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International humanitarian food aid in the north-south cooperation: the case of cameroon( Télécharger le fichier original )par Alain Christian Essimi Biloa La Sapienza University of Rome - Italy - Master 2014 |
III- Consequence of food aid in Cameroon: the political blackmailWe have already mentioned the consequences of the IFA both in donor and receiving countries. The food dependency is the first risk faced by poor receiving countries. The IFA is also used as a political tool which helped donor countries to interfere in the already weak domestic sovereignty of receiving countries. In addition of all these elements evident in Cameroon, there is another phenomenon particular to the country: the «political blackmail». In fact, food security is for FAO "a major factor in political stability within states". So, all those involved in the fight against hunger and food insecurity can guide their actions for political purposes. According to Janin and Suremain59, the food crisis that the world has gone through in 2008 59 Janin P. and Suremain ch. De, (2008) «La question alimentaire en Afrique: risques de politisation«, in Tiers-Monde, vol. 12. 136 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Provided some rulers a political scene promising aid and rescue to their people, praising their "food diplomacy, encouraging to produce more and eat local, denouncing speculator traders. Some withdrew gains popularity beyond undoubtedly some efficiency measures. Speaking precisely the measures taken, some rulers, after leaving the situation of food insecurity without rotting arrange that could anticipate or reduce this phenomenon, set themselves up as "fire-fighters" to appear in the eyes of their populations as "saviours". These measures were or are incommensurate with the crisis, but the political fallout, they are much more noticeable. Because the prevailing rule in the present context is the "politics of the belly", distribution of food aid is sometimes preceded by large demonstrations or political meetings in which those who provide this benefit to help the situation for political positions. The voices of the people were solicited with the argument that they have never been abandoned in times of crisis and they would do well not to give those who have not abandoned. In addition, if these voices were granted to those concerned, this "generosity" was not going to stop. The highest authority of the State, namely the President of the Republic, every food crisis, such as during the December 2012 floods, has not failed to take emergency measures to relieve his "fellow compatriots." One of these measures is sending emergency food aid. He does not bring it himself, but he delegates this task to a third party. Although the Head of State does not explicitly request a lift back to the people, some of those who are responsible for conveying said support were quick to convince (although it is very difficult to verify) the population that is with their interpersonal skills and their personal relationship with the President that this help came, garnering rewards, congratulations, respect and recognition of populations. 137 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Antoine Socpa described very well this situation when he talks about the «electoral gift». He condenses his reflection by arguing that: "In certain situations, food aid is even used as devices for mobilization and political manipulation. In many African countries, politicians give food to people in exchange for their votes"60. In fact, election campaigns during the democratic transition in Africa to the south of the Sahara are characterized by the abundance of politicians' captivating speeches and promises. Voters are pulled back and forth between the party in power and opposition parties as calls are made to vote for one side or the other; and as the pressure heightens, voters tend to try to "cash in" on their vote. Instead of being a time for ideological debate, political campaigns tend to occur in a "mess hall" atmosphere. The practice of making "electoral gifts" especially food gift, in Cameroon is described. The impact of these practices on voters and on the forming of alliances between majority and opposition parties is assessed. By attracting many people, these "festivities" serve to measure the popularity of parties and, later on, cover up the fact that election results are falsified. Apart promises staffing infrastructure development, food and clothing, gadgets and trinkets of all kinds are offered to people during election periods. These are, essentially, meat (beef, egg, sheep and goat), smoked fish, rice, red wine, beer, spirits, loincloths, tee-shirts bearing the image of the party, caps, scarves, key chains, etc.. Moreover, with the clear intention of getting people to give them their votes, politicians make a firm commitment to find immediate solutions to the grievances of the people. Caught between the gifts that fall as manna from heaven on people experiencing the problems of immediate survival, and unable to offer as does the ruling party, the main opposition parties have taken turns attitudes following: instructions to refuse donations, 60 Socpa Antoine, (2000) «Gifts in Cameroonian Election Campaigns», in Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, n°157. 