CSM Letter to the CFS Chair on Food Systems Summit
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Amb. Thanawat Tiensin
Chair, UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS)
Rome, 9 February 2021
Dear Chair,
Kind regards from the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism for relations with the CFS.
We would like to continue our dialogue with you on the Food Systems Summit. We highly appreciate that you have been truly open and interested in listening to our growing concerns regarding the Summit process since you commenced your mandate as Chair of CFS in October 2019. We also acknowledge that you conveyed our key concerns to the Special Envoy and the Food Systems Summit Secretariat, including in the context of the exchange of letters between the CFS and FSS in November 2020.
We will not repeat the concerns expressed in earlier occasions, such as through the Open Call of Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations to respond to the FSS, as presented during the CFS Special event in October 2020, and the CSM Statement to the CFS Bureau and Advisory Group meeting in November 2020. These criticisms continue to be valid, particularly regarding the worries about undue corporate influence in the Summit preparation; the missing human rights grounding; the lack of emphasis on the true extent of the transformation that the corporate food systems need to undergo to re-align with the utmost imperatives of people, peoples and planet; the threat of democratic public institutions and inclusive multilateralism being undermined by multistakeholderism.
In this letter, we would like to respond to the question on the conditions under which the CSM could be involved in the Summit process. As we have said on previous occasions: the CSM cannot jump onto a train that is heading in the wrong direction. Therefore, the general conditions for our possible involvement relate to whether the leading decision-making bodies of the Summit are willing to seriously address our deep concerns through a substantial and radical re-direction of the Summit’s current course. In this respect, it is essential that critical progress takes place in the following domains:
Shifting away from corporate capture and re-grounding in individual and collective Human Rights and the experiences and knowledge of the people and Indigenous Peoples most affected:
- The UN Secretary General should finally accept the request for a meeting with social movements and Indigenous Peoples’ leaders on the matter of the FSS, as solicited with the letter signed by over 550 organizations in March 2020;
- The UN Secretary General should express his willingness to reassess and withdraw from the Strategic Partnership Agreement with the World Economic Forum and re-prioritize the voices of the most marginalized and vulnerable food producers and consumers;
- The UN Secretary General should establish robust safeguards against conflict of interest (COI) in all bodies and processes of the FSS, to ensure the centrality of public interests over private ones. This would include mandatory COI declarations from all members of these bodies (Scientific Group, Advisory Committee, Champions Group, Action Tracks) to transparently expose the full map of existing conflicts of interests and enable adequate corrective actions;
- The decision-making bodies of the FSS process, particularly the UNSG, the Advisory Committee and the FSS Special Envoy, should reaffirm that human rights should be the core foundational pillar of food systems, and therefore of the FSS, ensuring that analysis and policy recommendations of all Action Tracks be grounded in rights-based approaches and aim to promote and facilitate the full realization of all human rights.
Transformation of corporate food systems:
- The fundamental premise of the Summit should be that of fostering a holistic and systemic approach that recognises the multidimensional nature of food (social, economic, ecological, cultural and political), asserts food sovereignty (the right of Peoples, nations and states to define their own food systems) and reclaims food systems as public commons that cannot be left to market-based solutions: not only does this require full peoples’ participation and sovereignty, but it also places the wellbeing of people, peoples and the planet at the centre. This imposes the stringent regulations of the corporate food system to tackle its predatory and expansionary nature and realign it with urgent social, economic, cultural and ecological imperatives;
- To respond to this urgent need and reverse the corporate capture of food systems, an additional action track should be established, as part of the formal FSS process, to focus on the transformation of corporate food systems, and the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism should be leading its proceedings, in collaboration with relevant UN bodies and governments, including cross-cutting implications across the other Action Tracks;
- It remains understood that the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism will continue to autonomously organize its own independent process to respond beyond the formal boundaries of the FSS and will generate its own independent outcomes on strategies and pathways to transform corporate food systems.
Defending democratic public institutions and inclusive multilateralism:
- The UN Secretary General should publicly commit to ensuring that the FSS and its outcomes will strengthen human rights-based governance of food systems on all levels, which assigns clear responsibilities and obligations to states as duty bearers, the people as rights holders, including Indigenous Peoples, and a dramatically reduced role to the private and corporate sector, in accordance with its function as third party under international human rights law.
- In this context, the UN Secretary General and Member States should also underline the importance of a democratic multilateral system, including the CFS and the Rome-Based Agencies for the governance of food. The FSS must strengthen, and in no way undermine, weaken or substitute the CFS or its components, particularly the independence of the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) and the autonomy of civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ participation in this foremost inclusive intergovernmental and international global platform for food security and nutrition.
