Posted 12 November 1998
Country Thematic Groups
When the FAO Office in Lebanon proposed to the local UN System to establish a rural development and food security network, the UNDP Office indicated the need to use existing mechanisms and avoid duplication. Issues raised during World Food Summit could be dealt within the working group, chaired by UNDP, on "Inter-Agency Task Force Enabling Environment for People Centered Sustainable Development - Poverty Alleviation", already established in Lebanon. Members of the Inter Agency Task Force include UNICEF, UNFPA, UNIFEM, UNDCP, ILO, UNESCO and FAO. The IATF activities were well advanced and their terms of reference and plan of action could be resumed as follows:
The Task force was established in early 1996 and convened it's first meeting in January to formulate a plan of action. The Task force adopted Poverty Alleviation as the overriding objective of its goals and tasks. The Task force identified the following as key areas/points of entry:
Objective |
Output |
Activity |
|
1. Effective reliable tools for producing blue print for action |
1.1.Situation analysis and base line data established |
1.1.1 Conduct a public expenditure analysis study |
1.2. National Poverty Profile produced |
1.2.1. Recruitment of a national consultant to consolidate existing data and complement it with other needed data i.e. child labor/food security/gender | |
2. Advocacy |
2.1. Consensus on poverty and employment built |
2.1.1. Organize conference (Poverty profile) |
3. Develop National Programme and implement priority activities |
3.1. Identification of priority areas of intervention identified and base line plan for action |
3.1.1. Support and formulate a programme support document including profiles Ministry of Health & Social Development Centers |
4. Resources Mobilization |
4.1. Critical mass for implementation of activities mobilized |
4.1.1. Identify joint collaboration between agencies and allocate needed resources |
Within the IATF, the Rural Development and Food Security sub-Thematic Group in Lebanon has the following workplan: