Representatives of non-governmental and civil society organisations dealing with food security and poverty in Asia will gather here on May 11-12 to discuss ways of reducing widespread chronic hunger in the region. The consultation will also assess regional progress in meeting the commitments made at the 1996 World Food Summit.

Organised in conjunction with the 26th FAO Regional Conference for Asia and Pacific from May13-17, the gathering is a part of global non-governmental and civil society organisations(NGOs and CSOs) preparation for the June 2002 World Food Summit to be held at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Representatives of 120 NGOs and CSOs organisations from 14 countries are to attend, states a press release issued by Food and Agriculture Organisations of the United Nations (FAO) here on Thursday.

The Kathmandu consultation follows an earlier NGO/CSO-meeting in Bangkok last August. The meet has voiced concern about the impact of emerging world trade rules on food security and poverty. The participants outlined a range of policy reforms and priority action for governments, inter-governmental organisations, FAO and among NGOs and CSOs in Asia as well.

According to latest FAO estimates, nearly 500 million people in Asia and the Pacific do not get the minimum amount of food needed for a healthy and active life. With two-thirds of the world’s undernourished people, the region also has the highest proportion of poor-income people, underlying FAO’s belief that hunger is as much the cause as consequence of poverty.

The NGOs and CSOs consultation will take note of four themes that include right to food, empowerment through access to resources, sustainable paths to food security and food sovereignty.Its outcome will be presented to plenary session of the FAO regional conference. The results will serve as vital input for the regional preparation on World Food Summit-five years later.

The organisers of the consultation are the regional members of Word Food Summit: International NGO/CSO Planning Committee-the Asia NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development(ANGOC), the Institute of Motivating Self Employment and Pesticides Action Network-Asia and Pacific and NGO Federation of Nepal.