The 53rd Plenary Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS 53), held from 20 to 24 October 2025, included a dedicated discussion on how to strengthen the implementation of the Committee’s policy products. During this session, experiences, challenges and recommendations were shared to increase the dissemination, use and uptake of the policy products, which can help guide the upcoming work programmes of the CFS.
The CFS Chair highlighted a project led by the CFS Secretariat, in coordination with several FAO technical teams and with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity, to promote the use and uptake of the CFS Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition (GEWGE), the CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (RAI), the CFS Youth Policy Recommendations, and the updated toolkit included in the Action Plan approved by CFS 52.
For the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM), putting CFS policy products into practice is essential because they were negotiated by listening closely to the realities and experiences of rights-holders directly participating in the processes. It is also essential because it allows territories to access tools that reflect the results and consensus of the CSIPM’s internal consultations with a wide diversity of constituencies and regions of the world.
In this session, Dionicio Canahuí (Guatemala/International Indian Treaty Council), a member of the CSIPM Coordination Committee, emphasized that States have the responsibility to implement the decisions adopted by the Committee so that they translate into concrete actions in territories.
“For the CSIPM, dissemination and uptake begin when we come to Rome to participate in the CFS, and continue in our countries, within our organisations and across all our territories.”
He also highlighted three CSIPM actions carried out this year to bring the results “from Rome back home”:
- The popular manual of the CFS Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment;
- Several training course on the CFS, the CSIPM and the CFS Youth Policy Recommendations;
- Consultations on the use of the CFS Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises.
He further called on governments and the Rome-based agencies (FAO, IFAD, WFP) to promote CFS policy products in regional and local languages, including Indigenous languages; to organise training sessions on CFS normative products for public officials; and to increase the financial resources dedicated to the Committee.
“Given the scarcity of funds, when deciding where to invest, the invitation is to invest in the CFS,” he concluded.
Read the statement
Statement delivered by Dionicio Canahuí, member of the CSIPM Coordination Committee, under agenda item IV on Strengthening the Impact of CFS Policy Products, at the CFS 53 Plenary Session on 22 October 2025.
Excellencies,
Madam Chair of the Committee on World Food Security,
Distinguished delegates,
The Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM) is pleased to address the Committee on the topic of strengthening the impact of CFS policy products, a key concern for the CSIPM.
Since the beginning of this plenary session, we have heard a series of interventions from delegations sharing how they have applied the policy decisions adopted in this domain.
Bringing Rome back home is not an easy task. It requires considerable effort, energy, dedication, coordination, determination and, above all, political will.
States have the fundamental responsibility to implement the decisions adopted here, ensuring that they translate into concrete actions in their territories. This requires a commitment not only to policymaking but also to effective implementation, engaging all sectors of society to achieve real and lasting impact. The responsibility of States and United Nations bodies is crucial to ensure that international agreements become reality in the daily lives of their citizens.
The mechanisms for holding States accountable for their commitments have been clearly defined since the 2009 CFS Reform. The CFS Multi-Year Programme of Work 2024–2027 establishes Strategic Function 3 on Uptake, which highlights the need to “foster the uptake, follow-up and review, and sharing of experiences and best practices on the use and application of CFS products at all levels.”
In addition, the Action Plan to Strengthen the Uptake of CFS Policy Products, approved at the 52nd Plenary Session in October 2024, contributes to this effort, together with the draft conclusions contained in document CFS 2025/53/8.
For the CSIPM, dissemination and uptake begin when we come to Rome to participate in the CFS and continue in our countries, within our organisations and across all our territories.
In recent years, the CSIPM has made major efforts to translate the agreements reached in Rome into the languages and realities of our peoples, and to disseminate the results of CFS policy products among government officials at national and local levels.
Allow me to share some examples:
- The Working Group on Women and Gender Diversities is conducting regional consultations to develop a popular manual on the CFS Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment.
- Young people are organising training courses on the CFS, the Youth Policy Recommendations and the CSIPM.
- The Working Group on Protracted Crises has held consultations on the use of the CFS Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises, with the aim of assessing and demanding its effective implementation.
CSIPM participants continue to make significant efforts to disseminate, build capacities and take action to support the implementation of CFS policy products at national and local levels.
To ensure that policy products translate into national measures with real impact on people’s lives, and to make “from Rome back home” a reality, we recommend the following:
- Governments, with the support of the Rome-based agencies, should promote the dissemination of policy products in regional and local languages, including Indigenous languages;
- Governments must organise training sessions on CFS normative products for public officials;
- FAO Regional Conferences must dedicate a specific agenda item to CFS policy products;
- Governments should designate a national institution as focal point to oversee the use of CFS policy products in national policies;
- Governments must incorporate CFS policy products into their foreign-policy strategies in a visible manner;
- Governments must allocate specific budgets for actions related to the implementation of CFS policy products;
- CFS policy outcomes should guide international cooperation.
Finally, I would like to conclude this intervention with the following reflection:
The United Nations is undertaking major reforms to improve coordination and efficiency.
How will the CFS participate in this reform process? Let us recall that the CFS already has a clear mandate and a unique legitimacy to lead collaborative global action.
States must recognise the immense value of this Committee and match their words with adequate financial resources.
Given the scarcity of funds, when deciding where to invest, we invite you to invest in the CFS.
Thank you very much.
Watch the video of the CFS 53 Plenary Session
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