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Communiqué
G7 Development Ministers' Meeting
Pescara, Italy, October 23, 2024
[pdf]
We, the G7 Ministers responsible for Development, met in Pescara, together with some of our key partners, to commit to and call for an ambitious global response to the development challenges and multiple crises that are holding back progress towards implementing the 2030 Agenda and achieving its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Too many people, particularly in low-income countries (LICs), are suffering from the impacts of conflict, economic decline and poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, lack of access to quality, affordable health services, access to water, sanitation and hygiene, the global education crisis, climate change, environmental degradation and pollution, biodiversity loss, scarce water resources, energy insecurity, digital divides, gender inequalities and discrimination.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, which has caused devastating impacts for the Ukrainian people, including for women and girls, and mass displacement and severe humanitarian need. We underscore the significant disruptions of the Ukrainian health system. We are committed to supporting the government of Ukraine in their continued effort to protect the health of the Ukrainian people. In addition to humanitarian assistance, we particularly recognize the importance of development, recovery and reconstruction assistance to Ukraine’s macro-financial stability, critical infrastructure, economic growth and social resilience, including in view of the country’s accession path to the EU. We look forward to the next Ukraine Recovery Conference, to be hosted in Rome on 10 and 11 July 2025.
A year after Hamas’ attacks on 7 October 2023, we condemn once again in the strongest possible terms such unjustified acts of deliberate violence, including the horrifying reports of sexual violence, and stand with the families of the victims and the hostages taken by Hamas. We also reiterate our call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the unconditional release of all hostages, a significant and sustained increase in the flow of humanitarian assistance, and an end to the conflict. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic, and tens of thousands of innocent lives have been lost. We reiterate the absolute need for the civilian population to be protected and that there must be full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access, as a matter of absolute priority. We express concern at the unprecedented level of food insecurity affecting most of the population in the Gaza Strip. International humanitarian law must be respected. Securing full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access in all its forms and through all relevant crossing points remains an absolute priority. We urge all parties to allow the unimpeded delivery of aid and ensure protection of humanitarian workers by properly implementing de-confliction measures. We agree it is critical that UNRWA and other UN organizations and agencies’ distribution networks be fully able to deliver aid to those who need it most, fulfilling their mandate effectively.
We are also deeply concerned about the situation in Lebanon. We recall the need for a cessation of hostilities as soon as possible to create space for a diplomatic solution along the Blue Line, consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. This is a necessary path to durably de-escalate tensions, stabilize the Israel-Lebanon border, fully restore the sovereignty, territorial integrity and stability of Lebanon, and return displaced citizens to their homes with safety and security on both sides. We urge all actors to protect civilian populations. We are committed to providing humanitarian assistance to address the urgent needs of civilians in Lebanon. We also express our deep condolences to the families of the civilian victims in Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. We underscore the importance of the United Nations in resolving armed conflict and mitigating the humanitarian impact in the Middle East. In this regard, we acknowledge the role of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to restore peace and security. We are committed to reinforce our support to the mission, pursuant to applicable UN resolutions. We express grave concern with attacks against UNIFIL and urge all parties to respect international humanitarian law and guarantee the safety and security of UNIFIL.
We remain seriously concerned also about armed conflicts still affecting many other countries, such as Sudan. Obstruction of humanitarian access by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces is resulting in the starvation of the Sudanese people. We urge both parties to agree and implement a lasting ceasefire without pre-conditions and to establish safe and stable humanitarian cross border and cross line access channels, including from multiple points of entry to the most devastated areas of Sudan. We urge all parties to ensure the safety of all civilians, including humanitarian personnel, and protect civilian infrastructure and healthcare facilities, in particular.
Building on past achievements and existing initiatives by G7, and on our commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the three conventions of the Rio Earth Summit, the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, we will redouble our efforts for concrete and coordinated actions to accelerate progress across all SDGs, end poverty in all its forms, and address the consequences of the multiple crises. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development, and we reaffirm our strong commitment to global solidarity, and just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. In this regard, we particularly welcome the outcomes of the Summit of the Future. Building on these, we stress the urgency and importance of tangible results of the upcoming Conferences of the Parties of the Rio Conventions. We recognize the Fourth UN Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 as a crucial moment to forge global consensus around a modernized development finance architecture that will accelerate progress on the SDGs.
We reaffirm our efforts to promote gender equality, empowerment and human rights of women and girls, in all their diversity, and their crucial role in driving sustainable and inclusive development as a priority of our development cooperation and international partnerships.
We recognize that global challenges and emergencies, including those related to health, education, energy and food security, the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, as well as natural and climate change-related disasters, demographic challenges, and geopolitical conflicts and wars, often leading to neglected humanitarian and socio-economic crises, disproportionately and negatively affect all women and girls. In this regard, we stress that women’s and girls’ empowerment is crucial, not only for the achievement of full gender equality, but also as a critical driver of peace and security as well as inclusive and sustainable economic growth. We also stress the importance of full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all aspects of decision-making, including in the political, public, economic and private spheres. We express our strong concern about the rollback of the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ people around the world in particular in time of crisis and we strongly condemn all violations and abuses of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. We will work with global partners to advance gender equality in multilateral fora.
In line with the Apulia G7 Leaders’ Communiqué, we affirm our collective commitment to enhance cooperation to address the drivers of irregular migration and forced displacement and seize the opportunities migration brings globally. In doing so we will work in partnership with countries of origin, transit and destination to support their sustainable development, resilience and stability.
To achieve these goals, we must work together. The G7 will continue to build strong, equal partnerships based on respect as the basis for development cooperation. We will listen to the needs of our partners, value and promote local leadership and expertise, and identify shared priorities in support of long-term sustainable development, including in cooperation with regions and municipalities that are central to the localization of SDGs and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
We know that we urgently need to foster more effective multilateral cooperation, an enabling policy environment, better mobilization and management of domestic resources, a more coordinated and impactful use of existing cooperation resources from G7, and a greater involvement of private investors from G7 and other countries. In this regard, we reiterate our commitment to close cooperation with the G20 and its development initiatives under the Brazilian G20 Presidency including the promotion of Trilateral Cooperation. In support of accelerated progress in relevant UN and other international processes, we welcome the outcomes of the 2024 Hamburg Sustainability Conference as a stepping stone.
