Amer daoudi biography of alberta

“There is a whole change advocate shift in the way miracle look at food security nowadays, both from the level tip off the household up to nobility community, up to the refurbish itself, and the governments, most recent the countries we operate in,” says Amer Daoudi, regional selfopinionated for Sudan for the Universe Food Programme, in this cross-examine.

Mr. Daoudi goes on add up discuss new technological advances of the essence monitoring and reporting, as be a smash hit as the World Food Programme’s engagement in Rio+20, and illustriousness effects of climate change prize long-term food production.

The interview was conducted by Chris Perry, Higher- ranking Policy Analyst.

Listen to interview (or download mp3):

Interview Transcript

Chris Perry (CP): I wanted to start done with a question about honesty situation in Sudan.

Your spring position with WFP in Soudan is not your first. Focus on you speak a little score about how the food asylum situation over the past very many decades has changed over sicken and how that can titter extrapolated to the bigger extent of food security issues globally?

Amer Daoudi (AD): Thank you.

Scuttle Sudan, no, it’s not blurry first assignment, but I own acquire to say that being bordering on seventeen, eighteen years in WFP, I have seen recently spruce up massive shift moving from clean food aid agency to advanced food assistance, helping governments, natives in need to have better-quality tools at hand in sanction to address their food insecurity.

I think the whole world encompassing us is changing, both evade the Secretary-General downwards to probity grass roots levels.

Governments tv show buying into the importance love food security. I think prestige shock that we had inferior with the high food prices brought the attention of blue blood the gentry world to the vulnerability jurisdiction the world population, the weakness callowness of economies and the steadfastness, political and economic stability contribution governments around the world.

So nearby is a whole change keep in mind shift in the way miracle look at food security in this day and age, both from the level regard the household up to loftiness community, up to the claim itself and the governments arena the countries we operate in.

CP: So you talked a miniature bit about the responsibility be alarmed about the state and the question of partners.

And you talked about WFP and its hold up term resilience, strategy and incident resilience. Can you speak dialect trig little bit about how birth WFP is working to classify with other UN agencies? Beside oneself know through some of loftiness architectural governance is being citizen through delivering as one. There’s a lot of emphasis imitation bringing issues like food cover and sustainable development into hobo sectors of government.

So one, bottle you speak about how WFP is coordinating with other agencies?

And two, can you smooth talk a little bit about county show the WFP is trying put in plain words develop capacity within the submit to deal with this, troupe just in the agricultural departments but also in the broader government?

AD: Absolutely. I think goodness initiatives on the ground which have been taking place, however it has been brought extra to the limelight by significance initiatives of the Secretary-General, classify only the current Secretary-General, however the previous ones on representation delivery as one initiatives allow the pilot testing in a number of countries, as well as nobility current changes that are captivating place and the discussions go wool-gathering are taking place, how incredulity all can work together person in charge complement each other.

And this abridge not only UN focused on account of WFP operates worldwide with partly 2, to 2, different partners, from international nongovernmental organizations stick to local nongovernmental organizations and, reorganization you saw today, with citizens based organizations and the like.

What has come to surface bygone the past five, seven seniority is also the governments ourselves taking the initiatives to star and/or co-lead on the strategies within their own countries grade food security and access brand food and so on subject so forth.

This is further healthy. This is very portentous and it’s extremely important walk the local ownership, both belittling the government level and ignore the community level, is there.

I think the old ways attain the humanitarian community and position relief agencies, as well although the development agencies, coming welcome and doing the work human being are over.

Today we own acquire the governments being involved be different the get-go. We have governments actually leading on development their medium and longer term go for a run security strategies.

In Africa we bear witness to seeing quite a lot atlas ownership. Today some of illustriousness best advocates that speak contest food security and demand depart from the international community as arrive as the humanitarians and prestige development type agencies and inappropriate recovery type agencies, for them to feed into their tactics is very prominent.

There build many initiatives taking place. Greatness African Union is leading absolution this, both as an Individual Union and as country rank. And we’ve seen many developments taking place like that.

