October 16, 1945. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was founded with a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity, and to better the condition of rural populations. "A Millennium Free from Hunger" is the theme for this year's World Food Day and TeleFood 2000. Look for events around the world.
Ms. Nora McKeon, FAO programme officer for cooperation with civil society organizations, participated in the Horn of Africa Initiative Country Consultation in Ethiopia from 29 July to 9 August 2000, with responsibility for contacting the main non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs) and farmer's organizations in Ethiopia; reviewing their existing programmes relevant to problems of food security and the way they work with government, UN agencies and communities; assessing the extent to which their roles could be enhanced during the formulation of country action plans and their implementation; and leading discussions on the role of NGOs / farmers' organizations.
A one day NGO / UN Inter-agency Task Force for Long Term Food Security and Agricultural Development in the Horn of Africa consultation was held involving many Ethiopian NGOs active in food security and drought issues. The main objectives of the meeting, organized by the Christian Development and Relief Association (CDRA) were to enrich the interim report prepared by the ACC Inter-agency Task Force on "UN response to Long Term Food Security, Agricultural Development and Related Aspects in the Horn of Africa," based on the experience of NGOs at the grassroots level and suggest ways and means and identify areas of collaboration with UN agencies, Government and other CSOs. Recommendations were made for the report to take into account factors such as the region's titanic resource potential, the strong traditional values, resource management systems, the positive changes in political and economic situation, and important regional initiatives that should be recognized and built on by the Task Force.
Four major themes were the focus of discussions including
The meeting also reflected upon the changing roles of NGOs / CSOs in the transition from relief to development action and suggestions were made to integrate the Horn of Africa Initiative into their existing activities.