Summary: June 14, 2002: World Food Summit: Five years later (10-13 June 2002), (Rome)
The five-year review of the 1996 World Food Summit was held at FAO Head Quarters in Rome from 1O-13 June 2002. The Italian Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi was elected to the chair of WFS:fyl Plenary. In their addresses to the inaugural ceremony, during which President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi of Italy also spoke, both the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and FAO Director General Jacques Diouf expressed their concern that, given current rate of reduction of hungry people worldwide, the 1996
Summit objective of reducing by half the number of undernourished people by 2015 will not be achieved on time.
Mr José Maria Aznar, Prime Minister of Spain, as the EU Presidency, also addressed the WFS:fyl Plenary, while the European Commission was represented by President Prodi and by Commissioner Nielson. The latter participated in one of the three ministerial-level Round Tables on the theme "The World Food Summit Plan of Action: results achieved, obstacles met and means of overcoming them". A Multi-stakeholder Dialogue with high-level participation by governments, NGOs and civil society and
international organizations also took place during the WFS:fyl
The African Region was the one most represented at the level of Heads of State, leading to some voices (including that of the Director General of FAO) to lament the scarcity of Heads of State from developed countries.
In addition to parallel NGO and Private Sector fora and a Parliamentarians' Day, a wide variety of side events were also organized on themes such as FAO's Special programme for Food Security, its proposed Anti-Hunger Programme, FAO's Emergency Programme, the role of Rural Women in the fight against hunger, the World Bank's Rural Development Strategy, FAO's EMPRES Programme for fighting animal and plant diseases, and the Right to Food. A series of seminars focusing on food security issues in
specific regional fora (e.g. CARIFORUM, UEMOA, IGAD, ECOWAS, SADC) was also well attended by Commission participants.
In his speech, President Prodi underlined the importance the EU attaches to trade within the development agenda . In this context, he expressed his "deep concern" about the implications of the recently passed US Farm Bill. He also listed the EU's efforts to open trade to developing countries, in particular the "Everything But Arms" initiative. He recalled the commitment on Official Development Assistance, which the EU made at the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development and underlined
the need for particular attention to be focused on Africa. He also summarised the scope of the Commission's development and humanitarian aid programmes and emphasised the role that international scientific research and co-operation can play in fighting hunger. He stressed however that developing countries have primary responsibility for their own development and that other elements than increased financial resources - including good governance, the rule of law and democratically accountable
institutions - are necessary to tackle hunger and poverty in the world.
The WFS:fyl adopted a Declaration entitled "International Alliance Against Hunger" which, while recalling the results of the recent high-level Doha and Monterrey Conferences on specific issues (trade, Official Development Assistance, Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative), also welcomed the New Partnership for Africa's Development. In addition, an Intergovernmental Working Group was established to elaborate, within two years a set of voluntary guidelines towards the progressive realisation
of the right to adequate food. The US announced that they intend to place a reservation on this latter issue.
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