On the migration and refugee crisis G20 leaders agreed on the need for global efforts to address the effects, protection needs and root causes of the crisis. They called for strengthening humanitarian assistance and refugee resettlement. At the press conference before the summit President Tusk stated that “In light of an unprecedented number of 65 million displaced people all over the world, the G20 community needs to scale up its share of responsibility. Only global efforts supporting refugees and their host communities will be able to bear fruit.”

On the fight against terrorism, leaders reaffirmed their solidarity and resolve and their commitment to tackle terrorist financing.

The summit also highlighted the importance of joining the Paris Agreement on climate change as soon as possible. Before the summit President Tusk recalled that “The G20 has an important role to play in this global struggle. With major emitters around the table we need to make sure that our common priority is to implement the Paris agreement early and in a robust manner. The EU is fully committed to this goal and we want to encourage all G20 members to do the same. ”

In the margins of the summit, Presidents Tusk and Juncker met with Recep Erdoğan, President of Turkey, to discuss EU-Turkey relations and continued cooperation on migration.

Photo: EU Newsroom / From left to right: Mr Jean-Claude JUNCKER, President of the European Commission; Mr Donald TUSK, President of the European Council; Mr Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN, Turkish President.

In a joint statement, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed the priority given to food and nutrition security at the summit.

The three Rome-based agencies also welcomed the continuing recognition by the G20 of the pivotal role of smallholder agriculture to global food security and to boosting productivity in a sustainable manner. “And we urge for food and nutrition security to remain prominent on the G20 agenda in the coming years,” they added.

“Food and nutrition security is a common thread linking the diverse elements needed to build a peaceful, stable and sustainable future. Food and nutrition security must be at the centre of the sustainable development agenda,” the agencies said, noting that they would also jointly take that message to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this week.

The three food and agriculture agencies noted that food security is closely linked to other issues on the agenda of G20 – such as infrastructure development and restoring growth in countries in crisis.

“In the past few years we have seen how food insecurity can trigger instability and crisis, and the major toll that the latter can take on food security in return. We now know that food insecurity can have a long-lasting negative impact on the growth prospects of entire societies,” they said. “This suggests that attention to food security needs to be maintained-perhaps especially so – in times of financial crisis and uncertainty.”

The agencies also pointed out that another lesson from recent crises, such as that affecting the Horn of Africa, is the need to move away from a dichotomy between humanitarian and development assistance. “We are already working in that direction,” the trio said.

In the final point of their joint statement, WFP, IFAD and FAO said that building a sustainable future requires broad partnerships, supporting developing country governments in their leading role and mobilizing around that the commitment of international agencies, civil society, the private sector and the wider humanitarian and development community.

“Ensuring food and nutrition security also demands inclusive partnerships,” the agencies said. “This is something to which we are fully committed in our own work.”