On February 18, Director-General of IOFS H. E. Yerlan Baidaulet took part in a virtual meeting with the Deputy Special Envoy to the UN Secretary General for the Food System's Summit 2021, H. E. Martin Frick to discuss the participation of IOFS in the said summit and possibilities of cooperation between the two organizations.
The summit, named as “People’s Summit”, closely corresponds to the IOFS program, ‘Food Security Governance’, which seeks to provide platforms and networks for exchange and accumulation of the OIC experience in food security governance, to promote sharing and incorporating best international experience, to assist the member states in the development of coherent policy frameworks and resilient inter-sectoral government systems to ensure the sustainable food systems of each country in the region.
The IOFS is keen to get involved in the Summit, as it’d be a great opportunity to explore and incorporate best international practices in its strategic initiatives. The IOFS proposed to hold a side-event during the Summit on “Governing Food Systems in OIC countries” to open up a dialogue with OIC members about building strong and resilient food systems in the region.
Mr. Frick asserted that the United Nations encourages all of its member countries to start a dialogue about national food systems with the relevant stakeholders. He welcomed IOFS to host a dialogue with the OIC countries as it would be a valuable input to the Summit. He also noted that it’s yet unclear how the event would be conducted to the ongoing travel restrictions around the world.
The World Food Systems Summit is to be held on the margins of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2021. The summit aims to discover new perspectives on production and consumption of food and achieve more sustainable solutions.
