Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is an important point of engagement for Ireland with the Rome-based agencies to ensure all stakeholders work together to ensure global food security and nutrition. Most notably, Ireland has recently contributed to the development of the "Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition" and the "Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition". The CFS receives its core funding equally from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

My Department leads on Ireland’s engagement with the FAO and the WFP, with the Department of Foreign Affairs leading on IFAD. Under the Ireland-WFP Strategic Partnership Agreement for the period 2022-2024, my Department has committed funding of €75 million to WFP, of which almost 50% is fully flexible and un-earmarked. My Department also makes annual core membership funding of some €1.61 million to FAO, which is also fully flexible and un-earmarked. In addition, my Department provides funding to FAO in respect of specific projects and last year this was €1.75 million, totalling some €3.36 million for 2022.

This predictable flexible contribution from Ireland enables both the UN agencies for which my Department has responsibility to help fund CFS to undertake their important and ambitious multi-year programme of work.