SCN News No 34 - UNSCN

www.unsystem.org/scn FEATURES 11
What FAO would like to see emerge is a comprehensive “people-centred” approach to agricultural, social and
economic development that focuses on improving food and nutrition security, as needed, and aims to ensure
that the welfare of children is promoted as a matter of priority. To this end, there is a growing opportunity to
apply a Rights-Based approach to development planning, and FAO is particularly pleased to note the
progress being made in various fora promoting the Right to Food. The adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines to
support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security
provides a framework that we can all use to help direct resources to meeting the food and nutrition needs of
the most vulnerable
FAO and the SCN
We all acknowledge that better cooperation within the UN family and among all our partners is required if we
are to have a chance to put an end to hunger and malnutrition, especially among children. The SCN has an
important role to play in this and, particularly in helping to harmonize various programmes and approaches of
its members. FAO is committed to working through the SCN and will continue to be active in both the
Steering Committee and in the Working Groups. FAO also has high expectations for the newly formed Task
Forces, and it is our hope that these task forces will serve as effective fora for promoting interagency thinking
and action at both global and national levels.
The activities of several Units within FAO and of various ongoing initiatives can be channelled to support the
work of these Task Forces. For example, FAO will contribute to the Task Force on Communication, Advocacy
and Partnerships through:
• The International Alliance against Hunger, which aims to generate political will and coordinate practical
action to fight hunger and poverty through partnerships at all levels;
• The Communication for Development initiative, which “Gives people a voice rather than a message;” and
• The Knowledge Management initiative, a wide-ranging programme designed to generate and share
knowledge through the World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT), the Knowledge Forum
(www.fao.org/KnowledgeForum/), and other structured and informal exchanges via discussion groups and
question and answer sessions, including “Ask FAO.”
FAO will also contribute to the Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation Task Force and will work to provide
the reliable and timely food security and nutrition information necessary for addressing hunger and
malnutrition effectively. In particular, FAO will continue to strengthen food security and vulnerability analysis
under FIVIMS at global and country levels.
Finally, FAO will support the work of the Task Force on Development of Integrated Approaches at country
level. This is very much in line with FAO’s current reform and its decentralization efforts, and in support of
strong national-led programmes and initiatives aimed at improving food security and nutrition. Task Forces
linkages with the FAO/WFP-led Country Theme Groups will be essential.
Let me add that FAO attaches great importance to country-level work, and welcomes any opportunity that
promotes more effective country-level, interagency collaboration aimed at improving nutrition and achieving
the MDG and WFS targets of halving hunger by 2015. This being the case, I would like to bring your attention
to the work going on in numerous developing countries through the National Programmes for Food Security
(NPFS), which are the primary vehicles through which FAO coordinates its direct support to Member
Countries. An NPFS is a strategic, nationally-owned and largely government-funded agricultural and
economic development programme, aimed at improving the year-round availability of and access, by the
poor, to nutritionally adequate and safe food. The operational focus of these programmes is on low-cost,
large-scale service delivery to the poor, and they provide a national platform for bringing sectors and
stakeholders together around the MDGs. If these Programmes are to achieve the maximum impact possible
on nutrition, effective collaboration with a number of other sectors and Agencies is essential, and FAO looks
forward to exploring how such cooperation can be realized in each country.
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