Its all systems go for the CSO Side Event entitled “Investment For Whom and for What?: Bringing in Asia Pacific Peoples’ Voices in the Investment Forum for Food Security” which will be held on July 5-6, 2010 at the Crowne Hotel,  Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines.

The two-day preparatory CSO meeting aims to organize the meaningful engagement of CSOs at the joint ADB/FAO/IFAD Investment Forum for Food Security in Asia and the Pacific (Manila, 7 to 9 July 2010). It is an important follow-through activity of the Ad Hoc Committee organized last February 24-25, 2010 in Manila during the Regional Consultation on Food Security in Asia and the Pacific Region sponsored by FAO and co-hosted by AsiaDHRRA.

The said consultation brought together various Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) representing regional formations of rural sectors – namely, farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples, women, youth, cooperative, NGOs, and INGOs to review and agree on thematic priorities affecting food security in the region and respond to the need to broaden and strengthen ranks among them towards a stronger movement for responding to hunger and poverty among the marginalized sectors.

The CSOs  decided to form the regional Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) to anchor the planning process focusing on agreed regional priorities for the next two years, and accordingly craft a concrete plan of action that considers upcoming major regional events such as the Investment Conference on Food Security in Manila on July, the 30th FAO-APRC Meeting in Korea in September, and other processes including the reform process of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in Rome, 12 to 16 October 2010.

The Investment Forum on Food Security is an important event for various regional platforms and initiatives where the voices of the grassroots particularly the small-scale producers, indigenous peoples, fishers, rural women and youth can be heard by intergovernmental bodies like ADB, FAO and IFAD whose investment policies and programs greatly affect the lives of rural people.   It is imperative that  the perspectives of the rural sectors, based on learnings and insights from the banks’ programs and policies, are factored in the new strategies for advancing food security at the national, regional and global levels.

An event planned for by the AHC, its members recognize the funding support received from the USAID, ADB, FAO and IFAD.

Read more about the CSO side event at the activity website here….