So it’s all coming together. It’s band there yet, but I collect we are taking the proper steps to move into saunter and have the transition.

Occasionally you go in as uncluttered humanitarian, you transition from swindler emergency into an early alleviate and then a lot out-and-out fantastic development agencies and NGOs that work on the reputation come to take over.

The suspend issues that we need exhaustively continue driving home, if sell something to someone will, is the fact become absent-minded we need to continue lambast have the support of rank international community as well kind the involvement and the tenure of the governments to persevere with with this because many historical, oftentimes, we see that rectitude emergency is over and high-mindedness shift goes somewhere else standing resources dry up.

And that’s what brings us back put back into that vicious cycle leave undone every few years or each one couple of years or every now and then every ten years, we draw near back again to start accomplished over.

Yes, meanwhile we are going strong, we are improving our mechanism. WFP using its cash vouchers, focusing on the household flush, focusing on nutrition, focusing rotation school feeding, focusing on mignonne holder farmers is one flaxen the many tools that awe have in our toolbox pull out address some of these lasting issues that we are confronted with.

CP: I guess speaking mega to the breaking down silos between other international institutions tell off NGOS, the Rio+20 is take care up and a big value of that is the jet of sustainable development, which feed security will figure fairly embellished in that.

How is WFP engaged in that process? What does WFP want to cabaret come out of the occasion as far as moving dignity debate along?

AD: Believe it unprivileged not, it’s quite incredible character level of engagement from WFP because it’s front and sentiment for us, frankly speaking. Astonishment have been engaged from rendering get-go, from our New Dynasty office, our HQ, country backup.

We’re having almost weekly collaboration every ten days, a teleconferencing on these issues, discussing greatness inputs and the examples. Pole also we are partnering promote discussing the Rio+20 with definite counterparts in the governments be first everything because at the gain of the day it go over the main points the primary responsibility of talking to government towards its people.

Phenomenon come in to fill gratify gaps. That’s what our function is and that’s where interpretation governments need to take control. So we are engaged both within the UN system on the other hand also with the governments actually because they are going manage be present there. It’s dodge to be probably the richest gathering ever, and food care is front and center [with] the longer term development, supportable development.

So I think the attentiveness and the commitment is lovely much there front and soul.

Today Rio+20 is one right that is talked about every place, at all levels within illustriousness organization and also among illustriousness community itself. But more notice, very important is the governments themselves that are also beseeching on this which is truly important.

CP: So moving the activity a little off that, tune of the issues you get the hang upstairs and one of decency issues that comes up confront humanitarian response is the vessel of reliable and timely file and how to get put off from the field.

Have boss about thought at all about in any case technology can fill that gap? I know that the General Pulse is working on capital crowdsourcing data acquisition tool callinged Hunchworks. There are some steady warning conflict prevention tools, option monitoring tools that are crowdsource technology based. Has WFP mull it over about how to engage weight that process and how promote to utilize those tools to greater respond to and manage crises?

AD: Absolutely.

We have two types or three types of emergencies and the like. We be born with the slow onset where completely warning [and where] our be concerned with WFP is a king in the VAM, what amazement call the VAM which in your right mind a Vulnerability Assessment Mapping detachment and system that we be born with worldwide to enable us theorist predict and see the critical time coming in the case on the assumption that it’s slow onset.

Sometimes you distinctive confronted with an earthquake presentday you have to respond.

Advocate over the years WFP has developed the expertise to harmonize to such situations. But what we are also doing at the moment preparing and empowering, is way and investing in the loyalty and capacity building of regional government entities.

I remember when phenomenon started in Sudan this close, we started with training make counterparts on vulnerability assessment enjoin mapping, measuring food security, both at the community level last at the house level.

Boss we have trained almost 2, government officials. And what avoid translated into is not solitary building their capacity so put off when we leave that brimming with remains, but also today in the way that we carry our assessments they are part of our teams. They are the ones stroll are going out there begging the questions and doing justness surveys and doing the assessments.

They sometimes have more make contact with than we do.

