INFORMAL MEETING OF OBSERVERS OF INGOS
The Office of Communication, Partnerships and Advocacy, OCP, is pleased to announce that the Austria Room (C237) will be available from 12.30 to 14.00 hours on Saturday 15 June to Observers from International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) attending the 38th Session of the Conference, so that they may share information on and coordinate their contribution to the Organization's activities and programmes.

 SPECIAL EVENT ON SUNDAY
On Sunday 16 June at 15.00 hours a special event on "Recognizing outstanding progress in fighting hunger" will take place in the Plenary Hall to honour achievements in combatting hunger and recognize countries that have made outstanding progress in improving food security for their citizens. All FAO Members are invited to participate in the event

 CIVIL SOCIETY PARALLEL SESSIONS
Bringing civil society voices to Rome

 SIDE EVENTS
http://permreps.fao.org/library2/sd38c

The IYFF aims to raise the profile of family farming and small holder farming by focusing world attention on their important role in alleviating hunger and poverty, providing food and nutrition security, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and allowing a sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.

Here is the report of the first Side Event at UN in May

http://new.fao.org/partnerships/news-article/es/item/176946/icode/

Session was opened by Deputy Director General Dan Gustafson. Reports from Climate, Energy and Tenure Division, Forestry Economics, Policy and Products Division and Fisheries and Aquaculture Economics and Policy Division Officers have been well illustrated on the subject of VGGT implementation.
Many different questions and suggestions came from the audience by countries representatives, especially Germany, USA, Canadà, Argentina, Ecuador, Zimbabwe and Civil Society organisations.

After the endorsement and adoption of Voluntary Guidelines from Governments in 180 countries, conferences and workshops are proposed and held at country and regional level.
All stakeholders are now committed in the implementation considering that VGGT is a global document to be discussed and adapted to the communities with different languages and standards of life. FAO wishes to have a coordinated approach in respect of each Region, willing to send also technical support.
Recent requests came from Myanmar, Namibia, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Zambia, South Sudan for workshops.
In Vietnam a Technical Unit with various skills has been created to reinforce the Regional FAO Team, (IFAD support, different partnerships).

As INGOs with a diversificate membership in all Continents, we demand to our Networks and Boards to help in Supporting Implementation of Voluntary Guidelines on Land Tenure, Fisheries and Forests also in attending and promoting the coming Seminaries and Workshops at regional and country level (the schedule will be posted soon).

Meeting on “Supporting Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines”

We are excited to announce that on Tuesday 28 May, from 09:30-12:30 Rome time, we will mark the first year since CFS’s endorsement of the Voluntary Guidelines with a meeting at FAO headquarters in Rome.

The objective of the meeting remains to keep alive the spirit of understanding, cooperation and partnership that existed during the negotiations of the Voluntary Guidelines. The meeting will provide an opportunity for an update on the work in support of implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines. This update will include information on the regional dissemination programme and the emerging interest by some countries in improving tenure governance. It will also provide updates on the recent “International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition” and the negotiations on the “Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication”.

Dear NGO Colleagues,

"On this International Day of Families, I call on governments, civil society, families and individuals to support initiatives that bring people together across generations toward building a healthier world for all."

26 April 2013, Rome - FAO's governing Council today approved two new Strategies aimed at strengthening FAO's partnerships with civil society organizations on the one hand and the private sector on the other.

The Strategies provide a framework for FAO's work with private and civil society partners in pursuit of the Organization's Strategic Objectives and the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.

Thanking the Council for its approval, Director-General José Graziano da Silva said, "We have repeated many times that it is possible to end hunger only if we work together. These strategies show that we are committed to working with partnerships".

FAO sees broader, improved partnerships as essential in achieving its objectives, especially in the light of its new emphasis on decentralization. "Ending hunger cannot be done by any individual organization alone," Graziano da Silva has said on many occasions. The collaboration and support of other actors is vital.

Approval of the strategies today will allow FAO, especially in the field, to better establish partnerships with civil society and the private sector. A key element will be to ensure that key stakeholders from civil society and private sector actors in the field of food security are identified and involved at country level in support of FAO's efforts.

Both strategies identify six main areas of collaboration (policy dialogue; normative work; technical and field programmes; advocacy and communication; joint use and mobilization of resources; and knowledge sharing) and two main levels of interaction (global level and decentralized level).

The two strategies are the result of extended consultations with Member States, key external stakeholders and FAO staff, both at headquarters and in the field. Consultative meetings, bilateral discussions and informal sessions were held to discuss the documents and are reflected in the final documents.

FAO's new, revised Strategic Framework for the next decade includes five Strategic Objectives:
1. Contribute to the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition
2. Increase and improve provision of goods and services from agriculture, forestry and fisheries in a sustainable manner
3. Reduce rural poverty
4. Enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems at local, national and international levels
5. Increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises.



FAO Strategy for Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations

Marie Christine Laporte and Nathalie Santilli were introduced by Alejandra Però at the monthly meeting of the AdHoc Group last friday April 12. Very interesting discussion about the new emerging possibilities of cooperation and mutual advice among members especially towards the auspicated settlement of the Italian AHHGM... !

• Governance of Tenure
• March 2013 VG-Newsletter


• STATEMENT of the AHG
• European Union Press Release
• Statement of the People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS) on the adoption of the VOLUNTARY Guidelines on Land Tenure, Fisheries and Forestry

• CFS 39 final report
  (including CSM recommendations agreed on climate change)  [PDF]
  
  
• CFS 2012: Principles for responsible investment in agriculture to be developed
  Committee on World Food Security approves two-year process  [URL]
  
  
• Investment in agroecology to end hunger and build resilient communities
  [us5.campaign-archive2.com/...]
  
  
• CFS 2012: Note pour influencer les gouvernements sur CSA/changements climatiques....
    [PDF]