We respectfully request that you share this letter with the UN Secretary General, the Principals of FAO, IFAD and WFP, the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, the Special Envoy and Secretariat of the Food Systems Summit, and the members of the CFS Bureau and Advisory Group. We would also request you to make this letter available on the CFS Website, in the context of the Exchange of Letters between the CFS and the FSS, for public information.
With our highest appreciation,
The Coordination Committee of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism for relations with the CFS
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List of 204 Signatures
First Signatories CSM Coordination Committee:
- International Federation of Rural Adults Catholic Movements| FIMARC
- Confederación de Organizaciones de Productores Familiares del Mercosur| COPROFAM
- La Via Campesina | LVC
- World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples| WAMIP
- International Indian Treaty Council| IITC
- World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fish Workers| WFF
- World Forum of Fisher Peoples| WFFP
- The Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee| IPACC
- URGENCI International Network
- Consumers International
- International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Association| IUF
- Habitat International Coalition| HIC
- Asian Rural Women Coalition| ARWC
- World March of Women | WMW
- International Women’s Alliance | IWA
- REDSAN – CPLP | Actuar
- Friends of the Earth International | FoEi
- Movimiento Agroecológico de America Latina y el Caribe| MAELA
- Ukranian Rural Development Network | URDN
- Plateforme Regionale des Organisations Paysannes d’Afrique Centrale| PROPAC
- Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum| KESSFF
- Eastern and Souther African Pastoralists Network| ESAPN
- Reseau des Organisations Paysanne et de Producteurs de l’Afrique de l’Ouest| ROPPA
- Vikalpani National Women’s Federation in Sri Lanka
- People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty| PCFS
- Agency of Development Initiatives
- Gaza Urban Agriculture Platform GUPAP and ANFS
- Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance| AFSA
- Pacific Island Association of NGOs | PIANGO
Endorsed by the following International Organizations:
- International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth | MIJARC
- Housing and Land Rights Network
- Greenpeace International
- Society for International Development | SID
- Slow Food
- FIAN International
- Focus on the Global South
- Global Forest Coalition
- Broederlijk Delen
- Rotary International
- Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment
- Indigenous Peoples Global Forum for Sustainable Development | IPGFforSD
- Transnational Institute
- International Centre for Environmental Education and Community Development |ICENECDEV
- CIDSE
- ActionAid International
- SeedChange
- The Oakland Institute
- VIVAT International
- Action Against Hunger International
- Brot für die Welt / Bread for the World
- Community Agroecology Network
- Tripla Difesa Onlus
- Solidagro
- Soroptimist International
- CCFD-Terre Solidaire
- Front Line Defenders
- International Council of Women | ICW-CIF
- International Alliance of Women | IAW
- Trócaire
- New Owerri Youth Organization
- Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights
- People’s Health Movement | PHM
- World Public Health Nutrition Association | WPHNA
- Brazilian Research Network on Food and Nutrition Sovereignty and Security
- Caribbean Agroecology Institute
- Community Alliance for Global Justice
- Sanctuary of Hope Charity Foundation
- Ugonma Foundation
- Centre d’Actions et de Réalisations Internationales | CARI
- Plantemos Nativo ONG
- Corporate Accountability
- Iles de Paix
- China Biodiversity Conservation
- Green Development Foundation
- Third World Network
- Swissaid
- Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom | WILPF
- WhyHunger
Endorsed by the following Regional Organizations:
- Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa | AFSA
- Eastern and Southern African Pastoral Network | ESAPN
- UNH Sustainability Institute
- West Asia Pastoralist Network
- INCUPO | Instituto de Cultura Popular
- Rede Jirau de Agroecologia
- Agroecology Research-Action Collective
Endorsed by the following National Organizations:
- National Family Farm Coalition
- National Farmers Union of Canada
- The US Food Sovereignty Alliance
- Netzwerk Solidarische Landwirtschaft | Solawi
- Eastern and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers’ Forum | ESAFF Uganda
- Alnawatif Cooperative | Jordan
- Family Farm Defenders
- Movimiento Agroecológico de America Latina y el Caribe| MAELA Colombia
- African Centre for Biodiversity | ACB