During the Italian G7 Presidency, we have focused our collaborative efforts on food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture and food systems, as well as on sustainable investments and infrastructure. In addition, given the social effects of the multiple crises and the growing economic and social inequalities in many countries worldwide, we have addressed the resilience of health and education systems. Recognizing the specific sustainable development challenges in Africa, we devote special emphasis to equitable and sustainable partnerships with Africa, based on shared principles, local ownership, and result-based initiatives, and aligned with the African Union Agenda 2063 and the integrated African continental thematic plans.
We are deeply concerned with the evolving global food security and nutrition crisis, aggravated by climate change, loss of biodiversity, pollution, water scarcity, extreme weather such as floods and droughts, the reduced fiscal space in many developing economies, weak health systems and the growing number of conflicts, including Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. We also recognize that global food security challenges and emergencies disproportionately and negatively affect women and girls in particular. Therefore, as tasked by the Apulia G7 Leaders’ Communiqué, we have further articulated the G7 Apulia Food Systems Initiative (AFSI), a package of interrelated initiatives launched by our Leaders to address the structural obstacles to improve food security and nutrition, to fully harness the central role of food systems for achieving the SDGs and to increase the resilience of food systems in partner countries. In the context of our partnership with Africa for inclusive and sustainable agricultural and food systems transformation, we will support in particular the post- Malabo process, leading to a new Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) framework in 2025, and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Going forward we will continue our global support to the objectives of AFSI and we will work in synergy with the G7 Finance, Agriculture, Climate and Environment, Health tracks to advance these initiatives.
Climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, land degradation, water scarcity, extreme weather such as floods, droughts and desertification are among the key factors impeding progress in the fight to end hunger and malnutrition. At the same time, there can be no solution to the climate and biodiversity crises without a transition to sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems. We therefore commit to increase our efforts to support in a coherent and complementary way the goals of the Paris Agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), including by placing sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems at the heart of the integrated implementation of the three Rio Conventions, starting with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP 16, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 29 and the UNCCD COP16 later this year. Doing so provides us with an important opportunity to impact on the acceleration of progress towards the SDGs, since investing in the enhancement of resilient, biodiversity friendly and sustainable agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries, and food systems is indispensable to both address the multiple negative effects of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation, as well as to create economic incentives for the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable management of ecosystems, water resources, and soils, and the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change.
We recognize that women and girls are disproportionally affected by the impact of climate change, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and pollution and that there is a persistent underrepresentation of women in leadership positions in the international, national, and regional fora where the decisions about demographic challenges and environmental policies, strategies and related financing are made. We are determined to support gender equality in all relevant fora and the need for gender-responsive policies as it relates to a multitude of environmental issues. Additional efforts are needed to raise awareness about the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women and girls, and recognizing their critical role as agents of change, particularly within agrifood systems, by meaningfully engaging and partnering with local and rural communities, and promoting action to increase the representation and leadership of all women at all levels of decision making in climate and environmental action, and to improve equal access to land tenure, productive resources, climate-smart technology, and inclusive financial services to increase women’s resilience.
To achieve these goals, we support the related significant commitments and programs launched this year by the G7 Ministers of Climate, Energy and Environment, Health and Agriculture, and will support the following multi-stakeholder initiatives: i) the “COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action” and its Technical Cooperation Collaborative (TCC), ii) the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) for the restoration and maintenance of healthy soils and the further development and climate resilience of traditional and indigenous crops in Africa, and iii) a G7 private-public initiative to boost the resilience, environmental sustainability, value addition and circularity of the coffee value chains worldwide. We will also ensure our international development assistance does no harm to nature and delivers positive outcomes overall for people, climate and nature, and we reiterate our call on Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and multilateral funds to further strengthen their efforts to support ambitious climate and biodiversity action.
We support the TCC and contribute to its shared goal to help deliver the COP28 UAE Declaration in all countries through new and newly aligned collective investment, including through ongoing and upcoming support to locally-owned plans, TCC strategic partners such as the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, NDC Partnership, and Convergence Initiative as well as the World Bank’s Food System 2030 Trust Fund and the FAO’s Global Roadmap “Achieving SDG2 without breaching the 1.5°C” and FAST initiatives.
The TCC aims to provide streamlined policy support of technical cooperation, expertise, and funding that low-income countries request to enhance the analysis of trade-offs and synergies between food security, climate and environmental sustainability goals. To this end, the TCC aims to: support the development of evidence-based plans and investment pipelines, and where possible to unlock investment and co-financing; contribute to scaling-up and enhancing access to all forms of finance including repurposing harmful or inefficient subsidies from the public, philanthropic and private sectors to adapt and transform agriculture and food systems to respond to and mitigate the contribution to climate change; utilize existing coordination and alignment mechanisms at national, regional and global levels, and help establishing new ones when needed; assist, with a focus on Africa, the integration of water resilient agriculture and food systems into National Adaptation Plans, Nationally Determined Contributions, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, and other relevant strategies, as well as the integration of climate action into National Food Systems Transformation Pathways. In this respect, we encourage partner countries in a position to do so to utilize the TCC to support enhanced policies and public support for food systems and climate integrated outcomes, and prioritized investment pipelines and investible programs to deliver on those.
We support the contribution to VACS and its goals as a means of building climate-resilient, sustainable food systems grounded in diverse, nutritious, and climate adapted crops grown in a sustainable manner in healthy and fertile soils, while ensuring sustainable use of water resources. We recognize that many indigenous and traditional food crops are highly nutritious and adaptable to local conditions and erratic weather, and despite being underutilized and underinvested, they offer some great economic opportunity, especially for women and youth. We stress the importance of elevating the nexus between crop selection and sustainable land and water use in building climate-neutral, resilient food systems into the global discourse, and integrating this into national policies in order to promote healthy diets, childhood nutrition and women’s economic empowerment. We commit to further contribute to these goals by participating in collaborative, international efforts organized by FAO to develop a set of principles and internationally accepted best practices to promote the adoption of diverse nutritious “opportunity crops”, sustainable land and water use, conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, improved governance, and soil health.
