The head of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (Midis), Dina Boluarte, on Tuesday participated in the Ministerial Forum of the
60th session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development (CSocD60).
At the forum, Boluarte shared her sector's experience in the fight against food insecurity and poverty eradication, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Midis is convinced that joint actions among countries will enable us to deliver well-being and dignity for all, seeking cooperation and strategic alliances in areas as relevant as social development of our peoples," the minister said in a virtual presentation.
In her speech, Boluarte stressed that —as part of Midis' coordinating role— it has been essential to intervene along the food supply chains, as well as to fight against poverty and structural inequalities, strengthening food environments and guiding the behavior of consumers to promote eating habits that provide positive effects.
Similarly, she highlighted the progress made at soup kitchens and community kitchens, where the participation of female leaders has been very important to preserve food security and healthy nutrition.
The government official explained that the Peruvian State, through Midis, issued temporary measures with specific territorial strategies such as the
temporary intervention "Zero Hunger."
"We have tripled the number of food baskets distributed (in Peru), thus benefiting 1.6 million vulnerable people. Likewise, Qali Warma (school feeding program) served more than 4 million students in over 64,000 public educational institutions in 2021," the minister stated.
Boluarte highlighted the articulated work between Midis and local governments towards food assistance, which is reflected in the training of 230 municipalities on issues related to food service management, where 623,000 users in vulnerable situation have benefited from 12,121 soup kitchens.
The objective of the
Ministerial Forum is to facilitate the exchange of national and regional good practices and innovative approaches for addressing food insecurity and the eradication of poverty, through the promotion of sustainable food systems, in order to identify common challenges and effective policies and measures to deliver well-being and dignity for all.
The forum also featured ministers and international senior officials from Argentina, Finland, Liberia, Mongolia, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Japan, as well as representatives of country delegations, international organizations, and civil society.
(END) NDP/GSR/VVS/RMB/MVB
Published: 2/8/2022