken, the floor is yours.
###
