FAO Regional Office for Africa

Integration of the Right to Food and good governance into national policies, legislations and institutions

FAO support for the establishment of a National Network of Journalists on the right to adequate food in Togo

Photo: © FAO

17 May 2017, Lomé - The Right to Food is above all a matter of human rights and the normal functioning of society, including its balance, stability and peace. Promoting the Right to Food and good governance for food security aims to increase understanding and raise awareness among the various development stakeholders on the issues and challenges related to the Right to Adequate Food and food and nutrition security. In this context, FAO is providing assistance to Togo through the project Integrating the Right to Adequate Food and good governance into national policies, legislations and institutions for effective implementation of some important recommendations of the Togo’s diagnosis review on the Right to Food (RtF), which had been previously carried out in 2015 with a funding from FAO.

Among the key stakeholders that can effectively contribute to promoting the Right to Food are the journalists of the publishing houses and the audio-visual media in the country. These bodies can serve as effective channels for communication on issues related to food and nutrition security and mechanisms to combat hunger throughout the national territory. The media thus serve as stakeholders and an essential link for disseminating the information to the communities.

In order to achieve coherent actions and increase visibility of the Right to Food initiatives, journalists agreed during a capacity-building workshop organized by FAO in December 2016 to set up a National Network of Journalists on the Right to Food, with statutes to regulate the operation of this network. It was with this in mind that, on 17 and 18 May 2017, FAO has again provided support for a workshop held to validate the statutes of the National Network of Journalists in Togo on the Right to Food, for the formalization of this network in accordance with the regulations in force in Togo.

About 50 journalists from public and private bodies participated in the constitutive meeting of the network.

The launching ceremony of the network was chaired by the FAO Programme Officer in Togo, Oyétoundé Djiwa, who recalled the role of the media to disseminate throughout the entire national territory information on efforts made by the various stakeholders to ensure food and nutrition security for all.

 A roadmap has also been defined for urgent actions to be carried out from June to December 2017. This roadmap includes the following actions: development of rules of procedure in order to clarify the operating rules contained in the statutes, formalization of the network for official recognition, as well as contacts with institutional and development partners and the development of a work plan for the next three years.