The National Action Plan for a Hunger and Malnutrition Free Timor-Leste
Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and
Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste
Díli, July 25, 2014
The National Action Plan for a Hunger and Malnutrition Free Timor-Leste
On Sunday, in the sidelines of the Summit of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries [CPLP], the National Action Plan for a Hunger and Malnutrition Free Timor-Leste was launched. This plan guides Timor-Leste’s commitment to improve food security and reduce hunger in collaboration with the CPLP campaign “Juntos Contra a Fome” [United Against Hunger] and the United Nations “Zero Hunger Challenge”.
Prime Minister H.E. Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão explained that the new National Action Plan “is a collective undertaking of the people and Government of Timor-Leste, together with our development partners, to fight and vanquish the scourge of hunger and malnutrition from our country.”
The plan is structured over a period of ten years to 2025 and has set goals, activities, timeframes and funding requirements. It is structured around the five pillars of the “Zero Hunger Challenge”: 100% access to adequate food all year round, zero stunted children less than 2 years of age, that all food systems are sustainable, 100% increase in small holder productivity and income and zero loss or waste of food.
Food security has been a priority of the development agenda of the Government since 2008 and was formalized in the Comoro Declaration of 2010. Since then key Ministries have been working together under the framework of the National Council for Food Security, Sovereignty and Nutrition in Timor-Leste [KOSSANTIL].
Speakers during the launch on Sunday included the Vice Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, H.E. Fernando La Sama de Araújo, the Special Advisor of the United Nations Secretary General for Timor-Leste, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Mozambique, H.E. José Pacheco and Director General of the FAO, H.E. José Francisco Graziano da Silva.
Timor-Leste’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, H.E Mariano Assanami Sabino and Minister of Health, H.E. Dr. Sérgio Lobo also spoke to the participants at the Dili Convention Centre.
The Joint Commitment for the Implementation of the National Action Plan was signed at the conclusion of the event by ten Ministers, three Secretaries of State, the Human Rights Ombudsman and a representative of Civil Society, with all focused on the priority of increasing food security and reducing hunger in Timor-Leste.
