gFSC Annual Report 2014

The global Food Security Cluster (gFSC) Annual Report presents the achievements of gFSC against its work plan in 2014 and provides evidence on gFSC’s contribution to increasing aid effectiveness in humanitarian emergencies.

Five system-wide L3 Emergencies

In 2014, the humanitarian community faced  system-wide Level 3 emergencies in the Central African Republic, Iraq, Philippines, South Sudan and Syria. In addition, the Ebola response in West Africa challenged the humanitarian partners while protracted humanitarian crises continued in several countries, such as in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Myanmar, Somalia and Yemen. Thirty-four official Food Security Clusters, sectors and other coordination solutions were in place globally. New clusters were established in Liberia and Ukraine, a new sectoral coordination mechanism was set up in Myanmar and a new coordination structure was established for the ‘Whole of Syria’ operation in an effort to improve the effectiveness and operational reach of the collective response.

gFSC supported country-level clusters

The role of the gFSC support team is to provide guidance and support to country-level clusters. To ensure that there is a pool of trained and experienced cluster coordinators and information managers ready to be deployed to humanitarian emergencies, gFSC organizes trainings and manages a roster. In 2014, gFSC support team succeeded in ensuring that there were no gaps in country cluster operations. When needed, gFSC team conducted  missions to fill in the role of cluster staff or tapped into partner resources to deploy cluster coordinators and information managers through various partnership arrangements. At global level, gFSC advocates for country clusters and partners to ensure that the needs of gFSC and its partners are reflected in the IASC Transformative Agenda and the wider humanitarian architecture.

Through gFSC working groups, efforts to improve food security programming continued. The working groups focused on the inter-linkages between nutrition and food security; urban issues; cash and markets; and programme quality, including accountability to affected populations (AAP), gender, age and disabilities mainstreaming. 

At present, gFSC includes thirty-eight partners: international NGOs, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and UN organizations. gFSC welcomed COOPI as a new partner.

In 2014, gFSC organized its work around four pillars, as identified in the 2013-2014 Strategic Plan:

• Operational and surge support to national clusters
• Capacity development in support of national clusters
• Information management and learning
• Advocacy, communication and partnerships

Preparing to meet the humanitarian challenges of tomorrow, the next two-year period will be guided by a new Strategic Plan 2015-16, which was developed in consultation with gFSC partners.