138 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 instructions to accept donations, instructions to use them. These delays in the public and political opposition parties are as follows: "They want to buy your consciences. Do not accept gifts. " In this phase of the refusal of gifts, the people themselves were divided. Part would accept donations while another did not want. This ambivalence had created a situation of mistrust and insecurity. Thus, any person who received or refused a gift was labeled. Some people have even been abused to have received a gift or for refusing. While the reluctance of people between the acceptance of the gift and its use are prescribed by the political parties of the opposition, the fact remains that their success depends on the actual impact of these political or their leaders. These people are afraid for their own safety and that of their families and their children. Compliance or non-instructions and against voting instructions prescribed by political parties therefore follows different paths and seems to be dependent on the ethnic population trends of both cities. Proportionally, the "electoral gift" is one of the anti-democratic recipes beloved by some African politicians. Unpopular political parties are indeed those gifts to bring or maintain social groups within their sphere of influence. When the phenomenon of "electoral gift" grows, we must fear its negative impact on the democratic process in Africa. Face kept and maintained under conditions of precarious survival populations, food recipe is a trap to tame them and turn them into electoral cattle. International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014
CONCLUSION 139 140 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 The work above has allowed us to get around the issue of international humanitarian food aid. We have in fact, after having defined the legal context of the IFA, presented the different actors in the sector. On the one hand, there are the rich donor countries of the North, the head of which include the U.S. and the EU, and on the other poor recipient countries of the South, led the platoon Sub-Saharan Africa, followed closely by Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. In the middle, is the largest humanitarian organization in the world, WFP, which is responsible for managing the multilateral food aid. Subsequently, we identified the possible consequences of the IFA. In the last chapter, we have illustrated the practical case of Cameroon, how does IFA work. Concretely, after the country has faced numerous natural disaster such as floods, toxic fumes or volcanic eruption; due also to the political and social instability in some neighbouring countries, especially Central African Republic, Chad and nowadays Nigeria because of the Boko Haram terrorist/Islamic group, the IFA is regularly used for refugees and some internal displaced victims. At the country level, it is managed by the WFP Country Office and the governmental Management Committee of FAO/WFP Assistance. Beyond the fact that the main objective is and remains saving lives when communities are facing crises or disasters, whether natural, technological or human, food aid has been used by donors as a political weapon in international relations between states. IFA serves as lobby, pressure medium. It is an instrument to reward its "friends", or otherwise to punish his "enemies." Humanitarian issues have long been misled to make room for purely economic and political interests of the various actors involved. However, it is possible to trim the IFA, and some propositions are made by scholars and food aid experts, such as Frederic Mousseau or Ed Clay. For them, it is widely acknowledged today that food aid must be refocused so that it is more effective in the fight against hunger. But opinions diverge on how the 141 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 refocusing should be accomplished. It is therefore important to rethink and widen the debate over the future of food aid. There is growing international pressure for the WTO to become involved in food aid. Two aspects of US food aid have produced conflict in recent international negotiations around the liberalization of agriculture: the practice of monetization, which consists of the sale of food aid to generate cash in recipient countries, and the export credits used for concessional sales. Cereal exporting countries, namely the EU and the Cairns Group, would like to hand over responsibilities for the governance of food aid to the WTO to oppose the hidden subsidies and the distortion to free trade caused by this form of US food aid. Currently, the FAC and the CSSD both lack a binding enforcement mechanism whereby donors not meeting their commitments and/or not following agreed upon guidelines could face possible penalties under a WTO-like dispute settlement/resolution mechanism. The evolution of the aid system is therefore once again triggered by trade interests and competition rather than genuine humanitarian and development concerns. Yet, Oxfam and other relief organizations have recently echoed the sentiments of European negotiators, and asked for the enforcement of food aid practices by the WTO to avoid food dumping and the displacement of commercial imports by food aid. Though the relief organization seems to be motivated by the hope that a `fairer free trade' will benefit developing countries, this position overlooks three fundamental elements: - Specialized in exportable cash crops, LDCs are not food exporters, and actually spend a large share of their funds to import food; - The food trade is dominated by developed countries and a few large developing countries such as South Africa and Brazil; they are the ones affected by the displacement of commercial imports; - In both developing and developed countries, food trade is controlled by large international agribusinesses and large-scale farmers. More food 142 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 trade between developing countries may therefore benefit these corporations rather than small- scale farmers. Because of these factors, it seems unlikely that the world's poorest countries would benefit from WTO regulation of food aid, which would most likely serve business interests at the expense of development objectives. The displacement of commercial imports may actually benefit net food importing