Joint News Release WFP - CERFAM
Abidjan - The Regional Center of Excellence against Hunger and Malnutrition (CERFAM), based in Abidjan and opened in March, held its first strategic consultation on 24 and 25 June at Azalaï Hotel, under the chairmanship of the Vice-President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, HE Daniel Kablan Duncan.
This regional consultation brought together some 60 representatives and leaders of governments and development partners from 18 countries in West and Central Africa. They discussed common priorities for the fight against hunger and malnutrition in the region, identifying where and how best CERFAM might be deployed.
"CERFAM is a platform for exchanging experiences and good practices, partnerships and South-South cooperation to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG2 and SDG17 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda,” said the Director of CERFAM, Dr. Issa Sanogo. “That’s why we invited all the stakeholders to the consultation in Abidjan – so we might define common priorities, challenges, opportunities and expectations about the Center, and crucially about how it might best serve the region.
Dr. Sanogo praised the Government of Côte d'Ivoire for its commitment to the SDGs as well as for hosting and supporting CERFAM.
The problems of hunger and malnutrition cannot be solved without a good definition of the interactions between the key actors.
“Zero Hunger cannot be achieved on its own,” said Stanlake Samkange, WFP Senior Director, Strategic Coordination and Support. “You achieve Zero Hunger by supporting the other SDGs as well. Nor can it be done by WFP or by any other agency or country alone. It requires partnerships, different organisations working together, each one contributing what it does best.”
At the end of the meeting, the participants submitted a dozen recommendations to the Vice-President. It was agreed that these would help CERFAM to develop its strategic action plan and better define its relations with the key players in the fight against hunger and malnutrition in the months and years to come.
