Regional Advisory Groups - International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC)

Regional Advisory Group

In 2019, the AG SSF-GSF expressed the need to establish regional platforms with the purpose of bringing the implementation process of the SSF Guidelines closer to the local realities.

The Regional Advisory Groups were then created in 2020 to ensure a coherent implementation of policies, strategies and actions in support of the SSF Guidelines implementation at the regional level, and to inform the AG SSF-GSF regarding the status of the implementation of the SSF Guidelines and of the fulfillment of the small-scale fisher and Indigenous peoples’ rights.

They are composed of both SSF organizations members of the IPC and other SSF allied organizations. They were established following the FAO regional division, thus facilitating the interaction with the FAO regional offices and the FAO Regional Conferences. They develop regional coordination mechanisms, strengthen civil society’s efficiency to lead the implementation of the SSF Guidelines at the national level, and develop advocacy strategies.

Currently, the following Regional Advisory Groups are in place:

- The Regional Advisory Group in Africa
- The Regional Advisory Group in Asia and the Pacific
- The Regional Advisory Group in Latin America and the Caribbean

What we do

The Advisory Group main priorities

Enhance SSF right-holders empowerment to build their capacity to claim their rights;
Ensure that Small-Scale Fishing communities are not arbitrarily evicted and that their legitimate tenure rights are not otherwise extinguished or infringed;
Ensure government’s consultations with SSF communities prior to the implementation of large-scale development projects that might impact small-scale fishing;
Ensure that the knowledge, culture, tradition, practices and customary rights of small-scale fishing communities, including Indigenous People, are recognized and, as appropriate, supported and that they inform responsible local governance and sustainable development processes;
Implementation of a Human rights-based approach in the framework of the fisheries and biodiversity policies, governance and management.
The current IPC members of the Advisory Group are:

Ms Nadine Nembhard – WFFP, Belize
Ms Christiana Saiti Louwa – WFFP, Kenya
Alternates
Mr Jones Spartegus – WFFP, India
Ms Jesu Rethinam – WFFP, India
Mr Suman Kalyan Mandaland – WFF, India
Ms Lorena Ortiz – WFF, Mexico
Alternates
Mr Patrick Furtuno – WFF, Mauritius;
Ms Margaret Nakato – WFF, Uganda
Mr Alex Castillo – La Via Campesina, Nicaragua
Mr Chief Gary – IITC, Alaska, and Ms Rochelle Diver – IITC, U.S.A.

AG Webinars

1st – Why the SSF Guidelines: a retrospective on the need for such an international instrument
2nd – The SSF Guidelines and the human rights-based approach
3rd – The SSF Guidelines and gender in SSF
4th – Climate change and disasters for SSF
5th – Small Scale Fishers and CBD post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

AG tools

The development of the “SSF People-centered methodology to assess the voluntary guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries in the context of food security and poverty eradication”. This methodology aims to assess the communities and with the communities the progress of the SSF Guidelines implementation and examine the human rights violations of small-scale fisher people worldwide. It aims to be a guiding document for local communities to gather relevant qualitative information on the status of the SSF people concerning the human rights principles endorsed by the SSF Guidelines;
The development of a preliminary report based on the People Centred methodology

AG Political processes Challenging the FAO Committee of the Parties (COFI), read the statements Co-organizing and attending the SSF Summit; Challenging the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, 27 June – 02 July 2022

Challenging the FAO Committee of the Parties (COFI), read the statements
Co-organizing and attending the SSF Summit;
Challenging the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, 27 June – 02 July 2022.

WORKING GROUPS

What we work for

Agricultural biodiversity

Indigenous Peoples

Agroecology

Fisheries

Land, Forests, Water and Territory

Youth

WHO ARE WE

A group fighting for the right to food

IPC is represented by the Nyéléni Food Sovereignty Movement. Nyéléni ECA is a political and social alliance of grassroots, community based movements and organizations, representing small-scale food producers.

Find out more

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