Documents will be progressively added as they become available.

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) will hold six regional consultations between September and November 2021. These consultations will contribute to the preparation of the Voluntary Guidelines (VGs) on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment (GEWE) in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition, in anticipation of a final draft being presented for consideration by the CFS Plenary at its 50th Session in October 2022.

The regional consultations are an opportunity to receive inputs, comments, and suggestions on how to best align the Guidelines with regional/national priorities and needs. The preparation of the Guidelines is funded largely by the generous support of Finland, France, Spain and Sweden.

Participants and working arrangements

Based on the CFS multi-stakeholder model, the regional consultations will gather participants from governments, civil society organizations, private sector associations, agricultural research organizations, UN bodies, international financial institutions, and private philanthropic foundations to ensure the multi-stakeholder nature of the discussion.

CFS Member States and Non-member States alike will be invited on a regional basis. Regional coverage will be ensured according to FAO Governance membership: Latin America and the Carribean, Europe and Central Asia, Africa, Near East and North Africa, and Asia and the Pacific.

Each regional consultation will take place in two half-days of 3 hours duration each to guide the participants through the Zero Draft of the Guidelines and obtain structured feedback to enhance the next stages of the process. The consultation will be conducted virtually on the Zoom videoconferencing platform. The timing of the sessions in each region takes into account the time differences between countries of the same region. Interpretation will be provided in languages most relevant to each region.

For more information, contact the CFS Secretariat [email protected]