The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
26 September 2025
Current progress of the food and agriculture related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators
Jose Rosero Moncayo, Food and Agriculture (FAO) Chief Statistician and Director of the Statistics Division, said the FAO had released the latest edition of its biennial report, "Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators" which focused on progress made so far on the food and agriculture-related SDG targets. The findings presented in the report were troubling; only around one third of the 22 indicators under FAO custodianship had registered some improvement, and the world was close to achieving only one-quarter of the relevant targets, while another quarter remained far from completion.
The report highlighted that global food insecurity remained far above the 2015 level: around 28 percent of the global population were moderately or severely food insecure in 2024 compared to 21.4 percent in 2015, while an estimated 8.2 percent of the global population may have faced hunger. Between 2019 and 2023, only 65 percent of women of childbearing age achieved minimum dietary diversity, with the figure having deteriorated since 2015. Water stress was a major problem in certain regions, with Western Asia and Northern Africa grappling with severe water scarcity.
Given the results, efforts needed to be doubled to achieve food security, and improve nutrition and sustainable agriculture, while ensuring the sustainability of the natural resource base. With five years until the end of the 2030 sustainable development agenda, there continued to be calls to increase investment in data, which remained a key challenge. FAO was committed to making all efforts to rescue the SDGs and deliver on their collective promises for people and the planet.
More figures and information can be found here.
Responding to questions, from the media, Jose Rosero Moncayo, Food and Agriculture (FAO) Chief Statistician and Director of the Statistics Division, said FAO collected data from different sources, but gave prominence to data from country members. There were deeper indicators to measure food insecurity and hunger, including two SDG indicators: the prevalence of undernourishment; and food insecurity in levels beyond hunger. The organization received figures from countries on the volumes of food trade, levels of food stocks and the amount of food required to feed the population, as well as how readily people could access food. FAO also worked with all countries to introduce these types of questions into their household surveys.
Mr. Rosero Moncayo said food insecurity could be imagined on a scale, with different levels of food insecurity. The most severe case was hunger, when people did not have access to sufficient food to live a healthy life. However, even if a population was not suffering from hunger, there could still be issues for people to access food, resulting in them reducing the quality and quantity of their food. This was known as moderate food insecurity.
Responding to an additional question, regarding FAO’s input into the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), Mr. Rosero Moncayo said the indicators around the SDGs measured one type of food insecurity, “chronic food insecurity”, while IPC measured a different type of food insecurity called “acute food insecurity”, related to emergencies. These were two different concepts. There were specific reports which covered food insecurity, including the IPC report, as well as the Global Report on Food Crisis.
Responding to a question on the situation of Mexico, Mr. Rosero Moncayo said the report contained information at a global, regional and country level. Information specific to Mexico could be found in the report.
Building Bridges Conferences
Following a request from the media, the information about the Building Bridges Conference taking place from 30 September to 2 October in Geneva can be found here.
Health Situation in Gaza
Responding to a question from the media on the situation of health in Gaza City and north Gaza, Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said there were displacement orders in place which had affected hundreds of health facilities. Since September 1, four hospitals in Gaza city and north Gaza had been shut down, bringing the total number of functioning hospitals in Gaza to 14, none of which were functioning at full capacity. The four hospitals that were rendered out of service were Al Rantisi Children's Hospital, Ophthalmic Hospital, and St. John Eye Hospital in Gaza city, and Hamad Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics in North Gaza. Hamad Hospital was one of the main three specialized rehabilitation facilities in the Gaza Strip, which was serving 250 outpatients
Between 7 and 17 September, 12 attacks on health had been reported, with the majority in Gaza City. More violence only meant more casualties, deaths and less access. There were shortages of medical supplies, and issues of access for humanitarians, health workers and for patients. 50,000 people needed to be evacuated for medical reasons, and this was happening very slowly. WHO continued to appeal for a ceasefire and for unhindered access to support what was left of the Gaza health care system.
Responding to an additional question, Mr. Jasarevic said he would provide an update on the available rehabilitation services in Gaza, as well as the needs.
Announcements
Michele Zaccheo, Chief of the Radio, TV and Webcast Section at the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said today was the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, marked by a high-level meeting at 10am in New York, as part of the General Assembly Week. The meeting would begin with an opening statement by Annalena Baerbock, the President of the General Assembly, as well as a statement from the United Nations Secretary-General which would be sent to the media. In addition to day four of the general debate at the General Assembly, the Security Council would resume its high level, open debate on artificial intelligence, which began yesterday. Yesterday, the Secretary-General had spoken at the meeting of G20 foreign ministers, where he noted that “when violence erupts, capital flees, services collapse and poverty deepens. And when development falters, social contracts free, institutions weaken and instability follows, and climate change intensifies the pressure at every turn.”
Mr. Zaccheo also said the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would conclude its 78th session this afternoon at 5.30pm today and issue its concluding observations on the six countries whose reports had been reviewed during the session: Russian Federation, Colombia, Chile, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe and Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, whose 29th session was taking place from 22 September until 2 October, would review the report of Sri Lanka today.
***
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Press conference on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua by the UN Group of Human Rights Experts
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ITU , UNHCR , WHO , WMO
YEMEN - UNHCR: Escalating conflict in Yemen could fuel more displacement, refugee movement
CLIMATE - WHO / WMO: Health and Climate impact of El Niño
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , OHCHR
Mariana Katzarova discusses human rights in Russia as a UN Special Rapporteur.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM , OHCHR , UN WOMEN , UNFPA , UNHCR , UNOPS , WHO
UN Geneva briefing: Yemen crisis worsens, urgent aid needed across multiple sectors.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Press conference on the latest report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the UN Human Rights Council
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
Victims Still Waiting: A Global Briefing on Transitional Justice Around the World
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WMO , OCHA , WHO , UNICEF , UN WOMEN , OHCHR , IOM , UNHCR
Update on Ebola from WHO and OCHA, update on the situation of children with the beginning of school in Ukraine from UNICEF, UN Women on the impact of the settlers and restrictions on women and girls in West Bank, OHCHR on the recovery of extensive human remains in Gaza, IOM and UNHCR on the new wave of displacement in Yemen
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Update on the human rights situation in Belarus by the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , OHCHR
Update on the human rights situation in Syria by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNOG , IOM , UN WOMEN , UNCTAD , WHO , UNECE
IOM Yemen's Western Coast displacement; UN WOMEN on Gaza; UNCTAD Strait of Hormuz disruptions impacts; WHO Ebola logistics in DRC; WHO smoking and infertility; UNECE Data centres and energy.