Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

21 November 2013, Accra – Seven years after the launch of the Economic Community Of West African States Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), food insecurity and hunger are still prevalent in West Africa. Acute food crises occurred in 2005, 2010 and 2012 in the region, hitting especially the Sahel. In 2012, 18.7 million people were affected by food insecurity.

Sharing knowledge and expertise on food security and nutrition is a key factor in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. Inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogues contribute significantly to the improvement of techniques and approaches for food and nutrition security of the most vulnerable populations.

Focus on West Africa Food Security and Nutrition Forum

Experts and practitioners in Food Security and Nutrition met on 20-21 November 2013, in the FAO Regional Office for Africa in Accra, Ghana, to discuss pressing Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) issues affecting the the Economic Community Of West African States. 

Approximately 16 participants from West Africa attended a workshop dedicated to the FAO’s Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition in West Africa (FSN Forum), a worldwide network of experts and practitioners that take part in facilitated online discussions and knowledge sharing on food security and nutrition.

West African representatives from civil society, academy and research and government will identify key issues in order to support the further development of the West Africa FSN Forum and ensure its full ownership by regional actors.

“What is new is the focus on West Africa. The FSN Forum in West Africa will concentrate mostly on specific issues and concerns of the region”, said FAO Representative to Ghana and Sub-regional Office for West Africa, Mr Lamourdia Thiombiano, during the opening session. “It is particularly interesting that we are not reinventing the wheel here, but building on an initiative that has already proven to be successful at the global level and can be effective for the West African community, too”. 

Thiombiano also observed that inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogues contribute significantly to the improvement of techniques and approaches for food and nutrition security of the most vulnerable populations. “These exchanges help in raising awareness and strengthen stakeholders’ support of policy processes”.

Building on existing initiatives

The Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition has been instrumental in building networks of stakeholders who can play a role in pushing forward the Right to Food agenda and in supporting the inclusion of diverse stakeholder groups into global food security and nutrition processes. The Committee on World Food Security (CFS), the High Level Panel of Experts of the CFS and the Post 2015 Development Agenda process feature among the FSN Forum collaborations.

"The FSN forum is ready to support the strategic objectives of FAO in the Region to reduce hunger and malnutrition", said Mauricio Rosales, Coordinator of the Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition, "the main challenge for the FSN is to achieve a greater impact at grassroots level".

The inputs obtained from this workshop will help establish a better forum for the West Africa region.

The FSN Forum nurtures a community of 7 000 members with one third of them from Africa. The new West Africa FSN Forum will aim at supporting policy formulation and processes by providing a channel for local, national and sub-regional West African stakeholders to actively contribute to existing initiatives, such as the new FAO/Germany supported "Zero Hunger” project of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), that seeks to unite the efforts of all regional stakeholders, including governments, parliaments, civil society and organizations of producers around eradicating hunger in West Africa.

Links:

• FSN Fourm
• Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition
• Committee on Food Security
• Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2)

This issue especially highlights important initiatives and technical developments undertaken at Global Level, among them the IPC Global Steering Committee Meeting, which this year was combined with a Partners and Donors Consultative Meeting and an IPC Fair & Seminar Series, the development of the IPC Global Strategic Programme, and the launch of a Short Training Course for Users of IPC Analysis. It also features recent IPC impacts, results and progress achieved at Regional and Country Level in Asia, Central America, and Africa.

The ambition of this site is to try and inform on the food issue and to debunk myths on hunger (More on myths on hunger...) so that the honest citizens of the XXIst century that we are, are able to better understand the world around us and act in order to change it and make a reality of the utopia of a world without hunger.

to know more please visit: http://www.hungerexplained.org/Hungerexplained/Home.html French version also available: http://lafaimexpliquee.org/La_faim_expliquee/Accueil.html

This years's SOFI focuses on the multiple dimensions of food insecurity.

• Job Title: FSL Coordinator
• Job Location: Antakya, Turkey with frequent field visits to Syria
• Reporting to: Assistant Country Director Programmes
• Start Date: ASAP
• Contract Length: 6 months with possible extension up to one year 

GOAL are looking for an enthusiastic and dynamic Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) Coordinator with experience of leading the development and implementation of Food Security & Livelihood strategies and programmes in (post) conflict environments. The FSL Coordinator, as a member of programme management team, will lead on or contribute to project proposals and donor reports for the sector, and will represent GOAL in the FSL working group meetings. S/he will be responsible for supervising the FSL manager in the field and will further be responsible for building the capacity of the FSL programme team. 

The FSL Coordinator reports directly to the Assistant Country Directory Programmes and works closely with other programme, M&E and support staff to ensure optimal integration of programme activities and support where appropriate. 

GOAL has been working in Syria since 2012, responding to the acute needs of conflict affected communities. GOAL is working in Idlib and Hama Governorates, in close coordination with local partners, delivering food, non-food and cash voucher programming to highly vulnerable populations. 

The IPC Team is very delighted to announce the launch of the new IPC Newsletter, which has been redesigned to include feature stories, as well as regular briefing sections of regional IPC news updates and upcoming IPC events. The IPC Newsletter will be issued on a quarterly basis and aims to keep stakeholders and partners informed on on-going IPC activities and results, both globally and in the different regions around the world.

This first issue especially highlights important initiatives and technical developments undertaken at Global Level, among them the IPC Chronic Scale development and the IPC Certification process. It also features recent IPC impacts, results and progress achieved at Regional and Country Level in Asia, Central America, and Africa.