The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and European Union (EU) are collaborating with the Prime Minister Office and the Timor-Leste NGO forum (FONGTIL) to support the civil society organizations (CSO) working in the area of food security and nutrition.

The policy support for the National Council for Food Sovereignty, Security and Nutrition (KONSSANTIL) provided by the EU-FAO FIRST* partnership programme creates opportunities for the civil society of Timor-Leste to develop and structure its action, advocacy and monitoring role based on global evidence and national data.

The first food security and nutrition CSO forum was attended by 85 participants representing more than 50 national and international organizations working in all Municipalities of Timor-Leste. The FAO presented the situation, drivers and trends of food security and malnutrition in Timor-Leste based on the policy effectiveness analysis recently completed through the EU-FAO FIRST partnership programme.

 This presentation set the scene for the participants to discuss and debate about the civil society’s contributions, strengths, challenges and opportunities in this field. This work contributes to the national policy dialogue and enabling environment for food security and nutrition in Timor-Leste. It is based on the assumption that a strong civil society network can play a crucial role if its interventions are evidence based and better coordinated.

* FIRST Stands for “Food and Nutrition Security, Impact, Resilience, Sustainability and Transformation”