The Reformed Committee on Food Security. A briefing paper for ...

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National level<strong>The</strong> CFS will attempt to draw inputs from and disseminate outputs to the national level through:• Multi-disciplinary national (food security) mechanisms (which member states are en-couraged to strengthen or establish);• <strong>The</strong> field presences of United Nations Country Teams, the HLTF, the InternationalAlliance against Hunger and its National Alliances, national food security groups, andcivil society networks and private sector associations, and;• In the case of countries with weak capacity –notes that ways to do this need to befound.<strong>The</strong> CFS: Key Mechanisms II<strong>The</strong> CFS Secretariat is another important element of the renewed CFS. At the moment theCFS’s Secretarial needs are provided by the FAO alone, but as an important part of the attemptto increase the relevance of the renewed CFS it was proposed to move to a joint or rotatingSecretariat, shared between the three Rome-based UN food and agricultural institutions – theFAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme(WFP). <strong>The</strong> idea behind this is that the more actors and institutions that can participatein the different levels of the CFS’s work, the more relevant it will be. For the moment thisidea for the Secretariat is provisional, though from 2011– whilst still headed by a Secretaryfrom FAO – it will include staff from the other two institutions.<strong>The</strong> Secretariat’s role is to assist the Plenary, the Bureau and Advisory Group and the HighLevel Panel of Experts.According to the reform document, the final component of the CFS is the High Level Panel ofExperts (HLPE) – the function of which is to provide the CFS with “structured food securityand nutrition-related expertise to better inform its sessions.” (CFS:2009/2: Paragraph 36). Feedinginto the Plenary and working with the Bureau, the HLPE is supposed to help memberstates and other stakeholders in designing strategies and programmes for food security. <strong>The</strong>HLPE is comprised of two main components:A Steering <strong>Committee</strong>. 10 – 15 internationally recognized experts.Ad hoc project teams. A larger network of food security and nutrition experts acting on aproject-specific basis and selected by the Steering <strong>Committee</strong>.25
Though taking slightly longer than expected the 15 members of the Steering <strong>Committee</strong> havenow been appointed. This small diverse group consists of both world-renowned experts suchas Indian Agricultural scientist Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (known as the fatherof the green revolution in India but whose views now include the strong advocacy of organicagriculture) and other perhaps lesser-known figures. It is clear however that amongst a significantminority of steering group members there is a stated commitment to strong civil societyparticipation within food security strategies.Relations Amongst Different Components of the Global CFSAs the text boxes on pages 18 and 19 indicate, the global CFS – and its members and participants – hasa number of different mechanisms to help coordinate its work and fulfill its roles, particularly duringthe interesessional period. According to the reform document, these are related to each other in thefollowing ways:Plenary• Sends requests to HLPE for “scientifically sound, clear and concise written reports/analyses for Plenary or intersessional purposes.” (Paragraph 41).Bureau• Represents the broader membership (states) between plenary sessions;• Ensures coordination among all actors and levels during intersessional work in preparationfor the CFS;• Directs the work of the HLPE;• Sends requests to HLPE for “scientifically sound, clear and concise written reports/analyses for Plenary or intersessional purposes.” (Paragraph 41).Advisory Group• Provides inputs (substantive work and advice) to the Bureau during the intersessionalperiod on behalf of the five different constituencies of Participants.CSM (Civil Society Mechanism)• Determines the allocation of seats for Participants and Observes in consultation withthe Bureau.26
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