Statement by

Mr. Ali Hajilari

First Counselor

Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

Under Agenda items 22 “Eradication of poverty” and

26 “Agriculture development, food security and nutrition”

Before the Second Committee, UNGA 76

New York, 6 October 2021

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

At the outset, I would like to associate myself with the statement made by the distinguished representative of the Republic of Guinea on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and I wish to add the following remarks in my national capacity. 

Madam Chair,

While the world has witnessed significant gains in the eradication of poverty in the last decade, the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse the gains that have been made and, as a result, the preparation for effective strategies to eradicate poverty will continue to remain a persistent challenge for humanity in this Decade of Action.

As indicated in the report of the Secretary-General on the Implementation of the Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, extreme poverty has increased for the first time in 20 years with more than 100 million people falling into extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic. Strengthening multilateralism as well as promoting meaningful cooperation and partnership with all has been highlighted in the report as way out of this dead-end.

The report on agriculture development, food security and nutrition also contains an overview of the critical challenges faced by agri-food systems and the opportunities that can be implemented for their transformation, in particular in the context of recovery from the COVID pandemic. In this report, more effective collective action is prescribed as an important solution. However, while many root causes have been identified in those two reports and while resorting to multilateralism is rightly emphasized as a solution, neither of the two reports address unilateral coercive measures, including unilateral illegal sanctions and their impact on increasing poverty and hunger in developing countries. We believe that this is a critical gap that is unfortunately seen in most of the Secretary-General's reports on similar topics. As such, it should be addressed if we are truly sincere in our claim to eradicate poverty and hunger.

Madam Chair,

It is correct that efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems are essential for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals that aim to leave no one behind and ensure the right to food. However, when the world is faced with illegitimate, illegal and self-serving unilateralism, there will be no clear horizon for the achievement of such goals of sustainable development, especially its overarching goal, namely poverty eradication.

The number of people in the world affected by hunger continued to increase in 2020 under the shadow of the pandemic, but this is not limited to the pandemic itself. There are many other factors involved in such a dire situation that are not taken into consideration in such reports, unfortunately, due to unjustified political considerations. Be that as it may, experience teaches us that turning a blind eye towards an unfortunate and bitter reality will not change the essence of that reality, and in order to adequately address it, decisive and firm action must be taken. 

It is clear that we are not on track to eradicating poverty, hunger, food insecurity as well as many other calamities by 2030. In fact, our world today faces two deadly diseases, COVID-19 and unilateralism; the latter of which is much more dangerous than the former.

We believe that the eradication of poverty and hunger in all its forms everywhere should be placed as the top priority of our agenda. However, this overarching goal is not attainable in a world where the international community remains silent and is reluctant to take a strong and unified stance against destructive unilateralism which shamelessly continues to expand in the absence of any unyielding rejection and opposition by others.   

I thank you, Madam Chair.