VACS aims to assist our African partners to: accelerate plant breeding efforts, including through voluntary use of technology, and enhance value chain development for the relevant set of these opportunity crops guided by national policy ownership, context specificity, conservation of corresponding plant genetic resources in seedbanks, and local seed systems support, rather than a blueprint approach; enhance consumer demand, including through availability, affordability, desirability and convenience, and ultimately consumption of such foods as part of a healthy diet, including through school feeding programs; improve practices for sustainable soil management and climate change adaptation to halt land degradation, improve water resources, increase soil fertility and the efficiency and resilience of crop systems, and reduce the risks of local crop failure, pest and diseases, and overreliance on a few staple crops. Diversification of food production and consumption in every country is in itself a strategy for climate adaptation and towards diets based on more nutritious foods.
We welcome the development of a private-public initiative on coffee, in light of the significance of this sector for economic, social and environmental sustainability in producing countries. Climate change and its impact on water and soil is severely threatening the existence of this industry largely sustained by smallholder farmers, who operate 95% of the world’s 12.5 million coffee farms, particularly concentrated across the globe. At the same time coffee production can contribute to deforestation and climate change. The structure of the global coffee value chain often does not incentivize investments that address its fundamental challenges, hence constraining the sector’s transformation and sustainable and climate-resilient growth.
The global, intertwined and urgent nature of the challenges experienced calls for a mix of binding and non-binding policy measures that incentivize sustainability in the coffee value chain. It makes a strengthened, globally coordinated, multi-stakeholder action, also leveraging on existing initiatives and bringing coffee producing and consuming countries closer together in a win-win partnership. We recognize different levels of climate vulnerability and responsibility, especially considering smallholder farmers living in poverty.
The proposed initiative aims to establish an innovative and pre-competitive global coffee sustainability and resilience fund, as a platform for voluntary participation to increase transparency and coordination, leveraging synergies with existing initiatives, including those related to impact evaluation and measurement and to halting deforestation and to deploy financial resources and know-how with a focus on supporting smallholder farmers. Public sector involvement in the initiative is vital for activating investments in public goods like research and development, policy reforms, support to smallholder farmers, and for ensuring an equitable, gender-responsive and sustainable approach that also empowers youth. Involvement of private sector players as off-takers, implementing partners, technology and know-how providers or investors, is equally crucial. The Fund aims to leverage innovative blended finance solutions to catalyze private investments through the efficient use of public capital. Recognizing that each coffee-producing country has different starting points and investment needs, the initiative will design tailor-made solutions for each country.
We are also determined to continue to explore other ways to foster synergetic and coherent policies and investments to address the climate-food systems nexus, the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the equitable and sustainable management of water resources and soils. This will include working towards more resilient, sustainable, and productive climate smart agriculture, through agroecological and other innovative approaches, and the application in support of our African partners of successful cases from other parts of the world, such as community-managed natural farming methods that significantly improve productivity and regenerative land use. We will work to improve access to public and private climate finance dedicated to foster climate mitigation and adaptation including in African food systems, to rebalancing mitigation and adaptation funding, to improving access to and the impact of finance provided, and to better targeting such adaptation and mitigation finance to the most vulnerable countries and communities, with a focus on fragile countries and on smallholder farmers, women and youth.
Highlighting the importance of the water-energy-food-ecosystem nexus and of sustainable and integrated management of water resources, we also recognize the role of the energy sector as a key enabler of sustainable development and we are determined to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, sustainable, clean, and modern energy in developing countries, particularly in Africa. Towards this end, the Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) are a key G7 initiative to accelerate socially-just energy transformations in key partner countries of South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal. For this reason, we will work towards the implementation of the Energy for Growth in Africa (E4G) initiative launched by G7 Leaders and to foster synergies with the actions under the AFSI and JETPs, and other relevant initiatives. Finally, we will work towards specific G7-Africa partnerships for agrivoltaics investments that combine agriculture with solar photovoltaic energy production, so to enhance land use efficiency, generate renewable energy, increase crop yields and add value for farmers through increased productivity and profitability, while conserving and sustainably managing water resources, protecting soils and livestock as well as conserving and sustainably using biodiversity. We also acknowledge the importance of supporting fertilizer value chains including local fertilizer production in line with WTO rules.
We also recognize the critical role water plays in the delivery of sustainable development. Water resources and aquatic ecosystems are essential for life and to tackle the triple planetary crisis, given their crucial role for biodiversity, sustainable energy provision, water and food security, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene and resilient livelihoods. Environmental degradation, due to, inter alia, exploitation of natural resources, climate change and pollution, is diminishing the availability and quality of water supply and damaging aquatic ecosystems.
The impacts of climate change, geopolitical instabilities, pandemics, irregular migration, hyperinflation and other crises exacerbate water insecurity and water access inequalities (2024 UN World Water Development Report – UNESCO). A lack of clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) disproportionately affects women and girls. Access to clean water and sanitation is essential for their physical safety and security, their social and economic development and their basic, sexual and reproductive health, as well as their human dignity. To tackle such challenges, we support the implementation of integrated water resource management (IWRM) at all levels of governance, in a sustainable, inclusive and adaptive way, including at the basin level, to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs. In this light, we are committed to support global and regional transboundary initiatives aimed at keeping the focus on the global water agenda in 2024 and beyond for developing and maintaining a secure, equitable and sustainable water future that underpins prosperity and peace for all. This includes, as the upcoming UN Water Conferences, the UN System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation, the effective implementation of the Water Action Agenda, the G7 Water Coalition and the Euro Mediterranean Water Forum, that is foreseen in 2026 in Rome, as well as the future CBD, UNFCCC, and UNCCD COPs.
We welcome the recent appointment of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Water with the aim to enhance international cooperation and synergies among various international water processes in support of the achievement of all water-related goals and targets. We encourage closer cooperation for achieving SDG6 and all water related goals and targets and ensuring access to water and sanitation by successfully implementing the UN System Wide Strategy on Water and Sanitation and its Comprehensive Implementation Plan (CIP).
