Mario Arvelo in the Executive Bureau of the Committee on World Food Security
During his tenure as Chair of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), Mario Arvelo also had the responsibility of conducting the Executive Board. This body, made up of twenty-five member states representing the different regions of the world, meets on a monthly basis to monitor the agreements reached in the CFS annual plenary sessions, and prepare the following ones.
Mario Arvelo invites his successor Thanawat Tiensin, from Thailand, to brandish together the mallet symbolizing the Chair’s authority at the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), on the occasion of the transfer of office on 18 October 2019. As the conclusion of the single biennial period contemplated in the committee’s statutes —where reelection is expressly prohibited— loomed, a movement of diplomatic colleagues and authorities of the international system stated that it would be beneficial to the institutional health of the CFS if the outgoing Chair continued to be linked to the internal debates by occupying a seat at the Executive Board. Arvelo agreed to the request and submitted his candidacy to the plenary of the 46th session of the committee, which unanimously elected him to represent the Latin American and Caribbean countries during the 2019-21 biennium. [Photo©FAO/Pier Paolo Cito]
Mario Arvelo, on the left, makes a presentation during a consultative meeting of the Executive Board of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), a body that he chaired in 2017-19, and of which he became a member representing the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) after concluding his mandate. During that meeting, as in others, Arvelo advocated for expanded multi-stakeholder inclusion as the first guiding principle of the CFS. Given that the committee’s objective is to contribute to the eradication of hunger and malnutrition, and taking into account that the challenges to be faced are increasingly complex and variable —such as the climate crisis, armed conflicts, and the migrations that they cause— CFS must be further open to the growing number and rapidly evolving mode of operation of intergovernmental and non-State actors working towards zero hunger, in particular by opening the doors of the Bureau’s Advisory Group to new stakeholders.
Because of his argumentative insistence and achievements in this area, Arvelo has been recognized by his colleagues in multilateral diplomacy as the most vigorous and consistent champion of transparency, promoter of inclusive participation, and defender of the democratic legitimacy of the CFS.
Mario Arvelo while leading the Executive Board of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in November 2018. Next to him are committee Secretary Mark McGuire and CFS Senior Officer Françoise Triné.
Mario Arvelo mientras dirige los debates de la Mesa Ejecutiva del Comité de Seguridad Alimentaria Mundial (CSA) en octubre de 2017; en la imagen aparecen el asistente ejecutivo del presidente del CSA Fabio Isoldi y la secretaria del comité Deborah Fulton.
Mario Arvelo while leading the discussions of the Executive Board of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in October 2017. Also in the picture: Executive Assistant to the CFS Chair Fabio Isoldi and committee Secretary Deborah Fulton.
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