developing countries, which spend a high share of their budget on food imports, because of the conservation of scarce resources this practice represents. Furthermore, from a development point of view, it is highly questionable to put in place an enforcement mechanism only for food aid, while the rest of international development assistance remains largely uncontrolled and very poorly monitored. In practice, an enforcement mechanism for food aid regulation would only create a new instrument to promote trade. What the hungry really need is an enforcement mechanism that ensures the human right to food and development assistance. The existing institutions that govern food aid are not designed for the alleviation of hunger but rather serve the interests of exporting countries. The CSSD, intended to deal with surplus disposal, is outdated and ineffective. The FAC is hosted by a trade body, the International Grain Council, and only represents food exporting countries. Given their design, focus and functioning, it is clear that these two institutions should be eliminated to better serve the needs of the world's hungry population. Their replacement by an FAO body that would integrate food aid into a broader food and agriculture program seems to be the only way to start working productively towards the reduction of hunger through international assistance. The FAC sets annual food aid commitments by donor countries. This constitutes an interesting model that can be used in broader applications where food aid would be an instrument along with others. Similar to FAC operations, donors should make multiyear 143 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 commitments to the FAO in financial terms, for plans to be carried out in the food and agriculture sector of every targeted country. This would reprioritize agriculture and allow an increase in resources going to this sector. If these changes were adopted, the role of FAO could also be to coordinate and monitor international assistance geared towards the eradication of hunger. UN agencies would work at the national level to help governments and NGOs develop and implement strategies that support agriculture and small-scale farmers. This should be undertaken independently of donor countries' foreign policy and trade interests and driven solely by the food security concerns of the developing countries and their farmers. Given what we know about fighting world hunger, food sovereignty is paramount, and must be at the heart of future policies to support and protect small-scale farmers and subsistence agriculture. As suggested by Ed Clay, an expert on development and food aid, WFP could become the lead UN agency for all emergency responses, rather than existing simply as a food aid agency. WFP is already the leading agency in emergencies, providing logistical support for transportation and telecommunications to the entire UN system. Relief interventions are generally run vertically by specialized UN organizations: the WFP provides food, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) takes care of nutrition, water and sanitation, WHO deals with health issues, FAO supports agriculture and fisheries. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) coordinates the assistance under the UN Development Program (UNDP) and UNHCR follows its specific mandate on refugees. Though it is more and more recognized as an appropriate alternative to food relief, cash interventions do not fall under the responsibility of any of these agencies. There is a similar gap for non-food relief items such as cooking pots, cooking fuel, blankets, jerricans or soap, often as necessary and urgent as food in emergencies for the preparation of food, and to 144 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 prevent epidemics and diseases. The UNHCR is in charge of the provision of shelters and camp mapping in the case of refugees who have left their country, but no equivalent organization is in charge of internally displaced people, though they are in greater numbers than refugees in the world today. Transforming WFP into a World Relief Program would eliminate the bias toward the use of food aid from contemporary relief responses and strengthen the capacity of the international community to meet emergency needs by designing more appropriate and integrated responses. Food aid would then become only one element of relief response, developed along with others, and used only when required. The distinctions between the three different forms of food aid--Relief, Program and Project Aid--are not consistent with the reality of the food problems in developing countries. As seen in the cases of Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Zimbabwe and Niger, when a country is expecting a food shortage and lacks the financial resources or foreign currency to import food, the best response is financial assistance to allow the country to support domestic food production or proceed to food imports. Even in a year of food deficit, governments can often play a decisive role in increasing food production through direct intervention in markets. In other instances, support for winter crop-cycles and for alternative crops such as tubers, has been successfully provided by NGOs and governments in the form of seeds, seedlings, tools and fertilizers to optimize winter crops after the failure of a main harvest. Providing financial assistance to purchase food or agricultural support as soon as a shortage is predicted would prevent having to resort to Relief Food Aid months later, when a country runs out of food. In an ideal world, Relief Food Aid would only be required in situations of wars and sudden natural disasters, characterized by the unpredictability and the urgency of food needs and often by limited capacity at the community and government levels. 