Maris Gavino, WOCAN Liaison, attended the FAO Council’s 145th session on 3-7 December 2012 in Rome. The Council is the governing body of FAO, composed of 49 elected member countries having a term of 3 years. The highlights of the session were on i) report of the 39th Committee on World Food Security; ii) Strategy for Partnership with Civil Society; and iii) the theme chosen for 2013 FAO Conference on ‘Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition’. In regard to the report forwarded by the 39th Committee on World Food Security to the Council, clamor for trimming down agenda items of CFS sessions was manifested. The reason given was the need to deepen discussion on more important issues at the policy roundtables. The Council also requested to limit side events that were difficult for small delegations to attend. Two topics were forwarded to the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) to study and to present at the next session of the CFS. These are on: a) the role of sustainable fisheries and aquaculture for food security and nutrition; and b) food losses and waste in the context of sustainable food systems. The Council emphasized the need for FAO to retain its neutrality and impartiality in its collaboration with external partners. However, there was no consensus in approving the proposed strategy for partnership with civil society at the current session. Some Council members requested for more time to study FAO’s policies and proposals on the subject. It was decided to make the decision on the matter at the next Council meeting in April 2013. It is worth noting here the mutual benefits for the partnership that were laid out as follows: FOR FAO- Inclusion of voices for isolated and vulnerable groups, better representations in debates and discussions, consequently enhanced ownership of endorsed policies/strategies. FOR CIVIL SOCIETY – A neutral forum for discussions; access to information, capacity building, technical knowledge and expertise; ability to place items for discussion in agenda for debate in high level. WOCAN is awaiting the Council’s decision on the subject since it made an application to be a formal NGO partner.
