MUNICH – UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller led a delegation to the 59th Munich Security Conference to discuss development-security issues. In his discussions at the event, Müller stressed the need for global solidarity in the context of ending hunger as a collective goal. He also highlighted the role of job creation in maintaining social stability and thus contributing to national and regional security in many regions of the world. Small and medium-sized enterprises are key to creating jobs for women and youth. 

Müller insisted on the need for strengthened food security. He said that with UNIDO’s expertise in sustainable supply chains, food safety standards and processing of agricultural products, it is possible to ensure that all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. However, Müller warned that current geopolitical tensions make it all too easy to overlook the centrality of food as a key aspect of worldwide security.

In talks with a number of partners Müller pushed for greater prominence of these issues on the international development cooperation agenda.

In a meeting with David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, he shored up cooperation with UNIDO on the basis of the shared belief that a world without hunger is indeed possible.

With Germany’s Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, Müller affirmed expanding cooperation on agribusiness development and sustainable supply chain management in the countries of the Global South, with the goal of creating more resilient food systems there. 

Consultations with Bavaria’s State Ministers of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann, and of Digital Affairs, Judith Gerlach, covered the Bavarian government’s cooperation with Africa and future scientific cooperation focusing on, amongst others, economic development, training, energy and agriculture.

On the sidelines of an event organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Müller was able to meet again with the Togo Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Dussey, and discussed food security issues and the just development of critical resources in Africa.