ISSUE 40: NOVEMBER 2005-FEBRUARY 2006

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Food insecurity and gender focus of NY workshop

UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) launched the second phase of its Hunger and Food Security project with a workshop/brainstorm session, organised by the UNU Office in New York and featuring contributions from experts in the fields of food security and development economics.

With the Hunger and Food Security project about to be completed and publications due out this year, the event at UN headquarters November 10 was designed to provide intellectual input into UNU-WIDER's new research project entitled Food Insecurity and Gender.

The starting point for discussion was Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis and Gautam Hazarika’s paper on Women’s Status and Children’s Food Security in Pakistan, which examines the role of women’s intra-household status relative to men in children’s food security in Pakistan. Data from the 1991 Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (PIHS) yield evidence of a positive relation between women’s intra-household status and children’s food security.

Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis’ presentation was commented on by three experts:

• Florence Chenoweth, Director, Liaison Office New York, UN Food and Agricultural Programme

• Jennifer Thomson, Senior Program Officer for Africa, Global Office, The Hunger Project

• Carolyn Hannan, Director, Division for the Advancement of Women, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

An open discussion aimed at identifying key topics, areas, relevant existing information and institutional partners on which this project should focus included contributions from:

• Marcia Brewster, Task manager, Gender and Water Task Force, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs

• Axumite Gebre-Egziabher, Director, New York Office, UN Human Settlement Programme

• Ruth Katz, Executive Director, Just Food

• Xenia von Lilien-Waldau, New York Liaison Officer, International Fund for Agricultural Development

• Iain Logan, Operations Liaison Officer, Delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to the UN

• Peter Mann, International Director, World Hunger Year

• Luz Angela Melo, Human Rights Advisor, UN Population Fund

• Peggy Nelson, Senior New York Liaison Officer, UN World Food Program

• Lauren Pandolfelli, Research Analyst, International Food Policy Research Institute

• Ann Pawliczko, Population and Development Branch, UN Population Fund

• Kavita Sethuraman, Nutritionist, International Center for Research on Women

• Yifat Susskind, Associate Director, MADRE

• Gelifa Terrefe, Biodiversity and Climate Change Specialist, Energy and Environment Group, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP

• Susie L. Villeneuve, Nutrition in Emergencies, Nutrition Section, UN Children’s Fund

• Janet Walsh, Director/Acting Executive Director, Women’s Rights, Human Rights Watch

• Naoko Yamamoto, Counselor, Economic Affairs, Permanent Mission of Japan to the UN

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