We acknowledge the necessity to promote sound, integrated and sustainable management of conventional water sources. In this framework, we also recognize the importance of reusing non-conventional water sources, such as treated wastewater, and maintaining the intricate balance to preserve soil health while optimizing efficiency. These practices help mitigate climate change by reducing reliance on freshwater, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting ecosystems, including coastal and marine ecosystems from harmful run-off, while gaining valuable nutrients for agriculture and thus enabling local circular economies. We also reaffirm the commitment to promote continuous training through “water schools”, which empower communities with knowledge and skills to adopt climate-resilient practices including disaster preparedness, fostering sustainable development, water security and environmental protection. They also enhance agricultural productivity, ensuring food security and economic stability. Together, these efforts contribute to a more resilient and prosperous future for local communities. We also commit to scale up the use of nature-based solutions in delivering water-related infrastructure services, given their cost effectiveness and their importance for enhancing climate resilience and delivering multiple benefits for people, nature and the economy.
Furthermore, aware of the holistic nature of water management and service delivery, we commit to strengthening dialogue among all actors, institutions and stakeholders involved in the water sector at national, regional and international level.
The impacts of today’s multiple crises are increasing the financing needs of low-and middle-income countries while reducing the resources available to implement crisis mitigation and recovery measures and the full achievement of the SDGs. Low-income countries, especially in Africa, urgently need increased public funds for food security, nutrition, and sustainable food systems, which must leverage private finance at scale increasing flows by billions of USD per year. This requires a coordinated approach to the finance and food nexus, encompassing increasing access to multilateral and other donor funds, strengthening public-private project pipeline development, and shifting finance from readiness activities to project implementation, to help realize transformative investments in the food systems that secure people’s livelihoods and provide employment for the majority of citizens in those countries. We therefore aim to optimize financing from all sources for food security, healthy diets and sustainable food systems transformation in low-income countries.
We will work together on the following interrelated areas of intervention: i) common G7 efforts to improve vulnerable countries’ fiscal space for food security including assessing the costs and benefits of debt swaps; ii) a stronger role of, and cooperation among, G7 Public Development Banks (PDBs) and DFIs to increase public and private finance for food security, nutrition and food systems transformation; iii) a public-private Financing for Shock-Driven Food Crisis Facility to contribute to stronger rapid-response financing in anticipation of severe food crises.
We recognize that progress on addressing debt vulnerabilities in low- and middle-income countries has been made and further efforts are critical to reduce risk of future debt distress for certain countries, as the median low-income country is spending over twice as much on debt service to foreign creditors as a share of revenue than it did 10 years ago, which severely limits the fiscal space available for critical investments in food security and other development goals. It is also critical to increase domestic resource mobilization in LICs to increase fiscal space, allowing the allocation of more resources to pursue country-owned objectives such as, among others, strengthen food and nutrition security, and support food systems transformation.
We welcome the G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group ongoing discussion on debt-for-development swaps. We take note of the SOFI Report 2024 that highlights successful examples of food debt swaps, particularly those involving the WFP. For food insecure countries with sustainable debt but limited fiscal space, innovative financing options could be explored, including through the assessment of the potential of debt swaps for investments in food security and nutrition.
Building on current discussions in various fora about debt-for-development swaps, including in the G20, and in consideration of the wider debt management toolkit, the assessment of the benefits and costs of debt-for-food swaps, possibly associated with debt buybacks, could help support an evidence-based approach for applying bilaterally and voluntarily these instruments and make them more efficient and effective. This could also help promote a common recognition of ways to standardize procedures, contracts and processes with a view to reduce swaps’ transaction costs; and of the types of technical assistance and monitoring tools required for effective design and implementation of transformative projects for food security and nutrition resulting from the debt swap.
We also support continued efforts to strengthen the international financial architecture and to provide significant concessional financing to low-income countries. We welcome the successful replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD13), recognizing its critical role to tackle rural poverty and support smallholder agriculture. We will also support a successful International Development Association (IDA21) replenishment, built on a strong policy and financing package that delivers ambitious outcomes. We will continue our support to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and the engagement of the IMF with the most vulnerable countries. We also commit to work toward a successful replenishment of the African Development Fund next year (AfDF17). We recognize that contributions from all stakeholders are needed, and we support efforts to broaden the donor base.
We support today’s launch of the G7 PDBs & DFIs Collaborative on Sustainable Food Systems, as great challenges, such as high transaction costs and investment risks especially for small scale agriculture, remain in facilitating transformative agriculture and food sector investments. Together with national and regional financial institutions of developing countries, and in particular their public development banks, our PDBs and DFIs can play a crucial role in crowding-in public and private finance also by de-risking private investments through blended finance, supplying co-investment opportunities and structuring joint investment platforms, improving targeting of smallholder-based food value chains and innovative mechanisms to finance climate adaptation, developing pipelines of bankable projects, and boosting local employment opportunities and skills development in food systems. Building on existing initiatives and complementary in particular to the Finance in Common Summit (FICS) PDB Platform for Green & Inclusive Food Systems, this Collaborative aims to foster cooperation among its members and other stakeholders, such as MDBs, private sector, civil society and research organizations, and to put special emphasis on investments on the climate-biodiversity-food nexus in middle- and low-income countries.
The G7 PDBs & DFIs Collaborative will focus on: information and knowledge sharing among G7 PDBs/DFIs on sustainable food systems; supporting G7 members in the development of strategies, policies, and regulatory frameworks; facilitating coordination of G7 PDB/DFI inputs in official working groups, international fora and existing networks focused on food systems; supporting regional and national PDBs and DFIs, and other relevant actors to develop bankable projects in sustainable food systems through a locally owned country-led approach, also with the expertise of development agencies and third parties; supporting investments that focus on the climate-biodiversity-food nexus that thanks to the complementarities between G7 PDBs/DFIs can crowd in public and private finance also through joint investment platforms and risk mitigation mechanisms; leveraging G7 members financial commitments in support of sustainable food systems, including resources for project preparation facilities, technical assistance, concessional lines of credit, investment grants and guarantees.
