PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins will begin a week-long series of events in Rome with an address this morning to mark World Food Day.

He will also speak at the opening session of the World Food Forum this afternoon and will meet with Pope Francis and Italy president Sergio Mattarella later in the week.

The World Food Forum (WFF) is held at the Headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome.

President Higgins will also deliver the keynote address at the closing session of the WFF on Friday afternoon.

In between the opening and closing remarks at the WFF, President Higgins will meet with the Italian president Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace.

On Thursday, President Higgins will have a Private Audience with Pope Francis and also hold a bilateral meeting with Cardinal Parolin, who is the Vatican’s Secretary of State.

Pope Francis is currently overseeing a historic Synod, which will allow women and laypeople a vote for the first time.

The word “synod” means “assembly” and Pope Francis describes the current Synod as “journeying together” and listening to one another to discern the best path forward for the Church.

Pope Francis initiated the Synod because he said he wanted to hear from the entire Church and to ask what the Church can do to make parishes better.

Over the course of the week, President Higgins will hold also bilateral meetings with the heads of each of the three Rome-based United Nations agri-food and food security organisations.

This includes the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) Cindy McCain, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Alvaro Lario, and the Director General of FAO Dr QU Dongyu.

President Higgins said he will use his engagements in Rome this week to emphasise that in responding to food security challenges, it is essential to move past reactive emergency responses to tackling the underlying structural causes of hunger.

To deliver successful food systems, President Higgins will suggest that states must recognise the links between food insecurity, global poverty, migration, debt and climate change.

While in Rome, President Higgins will also participate in a number of cultural engagements.

This will include meeting with the Irish community, laying a wreath to honour the late Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty.

He will also attend an exhibition called ‘Ireland and the birth of Europe’ at the Pontifical Irish College, which is a Catholic seminary in Rome for the training and education of priests.