LOG provided support from 15 to 17 September to FAO colleagues from the Livestock Division in organizing the Guiding Group meeting of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL) in Geneva. These two-days meeting focused in particular on the installation of the new GASL Guiding Group with Cluster Nominees, the new GASL Consensus document, the introduction and analysis of the GASL 2016-18 Action Plan, issues and format of the next Multi-Stakeholder Platform meeting scheduled to take place in South Africa in April 2016, as well as the engagement of donors.

Livestock, as a cross-cutting issue, is crucial for sustainable development. Hence, FAO LOG decided to promote this topic further within the Geneva audience, whose expertise is on diplomacy, trade, humanitarian affairs, and human rights. Hence, a related FAO outreach event, which brought together the diplomatic and development communities, private sector, and civil society, was organized at the UNOG on 17 September to promote the activities led by the GASL and the contribution of sustainable livestock for global food security and health, rural development, climate change adaptation, and the achievement of the new SDGs.

The outreach event, opened by Sandra Aviles, LOG OiC, was well attended with the participation of representatives from various Geneva-based diplomatic missions UN Agencies and civil society entities. The session provided key information to Geneva-based actors on the GASL and the need for collective, concerted and global action to enhance the contribution of the livestock sector to sustainable development (in particular: investments and adoption of good practices in support of the SDGs).

Three major issues faced by the livestock sector were highlighted during the discussion: natural resources use and climate change, population growth, food security, and health. The GASL, as an open, voluntary, inclusive and consensual multi-stakeholder partnership, is the right platform to address such issues.