We will support the further design and development of a Financing for Shock-Driven Food Crisis Facility led by FAO in collaboration with WFP, IFAD, UNOCHA and other partners, as the gap between humanitarian funding for food crises and resources available is increasing and pre-arranged financing is only less than 5% of all crisis financing flows. There is a need to transform the prevailing, costly patterns in emergency funding, which often arrive after a situation has deteriorated into high levels of acute food insecurity, that is particularly sensitive to the compounding effects of multiple shocks, while a growing body of evidence demonstrates that anticipatory action, predictability and rapid responses are key to deploying resources more cost-effectively and with greater returns on protecting development gains.
This Facility should contribute to mobilizing disaster risk finance for the humanitarian community to assist in mitigating emerging food security crises, through appropriate funding mechanisms. By increasing risk coverage for environmental and climate disaster, pandemics, political turmoil, and conflicts triggering food crises, by raising capital from global insurance markets, and fostering complementarity and coordination with other disaster risk finance initiatives, the Facility will help creating a more cost-effective and earlier response system.
As part of our continued commitment to addressing malnutrition in all its forms, we recognize the critical importance of maternal, newborn, children’s and adolescents’ nutrition, health and well-being as a cornerstone of global health and sustainable development. We acknowledge the intrinsic link between the overarching goals of the AFSI, the health of these population’s groups, and the continuing fight against childhood stunting and wasting. We commit to prioritize nutrition, health and well-being in our global efforts through complementary prevention and response actions such as: strengthening multi-sectoral actions, with particular attention to fragile contexts and the use of local agricultural and food systems in humanitarian interventions when possible; investing in more accessible and agile health structures integrating the nutrition and health services; supporting evidence-based and gender-transformative policies and programs; advancing access to safe drinking water and sanitation and hygiene services, safe, sufficient and nutritious food, and adequate, diversified, balanced and healthy diets throughout the life course, with special emphasis on the nutrition needs of pregnant and lactating women, women of reproductive age, adolescents, infants and young children, especially during the first 1,000 days.
To achieve these goals, we are committed to support multi-stakeholder partnerships, such as the School Meals Coalition to improve the quality of existing school meals programs in all countries by facilitating a healthy food environment in schools, including access to safe drinking water and sanitation and hygiene, and promoting safe, nutritious, and sustainably produced food, and the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement mobilizing stakeholder networks to support countries to fight malnutrition in all its forms, and we are determined to contribute to a successful 2025 Nutrition for Growth Summit (N4G) that will take place in Paris on 27-28 March 2025. We will establish synergies also with the above program interventions under the AFSI, in particular in relation to finance and innovation. Considering that countries with limited or moderate ability to access financing flows show, on average, a higher prevalence of undernourishment and stunting in children below five years of age, and recognizing that a commitment of USD 5 billion would effectively fund the cost of treating 100 percent of today’s acutely malnourished children thereby preventing up to 2 million deaths from wasting through 2027, we are committed to work to: mobilize sufficient resources for our partner countries to support the provision of treatment to at least 90% of children globally who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition; and promote blended finance instruments that attract private capital and achieve risk-adjusted financial returns for investments in healthy diets such as the Nutritious Foods Financing Facility focused on supporting African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within nutritious food value chains. Moreover, we will support our partner countries putting the new WHO guidelines on the prevention and management of child wasting into practice. Finally, we support the N4G Innovation Challenge, including through mobilizing the private sector in the G7 countries, aimed at driving sustainable, climate-neutral and inclusive innovation and investment in nutrition, putting local agriculture and food systems at the center, and ultimately saving lives and building a healthier future for all.
We will implement the above mentioned AFSI interventions in synergy with the Global Alliance for Food Security, the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty developed within the G20, as well the coordinated action of and among the UN Rome-based Agencies (RBAs) and the wider UN system, PDBs, the MDBs, the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and other relevant organizations. We emphasize in particular the importance of a stronger role of the RBAs in assisting the design and implementation of effective policies and investments at the climate-food systems and finance-food nexuses, in line with their respective mandates, including by working towards the design of an outcome-based joint RBAs work program on the food-climate nexus and the possible increased use of RBAs’ technical assistance to deploy relevant MDBs’ programs on food and nutrition security and food systems financing. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), housed by FAO and with the participation of the RBAs and other UN bodies, MDBs, civil society and private sector, we also recall its importance as the foremost inclusive intergovernmental platform for all stakeholders to work together to ensure food security and nutrition for all, and commit to support a more effective implementation of the CFS voluntary guidelines and policy recommendations. Finally, we reaffirm the importance of the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) process and look forward to the upcoming UNFSS+4 Stocktaking in 2025 and to the accelerated progress of the related Coalitions for Action.
Investing in sustainable infrastructure, industrialization and innovation is critical to achieve the SDGs and attract other productive investments for inclusive growth and the creation of decent quality jobs. It complements investment in human capital and constitutes a critical pathway toward a fair and inclusive transition to net zero. Therefore, building on the achievements of previous G7 Presidencies, and initiatives such as the EU Global Gateway and welcoming the Italian Mattei Plan for Africa, we will continue strengthening the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) to realize our overarching goal of mobilizing up to USD 600 billion public and private investments in partner countries. The PGII offers a framework we will use to promote globally our vision of sustainable, climate-neutral, inclusive, resilient, and economically viable quality infrastructure, underpinned by transparent project selection, procurement, and finance. Although PGII has a global focus, we commit to focusing on regions and sectors where infrastructure investment has the greatest impact, including the African continent and the broader Indo-Pacific region. In this context, we also recall that nature-based solutions allow to simultaneously delivering, in a cost-effective manner, climate resilience and benefits for the economy, communities and nature.
In line with the Apulia G7 Leaders’ Communiqué and their commitment to enhance the PGII through three key pillars, we are: i) launching a PGII secretariat for effective implementation and investment coordination with partners; ii) supporting the implementation of the African Virtual Investment Platform (AVIP) to enhance data and information, transparency and public policies on investment in Africa; iii) working together with PDBs, DFIs, MDBs, and private sector to improve enabling environments and country-based investment design, coordination, and co-financing, including via regional investment corridors. As we implement these pillars, we continue to advance high standards for quality, inclusive and sustainable infrastructure and call on all actors to adhere to international rules, standards, and principles, including the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment.
