Iceland's address to the Annual session of the WFP Executive board
Address on behalf of
Ms Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland,
at the Annual Session of the Executive Board of the WFP in Rome 4. – 8. June 2007, delivered by Mr Guðni Bragason, Permanent Representative of Iceland.
Mr Chairman.
I would like to congratulate you upon your election. Also I would like to thank the Executive Director, Ms Sheeran, for her informative and extensive Strategic Statement, as well as for all the effort she put into the work of the High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence.
Allow me, Ms Sheeran, to use this opportunity to bring you the greetings of the new Icelandic Foreign Minister, Ms Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, and best wishes for the important and challenging tasks ahead. The new Icelandic Government reiterates its support for the work of the World Food Programme.
Allow me to mention few points of importance to the Government of Iceland.
Role of the WFP.
We put great emphasis on the role of the WFP and it is our determination to continue to support its important work. We look at the WFP as an emergency relief organization, as well as an organization doing developemnt in its field of expertise .Better coordination with other UN agencies should however provide the necessary guaranties needed for a successful transition from emergency operations to capacity-building programmes. The strengthening of exit strategies is of importance in this respect.
Capacity building
Projects building capacity are much needed to increase the food security in affected areas, once the direst emergency is over. The Government of Iceland has made a determined effort to increase its contribution, both to relief and development cooperation in the recent years. In two years time, 2009, our contributions will be 0.35% of GNI,
Gender Equality and Women´s Empowerment
In this context we place a special emphasis on the empowerment of women which is a pre-requisite for achieving the MDG´s. We believe that the MDG´s related to women are lagging behind and cannot be met without radical changes in the work of the UN, as a whole. The recommendations of the High-level Panel provide us with an important opportunity to strengthen the UN architecture that promotes gender equality throughout the UN system. This issue must be thoroughly and systematically addressed throughout the UN system at all levels.
School Feeding Programme.
I would especially like to mention our emphasis on aid to women and children and support of school feeding projects. The WFP Global School Feeding Campaign is great vehicle for channeling aid to those most in need, namely children, and can become a significant tool in fighting malnutrition among children and at the same time bring them into school. This year and in 2008 we will provide the Campaign with 3.2 million USD. The number of children in primary schools in Iceland was used a basis for the amount, so the number of children receiving school meal would be equivalent of every Icelandic primary school child, that is 45 thousand. It is note worthy to mention that the contribution from Iceland has proven to be sufficient for 63 thousand children in the poorest countries in Africa.
According to WFP statistics at the beginning of this year this brings Iceland into WFP´s top five donors per capita of populations. It is very important to increase awareness of hunger among children. This concept brings the additional bonus of making children and their parents aware of the plight of millions of children who suffer hunger every day. This concept also contributes to our efforts to enhance the status of women and girls, since the provisions of school meals boost the school attendance of girls as well as boys.
Climate change
In general terms of food security, we share the concerns regarding the effect of climate change on food security and the need to examine and address this issue further. Africa would be the continent worst prepared for climate change, especially with regard to access of to water, the vulnerable food security and the threat of desertification. We in the High North are much aware of the threat of the possible impact of climate change on the marine ecosystem and the delicate balance of nature in the oceans, which, if interrupted, could have impact on the food security of the region in question, be it in the North or in the South.
Bring businesses into the donor group.
We believe it is important to strengthen the participation of responsible private companies in the economic development of lesser developed countries. An increased social awareness of private companies should make their share in poverty alleviation more important in the future. We see an example of a conscious effort of this sort in the Nordic Business Outreach, hosted by the UNDP. The Government of Iceland also stresses the importance of free trade in the context of food security.
WFP Stand-by Agreements.
Finally, Mr Chairman, allow me to emphasize the importance of the so-called WFP Stand-by Agreements. We have benefited in many ways by the cooperation agreement (Stand-by Agreement) between the WFP and the Icelandic Crisis Emergency Response Unit, which has facilitated sending members of the Unit for emergency relief work in disaster areas in Africa and provided excellent training courses in the WFP Station in Italy.
