FAO's Role in Assisting the Major Group Dialogue Process for WSSD:
The promotion of multistakeholder dialogue in discussions on Agenda 21 features prominently in the preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). FAO was mandated, at the CSD 8th Session (April 2000) and at the Committee on Agriculture (COAG) 16th Session, held at FAO in March 2001, to continue its involvement in Multi-stakeholder dialogues on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) with the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), Governments, Major Groups and other stakeholders.
FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation), as a technical agency of the UN, provides a neutral forum for discussion and policy formation on major food and agricultural issues. FAO, through consultations with its governing bodies and regular contacts with Member Nations, scientific bodies, and bodies or fora that involve civil society and the private sector can bring global imperatives related to food and agriculture to the forefront of international attention.
FAO is fulfilling its CSD 8 and COAG 16-mandated responsibility to continue the process of multistakeholder dialogue with Major Groups on SARD/Chapter14 in preparation for the WSSD through weekly FAO-Major Group teleconferences and through official WSSD multistakeholder dialogue events such as the multistakeholder SARD FORUM (March 2001), that occurred in parallel to COAG, and the SARD FAO-Major Group Meeting (5-6 November 2001).
The regular multistakeholder dialogue sessions are a good example of how to raise awareness, build broad consensus, and mobilize preliminary resources to achieve critical objectives.
Why is SARD so important for sustainable development?
- Food security
- Poverty alleviation
- Sustaining ecological management and preventing land degradation
- Sustainable Livelihoods