1.  Who is making this Call?

We are representatives from about 20 non-governmental and civil society organizations (NGO/CSO) and networks representing indigenous peoples, women, thematic and regional networks, farmers' organizations and development NGOs, all deeply engaged with food security and sustainable agriculture issues.

We met in Rome in March 2001 to discuss the organization of the NGO/CSO activities at the World Food Summit - Five Years Later (WFS-FYL). Our meeting was facilitated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).


2. Why? The context

We still are faced today with 800 million hungry people in the world and another 1.2 billion people suffering from nutritional deficiency.

In 1996 the World Food Summit (WFS) brought together Heads of States and government representatives of 185 countries and the European Union. It led to a Declaration and a Plan of Action with the aim of reducing by 50 percent the number of hungry persons by the year 2015. Five years after the WFS, the progress made is far too slow to achieve this objective.

The WFS - FYL is seen as an opportunity for governments and the FAO to evaluate the implementation of the commitments and to take systemic measures to achieve the original objectives. No re-negotiations of the texts of the WFS Declaration or Plan of Action are expected.

In 1996, more than 1000 organizations met in Rome at the NGO Forum and drafted a strong statement which was critical of the governments' official Declaration and Plan of Action and set forth the peoples' priorities and strategies to overcome hunger in the world. This declaration is attached here since we believe it is still a valid statement of NGO/CSO concerns.

The NGOs/CSOs are now seizing the opportunity in this new process of the WFS-FYL to assess the implementation of the official commitments and to engage in a practical and effective dialogue with FAO and its member states.

see http://www.fao.org/news/2001/010304-e.htm

3. Objectives

The objectives of the NGOs/CSOs initiatives are to:
assess the hunger situation in the world today and identify strategic priorities among the many activities recommended in the Plan of Action;

review action taken by governments and multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank and international development aid agencies, to implement the WFS Plan of Action, and to review their impact on food insecurity;

assess what NGO/CSOs have done to reduce food insecurity and present relevant case studies of field programmes and policy advocacy activities;

make practical policy proposals to FAO and member states to achieve the WFS goal.

In 1996 NGOs/CSOs formulated principles and concepts of food security - such as food sovereignty - that are now beginning to be accepted by some official policy makers. Today we want to go one step further and present successful demonstrations and alternative proposals.

4.  Strategic Issues

We have identified three strategic issues on which to focus because we feel they are the keys to attaining world food security:

Right to Food/Food Sovereignty - in relation to agriculture trade liberalization, domestic social policy and other relevant policy;

Agricultural Production Models - agro-ecology and other alternatives to the current industrial model including their impact on food safety;

Access to Resources - land, water and genetic resources; land reform and security of tenure.

A major cross cutting issue will be how to protect the livelihoods of the rural poor and indigenous peoples in the context of globalization, with attention to issues of discrimination such gender, caste and class, and ethnicity.

Over the next few weeks we will be preparing guidelines for NGOs/CSOs that wish to collect case study material on these themes.


5. Process of Preparation
5.1 At the national level
NGOs/CSOs could:
Assess the hunger situation (domestically and internationally);
Assess their government commitments and actions (case studies);
Assess foreign cooperation and other interventions (case studies);
Assess NGO/CSO commitment and actions (case studies);
Highlight the need for action and provide policy proposals;
Reinforce efforts to build political will, also linking proposals to national preparations for “Rio+10”.

To achieve this they could:
Mobilise NGOs /CSOs, and traditional councils or assemblies;
Organise meetings and debates;
Organise consultations with governments in connection with their official preparations for WFS-FYL;
Inform public opinion and media, etc.

5.2 At the regional level
We plan to undertake a regional synthesis of national experience and proposals, including the contributions of regional thematic networks. This should be accompanied by regional dialogue between CSOs and governments. The help of FAO's regional offices will be sought.

To achieve this NGOs/CSOs could:
Organise regional meetings;
Organise e-conferences at the regional level;
Sponsor  strategic dialogues on core issues between stakeholders.

5.3 International level

BEFORE THE EVENT

A second meeting of this group will be held just prior to the session of the FAO Committee of Food Security from 28 May to 1 June 2001. Preparations for the WFS-FYL will be discussed, and interaction sought with as many interested NGOs/CSOs as possible to broaden the planning process.

We will utilize key opportunities to promote debate on the three strategic issues in media and outreach.

A preparatory meeting with NGOs/CSOs attending the official WFS-FYL will be held just before the WFS-FYL with the aim of consolidating regional contributions and discussions and strategizing for effective dialogue with governments


DURING THE EVENT
Strategic dialogues between NGOs/CSOs and governments and representatives of other international organizations will be organized by NGOs/CSOs in the context of the official WFS-FYL event.

see www.un.org/rio+10
see www.fao.org/unfao/bodies/cfs/cfs27/cfs2001-e

A parallel NGO Forum will provide an opportunity for groups and organizations which are not attending the official event to discuss and debate these and other food security issues.

NGO/CSO activities regarding the WFS-FYL will be closely coordinated with other related processes, in particular efforts to put food and agriculture issues high on the agenda of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 (Rio + 10).

6. Proposed structure

The NGOs/CSOs who attended the March 2001 meeting and a few others who were not able to attend this first meeting are acting as focal points, as follows. A full list of participants with  addresses is attached.

International Focal Point:
Antonio Onorati, Coordinator of the Host NGO Committee (mc2535@mclink.it)

Coordinator of case study preparation:
Jean Marc Von der Weid, CGIAR/NGO Committee (aspta@ax.apc.org)

Regional Focal Points:
Africa: Ndiogou Fall, Réseau des organisations paysannes et de producteurs agricoles de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (cncr@cncr.org) , and Mercy Karanja, Kenya National Farmers Union (knfu@arcc.org)
Asia-Pacific: Roel Ravanera, ANGOC (angoc@angoc.ngo.ph), Biblap Halim, IMSE/SANFEC (bipimse@cal.vsnl.net.in) and Sarojeni Rengan, PAN (panap@panap.po.my)
Near East: Mutaz Husseini, Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (pr@pal.arc.org; mutaz@pal-arc.org)
Europe (EU and East and Central Europe Countries): Daniel Van Der Steen, Liaison Committee of Development NGOs to the EU (daniel.vandersteen@csa-bl.org) and Primoz Kriselj, Federation of Organic Farmers of Slovenia (zveza.ekomet@sveza-ekomet.sl; anamarija.slabe@attglobal.net) .
Latin America: Alberto Ercilio Broch, CONTAG (alberto@contag.org.br) ; Rosaura Rodriguez, Union estatal de organizaciones económicas y mujeres productoras de Guerrero (uestatal@hotmail.com) ; and Flavio Valente, Global Forum on Sustainable Food and Nutritional Security (fvalente@agora.org.br)
North America: Stuart Clark, Canadian Foodgrains Bank (s_clark@foodgrainsbank.ca)

Major Constituency Group Focal Points:
Farmers: David King, IFAP (david.king@ifap.org) and Joao Viera, Via Campesina (cpe@cpefarmers.org)
Indigenous Peoples: Carol Kalafatic, International Indian Treaty Council (iitcny@mindspring.com)
NGOs: Linda Elswick, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Working Group/NGO SAFS Caucus (ipsa@igc.org)
Trade Unions: Peter Hurst, IUF, Geneva (peter.hurst@iuf.org)


ANNEXES:
1. List of participants and email addresses
2. NGO Forum 1996 Declaration (full text)