Last Friday, 24 February, the Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) Centre of Excellence against Hunger Brazil, Daniel Balaban, met with the Director of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC, in Portuguese), Ambassador Ruy Carlos Pereira to discuss joint actions for the coming months.
The partnership between the Centre of Excellence and ABC has been in place for over 10 years and led to projects that support the fight against hunger and malnutrition in countries around the world, such as Nurture the Future and Beyond Cotton. “The ABC is a key agency for the success of the Brazilian cooperation policy over its more than 30 years of activity and the Centre of Excellence, within its activities, has contributed so that more and more countries around the world have access to Brazilian experiences in the areas of Food and Nutrition Security. Our meetings enable the planning of new possibilities for joint cooperation,” said Balaban.
Among the agendas raised was Brazil’s protagonism in the Food Systems Summit, whose main objective is to gather proposals and promote alliances between different stakeholders to advance the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in addition to promoting public discourse on the importance of Food Systems in the 2030 Agenda. Currently, the WFP regional office in Panama coordinates the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Food Systems for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Another point discussed among the directors was Brazil’s participation in the School Meals Coalition. The Coalition is a crucial initiative that emerged from the Food Systems Summit with the objective of ensuring that every child in the world receives a healthy meal at school by 2023. At the global level, WFP does the overall management of the Alliance for School Feeding under the School Programmes Division at its Headquarters in Rome. WFP supports member states and stakeholders participating in the Alliance, maintains and develops relationships and keeps members informed and connected. The Centre of Excellence has sought to adhere to the objectives of the Alliance by adding to the best practices, information and technical support produced by the initiative. The Alliance already counts with 76 members, including Brazil.
Finally, there was also a conversation about the African School Feeding Day, celebrated annually on March 1st. The date was instituted in January 2016 by African Union heads of state after a delegation conducted a study visit to Brazil to take a closer look at Brazil’s approach to school feeding and discuss the terms of collaboration of the Centre of Excellence against Hunger with the African Union. “African School Feeding Day marks the commitment of African countries to promote school feeding programmes as a strategy to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and has Brazil as a major inspiration,” Daniel explained.