Background
The Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), within the context of reform of its intergovernmental machinery, created the Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development (CFSSD)1, by Resolution 853 (XL) in April 2007. The CFSSD is both a technical and a legislative organ and is composed of high-level experts from governments, academia, Research and Development (R&D) institutions, the private sector and civil society of ECA member States. It meets on a biennial basis and serves as a forum for the promotion of cooperation, exchange of information and sharing of experiences in the areas of food security, agriculture, environment, land, climate change and broader sustainable development issues. It provides advice to ECA on ways to strengthen its support to member States in these areas.
The Committee also provides a platform for advocacy and assessment of the implementation of the outcomes of major conferences and summits related to sustainable development in Africa, particularly those contained in Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI), and the World Food Summit Programme of Action. And since 2005, the CFSSD meetings have provided platforms for the Africa Regional Implementation Meetings (RIMs) to review progress in the implementation of commitments contained in Agenda 21 (A21), the Programme for Further Implementation of Agenda 21 (PFIA21) and the JPOI and to agree on priorities for Africa and key messages to the Sessions of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). Please see Annex 1 for highlights of Sessions 1 to 6 of the Committee.
The Seventh Session of the Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development (CFSSD-7) and The Africa Regional Preparatory Conference for the United Nations onference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)
In line with the General Assembly resolution A/64/236, the Seventh Session of the CFSSD provided the platform for the experts segment of the Africa Regional Preparatory Conference for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). In this context, the Regional Implementation Meeting (RIM) for CSD 20 was postponed to accommodate the Conference. The two meetings were held from 20 to 25 October 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In accordance with usual practice, CFSSD-7 dealt with statuatory matters, reviewing the implementation of the 2010/2011 programme of work of the ECA Subprogramme on Food Security and Sustainable Development (FSSDD) and providing guidance on priorities for the 2012/2013 biennium in the context of the proposed programme budget of the ECA strategic framework for that biennium.
The Africa Regional Preparatory Conference for Rio+20 was organized by ECA jointly with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), in partnership with Regional Economic Communities (RECs), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Its main outcome was the Africa Consensus Statement to Rio+20 on the objective and themes of Rio+20. The statement was adopted as Africa’s Common Position for Rio+20 at the 18th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government held in January 2012.
The Eight Session of the Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development
The Eight Session of the Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development (CFSSD- 8) will be held from 31 October to 2 November 2012. The Session will provide a platform for the Africa Regional Implementation Meeting (Africa-RIM) for the Twentieth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, which will focus on the main outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). The Africa RIM Outcome Document will serve as Africa’s collective input to CSD-20. The Africa RIM is being organized in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
Background documents