FAO Seeks Anti-Hunger Coalition

May 1, 2002

The 27th Food and Agriculture Organization regional conference for Latin America and the Caribbean ended in Havana last week with a strong commitment to creating a world coalition against hunger. Delegates from the 31 participating countries agreed on the need to follow up on the goals proposed at the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996.

In view of concerns that the commitment made in 1996 to reduce by the year 2015 the number of people affected by hunger worldwide to 415 million will not be fulfilled, the conference agreed that the aim of the new coalition will be to secure the participation of governments, as well as to call upon the creativity and energy of the Latin American and the Caribbean societies, to ensure that food security continues to be FAO's first priority.

A decision was also made on a proposal to be tabled during the World Food Summit: five years later in Rome this June to establish an inter-governmental working group in FAO to draw up a Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Right to Food over a two year period.

Recognizing the need to mobilize resources for the struggle against hunger, the Conference reiterated the need for the developed countries to honor their commitments to dedicate 0.7 % of their Gross National Product to Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The conference requested FAO to support the training of experts to improve the negotiating capacity of countries in the region regarding the rounds of commercial multilateral negotiations to reduce their disadvantage in relation to the developed countries. The conference also requested FAO to support the development of programmes focused on women and young rural people, and to continue to promote South-South cooperation, particularly through the FAO Special Program for Food Security (SPFS).