We are launching a PGII Secretariat to enhance the coordination and implementation of investment projects, stakeholder engagement, and effective communication of PGII’s progress and achievements, as well as to facilitate both the continuity of the PGII discussions and infrastructure initiatives across G7 Presidencies and the PGII coordination across all relevant G7 Tracks.
A generalized lack of reliable data and information and supportive investment frameworks fuels high risk perceptions and undermines investor confidence in many countries, especially in Africa. For this reason, we will continue our support to the implementation of the AVIP, an initiative led by the African Union Commission and the OECD that aims to improve the availability of data and information on the investment landscape in African countries and enhance investment-related policies. We look forward to its launch at the AU Summit in 2025 and to engaging in its implementation in the coming years, as a tool to inform the work of the PGII and to increase sustainable investment in Africa. Work will begin with a number of pilot countries in all African regions. As part of AVIP, we will leverage existing policy frameworks and initiatives, such as the AU Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), Africa50 and Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA), to support African countries accelerate and scale up quality investment in infrastructure.
We are committed to working with partner countries, MDBs and DFIs and other relevant actors to reinforce the development of a pipeline of bankable and sustainable projects with a particular focus on Africa and on the Indo-Pacific, and recognizing the importance of directing more investment to poorer and more fragile countries. We will begin with a number of pilot projects, selected among PGII and other key G7 flagship initiatives, starting in Africa. Building on existing national-level coordination efforts, in particular existing country platforms, and the “2024 Joint Action Proposal for Sustainable Infrastructure Investment in Africa” developed by the PGII Expert Group on Development Finance, these pilots will constitute G7 in-country collaborations to enhance project development, co-financing and coordination with the governments of partner countries, multilateral and local development banks and the private sector, while maximizing the use of the instruments of G7 PDBs and DFIs. Such pilots and country collaborations could then form the basis for the gradual strengthening of financial coordination of the PGII for Africa.
In line with the integrated African continental plans for improved local and regional infrastructure, trade and food security, initial pilots will be linked to economic corridors which represent proven solutions to accelerate regional integration, strengthen local value creation, and attract private investment, and they will support specifically the Lobito Corridor in Southern and Central Africa and other relevant corridors. Those pilots will be developed in synergy with other G7 interventions such as AFSI, E4G, and the G7 contribution to AGIA recently announced by G7 Finance Ministers, and will contribute simultaneously to the AU PIDA, the AfCFTA, and the CAADP, including by promoting investments in sustainable food value chains, green and clean energy technologies and rural-urban connectivity, to make such corridors more food and water secure, climate-focused and SDG-oriented. Building on previous G7 achievements, we welcome the 2024 Factsheet on PGII (Annex I) that demonstrates how, during the Italian G7 Presidency, the G7 and partners have made concrete progress in fostering investments that continue to create lasting positive impacts and promote sustainable development. Finally, in line with the Apulia G7 Leaders’ Communiqué and recognizing the success of the 2X Challenge, we welcome the new commitment by Development and Multilateral Finance Institutions to invest at least USD 20 billion over the next three years in gender lens investing, and we call upon other public and private actors to join the next 2X Challenge, with the aim to promote sustainable transformative investments and women’s financial inclusion. We furthermore reiterate our support to the G20 Compact with Africa.
In the context of the PGII and our commitment to accelerate and scale up sustainable infrastructure and investments for inclusive development in partner countries, we emphasize the positive role that sport and the sport ecosystem can play to realize the SDGs and we endorse the “Pescara declaration on sustainable investment in the sport ecosystem” (Annex II). Intentional efforts to build a safer sport system that prioritizes equity, diversity, and inclusion for all, can positively contribute to national and international development objectives. We thank the IOC, OECD, UNESCO and the Italian Istituto per il Credito Sportivo e Culturale for their support as knowledge partners to the PGII Expert Group on Sport and Sustainable Development. We recognize the importance of improving the availability of data and of coherent and harmonized assessment methodologies and tools to measure the contribution and impact of sport on sustainable development, and we welcome the Italian Presidency’s initiative to support research activities and pilot studies with African partners. We welcome the engagement of an increasing number of public development banks and other relevant financing stakeholders to mobilize quality investments to foster sport as an enabler of a wide range of SDGs, complementing their financing of other sustainable development sectors. We acknowledge innovative financial initiatives promoted by the Finance in Common’s Coalition for Sustainable Development through Sport, including the first Global Sport Impact Fund announced during the Sport for Sustainable Development Summit held in Paris before the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We look forward to the next Milano-Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and reaffirm the importance of the Olympic Truce in taking forward the vision of building a world based on fair competition, peace, humanity, tolerance and reconciliation.
We acknowledge that disability inclusion is an essential enabler for sustainable development. As per the Apulia declaration of our Leaders and the “Solfagnano Charter” adopted during the first ever G7 Ministerial Meeting on Inclusion and Disability on 16 October, we commit to stepping up our action for the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), and we look forward to the Global Disability Summit 2025 to be held in Berlin.
We will further promote a multifaceted approach aimed at fostering global digital advancement for inclusive and sustainable development to help accelerate progress toward achieving the SDGs. We strive to maximize the benefits of digital technologies, including safe, secure, and trustworthy AI, while mitigating their risks, for the common good worldwide, including in developing and emerging economies with a view to closing digital divides, including the digital gender divide, and achieving digital inclusion. To this end, we will encourage stronger coordination with G7 Digital and Tech Ministers and relevant partners on key initiatives to advance digital transformation with a particular focus on Africa, including the AI Hub for Sustainable Development launched by the Italian Presidency, and to foster synergies with the actions under the AFSI and the PGII.
We reaffirm the key role of cities and local governments in driving investments in sustainable development and the localization of the SDGs. We will encourage stronger coordination with G7 Climate, Energy, and Environment Ministers, G7 Urban Development Ministers and relevant partners on key initiatives to advance the localization of the SDGs in partner countries, including through the Partnership Platform on Localizing the SDGs that will be launched by the Italian Presidency in cooperation with UN Habitat, and in line with the UN High Impact Initiative on SDGs Localization, the UN Local 2030 Coalition and the G20 Platform on SDG Localization and Intermediary Cities.
