I have the honour of speaking to you today on behalf of thirty Interntional Non-Governmental Organizations officially accredited to FAO and who have Permanent Representatives in Rome. All these INGOs have participated in the World Food Summit, have supported the Plan of Action and have promoted, within their fields of interest, the implementation of the commitments.

A summary of the activities undertaken during the last five years by the ad hoc Group and as such and by individual Member Organizations is included in the Report prepared for the World Food Summit: five years later, and this Report is available. In consultation with our national memberships, which include millions of Members, we have studied the Draft Resolution, and we have submitted comments to the Open-Ended Working Group.

We take this opportunity to restate our priorities and offer some comments on the final text: promote the right to food at the international level and within national plans of action; promote peace and security through preventive diplomacy and the resolution of armed conflicts in a peaceful manner, and ensure the inclusion of the culture of peace in all educational systems; and promote education and training for all with special emphasis on women and young girls who are often excluded from educational opportunities because they are obliged to work at home. We reaffirm the need for children and adolescents to receive education and the technical skills necessary for their active participation in adult life in their countries' food security and development plans. We support the idea of an International Alliance against Hunger, with the understanding that this does not imply establishment of a new agency and that the responsibility for it is placed within FAO's mandate and responsibility. We recognize that it is the responsibility of Governments to implement their National Plans of Action.

However, we wish to remind Governments that all the commitments of the WFS Plan of Action include the involvement of NGOs. In addition, we propose two recommendations: first, that the international NGOs be included in the stakeholder's category for the Working Group responsible for the elaboration of a set of guidelines, as mentioned in paragraph 10 of the Resolution, and secondly, that FAO's Trust Fund for Food Security and Food Safety be managed in an open and transparent manner so that the international community will be able to monitor and evaluate its effects.