Launching statement by Mr Kostas Stamoulis, FSN Forum Coordinator

16 October 2007

Read the Spanish version of the message

Read the French version of the message

Dear FSN Forum members,

My name is Kostas Stamoulis and I am the Chief of the Agricultural Sector in Economic Development Service (ESAE) of FAO and the coordinator of the Forum. I am delighted to launch today, on the World Food Day, the FSN Forum.

The basic motivation behind having such a network is the recognition that, at the dawn of the 21st century, and in the midst of increasing prosperity in the world, it is simply unacceptable that more than 800 million people should continue to be hungry and over a billion to live on less than a dollar a day. Lack of political will to tackle the problem directly and a failure to mobilise the necessary resources have for a long time impeded progress in hunger reduction. However, there are now encouraging signs that things are in the right direction. A number of initiatives at country and regional level show a strengthening of resolve to fight against extreme poverty and hunger and towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Food Summit Commitment to halve hunger by 2015. It is now more and more recognised that hunger is not only the result of extreme poverty but also the cause.

It is thus of outmost importance that knowledge and information regarding food security and nutrition (FSN) at all levels become available to all stakeholders, to all those who participate in food security debate analysis and policy and programme formulation. Knowledge is a fundamental precondition for actionable policy messages and for the formulation of informed policies and strategies for FSN. Knowledge generation should reflect the multi-faceted nature of food security and nutrition dimensions and should include successes and failures and of policy action and the factors behind them. It follows that knowledge and information exchange is a fundamental component of knowledge generation.

The purpose of the FSN Forum is to be an important catalyst in this process by linking together centres of policy knowledge and analysis with those of policy action and implementation. The main tool of the Forum is the bringing together of knowledge generated by FSN policy stakeholders at all levels (global, national, sub-national) and for important functional purpose categories (advocacy, analysis and research and policy implementation).

Any ambitious undertaking such as the FSN Forum does not just happen. It is the result of the contribution of many committed and enthusiastic individuals working together. On behalf of the FSN Forum Secretariat, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all those who have contributed to the building of the Forum, especially:

- FAO Representation Office in India and the Solution Exchange India initiative, especially Mr Daniel Gustafson-FAO Representative, Mr. Gopi Ghosh-Assistant FAO Representative and Ms TN Anuradha- UNDP, Research Associate of Solution Exchange – for their great support in moderation training and experience sharing
- All academics, researchers, FAO colleagues and others who have participated in the needs assessment surveys and/or have provided opinions and suggestions to the conception of this network
- The Knowledge Exchange & Capacity Building Division, FAO, especially Mr Massimiliano Fani, Mr. David Lanzi, Mr Antonio Petti and Mr Giorgio Lanzarone who have been building the technical platform
- Ms Lourdes Cardozo Tellez, ESAE’s volunteer, who assisted the building of the website.

and FSN Forum members who have contributed so far:
- Mr Charles Lagu who shared his recent research paper "Impact of HIV/AIDS on the livestock farming communities in Uganda: Case studies of Kashumba and Moyo sub counties";
- Mr Victor Kiaya, Action Contre la Faim, France, who contributed photos for the design of the Web site
- Mr Mark McGuire, ESA, who has been providing valuable feedbacks to improve the Web site.
- Mr Jorge Esteban Moreno who has been translating important messages of the first discussion into Spanish

Behind every great endeavour, there has to be a champion. In this case, the champion is Huyen Tran whose drive, enthousiasm, dedication and hard work made this task possible. Thank you Huyen !

Finally, I cannot stress enough the fact that only with your active involvement we have a chance to achieve the Forum’s purpose. Please join the FSN Forum discussions and activities if you share the same concern and interest.

Looking forward to your participation in this most exciting undertaking !!

Best regards to all...

Kostas