Policy Statement
The NGO Working Group on Food and Hunger coordinates advocacy and shares policy thinking among participant NGOs at the United Nations in New York. The participating NGOs are concerned that nearly a billion people in the world are hungry and a billion more suffer from malnutrition. The NGOs seek urgent international action to address this crisis.
The participating NGOs envision a global food system which guarantees secure and equitable access by all people to adequate and nutritious food that is produced in ways that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable.
The NGO Working Group takes advantage of its presence in New York to monitor the work of the United Nations on food and hunger policy, to advocate with UN bodies and delegations, and to coordinate activities together with the wider NGO community on this topic. The Working Group draws on the wide networks of its participant NGOs to circulate information and policy proposals and to provide a channel for international NGO inputs into UN policymaking. Corresponding Members of the Working Group bring additional knowledge and advocacy capacity from those based outside New York.
NGO Working Group participants jointly undertake the following:
While each participating organization has its own advocacy priorities and special approaches, participants agree to jointly:
(1) Monitor food and hunger policymaking at the United Nations and exchange information regularly.
(2) Circulate information among participants about their own organization's work and best practices.
(3) Pursue dialogue and advocacy on food and hunger issues with staff of the UN Secretariat and the Specialized Agencies, Funds and Programs, including the Secretary General's High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis.
(4) Advocate jointly with government delegations
(5) Work together to develop joint statements, jointly-sponsored policy research, etc.
(6) Reach out to NGOs and grassroots organizations outside New York, including exploring ways for direct participation through skype or video-conferencing in the meetings of the Working Group.
(7) Organize jointly and with other partners occasional events to educate the public and especially the UN community.
(8) Work collectively on the broader relationships between the food system and the environment, development and security.
