Background of the Consultation
The CSO Parallel Consultation in conjunction with the 30th FAO-Asia Pacific Regional Conference to held in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea on September 27-October 1, 2010 will bring together representatives of farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, rural women, rural youth, cooperatives, NGOs and other civil society organizations, to discuss the priority issues that are affecting the food security of the region.
The CSO Consultation aims to provide the official FAO Asia-Pacific Regional Conference (APRC) process critical inputs from the various CSO perspectives and positions on the priority issues they have identified in the February 2010, Manila FAO-CSO Consultation, anchored on the experiences from the ground, especially by the basic rural sectors. These priority issues will be deliberated on keeping in mind the official APRC agenda and possible windows for engagement during the official interphase. It also aims to further strengthen the solidarity and cooperation among existing broad-based civil society mechanisms to sustain the engagement and cooperation among themselves and with FAO and its Member States based on a shared agenda of pursuing agriculture and trade policies that are responsive and appropriate. The event also aims to raise public opinion on the issues affecting food security and sovereignty and the need for urgent and immediate actions from FAO and the Member States, especially in the context of the new framework for global governance in food and agriculture aimed at addressing the weaknesses in the global fight against hunger and malnutrition, which is the goal of the reform of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
The CSO meeting envisions participation of a broad-based CSO representation coming from the membership/partnerships of the regional CSO Ad hoc Committee (AHC) for the APRC and IPC Asia. It is also open to all other CSOs who are interested in broad-based action and are co-stakeholders in pushing for a responsive policy and programming by various food and agriculture governance bodies in the region. Thematic clusters have been formed and CSOs belonging to these clusters are responsible for preparing the workshops through volunteer anchors/sub-anchors. AHC meetings/exchanges (small groups, online) have provided input in developing the program design and the selection process of participants.
The FAO provides major funding support towards the conduct of the APRC CSO related activities in Korea. The Korean government and the Korean CSOs provide in-kind support to the CSO meeting. The CSO delegates shall also provide counterpart cash support to cover in-transit provision and opportunity cost for their participation in the APRC related CSO event.
The CSO Meeting is being co-organized by the regional CSO Ad Hoc Committee for APRC (AHC) and the Korean CSO Working Committee (KoCWC). The AHC focal point is AsiaDHRRA and the KoCWC focal point is the National Agricultural Cooperatives Federation (NACF). There is close coordination by the Focal Points with the FAO-RAP CSO Liaison and Communications Office and the FAO-OCEP.