The Secretariat of the IOFS held a virtual meeting with the Office of the United Nations Coordinator for Famine Prevention and Response, Chief Ms. Elin Asgeirsdottir. The parties exchanged views on supporting countries experiencing severe food crises, with an initial focus on the Horn of Africa, and an agreement to broaden the scope of work in other Member States, including in the Sahel.
The meeting comes in light of the negative trend in famine and food insecurity, in contrast to the previous four decades of progress, as noted by Ms. Elin Asgeirsdottir. In this regard, the Office of the UN for Famine Prevention and Response highlighted its efforts in four directions to revert the development of famine:
1) Coordinating and strengthening collaboration across the humanitarian, climate and development systems, to ensure the timely and efficient response to crises
2) Increasing public awareness and advocacy of what is happening, to support broader prevention
3) Building partnerships across the world.
4) Providing substantive effort: supporting country efforts on the ground
The IOFS Secretariat in turn, provided a presentation on its activities and mission, and agreed to align visions with the UN Office . The parties brainstormed projections on furthering cooperation to develop innovative ways to address food insecurity in various countries and discussed possible focus projects. Ms. Elin Asgeirsdottir concluded the meeting by commending the efforts of the IOFS, and highlighted that collaboration with the IOFS would provide an added value to the actions of the Office of the UN Coordinator for Famine Prevention and Response in the Horn of Africa.
