Dear Mr Langmore,

I refer to your letter of 10 October 2000 requesting FAO's input for the preparation of a report on the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action and the Further Initiatives for Social Development adopted at Geneva.

There is considerable complimentarity between the objectives of the Social Summit for Social Development and those of the World Food Summit of Rome 1996. One important area of complimentarity relates to the reduction of the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by one half by the year 2015 and the implementation of pro-poor growth strategies.

While the Social Summit for Social Development provided a fresh mandate for the formulation of policies and strategies for poverty eradication through income-generation activities, and sustainable livelihood approaches, the world's commitment to the goals of poverty reduction and the elimination of hunger were reinforced by the outcome of the World Food Summit of Rome 1996. The WFS reaffirmed the right of everyone to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger. It pledged the world's political will and commitment to achieving food security for all and to ongoing efforts to eradicate hunger in all countries, with a view to reducing the number of undernourished people to half their present level no later than 2015.

The WFS Plan of Action stresses the importance of the role of improved institutions to ensure food security, combat poverty and promote the development of human and natural resources. It recommends to governments to include in their policies, in collaboration with all civil society actors, the promotion of political, economic and administrative decentralisation.

In line with its mandates FAO is strongly committed to and has been assisting governments in formulating policies and strategies for increasing access by the poor to capital, technical knowledge, and other land-based resources through implementation of policies that promote decentralisation, provide the necessary powers and resources to local/village institutions, foster farmers’ and rural people’s organisations and strengthen their capacity to participate, at local, regional and national level, in the definition and implementation of rural development policies and programmes, as well as in the sustainable management of natural resources.

In this context, FAO has provided assistance in the identification and preparation of projects on improving rural institutions and services and promotion of sustainable rural livelihoods;

  • restructuring and decentralization of rural institutions;
  • capacity building of small farmers' organizations;
  • institutional mechanisms for multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration.

FAO has also supported countries in developing and adopting policies, programmes, best practices and tools for land tenure to facilitate access to land, ensure user rights and improve land markets. Assistance was provided in four major areas:

  • formulation of methodologies for government assisted land tenure policies to improve access to land by disadvantaged groups, especially women;
  • formulation of market and private land transaction policies and institutional support to improve access by the poor for sustainable use of natural resources;
  • modifications of the land tenure systems to promote rural development under indigenous and common property resource management and
  • land tenure regularisation and institution building.

Assistance has been provided to countries towards the establishment of policy guidelines and legislative mechanisms for conflict resolution to improve access to land for the landless using various land reform approaches (resettlement, leasing, etc) in a manner that is gender-responsive and environmentally sustainable. Support for the development of women was provided through research and analysis and identification of constraints faced by rural women under customary land tenure especially in relation to land rights, accumulation and control of land based productive resources.

In the follow-up to the WFS, FAO has also assisted Member Nations in designing strategies for the promotion of secure and gainful employment and equitable and equal access to productive resources such as land, water and credit, which maximize the incomes of the poor. The generation of employment and income raises effective demand in these areas, thereby stimulating production, economic diversification and rural development. To this end, FAO has been assisting Governments, in partnership with actors of civil society, to review and adopt policies that create conditions which encourage stable employment, especially in rural areas, including off-farm jobs, in order to provide sufficient earnings to facilitate the purchase of basic necessities, and to encourage labour intensive technologies where appropriate.

FAO has assisted Governments in assessing living standards and risk and identifying factors which contribute to poverty and insecurity thereby identifying the characteristics of those households with the most acute food security problem.

I look forward to our continuing collaboration in the implementation of the Copenhagen commitments and hope that this brief will be of some assistance to you in the preparation of the report on the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action and the Further Initiatives for social Development adopted at Geneva.

Yours sincerely,

Santiago Funes

Director

Rural Development Division