Regulation C/REG. 21/12/11 Adopting the Charter for Food Crisis Prevention and Management


Economic Community of West African States

Regulation C/REG. 21/12/11 Adopting the Charter for Food Crisis Prevention and Management

The Council of Ministers,MINDFUL of Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the ECOWAS Treaty as amended, establishing the Council of Ministers and defining its composition and functions;MINDFUL of the provisions of Article 25 of the said Treaty relating to agricultural development and food security;MINDFUL of Decision A/DEC.11/01/05 of 19 January 2005 adopting the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP/CAADP);CONSIDERING that Decision A/DEC.11/01/05 provides that, over time, regional or technical cooperation organizations should mainstream their strategies and sector policies and programmes relating to agriculture, food and natural resource management into the orientations and priorities of the Agricultural Policy of the Economic Community of West African States.CONSIDERING the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and CILSS of 21 December 2006 identifying CILSS as the technical arm of ECOWAS in the implementation of:(i)the Priority Intervention Programme Prevention and Management of Food Crises and other Natural Disasters (PREGEC/CAN) of ECOWAP/CAADP;(ii)the Sub-Regional Action Programme to combat Desertification in West Africa and Chad (SRAP/WA);CONSIDERING the Memorandum of Understanding of 28 May 2008 on cooperation between CILSS and the Commission of West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)RECALLING that the Charter for Food Crisis Prevention and Management was formally adopted by Food and Agriculture Ministers of ECOWAS Member States, Mauritania and Chad at their meeting held in Conakry on 17 November 2011;EAGER to ensure full ownership of the Charter for Food Crisis Prevention and Management by ECOWAS;DESIROUS of adopting the Charter for Food Crisis Prevention and Management with a view to minimizing as much as possible the adverse effects of food aid and phasing it out over time;ON THE RECOMMENDATION of the meeting of Food and Agriculture Ministers of ECOWAS Member States, Mauritania and Chad held in Conakry, Guinea on 17 November 2011;ENACTS

Article 1

The Charter for Food Crisis Prevention and Management attached hereto is hereby adopted.

Article 2

ECOWAS Member States and Institutions shall ensure the effective implementation of the Charter.

Article 3

The ECOWAS shall however, make practical arrangements for the approval and effective implementation of the Charter by carrying out the following activities:–
1.The development and funding of a programme to disseminate the Charter’s text in all signatory countries, taking into account local languages and the differing socio-cultural environments;
2.The implementation of the evaluation and monitoring mechanism for the Charter’s implementation at the national and regional level;
3.The development and funding of a capacity building programme for national food security systems and civil society in light of their active participation in implementing the Charter;
4.Work to ensure that the intervention approach of financial and technical partners is kept within the framework of the principles and commitments of the Charter.

Article 4

This Regulation shall be published by the ECOWAS Commission in the Official Journal of the Community within thirty (30) days of its signature by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. It shall equally be published in the Official Gazette of each Member State within thirty (30) days upon notification by the Commission.Done at Abuja, this 21st day of December 2011H. E. Olugbenga AshiruChairman for Council
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