We reaffirm our commitment to accelerating progress towards SDG3 ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all. In line with the commitments made by the G7 Leaders, we reaffirm our dedication to supporting universal health coverage (UHC), strengthening health systems and investing in education, employment and retention of a skilled health workforce. These actions are crucial to achieve health equity, end diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, address non-communicable diseases including mental health conditions, and counter the impacts of climate change. We also affirm strategies to prevent and successfully mitigate the adverse impacts of pollution including from lead and other relevant pollutants which can be exacerbated by climate change.
In line with the Ministers of Health and Finance, we strongly encourage cross-collaboration and alignment of efforts with existing Global Health Initiatives (GHIs), and sustaining momentum on the ongoing discussions at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body to conclude the negotiations for the Pandemic Agreement on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPR) and on strengthening the global health architecture and domestic health systems. To that end, we recommit to working alongside global partners to assist countries to achieve UHC by supporting primary health care (PHC) and restoring essential health services, to achieve better than pre-pandemic levels, as part of our effort to strengthen health systems in ordinary times. In this respect, we support the continued efforts to improve the sustainable financing of the World Health Organization, including through the WHO Investment Round, and look forward to the successful replenishments of the Gavi – the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. We reiterate the G7 Leaders’ call for continued support to the Pandemic Fund including by expanding the donor base with support from new sovereign donors, philanthropies and the private sector. We also emphasize the importance of country-led initiatives that align with local health priorities and reinforce the principle of country ownership.
Robust, agile and resilient health systems, and a skilled health workforce, are foundational to global health security. In this light, we support the work of the Quadripartite (FAO, UNEP, WHO, WOAH) and the One Health High-Level Expert Panel to prevent, prepare and respond to future health emergencies, promoting enhanced surveillance across sectors, especially human health, animal health and environment through an effective implementation of a One Health Approach. We also recognize their role, together with existing GHIs, other multilateral agencies, and International Financial Institutions, in preventing and treating malnutrition, promoting science-based healthy dietary patterns, and transforming food systems towards more sustainability, progressively realizing the right to adequate food in the context of national food security.
We reaffirm our commitment to fighting against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and welcome the political declaration of the UN High Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) of the United Nations General Assembly approved on 26 September 2024, looking forward to the fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR at Jeddah hosted by Saudi Arabia in November 2024 to identify ambitious actions to tackle the major global threat of and development challenges of AMR during the next years. We take note of the adoption of the amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), which as implemented will help mitigate the devastating impact of outbreaks and pandemics on health and development.
We reaffirm our collective commitment to respect the right of all persons to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health. In coordination with the Ministers of Health and Finance, we remain committed to address inequalities and promoting equitable access to quality health services and safe, effective, quality-assured and affordable medical countermeasures (MCMs) across the world, particularly in developing, low income and fragile countries, which remain more vulnerable to health threats. We reaffirm our dedication to supporting preventive and response actions as the strengthening of health systems that are inclusive, ensure gender equality and meet individual needs, including persons with disabilities, improving the quality and the accessibility to primary health services and access to water, sanitation and hygiene for all. We reiterate our commitments in the Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué to universal access to adequate, affordable, and quality health services for all women. We commit to further promote comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for all, and to advance maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, especially for those in vulnerable circumstances. We underline the ability of digitalization to improve access to high-quality health services and stress the need to strengthen data security and data privacy.
We reaffirm the objectives of the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health to transform health systems to be climate-resilient, equitable, low-carbon, and sustainable. To achieve this, we will scale up efforts in partnership with climate vulnerable countries, including in Africa, and relevant International Organizations such as WHO, including through its Alliance on Transformative Action on Climate and Health, Gavi and UNDP to integrate low-carbon energy solutions into healthcare infrastructure to ensure reliable energy for critical services such as vaccine storage and essential medical equipment. We also recognize the need to enhance preparedness for climate hazards and extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, floods, and droughts which directly and indirectly impact human health and heighten the likelihood of health emergencies and hinder access to health products and services, in particular for populations in vulnerable situations. To that end, we support integrated and intersectoral approaches to address these health challenges.
In line with the African Union’s goal of producing 60% of Africa’s vaccines locally by 2040, we support regional diversification of sustainable development and manufacturing of MCMs, including regional vaccines manufacturing initiatives, such as the Team Europe initiative on Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines and Health Technologies in Africa, as well as last mile delivery. We welcome the establishment of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), building on the G7’s support for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response and enhancing equitable vaccine access. In line with these efforts, the G7 Ministers will continue to support the scaling up of local production of health products including vaccines by fostering partnerships with other countries, including with African nations, enhancing regulatory frameworks, and supporting voluntary technology transfers on mutually agreed terms, and workforce development.
Advancing global health and scaling up vaccine production and last mile delivery requires enhanced domestic resource mobilisation and sustainable, coordinated and innovative financing mechanisms, leveraging partners including MDBs, DFIs, and private sector partnerships. We welcome the MCM Surge Financing Initiative that relevant G7 DFIs, along with the European Investment Bank and the International Finance Corporation, are developing to build institutional capacity and ensure surge financing to procure, produce and deliver safe, effective, quality and affordable MCMs in low- and middle-income countries during future pandemics. We will continue to support innovative mechanisms such as the MCM Surge Financing Initiative and the International Finance Facility for Immunization (IFFIm), and the Gavi Day Zero Financing Facility (DZF), including its First Response Fund (FRF) which offers rapid early deployment of funds to quickly respond to current and future health threats such as the mpox health emergency. These financing mechanisms will contribute to fostering pandemic preparedness and health system resilience in low- and middle-income countries.
We are deeply concerned about the disruptive impacts of multiple crises on education worldwide, particularly for learners in the most vulnerable situations including women and girls, persons with disabilities, refugees, migrants and informal workers. Strengthening safe, inclusive and equitable quality education, resilient, climate-smart education and skills systems including safe and healthy school environments and lifelong learning is critical to achieve the 2030 Agenda and address most development challenges, from health to climate change, water, food security and gender equality. We recognize the key role of teachers and educators in ensuring quality, inclusive and equitable education. Building on previous G7 achievements, we will redouble our efforts to accelerate progress on SDG4 and meet the G7 Girls’ Education Targets by 2026, as well as the G7 commitments on Technical and Vocational Education and Training for Women and Girls, including by enhancing our partnerships with African countries.
