On 23 November, the Third International Food Security Summit was held in Kyiv under the auspices of the 'Grain from Ukraine' humanitarian programme, bringing together world leaders, ministers, representatives of international organisations and leading experts. The summit was held on the Day of Remembrance of the Holodomor Victims in Ukraine. Participants observed a minute of silence in memory of the millions of innocent victims of the Stalinist regime.

The event serves as an important platform for promoting international cooperation in ensuring the delivery of food to countries suffering from hunger, as well as discussing ways to overcome global food security challenges.

This year's summit continues the tradition of previous meetings, which are traditionally held in Kyiv at the end of November. In 2022, the First Summit launched President Zelenskyy's 'Grain from Ukraine' initiative to support countries suffering from hunger. The Second Summit in 2023 focused on unblocking food supply routes and ensuring uninterrupted grain exports from Ukraine. The Third International Summit aims to develop sustainable food systems and improve the health of future generations through school feeding reform, which Ukraine is ready to share its experience and material resources.

Among other things, the Summit presented the achievements of the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ programme, under which our country has already delivered more than 286,000 tonnes of food aid to vulnerable populations in Africa.

The participants of the event drew special attention to the need to introduce innovative technologies that will help increase the efficiency of agricultural production, preserve natural resources and create sustainable food systems that can adapt to climate change and global challenges.

A separate topic of the event was the ongoing Russian aggression, which has caused significant losses to Ukraine's agricultural sector and had a significant impact on the global food market. The Summit participants stressed that targeted attacks on Ukraine's port infrastructure and grain storage facilities, as well as blocking grain supplies, threaten the food security of millions of people around the world. 

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy answered questions from journalists from Africa and Latin America who are visiting Ukraine these days. The Head of State emphasised that Ukraine values its partnerships with countries around the world and remains committed to its role as a reliable donor to global food security. Despite these challenges, Ukraine remains a key guarantor of global food security, creating alternative logistics corridors and calling for international solidarity against the use of hunger against civilians.

As a result of the Summit, the participating countries pledged further financial support for the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ programme totalling around 44 million USD.

The Third International Food Security Summit highlighted the critical need for global unity to overcome hunger, create sustainable food systems, and prevent food from being used as a weapon. 

The adoption of the Joint Statement at the end of the Summit reinforced common commitments and set the framework for further action by the global community to fight hunger, support vulnerable populations, promote sustainable agriculture and ensure projects aimed at investing in the health of future generations.

The summit was attended by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha, and Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval. The presidents of Switzerland, Estonia, Costa Rica, Lithuania, the prime ministers of Iceland, Cape Verde, Luxembourg, Portugal, Finland, Croatia, Sweden, Japan, and the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf delivered addresses to the summit. 

Among the speakers were the First Lady of Belize, government officials from more than 25 countries, and representatives of leading international organisations, including the UN World Food Programme, FAO, UNICEF, UNCTAD, USAID and others. 

European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavsky, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Lithuania Laura Ramanauskaitė, Special Envoy for Ukraine of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Jan de Pauw, Special Envoy for Ukraine of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Greece Spyridon Lambridis arrived in Kyiv to participate in the summit.