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Santiago de Cali, Colombia, December 13-15, 2023.

FAO, with a team of professionals from the Colombia office and the Development Law Service of the Legal Office (LEGN), participated in  the closing event of a mandatory induction course for Colombia’s new local authorities. The event was organized by the High Government School of the Superior School of Public Administration (ESAP).

32 governors and 1102 mayors elected for the 2024-2027 term, who will assume office on 1 January 2024, participated in the event. The course aimed to strengthen the management capacity and knowledge of future local authorities. The President of the Republic of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, attended the event, along with various ministers and other national and local authorities.

Manuela Cuvi, Legal Officer of FAO, participated in a panel on the right to food, sharing FAO insights on the role of local authorities in implementing the Colombian National Development Plan 2022-2026. One of the Plan’s goals is to achieve the realization of the right to food. From FAO's perspective, the relevance of the human right to adequate food was emphasized, highlighting its interdependence with other human rights such as the right to health, a dignified life, the environment, and access to land.

FAO urged local authorities to implement concrete actions in their territories, where a significant portion of fresh and healthy food comes from family, peasant, and community agriculture. They were also encouraged to promote local public procurement of food, considering Law 2046 of 2020 on this topic, and were urged to adopt measures to prevent and reduce food loss and waste.

In addition, FAO emphasized that the upcoming local development plans that will be adopted by these authorities represent an excellent opportunity to incorporate these actions. Both during this intervention and during the two days when FAO supported the event with a booth, it underlined its willingness to provide technical assistance in this matter.

ESAP is a member of the Observatory on the Right to Food for Latin America and the Caribbean (ODA ALC). The initiative was promoted by FAO, with the support of the Latin America and the Caribbean Without Hunger Initiative and the Mesoamerica Without Hunger Program.

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