The
Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) have wrapped up the second regional consultation on the
draft Model Law on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) in Africa. The objective
of the virtual consultative workshop was to present the draft Model Law on FSN
to parliamentarians, government officials and CSOs that work in the areas of
FSN to gather comments and build consensus on its content.
The
draft Model Law stems from a resolution of the PAP plenary in November 2018,
mandating the PAP Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Natural Resources
and Environment (CREANRE) and the Pan African Parliamentary Alliance for Food
Security and Nutrition (PAPA-FSN) to lead the formulation of a Model Law on FSN
in Africa for its consideration. In October 2019, the CREANRE presented a draft
Model law on FSN in Africa to the PAP plenary, which was subsequently approved
and authorized for regional consultations.
On
27-28 November 2019, the first regional consultation on the draft Model Law,
which brought together parliamentarians and representatives of relevant
ministries from Eastern and Southern African countries and Representatives of
the AU Commission and PAP, was held in Kampala, Uganda. The second phase of consultations
held virtually, gathered participants from national parliaments, relevant
government ministries and CSOs working in the areas of FSN in Central, North
and West African countries and experts from the African Union, PAP and FAO.
Hon.
Bouras DJAMEL, Acting President of the PAP said that PAP has successfully
established the necessary structures, within its capacity, to address the issue
of food and nutritional security at the continental level. The Acting President
also emphasized that the rationale behind developing the draft model law on FSN
in Africa is that food and nutritional security policies and frameworks that
are anchored on legislation are relatively more effective, and foster
sustainable improvement of Food and Nutrition Security.
“One
of the key organs in this regard is the Pan African Parliamentary Alliance on
Food and Nutrition Security (PAPA-FNS) which was established in October 2016 to
coordinate and assist efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDG), in particular; goals that relate to the eradication of poverty,
achieving zero hunger, good health and well-being at the national and regional
level in Africa. We appreciate the consistent support of the FAO in developing
this model law which will serve as a basis for African countries to formulate
their national legislations and policies FSN,” said Hon. Djamel.
Hon.
Kone DOGNON, Chairperson of the PAP Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture,
Natural Resources and Environment told participants that the inputs gathered
during this second consultation will be used to revise the draft Model Law
before it is sent to the African Union Policy Organs for their further
consideration and adoption.
“We
are delighted that this Model Law will move to the next stage on its way to be
adopted by the PAP plenary. This represents a milestone and we hail the
technical support from FAO and our collaboration with the New Partnership for
Africa Development Agency (NEPAD), and the AU Commission’s Department of Rural
Economy and Agriculture (DREA), for the formulation of the draft Law,” said
Hon. Dognon.
Technical
and legal experts from the PAP and FAO presented the content of the Model Law
during the virtual consultative meeting, which was marked by presentations,
general brainstorming sessions, discussions and feedback sessions to gather
inputs from participants.
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