- South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union| SACCAWUa
- AfrosReD
- Terra Nuova
- Fédération Nationale des Organisations Paysannes (FENOP)
- Gaza Urban & Peri-urban Agriculture Platform (GUPAP)
- Support for Women in Agriculture and Environment | SWAGEN
- Spire
- Movimiento Agroecológico de America Latina y el Caribe| MAELA Mexico
- Brazilian Alliance for Healthy and Adequate Food
- Inter-institutional Network for Food, Agriculture and Sustainability | INFAS
- Slow Food Brazil
- Feedback
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft | Germany
- Pesticide Action Network | North America
- Enda Pronat
- Agroecology X
- Movimiento Agroecológico Boliviano
- Confédération Paysanne
- Biowatch South Africa
- Agroecology-in-Action Belgium
- FIAN Sweden
- Mazingira Institute
- Bread for all
- Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee
- Amigos de la Tierra España
- Inkota
- Observatorio Universitario de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional del Estado de Guanajuato | OUSANEG
- Le Mouvement d’Action Paysanne
- Asociación Benéfica para el Desarrollo Humano
- Plan Nacional de Contingencia contra la Pandemia y el Hambre | PNCPH
- Real Food Media
- Global Media Foundation
- Instituto Brasileiro de Defesa do Consumidor
- Asociación Civil Ernesto Shneider Troller
- Asociación Procrece
- Conferência Popular por Soberania e Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional
- FIAN Indonesia
- Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom | WILPF Netherlands
- Fórum Brasileiro de Soberania e Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional
- FIAN Portugal
- Plateforme Nationale Pour la Promotion de l’Agroforesterie| PNPA
- Association des Femmes pour le Développement Durable | AFDD
- Public Eye
- Fédération Nationale des Agriculteurs Biologiques| FENAB
- Fundación Guillermo Toriello
- Sindicato de trabajadoras domesticas, similares y a cuenta propia | SITRADOMSA
- Red Guatemalteca Mujeres Positivas en Acción
- Red Nacional por la Defensa de la Soberanía Alimentaria | REDSAG
- Association pour l’Integration et le Developpement Durable au Burundi | AIDB
- Association For Promotion Sustainable Development
- FIAN Belgium
- INCUPO| Argentina
- Movimiento Puesteros del Sur | MNCI
- Conseil National de l’Agriculture Biologique| CNABio
- Prescott College
- Policy Research for Development Alternative | UBINIG
- FIAN Germany
- RESCSAN-STP |ADAPPA
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación y Desarrollo Alternativo, U Yich Lu’um
- Federação de Órgãos para Assistência Social e Educacional | FASE
- Alianza Política Sector de Mujeres | APSM
- Maison Mère
- Claveles Rojos Mexico
- Global Justice Now
- Programa de Desarrollo Integral Interdisciplinario
- Appui Solidarie pour le renforcement de l’aide au développement
- FIAN Colombia
- Initiative for Agricultural and Rural Development
- Dana and Qadisiyah Local community Cooperative | Dana Cooperative
- Red Nacional de Promotoras y Asesoras Rurales
- WAVE Foundation
- War on Want
- Agrar Koordination / Forum für Internationale Agrarpolitik
- Sahabat Alam Malaysia | Friends of the Earth Malaysia
- Swissaid | Niger
- Confederação Nacional da Agricultura | CNA
- Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food | SiLN0RF
- Unidad de la Fuerza Indígena y Campesina | Mexico
- Ugonma Foundation
- Peoples Empowerment and Development Seva Society | PEDS
- Italian Federation Christian NGOs | FOCSIV
- Collectif Citoyen pour l’AgroEcologie | CCAE Burkina
- Maleya Foundation
- Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy | IATP
- SOS Faim | Belgium
- Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement | Togo
Endorsed by the following Local Organizations:
- Haki Nawiri Africa
- Santa Cruz Permaculture
- JPIC KALIMANTAN
- Associação Terra Sintrópica
- Dayak Voices for Change Community
- Association Dounia des protecteurs d’environment en Algérie
- Association pour la Conservation et la Protection des Ecosystèmes des Lacs et l’Agriculture Durable
- Vinculación y Desarrollo Agroecológico en Cafe | AC
- Asociación Latino Americana Medicina Social
- Daami Youth Development Organization |DYDO | Somaliland minorities
- Mindanao peoples peace movement | MPPM
- Four Seasons Ecological Living Association
- African Children Empowerment | ACE
- Territorio Campesino Agroalimentario del Macizo Norte de Nariño y Sur del Cauca | TCAM
- Corporación Ciudad Red Gestores de Vida
- CERFLA
- Productores Agroecologicos de la Laguna
- ECO from Africa
- Investigación y Acción Biocultural, Anima Mundi | A.C.
- RAIS-IXCAN |Quiché Guatemala
- Just Food
- Organización de Mujeres Tierra Viva
- Forum for Human Rights and Development | FOHRD
- Association des Femmes pour le Développement Durable | AFDD
- Productores Agroecologicos de la Laguna