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FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York

ECOSOC Meeting on the Transition from Relief to Development: taking action to promote resilience, sustainable solutions and recovery in climate-related disasters and crisis contexts

Deputy Director-General, Beth Bechdol

24/06/2024

Ladies and gentlemen,  

Distinguished guests,  

Excellencies. 

  1. Thank you for this opportunity to contribute to this important discussion from the perspective of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 
  2. As we take stock and explore what is needed for us to collectively deliver development-anchored solutions to internal displacement, we are building on years of experience on the ground.
  3. FAO, together with many of its partners – many of which are in the room today, have engaged in significant reflection processes involving the Office of the Special Advisor on Solutions to Internal Displacement, and the IASC IDP Review and Management response. 
  4. We have been discussing what needs to change to collectively deliver sustainable solutions for people living in situations of internal displacement.
  5. And admittedly we keep covering old ground – we repeat ourselves quite a bit … with the same statements of problem and need.
  6. We can’t afford to lose time and to continue business as usual … not truly working together.
  7. Allow me to tell you what I believe are priorities to fully capitalize and to move from discussions to true action… to create real change:
  8. FIRST – We need a real commitment to coordination. 
  9. We say it all the time, but the results don’t show it yet. 
  10. But to allow us to truly break down humanitarian-development-peace silos, it not only requires sincere and meaningful collaboration across the UN system, we also need operational and financial flexibility.
  11. We do not have the time or the luxury to continue to operate in silos – we need to get out of our traditional labels.
  12. FAO believes that with concrete actions and commitments from operational partners, financial institutions, and national governments we can deliver better for IDPs where previously we were not successful – bridging humanitarian and development responses.
  13. This brings me to my SECOND point– Agriculture is this nexus… agriculture is the entry point to connect short-term foundational actions to longer-term development solutions responses.
  14. This is needed the most in protracted and recurrent internal displacement contexts.
  15. For so many IDPs, emergency distribution of food or cash from humanitarian agencies feeds their families – meets their immediate needs. 
  16. But to provide IDPs with these sustainable solutions – to break this cycle of dependency – we need to provide them with the opportunities to rebuild their livelihoods, to restart or resume local food production, to move towards self-reliance, and to provide for themselves and families as early as possible.
  17. Let’s move away from the tendency to think that these interventions should be a “next phase” because the reality for most displaced people is that there is never a “next phase” in protracted situations. 
  18. What may surprise many is that most of the people that are in these situations are farmers themselves – the people who are “expected” to produce our food – cannot afford to feed themselves or their families.
  19. So, for FAO this means that we need to get into the hands of farmers:
    • High-quality seeds to grow crops;
    • Animal vaccines and animal feed to care for their livestock;
    • Fishing equipment to enable to resume these activities.
  20. We know that the world's largest internal displacement crisis is happening in the Sudan. 
  21. Despite the ongoing conflict, FAO is connecting urgent humanitarian assistance, aimed at famine prevention to “development-like” resilience building actions. 
  22. These people have lost their agricultural assets and providing them these tools helps them rebuild their livelihoods.
  23. These resilience building actions are also coupled with training on good agricultural practices and on building capacities, where possible, of government agricultural extension workers in the region. 
  24. These are all steps that we are taking to transition from immediate relief to development.
  25. THIRD and last (but certainly not least) – we must truly listen to and work with IDPs to adapt to their changing needs and priorities.
  26. IDPs have also told us clearly:  they also want longer-term solutions that allow them to re-build dignified lives… whether in their current location, in their communities of origin, or wherever else they might choose to move.
  27. This is a common ask among IDPs and communities most in need.
  28. Our actions must be rooted in what they want, not what we think they need.
  29. This includes investing in community- or area-based resilience efforts, that contribute to bridging the gap between meeting basic needs with broader development plans and processes, when conditions allow. 
  30. Allow me to conclude by saying that FAO remains committed to working together with IDPs and their communities, its partners and national governments to deliver sustainable solutions to internal displacement.