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Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 04.45 GMT |
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SAARC speeds up efforts to ensure regional
food security |
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The first meeting of the Board of the SAARC
Food Bank inaugurated in Colombo this
morning to 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.
Welcoming the Members of the Board,
Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Dr. Palitha 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.
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.
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