145 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Food aid should be kept separate from trade concerns and other political interests and should only be allocated according to the needs of recipient countries. With a consistent aid budget, the replacement of in-kind food aid with local and triangular purchases would double the amount of food available. To put it differently, current US food aid budgets could be cut in half without a decrease in the overall volume delivered if the food was procured locally. The high cost of in-kind food aid combined with the adverse effects of this form of aid on agriculture in recipient countries makes a strong case for the elimination of US in-kind food aid. This could have a positive impact on the hungry in two ways: by reducing the side effects of food aid and freeing resources which could then be redirected towards supporting agriculture. The donor countries must not only review their procurement system and dissociate food aid from their national interests but also dramatically increase the amount of resources for agriculture and rural development in the recipient countries. This is the only way to reduce hunger and the need for food aid. International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014
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INDEX OF FIGURES Figure 1 : Food Aid composition by product from 2001 to 2011 .. ......24 Figure 2 : Global Food Aid Deliveries by food type in 2011 . ......25 Figure 3 : 2011 Food Aid Deliveries by category .30 Figure 4 : 2011 Food Aid Deliveries by channel 46 Figure 5 : WFP 2012 beneficiaries in Africa by Region ..64 Figure 6 : School meals beneficiaries all around the world 79 Figure 7 : How WFP moves food and the costs in 2012 .88
INDEX OF TABLES Table 1 : Global Food Aid Deliveries by Food Type in 2010-2011 26 Table 2 : 2011 Global Food Aid Deliveries by category and delivering mode...29 Table 3 : Food Aid Convention commitments .33 Table 4 : US food aid programmes 48 Table 5 : EU member states' 2011 contribution to WFP .63 Table 6 : Other donors' contribution to WFP 63 Table 7 : WFP supported refugees, IDP and returnees in Africa (2006-2012) 65 Table 8 : WFP direct expenses (2011-2012) 65 Table 9 : WFP supported children in school meals programmes in Africa (2006- 2012) 66 Table 10 : WFP purchases in Africa (2011-2012) ..67 Table 11 : Asian recipient countries of WFP food aid in 2011 by category .69 Table 12 : LAC recipient countries of WFP food aid in 2011 by category 73 Table 13 : Beneficiaries of WFP food aid in 2012 in LAC 74 Table 14 : Figures of refugees and asylum-seekers in Cameroon in 2013 .125 Table 15 : WFP beneficiaries by component and year in Cameroon .131 Table 16 : WFP Programme Country's Budget Summary 132 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014
ANNEXATURE 152 153 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 ANNEX 1: FOOD ASSISTANCE CONVENTION, 2012 FOOD ASSISTANCE CONVENTION
PREAMBLE The Parties to this Convention, Confirming their continued commitment to the still valid objectives of the Food Aid Convention, 1999, to contribute to world food security, and to improve the ability of the international community to respond to emergency food situations and other food needs of developing countries; Seeking to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of food assistance in preserving the lives and alleviating the suffering of the most vulnerable populations, especially in emergency situations, by strengthening international cooperation and coordination, in particular among the Parties and stakeholders; Recognising that vulnerable populations have particular food and nutritional needs; Affirming that States have the primary responsibility for their own national food security, and therefore for the progressive realisation of the right to adequate food as set out in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Voluntary Guidelines to support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security adopted by the FAO Council in November 2004; Encouraging governments of food insecure countries to develop and implement country- owned strategies that address the root causes of food insecurity through long-term measures, and that ensure proper linkages between relief, recovery and development activities; Referring to international humanitarian law and the fundamental humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence; Referring to the Principles and Good Practice of Humanitarian Donorship, endorsed in Stockholm on 17 June 2003; Recognising that the Parties have their own policies related to providing food assistance in emergency and non-emergency situations; Considering the World Food Summit Plan of Action adopted in Rome in 1996, as well as the Five Rome Principles for Sustainable Global Food Security identified in the Declaration of the World Summit on Food Security of 2009, in particular the commitment 154 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 to achieve food security in all countries and the ongoing effort to reduce poverty and eradicate hunger that was reaffirmed by the United Nations General Assembly in the United Nations Millennium Declaration; Considering the commitments made by donor and recipient countries to improve development aid effectiveness by applying the principles of the Organisation for Economic Cooperationand Development's (OECD) Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness adopted in 2005; Determined to act in accordance with their World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations, in particular any WTO disciplines on food aid; Have agreed as follows: Article 1 The objectives of this Convention are to save lives, reduce hunger, improve food security, and improve the nutritional status of the most vulnerable populations by:
