(October 15, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Following the call of the leaders of SAARC Member States during the 15th SAARC Summit in Colombo for urgent operationalization of the SAARC Food Bank, Sri Lanka as the current chair of SAARC, took the initiative to host the first meeting of the Board of the SAARC Food Bank in Colombo. The two-day meeting of the Board was inaugurated this morning by Dr. Palitha Kohona, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Dr. R.M.K. Ratnayake, Secretary of Trade, Marketing Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Services.
Welcoming the Members of the Board, Foreign Secretary Kohona emphasised Sri Lanka’s commitment to the SAARC process and implementation of decisions taken by SAARC leaders. He stressed that the decisions taken at the Colombo Summit to address the current food crisis –through the operationalization of the Food Bank and the convening of an extra-ordinary meeting of SAARC Agriculture Ministers in November to formulate a people-centred short to medium-term regional strategy and collaborative projects – are landmark achievements in the SAARC process. Stating that Heads of State and Government of SAARC Member States have already given the necessary mandate to take steps towards the resolution of the food crisis, Dr. Kohona emphasised that “it is up to us to resolve to not fail the vision of our leaders, and most importantly, not fail the poor and the hungry of our region.” He urged the members of the SAARC Food Bank Board to bear this in mind as they deliberate on measures for operationalization of the Food Bank.
Secretary of Trade, Marketing Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Services hailed SAARC’s initiative of taking a regional approach to addressing the food crisis as the SAARC region is not immune from negative fallouts of the global financial crisis and other harmful global trends such as food crises.
Director of the SAARC Secretariat Mr. Riaz Hamidullah pointed out SAARC’s pioneering role in taking the initiative to establish a Food Bank for the region which has inspired the interest of other regions of the world. He spoke of the importance of approaching food security also from the perspective of ensuring nutrition security. This is considered especially important for the South Asian region where undernourishment is a significant problem.
The Agreement establishing the SAARC Food Bank was signed during the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi in 2007. The scope of the Food Bank has been expanded beyond emergencies and would act as a regional food security reserve for the SAARC Member States during normal time food shortages and emergencies. The Bank will commence with a reserve of 241,580 metric tons of food grains. The first Meeting of the Board on 15-16 October, will deliberate on important issues pertaining to the operationalization of the Food Bank including the quantum of food grains that will be added by Afghanistan as well as guidelines for the determination of prices, terms and conditions of payment in respect of food grains. - Sri Lanka Guardian
Welcoming the Members of the Board, Foreign Secretary Kohona emphasised Sri Lanka’s commitment to the SAARC process and implementation of decisions taken by SAARC leaders. He stressed that the decisions taken at the Colombo Summit to address the current food crisis –through the operationalization of the Food Bank and the convening of an extra-ordinary meeting of SAARC Agriculture Ministers in November to formulate a people-centred short to medium-term regional strategy and collaborative projects – are landmark achievements in the SAARC process. Stating that Heads of State and Government of SAARC Member States have already given the necessary mandate to take steps towards the resolution of the food crisis, Dr. Kohona emphasised that “it is up to us to resolve to not fail the vision of our leaders, and most importantly, not fail the poor and the hungry of our region.” He urged the members of the SAARC Food Bank Board to bear this in mind as they deliberate on measures for operationalization of the Food Bank.
Secretary of Trade, Marketing Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Services hailed SAARC’s initiative of taking a regional approach to addressing the food crisis as the SAARC region is not immune from negative fallouts of the global financial crisis and other harmful global trends such as food crises.
Director of the SAARC Secretariat Mr. Riaz Hamidullah pointed out SAARC’s pioneering role in taking the initiative to establish a Food Bank for the region which has inspired the interest of other regions of the world. He spoke of the importance of approaching food security also from the perspective of ensuring nutrition security. This is considered especially important for the South Asian region where undernourishment is a significant problem.
The Agreement establishing the SAARC Food Bank was signed during the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi in 2007. The scope of the Food Bank has been expanded beyond emergencies and would act as a regional food security reserve for the SAARC Member States during normal time food shortages and emergencies. The Bank will commence with a reserve of 241,580 metric tons of food grains. The first Meeting of the Board on 15-16 October, will deliberate on important issues pertaining to the operationalization of the Food Bank including the quantum of food grains that will be added by Afghanistan as well as guidelines for the determination of prices, terms and conditions of payment in respect of food grains. - Sri Lanka Guardian
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