Counselor of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva O.L. Ameerajwad, speaking during the segment of general comments after the adoption of resolutions at the end of the 9th Session of the Human Rights Council today, welcomed Resolution L.15 which stresses the importance of taking measures to address the current world food crisis at the national, regional and international level, and elaborated on the recent initiative undertaken in the South Asian region with respect to food security.

Ameerajwad thanked the delegation of Cuba for the important initiative and pointed out that Sri Lanka has been actively supporting and co-sponsoring all initiatives on the issue.

Leaders of the South Asian States at the 15th Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) held in Sri Lanka in August 2008 affirmed their resolve in their ‘Colombo declaration on Food Security’ to ensure region-wide food security and make South Asia, once again, the granary of the World.

In order to ensure region-wide food security in South Asia, several measures were recommended including convening of a SAARC Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, operationalization of the SAARC Food Bank and a work plan to increase food production, investment in agriculture and agro-based industries and research, sharing of technologies and best practices, etc.

SAARC leaders further directed that SAARC region should forge greater cooperation with the international community to ensure food availability and nutrition security in South Asia.

"We note that the resolution L.15 also stresses the need for the international community to provide support, upon request, to national and regional efforts by providing the necessary assistance for increasing food production, particularly through agricultural development assistance, transfer of technology, as well as food crop rehabilitation assistance, etc," the counselor said.