PARLIAMENTARIANS’ PROCESS TOWARDS THE II GLOBAL SUMMIT

In this context, the essential role of parliamentarians in promoting food security and nutrition in their countries has been affirmed. With their powers to draft and adopt legisla-tion, approve public budgets and monitor the implementation of public policies and govern-ment commitments, legislators are well placed to ensure that food security and nutrition are prioritized on national political and legislative agendas, in line with the specific contexts and needs of their societies.

Recognizing the key role they can play, parliamentarians around the world have been working to position the fight against hunger and malnutrition at the top of political and leg-islative agendas at national, regional and international levels. Below, some initiatives carried out globally.

First Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition In October 2018, around 200 parliamentarians from around the world gathered for the first Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition8, held in Madrid, Spain. The Summit was organized by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Spanish Cortes Generales, and the Parliamentary Front against Hunger in Latin Ame-rica and the Caribbean and explored how parliamentarians can use their legislative and oversight powers to promote food security and improve nutrition. In the Summit’s final declaration, parliamentarians recognized their key role in ending hunger and malnutri-tion, as well as the need for laws and policies that protect the right to adequate food for all and to tackle gender inequalities.

Virtual Parliamentary Dialogues on ‘Food Security and Nutrition in the time of COVID-19’

As a follow-up to the first Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutri-tion, between March and September 2021, FAO and AECID held a series of Virtual Parlia-mentary Dialogues on Food Security and Nutrition in the time of COVID-19 focused on the challenges posed by this pandemic, with the participation of parliamentarians from 50 countries and nine parliamentary networks. The Virtual Parliamentary Dialogues highlighted the various actions that parliamentarians have taken to help reduce and mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition, including through emergency legislation and the oversight of government ac-tion. The Dialogues highlighted the important role of timely parliamentary action to combat hunger and malnutrition in the face of crises and the essential role parliamentarians play in raising public awareness and mobilizing multi-stakeholder partnerships9.

8 See: https://www.fao.org/about/meetings/global-parliamentary-summit/en/9 March 2021–Mesoamerica and South America; 19 March 2021–Francophone African Countries; 1 April 2021 Arabic

Countries; 15 April 2021 Anglophone African Countries; 31 May 2021 Latin America and the Caribbean; 6 September 2021Asia Pacific Countries; 22 September 2021 Global Dialogue. For a more in-depth overview of the Dialogues, see: https://www.fao.org/3/cc1338en/cc1338en.pdf.

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