28 Jun Morning Session: GSF Sections I and III

The second day of consultations began with Section I which includes:
I. Introduction and background 1–17

• A. The reform of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), Its vision and roles 2–10
• B. Nature, purpose, process of elaboration and intended role of the GSF 11–16
• C. Definitions 17

Para 1 was adopted with some modifications of language for clarity
Subsection A:  the text in this subsection was reformulated and adopted. No issues were sent to FOC.
Subsection B on the Nature and Purpose was heavily discussed and sent back to the Secretariat to review. There were several proposals made with regards to changing the order of the bullets with some delegations supporting the deletion. The Private Sector Mechanism was added to the list of participants.
Subsection C on definitions was controversial with some delegations wanting to delete the definitions and CSOs wanting to add definitions including Malnutrition and Small-scale food producers.  The CSOs also added to the definition of the Right to Adequate Food. The latter was rejected for being a description of commitment and not a definition. Given that there is no consensus on definitions of malnutrition in the CFS, the definition was rejected. The definition of smallholders was bracketed and CSOs were asked to provide definitions from CFS plenary decisions.  References were taken from CSM document presented to the plenary as well as references made in the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security.
The plenary then moved on to section III Foundations and Framework.

• III. The foundations and overarching frameworks 22–29
• A. The Millenium Development Goals 23
• B. The Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realization
• of the right to adequate food in the context of national food
• security (VGRtF) 24
• C. The Five Rome Principles for Sustainable Global Food Security 25
• D. High‐level forums on aid effectiveness 26–27
• E. The United Nations Updated Consolidated Framework for Action (UCFA) 28‐29

The CSM proposed an addition to para. 22:
The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) specifically addresses children’s nutritional health (Art. 24), supplemented by the 1981 International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.  The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the relevant document with respect to attention to discrimination against women, the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW) and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action ensure women’s rights. Specific conventions with special relevance for workers are ILO Convention 87 and 98. Relevant instruments for small scale food producers are both the International Assessment of Agricultural  Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) and the final Declaration of the International Conference on  Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD). Finally, the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and the ILO Convention 169 are essential instruments for the promotion and protections of indigenous people’s rights, with specific relevance for food security and nutrition.
The rationale was to expand on the key principles and strategies linked to the achievement of food security and nutrition.  The text was bracketed and CSOs were asked to come up with alternative wording as was a proposal by Member Country to enhance the wording of Para 27 which discusses the Busan Partnership.
It was requested by the EU that the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Governments. This was approved and the Secretariat will propose language.
From what I understood, reference to SUN was added but then bracketed (although I walked in late and missed it insertion into the text.
We are breaking for lunch. More soon!