HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng on January 2 asked ministries, sectors and localities to make concrete plans to realise the National Action Programme on Zero Hunger by the year 2025.

The deputy PM, who is also the head of the programme’s steering commitee, also asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to set up a plan of action for this year, including the organisation of seminars and workshops.

The ministry was also put in charge of completing regulations of the steering commitee for approval by the Government in January.

The MARD must co-operate with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to calculate the financial plan for the programme, which will be submitted to the Government in the first quarter of this year, said the deputy PM.

The ministries need to instruct relevant offices and local authorities to ensure the realisation of the programme, he said.

“Zero Hunger Challenge” was launched by former United Nations General Secretary, Ban Ki-moon, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2012.

The initiative invited all countries to work for a future where every individual has adequate nutrition and where all food systems are resilient.

The “Zero Hunger Challenge” is supported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFP) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as the World Bank and Bioversity International.

Việt Nam pledged to join the initiative and implement the National Action Programme on Zero Hunger.

The Prime Minister issued a decision on June 12, 2016, on setting up a National Steering Committee for the National Action Programme 2016-25.

The MARD was assigned to preside over the programme. — VNS