Article 2 Principles of Food Assistance The Parties, in providing and delivering food assistance to the most vulnerable populations, should always adhere to the following principles: (a) General principles of food assistance: (i) provide food assistance only when it is the most effective and appropriate means of addressing the food or nutrition 155 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 needs of the most vulnerable populations;
(b) Principles of food assistance effectiveness:
156 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014
(c) Principles on the provision of food assistance:
(d) Principles of food assistance accountability:
Article 3 Relationship with WTO Agreements Nothing in this Convention shall derogate from any existing or future WTO obligations applicable between Parties. In case of conflict between such obligations and this Convention, the former shall prevail. Nothing in this Convention will prejudice the positions that a Party may adopt in any negotiations in the WTO. 157 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Article 4 Eligible Country, Eligible Vulnerable Populations,
Eligible Products, Eligible 1. «Eligible Country» means any country on the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list of Official Development Assistance Recipients, or any other country identified in the Rules of Procedure and Implementation. 2. «Eligible Vulnerable Populations» means vulnerable populations in any Eligible Country. 3. «Eligible Products» means products for human consumption that comply with relevant national policies and legislation of the country of operation, including, as appropriate, applicable international food safety and quality standards as well as products that contribute to meeting food needs and protecting livelihoods in emergency and early recovery situations. The list of Eligible Products is provided in the Rules of Procedure and Implementation. 4. Eligible Activities for the fulfilment of a Party's minimum annual commitment in accordance with Article 5 shall be consistent with Article 1, and shall include at least the following activities:
These Eligible Activities are further elaborated in the Rules of Procedure and Implementation. 5. Associated Costs eligible for the fulfilment of a Party's minimum annual commitment according to Article 5 shall be consistent with Article 1, and shall be limited to costs directly linked to the provision of Eligible Activities, as further elaborated in the Rules of Procedure and Implementation. Article 5 Commitment
158 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 quantity can be expressed in tonnes of grain equivalent or other units of measure provided under the Rules of Procedure and Implementation.
159 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014
Article 6 Annual Reporting and Information Sharing
Article 7 Food Assistance Committee
160 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Party formally opposes the proposed decision of the Committee on a matter under discussion at a formal session. Formal opposition may occur either at the formal session or within thirty days after the circulation of the minutes of a formal session recording the proposed decisions concerned.
Article 8 Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Committee 1. At the last formal session held in each year, the Committee shall decide on a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson for the following year. 2. The Chairperson shall have the following duties:
3. If the Chairperson is absent from all or part of a formal session or an informal meeting, or is temporarily unable to fill the office of Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson shall act as Chairperson. In the absence of the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson, the Committee shall appoint a temporary Chairperson. 4. If, for any reason, the Chairperson is unable to continue to fill the office of Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson shall become Chairperson until the end of the year. 161 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Article 9 Formal Sessions and Informal Meetings
Article 10
Article 11 Resolution of Disputes The Committee shall seek to resolve any dispute among the Parties concerning the interpretation or implementation of this Convention or the Rules of Procedure and Implementation, including any claim of failure to perform the obligations set out in this Convention. 162 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Article 12 Signature and Ratification, Acceptance, or Approval This Convention shall be open for signature by Argentina, Australia, the Republic of Austria, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, Canada, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the European Union, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Finland, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, Hungary, Ireland, the Italian Republic, Japan, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Slovenia, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Swiss Confederation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America, at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11 June 2012 until 31 December 2012. This Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by each Signatory. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Depositary. Article 13
Article 14 Notification of Provisional Application Any State referred to in Article 12, or the European Union, that intends to ratify, accept, or approve this Convention or accede thereto, or any State or Separate Customs Territory deemed eligible under Article 13(2) for accession by a decision of the Committee but has not yet deposited its instrument, may at any time deposit a notification of provisional application of this Convention with the Depositary. The Convention shall apply provisionally for that State, Separate Customs Territory, or the European Union from the date of deposit of its notification. 163 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Article 15 Entry into Force