As highlighted in the African Union/OECD report “Africa’s Development Dynamics 2024: Skills, Jobs and Productivity”, the African continent will host 85 percent of the total expected increase in the global working-age population by 2050, posing major challenges and opportunities for an equal access to inclusive, equitable quality education, skills development and lifelong learning. Effective education and skills development policies will be key to harness the potential of Africa’s youth population and enhance productivity, job creation and sustainable development. We welcome the designation by the African Union of 2024 as the Year of Education and we are committed to strengthen our engagement with African partners and the global community to accelerate common efforts to achieve the education targets of Agenda 2030 and the African Union Agenda 2063, by supporting quality, sustainable and efficient investments in the continent’s human capital, noting that education is a human right and the continent’s people are its most valuable asset to generate prosperity and sustainable development in Africa and worldwide.
Therefore, we welcome the high-level event organised by the Italian G7 Presidency in Caserta on 1 October on the theme “Investing In lifelong learning for job creation and resilience: a dialogue with Africa” which contributed to advance key G7-Africa partnerships on education and sustainable development. Building on the outcomes of this event and past G7 achievements, we will advance concrete initiatives with our African partners on education, skills development and lifelong learning, including on the following priority areas.
Children are disproportionately impacted by the challenges of conflict, political instability, poverty, and climate change all of which heighten the risk to sexual exploitation and abuse. Climate impacts, such as disasters that displace populations and damage infrastructure as well as extreme heat are particularly disruptive for children’s health and education. These challenges are especially acute across the African continent, with girls often being left furthest behind and displaced children. Advancing child protection and gender equality in and through basic education is crucial for empowering women and girls and building peaceful, prosperous and just societies and economies.
We stand steadfast in our commitment to girls’ education made in previous years, including the importance of foundational learning. We will contribute to more resilient, safe, inclusive, gender-transformative education systems and school environments to end structural barriers and harmful gender norms, stereotypes, roles and practices, which remain a pervasive threat to gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in all their diversity. Recalling previous G7 commitments, we recognize the importance of investing more, more equitably and more effectively and efficiently in education as highlighted in the Transforming Education Summit Call to Action. During the AU Year of Education, we are enhancing our partnership with African countries to accelerate progress on the G7-adopted Girls Education Targets in the African context, by redoubling our efforts and supporting and investing sustainably and innovatively in existing data, tools and initiatives, such as the Global Partnership for Education (including the Girls’ Education Accelerator), Education Cannot Wait, also with respect to the upcoming replenishments of both education funds, and other relevant initiatives such as the OECD’s Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI).
We recognize the objectives of the COP28 Declaration on the Common Agenda for Education and Climate Change, recognizing the critical link between education and climate action as foundational for a resilient and sustainable future for all children. In this respect, we will continue to promote the incorporation of education into national climate strategies, the development of climate-smart education policies, and bolstering of financing to build climate-resilient education systems.
We highlight the importance of investing in knowledge and skills as key enabling factors to improve access to decent jobs and address the climate-food systems nexus and improve the resilience and sustainability of food systems in Africa and elsewhere. In this respect, we recognize and promote the role of younger generations as key agents of change to build more sustainable and climate-resilient food systems, including through digital and entrepreneurial innovation and applied research. Moreover, we stress the importance of elevating the climate-environment- skill nexus and therefore recall G7’s active commitment on increasing the share of Official Development Assistance for green jobs and skills by 2025. We are strengthening our partnerships with African countries to leverage the specificities and complementarities of food systems in African and G7 Countries, including through knowledge sharing and best practices, and to advance joint initiatives on research and development, training and capacity building for sustainable and climate-resilient agri-food systems in line with Africa’s post-Malabo regional plans. In this context, we will encourage stronger coordination between relevant Ministries in G7 and African countries, and with international partners, including for the implementation of the G7 Italian Presidency initiatives in this area, noting in particular the AFSI, the Initiative on Strengthening Seed Certification Capacity in Africa and the Africampus program to bridge educational gaps for African farmers and entrepreneurs. Recognizing the gender dimension of climate change impacts on African agriculture, we will consider supporting the AUDA-NEPAD Gender Climate Change and Agriculture Support Programme (GCCASP), to implement regional and country level interventions to empower rural women farmers, in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
We highlight the role of technical and vocational education, capacity building and training of health workers and government officials as key enablers to cater the unique public health needs of the local populations and enhance resilience to health crises, especially within the most vulnerable communities. In this context, we are enhancing our cooperation with African partners in line with the Africa Health Strategy 2016-2030, as well as with civil society organizations and other international actors, leveraging effective partnerships and initiatives on capacity building, lifelong learning and training programs in the health sector, such as the WHO Academy, the G20 Public Health Workforce Laboratorium, and the UHC Knowledge Hub.
In conclusion, we reaffirm our commitment to promote and urgently accelerate sustainable, just and inclusive development globally, in line with our commitment to the 2030 Agenda, and we will work on the implementation of the above-mentioned initiatives as well as on related cross-cutting issues of poverty and inequality reduction, climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity and nature conservation, energy security, just transition, digital developments, gender equality as well as combating discrimination, in synergy with relevant Ministers from our countries and in partnership with all relevant governments, the private sector, civil society, and international and regional organisations. We are grateful to their representatives for their inspiring inputs to different development-related G7 working groups throughout the Italian Presidency.
We would like to express our gratitude to Norway, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority, for their valuable contributions. We would also like to thank the African Union, FAO, Gavi, ICO, IFAD, IFRC, UNDP, UNHCR, UNIDO, WFP and WHO, as well as the representatives of the private sector, for their inputs and fruitful exchanges during the meeting in Pescara.
We reaffirm accountability and transparency as core principles for enhancing the credibility of our decisions. In this spirit, we also endorse the G7 Apulia Progress Report 2024 as a tool to assess the progress made on G7 development-related commitments with a focus on Africa and to inform future G7 development cooperation strategies.
We look forward to the Canadian Presidency in 2025 to continue the work of Italy and the previous G7 Presidencies for the implementation and achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs.
Source: Official website of Italy's 2024 G7 presidency
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