IOFS celebrates its day, reviews achievements of ‘Year of Africa’

The celebration also witnessed a video intervention by the OIC Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, delivered on his behalf by the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Qwesa Sengendo.
In his speech during the celebration, the Chairman of the IOFS Executive Council and Director of the Food Security Department at the Ministry of Municipality in the State of Qatar, Dr. Masoud Jarallah Al-Marri, stressed that the annual celebration of the IOFS reminds us of the critical role of the Organization towards achieving partnerships for sustainable food security for Islamic countries.
«It also represents IOFS's keenness on the necessity of uniting joint efforts and increasing effective coordination among the member states of the organization in order to raise awareness of food security issues,» Al-Marri added.

For his part, the Acting Director-General of the Union of OIC News Agencies (UNA), Mohammed Abd Rabbo Al-Yami, delivered a video intervention in which he stressed that «IOFS Day» highlights the IOFS's vital role and showcases the various programs and activities that the IOFS has carried out in the field of food security for the benefit of the OIC Member States.
He emphasized UNA's keenness to support IOFS' efforts regionally and internationally, highlight its programs and initiatives, and exert all efforts to ensure their success and introduce them to the world.
Al-Yami also commended the vital role played by Kazakhstan, the largest in the Islamic world in terms of area, which has been and continues to undertake the most prominent role in enhancing food security regionally and globally.
The forum participants noted the position of IOFS as a key platform for coordinating all flows of food security programs in the countries of the Islamic world.
During the celebration, the IOFS Provided a briefing of significant outcomes of «IOFS Year for Africa», thanked and recognized partners that have jointly implemented activities with the IOFS in different venues for the benefit of African Member States, and listed Member States that benefited from the implementation of IOFS 2022 Year for Africa, including those that were officially visited.
The year 2022 was chosen as the «Year for Africa» by the IOFS, and, as such, throughout the year, the Organization has been working with African governments and relevant actors/development partners in the African agricultural landscape and launched its activities in different Member States and within its strategic framework to auspiciously celebrate the occasion.
The IOFS believes that food security in Africa is and must be possible if we all, international, regional and national institutions well supported by our Member States, join hands towards that objective. The IOFS calls for «Commitment to act jointly towards concrete results for improving food systems in Africa».
«It is important to highlight that the rationale for deciding on the main theme had to do with the fact that Africa was not on track to meeting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 2 to end hunger and ensure access by all people to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round and to end all forms of malnutrition. Additionally, the number of hungry people in Africa has risen by 47.9 million since 2014 and now stands at 250.3 million, or nearly one-fifth of the population,» the IOFS said.
It is noteworthy that the IOFS will hold tomorrow, Tuesday, a meeting of its Executive Council in its new session, chaired by the State of Qatar, to discuss the Organization's plan in the coming period to enhance food security in Islamic countries as well as to approve programs and projects for this plan.

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