Hanoi, May 15 – The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact – MUFPP is an international agreement between cities around the world committed “to developing sustainable, inclusive, resilient, safe  and diversified food systems to guarantee healthy and accessible food for all within a framework of rights-based action, to reduce food waste, preserve biodiversity and to mitigate the effects of climate change.” The framework for action also contributes to achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda locally. Launched on October 16 2015, at the Milan Expo, themed “Feeding the planet, life energy”, the MUFPP addresses various nutrition-related challenges, including food insecurity, malnutrition, sustainability and food waste. Currently, 280 cities around the world have joined the Pact.

Since the end of 2019, the Italy-ASEAN Association, recognizing the global importance of food sustainability systems through City Diplomacy, has partnered with the Municipality of Milan to raise awareness among ASEAN countries about this crucial issue. As a result, the MUFPP has been extended to the Southeast Asia region with the project “Spreading Experience and Knowledge on School Meal Programs in ASEAN Cities”. This initiative aims to disseminate expertise between cities, facilitate and promote knowledge exchange and experiences in food policy and food system transformation, and support them in identifying the best strategy to address their local problems with a multi-sectoral approach, to guarantee the right to nutritious food for all. So far, 18 cities in the ASEAN region have joined the initiative. The AICS Office in Hanoi, within the framework of the Convention signed between the Municipality of Milan and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, has been tasked with supporting the diffusion of the Pact in Vietnam, a Member State of ASEAN, and facilitating the identification and involvement of new municipalities in the country interested in the initiative.

Within this framework, last May 10, in the Sala Generali of Casa Italia, in the presence of the agricultural phytosanitary Expert Renzo Moro of the Italian Embassy in Hanoi, the Infrastructure and WASH Coordinator Luca Sartorelli and the liaison officer Dung Quoc Nguyen of AICS Hanoi, a meeting took place between the MUFPP Delegation, led by Secretary Filippo Gavazzeni visiting the country, accompanied by  Chiara Pontillo, “Rural Development and Food Security” Office of AICS headquarter, and the Representatives of the provinces of Haiphong, Lang Son and Sapa. Bich Pham, Founder of the Slow Food Community of Vietnam, also participated in the meeting. The meeting favoured the exchange and sharing of information on the contents and purposes of the Pact, on the specific Project activated in the ASEAN region and on the food practices and systems in use in Vietnamese schools, providing solid foundations for proactive future collaboration aimed also at to the adhesion of Vietnamese cities to the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact. The MUFPP delegation will move in the next few days to the towns of Phuc Yen City (North Vietnam), Da Nang, Hue, Tam Ky and Hoi An (central Vietnam), and Can Tho (South Vietnam) to meet the local authorities and reply information meetings to collect as many expressions of interest in joining the Pact.