CFS:2002/5  |
| CFS:2002/5 |
COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY |
Twenty-eighth Session |
Rome, 6-8 June 2002 |
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE WORLD FOOD SUMMIT: FIVE YEARS LATER |
II. DRAFT RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE WORLD FOOD SUMMIT: FIVE YEARS LATER
III. CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE OF THE WORLD FOOD SUMMIT: FIVE YEARS LATER
IV. PARTICIPANTS AND OBSERVERS IN THE WORLD FOOD SUMMIT: FIVE YEARS LATER
1. At its Hundred and Nineteenth Session (Rome, 20-25 November 2000), the Council supported the principle, the objective and the general orientation of the Director-General's proposal to use the Thirty-first Session of the FAO Conference (Rome, 2-13 November 2001) as a forum for review of progress in the implementation of the World Food Summit Plan of Action five years after the Summit. Accordingly, the Council decided to include this item on the Provisional Agenda of the Thirty-first Session of the Conference in 2001, and to invite Members of the United Nations, or of its Specialized Agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which had been invited to the World Food Summit, to attend the Conference for this purpose. It also decided that Heads of State and Government should be invited to lead their delegations. At its Hundred and Twentieth Session (Rome, 18-23 June 2001), the Council endorsed a number of arrangements for the Thirty-first Session of the FAO Conference, including the World Food Summit: five years later.
2. At its Hundred and Twenty-first Session (Rome, 30 October-1 November 2001), the Council noted that the Director-General had proposed that, due to force majeure, the arrangements for the World Food Summit: five years later be postponed, and that the Council Members, in accordance with the provisions of Rule XXV.14 of the General Rules of the Organization, had agreed to the postponement. At that time, the Council approved the proposal that the World Food Summit: five years later be held as a separate meeting, in conjunction with the Twenty-eighth Session of the Committee on World Food Security. It delegated to the Committee the responsibility to reconvene, on the Council's behalf, the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) which it had mandated to prepare the draft outcome document for the World Food Summit: five years later, and to receive and forward to the World Food Summit: five years later the outcome of the work of the Group.
3. In taking the decisions mentioned above, the Council noted that the Rules of Procedure would need to be adapted to the particular nature of the participation in the World Food Summit: five years later. This document focuses on providing the rationale for the proposals made for the Rules of Procedure and for the Credentials Committee, on which specific action by the Committee on World Food Security is requested. With regard to the participation in the World Food Summit: five years later, it recalls the decisions already taken by the Committee on World Food Security and the Council in 2001, with regard both to governments invited to participate, and to governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations invited as observers.
4. Other aspects of arrangements for the event, which have already been agreed by the Committee on World Food Security and Council, are covered in the periodic Information Circulars sent to all countries, and are thus not repeated here. These aspects include the provisional timetable, the arrangements for participation in Round Tables and the Multistakeholder Dialogue, and the preparation of the draft outcome document to be submitted to the World Food Summit: five years later, which the Open-Ended Working Group is expected to complete.
5. As the World Food Summit: five years later was due to be an integral part of the Thirty-first Session of the Conference, there was no need to consider any particular Rules of Procedure for the meeting, as the Conference was governed by the General Rules of the Organization, subject however to any particular adjustments that might have been necessary to take into account the particular nature of the event. As the World Food Summit: five years later is now due to take place as a separate meeting, it is necessary to propose Rules of Procedure for the event, in view of a number of specific considerations, including the fact that States that are not Members of FAO are participating in the meeting and that it is necessary to make provision for a Credentials Committee, as is the practice with this type of Conference.
6. The draft Rules of Procedure, shown in CFS:2002/5 Sup.1, are modelled on the Rules of Procedure of the World Food Summit of 1996. The Rules of Procedure for the World Food Summit were based on existing precedents, including FAO meetings such as the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development of 1979, the FAO World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development of 1984 and other relevant meetings such as the United Nations World Food Conference of 1974 and the United Nations World Summit for Social Development of 1995. The draft Rules of Procedure of the World Food Summit were reviewed by the Committee on World Food Security in 1996 and submitted to the World Food Summit, which approved them without change.
7. As was the case with the World Food Summit of 1996, it is proposed that a Credentials Committee, consisting of seven members be appointed. The draft Rules of Procedure appended to this document deviate in one major respect from the Rules of Procedure for the World Food Summit. On that occasion, a Credentials Committee was appointed by the Summit and initiated its work after the beginning of the proceedings. It is now proposed that the seven members of the Credentials Committee be designated by the Committee on World Food Security, at its Twenty-eighth Session, from representatives of States participating in the World Food Summit: five years later, subject to confirmation by this Summit.
8. This would allow the Credentials Committee to initiate its work prior to the beginning of the Summit and to report on its work to the Summit without delay. This would reflect the current practice of the Credentials Committee of the FAO Conference, which initiates its activities prior to the beginning of the Conference session, which has resulted in an improvement of its work. In view of the short duration of the World Food Summit: five years later, the same procedure is proposed.
9. The following considerations regarding participation in the World Food Summit: five years later, as already endorsed by the Council at its Hundred and Twentieth Session in June 2001, and confirmed by at its Hundred and Twenty-first Session in November, 2001, may be helpful to the Committee on World Food Security in reviewing the proposals outlined above and the draft Rules of Procedure attached.
10. As agreed, invitations to participate in the World Food Summit: five years later have been issued to all Members of FAO and of Members of the United Nations or of its Specialized Agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency. A total of 193 countries and the European Community have thus been invited. Speaking time in the Plenary debate for such participants will be seven minutes (with the possibility of distributing more extensive texts).
11. In addition, as was also the case with the World Food Summit of 1996, FAO is inviting to participate in an observer capacity in the World Food Summit: five years later the United Nations, including its programmes, funds and autonomous subsidiary bodies, its specialized agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Trade Organization; other relevant intergovernmental organizations outside the United Nations system; and those inter-governmental organizations that have a standing invitation from the General Assembly of the United Nations to participate in the sessions and work of international conferences convened under its auspices. Speaking time for representatives of intergovernmental organizations will be limited to four minutes, and the number of such interventions may be conditioned by the time available during the Plenary sessions scheduled.
12. Arrangements for attendance of non-governmental organizations as observers also follow the precedent established for the Summit in 1996. Thus, international non-governmental organizations in consultative status with FAO are being invited in line with usual arrangements. Other international and national non-governmental and civil society organizations (NGOs/CSOs) are being invited, provided that they meet one or more of the following criteria:
13. For practical reasons, in inviting representatives of non-governmental organizations, preference has to be given to those organizations meeting the above criteria; that participated in the World Food Summit of 1996 and its follow-up; that participated in the 2000 FAO-NGO-CSO Regional Consultations and that represent major FAO constituencies, in particular food producers and consumers. To be invited, NGOs/CSOs need to be well-established or bona-fide organizations in their respective countries and prepared to provide a copy of the legal documents establishing the organization and any other information considered appropriate. Following the precedent of the Summit of 1996, the Chairperson may invite non-governmental organizations to form themselves into a limited number of constituencies. Such constituencies will be able to make, through spokespersons, oral statements limited to four minutes.
14. The Committee is invited: