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AGENDA ITEM 2.3

PROPOSAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF

A COAG SUB-COMMITTEE ON LIVESTOCK

Thank you, Madame Chairperson,

Indonesia has the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

We welcome the Conference Resolutions 13/97 and 11/2015, and in line with the request by the 26th Session of the COAG (October 2018) on the proposal for establishment of the Sub-Committee on Livestock, including the report on the administrative and financial implications, terms of reference and Rules of Procedures of its establishment.

The Group of G77 and China stresses the importance of the establishment of the Sub-Committee on Livestock as an unique intergovernmental platform to ensure comprehensive, open, transparent and inclusive consultations within in order to maintain a healthy and sustainable livestock system around the world. We believe that the Sub-Committee would provide Members with a mechanism to discuss and agree on the complex matters on livestock with a view to advice and guide COAG and FAO Programmes of Work, and could further strengthen FAO’s role and visibility presented in paragraph 28 of the document COAG/2020/7.

We take note of the report that the Sub-Committee requires no additional human resources for administration, while assuring its commitment in providing guidance on technical work and policy matters with a regular update to its Members related to livestock in contributing to the achievement of SDGs.  With regard to the limited resources, we could foresee that the cost of operation would be compensated by more targeted planning and programming, and reduction in ad hoc workshops and seminars during the current situation.

Financial implications must not be a limiting factor when livestock is an essential source of income for about 600 million of the world’s poor. Rather, we call for solidarity with proactive engagement and contributions by the Member States in order to reduce hunger and malnutrition.

With that observation, we request the Sub-Committee to work in close collaboration of COAG’s work on livestock to address the careful planning, implementation, monitoring, and enhancement of synergies and trade-offs related to livestock management, taking into consideration the priorities and benefits of the member countries.

We support the Sub-Committee to collaborate with existing multi-stakeholder partnerships, including the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL), the FAO-OIE-WHO through the “One Health” approach to ensure the holistic, integrated and preventive strategy.

In conclusion, The Group of 77 and China endorses the proposal and calls for all COAG members to approve the establishment of Sub-committee of Livestock.