E.3: International Agenda
A central place for food security on the international agenda Other Information:
The World Food Summit served to rekindle awareness that the "problems of hunger and food insecurity have global dimensions
and are likely to persist, and even increase dramatically in some regions, unless urgent, determined and concerted action
is taken, given the anticipated increase in the world's population and the stress on natural resources". In adopting the Plan
of Action to be implemented by countries and the international community, the Summit also invited FAO and other organizations
of the UN system to "raise the global profile of food security issues through UN system-wide advocacy and sustain the World
Food Summit commitments to world food security". The Summit documents include a range of "coordinated efforts and shared responsibilities",
essential to attain its objectives and assign to the CFS responsibility for monitoring implementation of the Plan of Action.
FAO therefore has a major responsibility to collect and analyse information from all sources to facilitate the Committee's
monitoring task. In addition, FAO has an important role to play in follow-up to global conferences and summits within a UN
system-wide framework. The major thrust of FAO's action will be to work with its partners in promoting national and international
action to meet the Summit's goals and to keep the question of food security high on the international agenda. Strategy components:
The components include: global reporting and monitoring through the CFS of national, subregional and regional implementation
of the World Food Summit Plan of Action, and developing targets, verifiable indicators and analyses to support the global
monitoring process; providing regular reports on the state of world food insecurity and coordinating the international component
of FIVIMS; and working with other organizations in the UN system and with civil society to raise the global profile of food
security issues and help ensure that the results of intergovernmental assessments and decisions stimulate the necessary follow-up
action. Comparative advantages and partnerships FAO's information and knowledge management capacity in the area of food and
agriculture give it a unique capacity to exercise its global responsibilities in regard to monitoring, analysis and promotion
of follow-up action for the World Food Summit Plan of Action. The same comparative advantages allow FAO to play a key role
within the UN system, and in relation to civil society, in raising awareness and in supporting international action. In addition
to its reporting to the FAO Council and Conference, the CFS provides reports on World Food Summit follow-up, through the FAO
Council, to ECOSOC, which is charged with overall monitoring of follow-up to global conferences and summits. The ACC is assigned
responsibility for interagency cooperation within the UN system. FAO, with IFAD and WFP, will continue to seek to optimize
the synergy between UN partners in follow-up to the World Food Summit through the ACC Network on Rural Development and Food
Security, for which FAO provides the secretariat. The UN system has also asked FAO to provide the secretariat for interagency
work to develop FIVIMS. The inputs of civil society into global assessment of progress made towards achieving the target set
by the WFS will be facilitated in the CFS and other fora. Further important examples of outreach include cooperation with
IPU and with regional and subregional intergovernmental organizations.
Indicator(s):
|
