Day 1 Feb 24 Morning Session

The FAO Civil Society Regional Consultation on Food Security in Asia and the Pacific Region convenes this morning, February 24 at the Richmonde Hotel, with  a total of 35 representatives  from 25 regional formations of rural sectors – namely, farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples, women, youth, cooperative, NGOs, and INGOs, in attendance.

FAO Representative in the Philippines Mr. Kazuyuki Tsurumi  expressed, in his opening remarks, that the consultation – which is devoted to enhancing FAO’s  collaboration in Asia and the Pacific Region with the wide range of civil society – is being held “at an historic, but tragic, moment.” 

“For the very first time, one billion people in the world are hungry and malnourished, the majority of whom are in Asia, 642 million  mostly in rural areas and many the very people that produce most of our food: farmers, fishers, women, indigenous peoples,” Mr. Tsurumi observed.

The morning session (Session I) set the context of the discussions through:  (1)  A brief sharing and leveling-off of expectations by each of the organizations participation in the forum; and (2) A presentation of the overall and specific objectives and of their institutional and policy context by Mr. Thomas Price, OCEP Senior Program Officer.

The morning concluded with a mapping exercise (Session II) consisting of breakout sessions followed by a plenary presentation of the patterns, trends, and commonalities experienced by the region in terms of CSO engagement with FAO. The participants elaborated on their experiences of engagement with FAO processes and projects in terms of strengths, weaknesses, gains, and specific recommendations for more meaningful processes and partnerships in the future.anez