Closing Statement by Ms. Rabab Fatima at the Expert Group Meeting on the LDC Food Stockholding Mechanism (FSM)

H.E. Mr. Lok Bahadur Thapa,
Chair of the Group of LDCs and President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council,
Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues, Dear Friends,

I thank you for joining the closing of this highly successful Expert Group Meeting on the Food Stockholding Mechanism for LDCs. 

Over the past two days, we have benefited from an exceptionally rich, rigorous, and forward-looking exchange – one that has moved us decisively from conceptual debate toward operational clarity. 

At the outset, I would like to convey my sincere appreciation to you, Amb. Thapa, for your continued strong support and leadership in advancing the DPOA – your presence here today and at the opening is clear manifestation of that.

I also express my sincere appreciation to our Ambassadors for their kind presence and for dedicating time over these two days to guide and enrich our discussions. 

I also thank all experts, Member States, UN agencies, IFIs, and  other partners for their important contributions, practical insights, and constructive spirit that have made these  discussions so productive.

You will agree with me that the meeting has been a clear success. Your contributions have significantly sharpened our collective understanding – not only on the scale and persistence of food insecurity in LDCs, but also of what is required to design a mechanism that is realistic, effective, and truly responsive to country needs. 

Allow me to highlight five key takeaways that emerged from our deliberations:

Firstly: this meeting has reinforced the imperative for urgent action.

Food insecurity in LDCs is not episodic (as the LDC chair reminded us yesterday), but it is structural, recurrent, and further exacerbated by overlapping shocks: climate extremes, conflict and post-conflict fragility, large scale displacement and migration, price volatility, macroeconomic fragility, and constrained fiscal space.  With more than 40 per cent of LDC populations, which is nearly 480 million people facing moderate or severe food insecurity, delays in strengthening emergency response capacity translate directly into human and development losses. 

The FSM, as mandated by the DPOA, is therefore not optional, it is a necessary instrument to close a persistent and well-documented gap in the global food security architecture.

Second: the core purpose of the FSM has been clearly defined: to strengthen emergency response capacity and resilience in a coordinated and synergistic manner.

The FSM is not intended to replace national systems, regional arrangements, or global humanitarian action. 

Rather, it is designed to complement and reinforce them by helping countries respond faster, more predictably, and with greater control when shocks occur.

This requires a mechanism that is flexible in approach, but focused in nature, one that avoids duplications and overlaps, prioritizes lifesaving responses, and is anchored in national institutions, policy frameworks, and early warning systems. 

As our colleagues from the African Dev Bank and the WB emphasized earlier today, the FSM cannot be ‘standalone’ – but be part of their overall national strategy, as well as they need to advocate regionally and globally to make the mechanism sustainable.  IFIs and ODA partners will have a critical role to play in this regard. 

Third: the FSM must be understood within a broader food systems transformation agenda.

While the FSM is not, in itself, a vehicle for comprehensive food systems transformation, it can play a critical catalytic role. By reducing the severity and duration of crises, stabilizing availability during shocks, and protecting vulnerable households from irreversible losses, the mechanisms help preserve human capital and institutional capacity. 

In doing so, it creates the necessary space for long -term investments in sustainable agriculture, nutrition, social protection, market development,  and climate adaptation. 

Emergency preparedness and food systems transformation are not competing agendas, they are sequential and mutually reinforcing.

Fourth: there is strong convergence around the operational logic of the mechanism.

Your analysis has underscored the importance of differentiating across country contexts -recognizing wide variation in exposure to risk, response capacity, market access, and institutional readiness. 

A “one-size-fits-all" model will not work.

The proposed tripartite architecture – a Public Sector Support Facility, a Private Sector Support Facility, and a Technical Assistance, Analysis and Training Unit – offers a coherent and adaptive toolkit.  

Together, these components can support emergency stockholding, shock-responsive social protection, timely commercial imports, and evidence-based decision-making, all under clear rules and safeguards to minimize market distortions.

Finally: a clear pathway is emerging for phased and credible operationalization.

There is broad agreement on the value of a pilot phase - focused on a small number of representative LDCs – to generate early evidence of impact. 

Equally clear is the need for lean governance, strong accountability, integration with early warning systems, close cooperation with Rome-based agencies and IFIs, and a diversified, predictable financing model. 

Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues,

 Looking ahead, the outcomes of this Expert Group Meeting will contribute to the finalization of the Secretary General’s feasibility study and the roadmap for operationalization of the FSM, to be presented to the General Assembly at its eightieth session. 

We will ensure that your recommendations on governance and accountability, on design, pilot selection, financing and monitoring, are fully reflected.

Importantly, we will also ensure that FSM is implemented in complementarity with other flagship deliverables of the DPOA, notably the Resilience Building Mechanism, that my Office is rolling out in parallel. Together these instruments form a coherent structure, linking anticipatory action, emergency response, and resilience building, to help countries withstand shocks without derailing long-term development trajectories.

Excellencies,

This EGM has demonstrated the power of One UN delivery in action. By bringing together the UN system, the World Bank, the African Dev Bank, WTO, the private sector, and technical experts under a single umbrella, we have leveraged collective expertise, reduced fragmentation, and advanced a genuinely system-wide approach to a shared challenge. This coherence will be indispensable as we move from design to delivery. Thank you very much for your support, solidarity and engagement, dear Colleagues.

I also thank the Executive Office of the Secretary-General for its strong and sustained support, including as co-lead of the inter-agency consultative group. FSM. 

I thank the Chairs, moderators and presenters for guiding our discussions with clarity and rigor.  

My sincere thanks to all participants for their substantive engagement. And to my colleagues in OHRLLS and across the UN system for their tireless efforts in preparing and supporting this meeting.

I also wish to sincerely thank the Government of the State of Qatar for its strong and principled support to the FSM and to the broader implementation of the Doha Programme of Action.

Excellencies,

The challenges before us are formidable, but the direction is clear. Responding to the strong call from the LDC Chair, we must now move swiftly to finalize the feasibility study and initiate a robust pilot phase, with a view to launching the FSM at the Midterm Review in Doha. 

Let us sustain this momentum and translate this mandate into a mechanism that strengthens resilience, protects the most vulnerable, and brings us closer to the shared vision of the Doha POA and the 2030 Agenda – a world free from hunger, where no LDC is left behind.

I thank you, and I wish all those who have travelled to New York a safe journey home.