APN | Rome, Italy
16 – 25 October 2024
At the 52nd Plenary Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS-52) held in Rome, we called out global powers for their inaction and complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Representing the Arab Network for Food Sovereignty (ANFS) which holds Civil Society West Asia seat, APN Advocacy and Research Officer, Lisa Shahin, delivered a powerful opening statement on behalf of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Mechanism (CSIPM).
Shahin called for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza that is being financed and armed by a number of countries, disregarding their extraterritorial obligations. The statement condemned the use of starvation as a weapon in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Yemen, and Congo, and denounced the international community’s silence that has enabled impunity for crimes against humanity.
Shahin also served as a panelist at the CFS-52 side event titled “Right to Food and Conflicts”, alongside experts such as Michael Fakhri (UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food), Abeer Odeh (Palestine Ambassador to Rome) and Hilal Elver (former UN Special Rapporteur). Her intervention underscored the weaponization of food across the Arab region, particularly in Gaza. She highlighted the inefficacy of international agencies in rehabilitating Gaza’s agricultural sector, noting that grassroots movements, such as APN’s “Revive Gaza’s Farmland” project, are left to provide essential support to local communities.
On the sidelines of CFS-52, Shahin held bilateral meetings with FAO Senior Coordinator Khaled Eltaweel, the FAO Right to Food Team, and Kuwait’s Permanent Representative to the FAO, Yousef Al-Juhail, to discuss the regional situation and explore potential collaboration opportunities. Additionally, she participated in a meeting with Michael Fakhri and representatives from the Near East group, including delegates from Kuwait, Palestine, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and other countries, to address the ongoing challenges in the region.
Ahead of the plenary, Shahin took part in the CSIPM Coordination Committee meeting and the CSIPM Forum. During the CSIPM Public Forum session, she joined panelists including Hilal Elver, Ambassador Nosipho Jezile (CFS Chair), Carla Barroso (Brazil Representative), and Afantchawo Koudasse (CSIPM speaker for West Africa). Shahin addressed the weaponization of food in Gaza, Lebanon, and other conflict zones in the region, focusing on global inaction and the gaps in implementing relevant global frameworks such as the Framework for Action in Protracted Crises (FFA).
