Bridging the Divide

Governments are legally bound to ensure the right to food for all. Nevertheless, today there are one billion hungry people in the world and millions more are food insecure.
The 2009 World Summit on Food Security offers a unique opportunity to develop a system of global food security governance that bridges the divide between the conflicting visions and interests of global political, financial, and technical mechanisms. In particular, world leaders should ensure the active participation of governments and civil society organizations representing the poorest and most vulnerable people.
At the Summit, world leaders must stop acting in narrow national and corporate interests, and start acting in the interests of international food security, peace, and stability.

Key recommendations

• Make national declarations of commitment to reduce by half the proportion of hungry people by 2015 and to eradicate hunger and malnutrition within an ambitious, realistic and specific timeframe.
• Commit to submit to the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) comprehensive, costed national plans of action for achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1.
• Request that the CFS, supported by the Advisory Group, establish by October 2010, an international accountability mechanism and agree to in-country, international monitoring of delivery of commitments and progress in achieving MDG 1.
• Endorse reform of the Committee on World Food Security in order that it can become the central high-level political pillar of global food security governance so as to ensure improved coordination of international efforts; global policy and strategic convergence; increased commitment and accountability; and to inform, and monitor, the allocation of international financial assistance, including the proposed World Bank Trust Fund.
• Request the UN Secretary-General to take the lead in coordinating and strengthening the UN system in order to bridge divides within the global system.