The 6th Parliamentary Front Against Hunger forum pushes for new legislation to tackle malnutrition

November 27, 2015 - Last update: February 10, 2023

Members of the Parliamentary Front Against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean sign the final declaration of the Sixth Forum at the end of the Nov. 15-17 gathering in Lima, Peru. Credit: Aramís Castro/IPS

From 15 to 17 November 2015, the sixth forum of the Parliamentary Front Against Hunger (PFH) in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Lima, Peru, to undertake the challenge of pushing for new legislation to guarantee food security in the region. The Peruvian office of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) hosted the event, welcoming over 60 participants from 28 countries within the region and guest lawmakers from Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, São Tome and Principe, and Sierra Leone.

A key feature of the event was exchange of knowledge, opinions and experiences from the each parliamentarians’ respective countries, on how to reduce malnutrition levels and make social pacts based on social inclusion and active participation of all sectors of society.

Peruvian Vice President Marisol Espinoza, Peruvian Congress President Luis Iberico, Peruvian Health Minister Anibal Vasquez, and Ecuadorian Assembly Member Maria Augusta Calle, as PFH Chairperson among members of Congress from other Latin American countries attended the opening of the meeting.

The PFH was created in 2009 and remains open to other countries in Latin America who have not yet formed their own Parliamentary Front. Each national chapter of the front works at its own pace according to the political situation in each parliament, for Peru, there are 13 members.

The Sixth forum focused on three main thematic areas:

The plan for food security, nutrition and hunger eradication in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) by 2025.
Parliamentary dialogue between the Parliamentary Front Against Hunger of Latin America and the Caribbean with parliamentarians from Asia-Pacific, Africa and other regions.
The construction of commitments and policies that strengthen the enforcement of the right to adequate nutrition and food and nutritional sovereignty and security.

These three thematic areas overlap with three issues considered a priority by the front: family agriculture and its decisive weight in guaranteeing the right to food and food sovereignty; schools meals as an essential tool in the fight against hunger; and the new challenges presented by overnutrition, a form of malnutrition.

The participants of the forum, including guests from Africa and Asia, stated in the final declaration that of all of the world’s regions, Latin America and the Caribbean had made the greatest progress in reducing hunger, cutting the proportion of hungry people by more than half, in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which had a 2015 deadline.

The forum closed with the legislators from the 17 countries of the PFH committing to eight specific commitments aimed at pushing through laws and policies on food security, sovereignty, family farming and school feeding programmes.

The next forum of the Parliamentarian Front Against Hunger will be held in Mexico.