Article 16 Assessment and Amendment Procedure
International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Article 17 Withdrawal and Termination
Article 18
Article 19 Authentic texts The originals of this Convention, of which the English and French texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. IN WITNESS THEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorised, have signed this Convention. 164 DONE at London, 25 April 2012. 165 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 ANNEX 2 RULES OF PROCEDURE AND IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE FOOD ASSISTANCE CONVENTION RULE 1: Eligible Activities Eligible Activities for the fulfilment of a Party's minimum annual commitment are any of the following:
RULE 2: Associated Costs Associated Costs, as provided in Article 4(5) of the Convention, are the following:
RULE 3: Eligible Products (a) Eligible Products include products for human consumption that comply with relevant national policies and legislation of the country of operation, including, as appropriate, applicable international food safety and quality standards. They are the following, until the 166 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 Committee modifies this list of products:
(b) Eligible Products include products that contribute to meeting food needs and protecting livelihoods in emergency and early recovery situations. They are the following, until the Committee modifies this list of products:
RULE 4: Grain Equivalence of Contributions to Quantity Commitments For Parties with quantity commitments: (a) Physical quantity contributions of Eligible Products listed in Rule 3(a) are counted in grain equivalent, as follows:
167 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 prevailing price of grain as determined under Rule 5. (b) If useful to determine whether a Party has fulfilled its quantity commitment, under Article 5(10) and 5(14) of the Convention, its cash contributions may be converted into grain equivalent for the portion not used to fulfil any value commitment the Party has made. The grain equivalence is calculated as follows:
(c) The method for calculating the grain equivalence is subject to review and modification by the Committee to reflect any improvements in methodology. (d) The Secretariat is to verify the calculation of the grain equivalence of contributions and assist as required. RULE 5: Prevailing Price of Grain
RULE 6: Grain Equivalence of Quantity Contributions of Rice
168 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014
Thai white rice, 100% second grade, fob Bangkok, Thai white rice, 5% broken, fob Bangkok Vietnam 5% broken, fob Ho Chi Minh USA no. 2, 4%, fob Gulf RULE 7: Secretariat
RULE 8: Information Sharing (a) The Secretariat is to maintain a website only accessible to the Parties, where the following information is to be posted:
(b) The Secretariat is to maintain a publicly accessible website to facilitate information sharing with stakeholders. The following is to be posted on this website: 169 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014
Committee. RULE 9: Reports by the Parties (a) The annual report to be produced by each Party under Article 6 of the Convention is to list contributions provided in a given year that count towards the minimum annual commitment of that same year. A standard reporting template is to be developed by the Committee and is to be used by all Parties. The list of contributions should contain the following elements, to the extent possible: (i) the total value of the contributions;
contribution; (vii) all contributions not made in fully grant form; (viii) any other information relevant to the principles and objectives of the Convention, which could include information on Eligible Vulnerable Populations assisted. The Secretariat may provide assistance in calculating the grain equivalence where applicable. 170 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 (b) The narrative component of each Party's annual report may include the following information:
RULE 10: Committee Reporting (a) For each year, the Secretariat is to prepare a report for the Committee to be adopted at the first formal session of the following year. This report is to reflect information provided in the Parties' annual reports as discussed in Rule 9 and is to contain:
(b) The report is to be published by June 30 of each year, following its adoption by the Committee, on the website maintained by the Secretariat, in accordance with Rule 8. RULE 11: Records of the Committee
RULE 12: Draft Agenda and Sessions (a) The draft agenda for each formal session and informal meeting is 171 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 to be prepared by the Secretariat and approved by the Chairperson after informal consultations with the Parties. Possible agenda items for discussion at formal sessions (or informal meetings) include:
Every fifth year after the Convention enters into force, the Committee is to undertake an assessment of its relevance.
172 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 The Secretariat is to make any arrangements for interpretation that may be necessary.
RULE 13: Accession In considering an application for accession to the Convention under Article 13 (1) of the Convention, the Committee is to take into account all relevant factors, in particular the minimum annual commitment that the applicant is prepared to make in accordance with Article 5 (1) of the Convention. 173 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 ANNEX 3: 2013 CAMEROON REFUGEES' MAP
174 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 ANNEX 4: CENTRAL AFRICAN REFUGEES SITES IN CAMEROON IN 2013
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