DUSHANBE, October 12, 2010, Asia-Plus — A five-day high-level intergovernmental meeting of the newly reformed Committee on World Food Security (CFS) opened on October 11, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (Un FAO).
The meeting takes place against a background of recent increases in international food prices which pose additional challenges to food security.
Since its last session in October 2009, the CFS has been undergoing a major reform with the aim of making the Committee the most inclusive international and intergovernmental platform for all relevant stakeholders to work together to ensure food security and nutrition for all. In its role as the cornerstone of the global governance of agriculture and food security, the CFS will be more effective in facing challenges to food security.
The current session is the first with an expanded group of stakeholders, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, UN bodies, the private sector and philanthropic representatives.
Welcoming the delegates, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said “Global problems demand global as well as local solutions. The renewed CFS constitutes the required platform for debating global complex problems and reaching consensus on solutions.”
The global food crisis and economic slump that followed it have led to increase in the number of starving people in the world, he said, noting that the number of starving people in the world has exceeded one billion. According to him, more than 30 countries are undergoing serious food crisis and need urgent help, the UN News Center said.
Mr. Diouf noted, “For the CFS to be concrete in action and achieve tangible results, it is also vital that partnerships and linkages be established at country level through proper and recognized mechanisms, like the thematic groups and national alliances for food security.”
“FAO is fully committed to the CFS reform. Its expertise, experience, multidisciplinarity and wide field presence are vital features,” Diouf said.
“This week marks the launch of a strategically coordinated global effort to draw on the combined strengths of all stakeholders engaged in the fight against global hunger,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “With recent volatility in commodity prices and increased global demand for food this comes not a moment too soon. The reformed CFS has an opportunity and a responsibility to rally nations of the world to respond effectively, efficiently and coherently to provide vital humanitarian assistance when disasters strike and build long-term food security.”
This session of the CFS has been designed to support the roles of the renovated Committee to provide a forum for coordination of initiatives at global, regional and national levels.
A series of Policy Round Tables are looking at important issues related to food security such as land tenure and international investment in agriculture; food security in protracted crises; and ways to manage vulnerability and risk.
