**United Nations Human Rights Council**
**58th session**
**Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to food**
**11 March 2025**
**EU Statement**
Mr President,
The European Union thanks the Special Rapporteur for the presentation of his report on the Right to Food.
Food insecurity and malnutrition are global challenges, which are exacerbated by global debt crisis, high inflation and high food prices. As a result, food insecurity has reached unprecedented levels in scale and severity, the situation mainly owing to conflicts, economic shocks, and climate change.
As you point out, this leads to many countries today facing the impossible choice of either feeding people or servicing debt. Indeed, the only option for some countries is to use public funds to ensure that people have access to adequate food and hinder aggravated hunger and malnutrition. We must therefore continue to strive to implement the 2030 Agenda and strengthen the human right to food globally.
We are actively committed to strengthening multilateral institutions and inclusive and participatory multi-stakeholder governance structures. It is important that we ensure that the international financial system help countries, rather than hinder them from fulfilling its obligations under the right to food. The EU and its Member States are among the largest providers of food security financing globally and will continue to work actively to ensure that all persons, and especially children, have access to adequate food, including through multilateral initiatives such as the School Meals Coalition.
Mr Rapporteur, beyond transforming national food systems as presented in your report, what would be your recommendations for alleviating malnutrition in the context of the global debt crisis?