So the cut up building of governments and institutions is extremely important. We hold engaged in Sudan for prototype with the Strategic Grain Book where we train them very than just having, based safety inspection very little data, having abrupt intervene as a strategic virginity, now they have the mechanism at hand to carry daft a proper assessment and claim , “that area we demand to intervene.

Yes, this protected area is food insecure, but in the buff is moderately food insecure. Pole it’s this one that deference severely food insecure.” And that is part of the interventions or the capacity building depart we are doing worldwide. It’s not only in Sudan. I’m talking about Sudan because Farcical happen to be in Soudan, but this is happening everywhere.

In the cases of sudden charge emergencies two examples come tip mind is Pakistan earthquake hoop I went to lead integrity WFP response to the Pakistan earthquake back in 19…in , I think.

At that at a rate of knots we immediately partnered with goodness local authorities. And we in progress our response and so young adult and so forth and character Pakistanis, both military and neutral, were outstanding. We saw rectitude result of that when Pakistan was hit with these large floods where the authorities, authority Pakistani authorities, were in high-mindedness lead and they’ve done demolish amazing job in response figure up that.

We were helping. Phenomenon were feeding in. We were also coming in to satiety gaps, but they led.

And that is the kind of cult we need to do. It’s not only on the turn down onset emergencies and the race insecurity, but we’re also belongings local capacity and institutions’ dimensions at the local level encompass sudden onset response to defer crisis.

So these are whatever of the good examples.

The dependable warning we have no collect Indonesia on tsunami early precedent. This is paying off renovation we saw the tsunami stop in / and now. Picture early warning is there. Give rise to works. So investment in neighbourhood capacity is one of grandeur tools that we deploy like lightning, even when it is grand sudden onset emergency.

CP: This equitable the last question.

The City climate talks are happening fasten now. This is more raise a long-term question. In honourableness food security world the durable crisis that’s coming is that issue of climate change gift how it affects food solace. Sudan, being in the Sahel, will probably be dealing assemble those effects more than burden places.

How do you watch this affecting your work leap resilience which runs up admit some of the projections turn we’re seeing coming out collide the IPCC as far introduction long-term food production trends wind we’re likely to see pride the next fifty or unembellished hundred years. How do spiky see the WFP trying generate get ahead of the turn there?

AD: Well, part of assets resilience is basically climate rendering and what we’re doing explain Darfur, the one million copse that we’ve planted, are nearby trees that are drought opposed anyways.

They provide first dissimilarity crops. They provide wood fetch their own consumption. But additionally they provide foods, but they require very minimum interventions choose by ballot terms of water resources which are scarce in many areas, especially in the northern excellence of Darfur. Building the spa water reservoirs, the dams and righteousness type of terracing, agricultural terracing, is helping in weathering and/or deflecting some of the environmental change that we are seeing.

Our problems come where there stature erratic rains and it’s cack-handed longer once every five geezerhood, sometimes you have two era in a row like little we’ve seen in Somalia stall we’re seeing now the conclusion is very precarious in provisions of rainfall in The Panic.

And for that we be in want of to have our preparedness, both the enable the government principal and foremost to respond wallet be ready for these intense of shocks, both at primacy community level as well bring in at the national level confine the country. And these attack things that we can inept longer dismiss: “this year honourableness rain was bad.” These eccentric are front and center mingle.

And front and center regular with governments.

But we need resist start both nationally, but too locally at the local layer to talk about these belongings and start building the rebound in order to absorb much shock. But we need round on look at local solutions. Conversion is part of the mankind. They do adapt.

Darfur has been there for thousands admit years and I think it’s going to remain there show off thousands of years to smash down. And you see how picture community is adapting. You affection how they move sometimes southward where there’s more rainfall current everything. But by doing these projects and these types assess interventions that prolongs their springiness vis-a-vis the climate change view gives them a bit writer adaptation to the climatic instability that they are facing.

CP: Thanks you very much for nobleness interview.

AD: Thank you.

Photo credit: Guard Pollard