The Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition is officially launched in Montevideo
The head of the Department of Sectorial Cooperation of the Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation (AECID), Francisco Javier Sota, officially announced the Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition at the 8th Forum of the Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean. He also presented the road map agreed by the Spanish General Courts in relation to the Summit, which will take place on the 29th and 30th October 2018.
Legislators from all over the world will come to Madrid to debate and propose more and better strategies to guarantee the human right to food. It will be a high-level meeting where the active role of parliaments will be reaffirmed as a means to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, which seeks, among other goals, to end hunger and achieve food security.
Two working committees will be created – a political and a technical committee – formed by representatives of the Spanish Parliament, the AECID, the Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (PARLATINO) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The agenda of the VIII Forum of the Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean
Some of the main points discussed at the Forum were the conversation exchange among journalists, the commitment to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and Zero Hunger, and the collaboration with other continents.
At the opening of the Forum were the Uruguay Vice President, Lucía Topolansky; the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Uruguay, José Carlos Mahía; the President of the FAO regional sub-coordinator for South America, Eve Crowley; the Alternate Secretary General of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament, Pablo González; the Ambassador of Spain, Javier Sangro de Liniers; the Ambassador of Mexico, Francisco Agustín Arroyo Vieyra; the Coordinator of the Parliamentary Front against Hunger of Uruguay, deputy Berta Sanseverino; and the Coordinator of the Parliamentary Fronts against Hunger in South America, Senator Hugo Richer.
The day was entirely dedicated to exchanging successful experiences and new ideas to fight against hunger and malnutrition, bringing together the work of the over 70 legislators from 23 countries present. It is worth mentioning the participation of Sierra Leone's deputy, Bernadette Lahai, Vice President of the Pan-African Parliament.
About support of the Spanish Cooperation to the Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean was created in 2009 within the framework of the regional political process "Latin America and the Caribbean without Hunger 2025 Initiative" (IALCSH), from which multiple political commitments have been made in different countries aimed at ending hunger and malnutrition within a generation.
The IALCSH has had the Spanish Cooperation’s support since its inception through the Spain-FAO Program for Latin America and the Caribbean, an initiative that fosters dialogue and the exchange of experiences, capacity building, support for legislative processes and knowledge management. The Spanish Cooperation’s Training Centers (TC), through the Intercoonecta Plan, has played a very important role in knowledge management, and it has been an active partner in the organization of meetings, including information-exchange and planning meetings.
Today, the Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean is a parliamentary network that consists of 300 parliamentarians from various political parties that seek to include food security at the top of national, subregional, regional and international political agendas. There are 24 legislative bodies linked to the front (17 national, 3 departmental and 4 regional spaces). These bodies have facilitated over 20 legislations to be approved on matters such as school feeding, healthy eating, food labeling, family farming and artisanal fishing.
News in Spanish
http://www.aecid.es/ES/Paginas/Sala%20de%20Prensa/Noticias/2017/2017_10/FPH.aspx