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Friday, June 24, 2011

The Commission and the UN agencies team up to fight food insecurity

On Monday, 27 June, the European Commission, together with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will launch a new Strategic Framework of Cooperation to address food insecurity and malnutrition worldwide. This agreement will be signed during the Annual Meeting of the FAO in Rome and builds on existing agreements with WFP and FAO.Today, around 925 million of people in the world remain undernourished. The poor are particularly vulnerable to crises, the negative effects of climate change and high food prices. Over the past year, more than 40 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty by an increase in food prices. The three Rome-based Organisations are the key UN forces in food security and nutrition. The European Commission is one of the biggest global donors in the area of food security. Humanitarian food assistance is the single largest aid sector in the EU's humanitarian budget, representing more than € 1,100 billion from 2007 to 2010. Additionally, around €850 million is allocated to fight food insecurity each year through aid assistance.

With these institutions joining forces, the international community will be better equipped to achieve better food security and nutrition on the ground both in the short and the longer term.

After signing the agreement, European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs said: "No country can exit from poverty and develop with a poorly fed population. Fighting hunger and food insecurity remains at the top of EU priorities, which will be reflected in the upcoming proposals on the future EU development policy. However, we are aware that eradicating hunger cannot be achieved by a single player. Joining forces with UN agencies is the most efficient recipe, which already created success stories such as the eradication of rinderpest this year".

Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, responsible for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, said: "We are fully committed to helping ensure that the most vulnerable are adequately fed. An increasing number of people are affected by natural disasters and conflicts, and resources are limited. A challenge of this magnitude requires the cooperation of all of us who share the same goal - to ensure that we deliver aid in the most efficient and effective manner. In the Framework of Cooperation that we are signing, the European Commission emphasizes its support for the three Rome-based agencies."

This agreement reinforces the partnership between all four organisations around a clear and common objective of food security for the most vulnerable while sharing the roles and actions. It will also help foster synergies among the agencies and ensure continuity between relief, rehabilitation and longer term development actions.

Source  Press room - European Commission

More information  Press room - European Commission

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