Government of Timor-Leste, the United Nations and the CPLP together eradicating hunger
On July 20, at the Dili Convention Centre, the Zero Hunger Challenge campaigns of the United Nations (UN) and "Together Against Hunger" of the CPLP, were released. It was also released the National Action Plan "Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition in Timor-Leste.
Based on these projects a joint commitment of several national authorities was signed for, according to the document, "a collective and coordinated effort not only to reduce malnutrition and hunger in Timor-Leste, but also lead to its eradication, in a ten-year period (2015-2025)".
Several members of the Government were present at this event, namely the Vice Prime Minister, Fernando La Sama de Araújo, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mariano Assanami Sabino, and the Minister of Health, Sérgio Lobo, who explained the projects launched. Were also present, Ministers and Secretaries of State, signatories of the joint commitment. At an international level, we highlight the presence of the Special Adviser of the UN for Timor-Leste, Noeleen Heyzer, of the Executive Secretary of the CPLP, Murade Murargy, and also of the Director General of FAO, José Graziano da Silva.
Food security is a priority since 2008 on the Government's agenda. In October 2010, the Declaration of Comoro was signed and that cemented this national commitment of a Timor-Leste without hunger and malnutrition. Various Ministries and Secretaries of State have been working under the framework of the National Council for Sovereignty, Food Security and Nutrition in Timor-Leste.
Food security is, moreover, a transversal concern to many world organizations. Aware of global and regional initiatives, and in an attempt to combat hunger and malnutrition in Timor-Leste, the Government, in collaboration with development partners including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Organizations of the Civil Society, launched the initiative of the National Action Plan "Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition in Timor-Leste", in January 2014.
As explained by the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão in the preface of this document it consists of three sections, "Section 1 provides an overview of the global, regional and national level of the challenge of hunger and malnutrition in the country and the respective answers to this challenge. Section 2 presents the key elements of the Action Plan and Section 3 traces the outlines of the frameworks and mechanisms for coordination, organization, mobilization and allocation of resources, implementation, reporting, and frameworks and mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of the National Action Plan "Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition in Timor-Leste".
This national project comes after the global launch in 2012, of the "Zero Hunger Challenge" - an initiative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, which was launched in 2013 in the Asia Pacific region with the participation of the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste.
The Campaign "Together Against Hunger", was launched in Maputo in February 2014. However, at the XVIII Annual Meeting of the Council of Ministers in July 2013, a resolution had been created on the "Together Against Hunger" Campaign, feeding hope in CPLP. This is an initiative of CPLP which has the support of FAO, aiming to mobilize society in the process of building a community of people free from hunger.
The launch of this campaign took place during the CPLP Summit in Timor-Leste, precisely to sensitize and mobilize the general public and the authorities in particular to the issue of food security that affects about 28 million people within this Community.
