Guyanese parliamentarians were among the parliamentarians from 13 Caricom Member States who were hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean.
The meeting was one that addressed the issues of food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition in the region.
Member States represented were: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The participants featured one parliamentary representative of the sitting government and one representative of the parliamentary opposition – per country.
FAO has worked with countries around the world to establish parliamentary fronts against hunger; the aim being for both government and opposition, through a bipartisan parliamentary motion, to express a commitment and the work together towards reducing hunger to zero in their countries.
Participants were introduced to the Parliamentary Front against Hunger [PFH] in Latin America and the Caribbean [LAC] and an overview of the state of the Caribbean Community Food and Nutrition Security was presented. A participative panel discussion ensued on how public policies and legislation for Food and Nutrition Security can be improved through PFHs.
Members of the meeting agreed that there is a need for a Caribbean arm of the PFH LAC. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, being one of the first countries in the Caribbean to establish a Parliamentary Front, volunteered to host the Secretariat for the Caribbean Executive Committee of the PFH LAC for one year, when established, with the support of FAO.