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|  | Liaison Newsletter > LIAISON-Canada Electronic Newsletter #3
Onwards to Rome: The Global Network on Food Security Building on the success of last October’s Global Assembly on Food Security, Canadian and international NGOs are working to ensure significant non-governmental involvement in the process leading to the World Food Summit, taking place in Rome from November 13-17, 1996. Based out of UNA-Canada’s National Office, the Global Network on Food Security is actively coordinating NGO inputs into the Food Summit process. One of the key messages being promoted through the Network is that food insecurity is not simply a developing world problem. The causes of hunger, both North and South, are similar, and include economic globalization, growing income inequality, declining public social spending, discrimination, violence, and environmental degradation. As the causes of food insecurity transcend the North-South divide, so too do the solutions. Among the guiding principles of the Global Network is that the interests of people should come before the interests of markets. The Network is working to place such issues as community empowerment and self-reliance, environmentally-sustainable development, and the duty of states to protect the vulnerable on the World Food Summit agenda. In addition to seeking influence over the outcome of the World Food Summit, the Global Network is also working, both within Canada and internationally, to increase public awareness of the issues surrounding food security and enhance public involvement in the Summit process. Among the activities planned in the coming months: a North American NGO meeting, a major electronic town hall meeting on global food security, the development of educational materials on food security issues, and the expansion of the Network’s electronic outreach capabilities. One of the Network’s early projects has been the establishment of a World Wide Web site on the Internet. The site is located at: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/social.services/global-food |
