Please do not forget to sign-up for the next Global Partner Meeting by writing to Vanessa Bonsignore, vanessavita.bonsignore@wfp.org

We would also like to remind partners to confirm their participation in the Working Group Face-to-Face Meetings on 6 May at FAO, scheduled as follows:

• Programme Quality Working Group - 9:00-12:00
• Food Security and Urban Livelihoods Working Group - 14:00-17:00
• Cash & Voucher Working Group - 12:00-14:00

For more information on the meeting, please visit the Food Security Cluster website.

The global Food Security Cluster is seeking expressions of interest to attend the next Cluster Coordinator Training that will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 8 until 12 June 2014.

If you are interested in applying for this training, please submit your curriculum vitae as well as the completed attached application form to Emma Fitzpatrick: emma.fitzpatrick@wfp.org by 22 April 2014

Accepted candidates will be notified by 30 April at the latest. For more information regarding background to the training and key qualifications and competencies, please visit this link.

• The Common Humanitarian Fund (CFH) process has started, for a total allocation of USD 10 million (all sectors)
• The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis is being prepared, and is expected to take place in the second half of April. The cluster is supporting this analysis.
• The agricultural campaign, jointly carried out by FAO, WFP and NGOs partners, is about to start. Preparation is on-going.

• There have been massive displacements of people since January 2014 in Masisi (North Kivu ) due to the activism of armed groups and FDC Nyatura and clashes between elements of the FARDC and APCLS; 17,500 new households displaced since January 2014; population movements observed in Nobili and North Kivu. The humanitarian situation remains dire in the Katanga province, Pweto, Manono and Mitwaba.
• The Multisectoral response plan (25 million USD) will cover interventions for a period of six months from April to September 2014 (USD 13 million required for food security, food and agricultural inputs) and will be discussed at the Inter-Cluster level.
• There has been a deterioration of the security situation in Lodja (Kasai Oriental) from 27 to 30 March 2014 following a local conflict that led to the destruction and burning of houses/huts, which had a negative impact on the humanitarian situation and resulted in IPC Phase 3 food insecurity levels and a GAM rate>10%. An assessment mission is currently underway.
• Pooled Fund: Priority will be given to emergency response funds through specific allocations. The priorities are based on the updated Humanitarian Needs Overview conducted by the provinces with the support of clusters and inputs from the Humanitarian Country Team.
• New IPC Report for DRC (March 2014) has been published.

• Since the beginning of the response in November 2013, approximately 4.6 million affected people have been reached with food assistance. Over 110,000 farmers benefited from seeds distribution due to the concerted efforts of Government and FSAC partners.
• In March 2014, FSAC member reached nearly 622,478 people through general food distributions and 485,285 with cash assistance.
• After extensive consultations with key stakeholders, WFP will target approximately 40,000 households with food-assistance-for-assets (CFA) throughout Eastern Samar and Aklan Province.
• FSAC partners are working to secure the means to help affected households build alternative livelihoods through intercropping, crop diversification, and livestock/poultry raising activities.
• FAO is procuring for each supported household on average 2 kits of assorted vegetable seeds (such as okra, squash and eggplant). FAO is specifically working with and targeting women farmers’ groups supplying them with small start-up food processing equipment to start a livelihood.
• Latest Government figures indicate that approximately 11,619 fisherfolks have received assistance to restore the damaged fishing boats; out of the estimated 30,000 boats damaged. FAO has secured the means to cover more than 50% of the total needs identified. Furthermore, other FSAC partners will support nearly 7,000 vulnerable and small scale household engaged in the fishing sector with various inputs include support to rehabilitate mangroves.
• Responses must be closely monitored and coordinated to reduce vulnerability, build resilience and ensure sustainability.

• As of 3 April, food partners had reached about 519,840 people under the emergency operation. Food assistance has also been provided to 502,941 other food-insecure people, including refugees and displaced people in areas not directly affected by violence.
•  Working with national authorities, the cluster is conducting Food Security Monitoring System (FSMS) surveys in the seven states where there are no active hostilities. A preliminary analysis has been completed and shared with the government. The analysis should be shared with partners by the end of next week. Emergency Food Security Assessments (EFSAs) have been conducted in 20 locations within Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Unity states.
• State-level coordination meetings were held in Bentiu and Rumbek, while a meeting will be held in Bor next week. The objective of the state-level meetings was to address coordination mechanisms at the state-level, identify operational constraints, and identifying gaps in the food security response.
• In Lakes state, markets are functioning normally in Maper, Cuiebet, and Rumbek with stable prices of key commodities. Four markets were visited in Unity state (Bentiu, Pariang, Abiemnhom, and Mayom), and while they were functioning, prices of key commodities were observed to be significantly higher than pre-crisis prices.
• The crisis has increased insecurity along commercial supply routes causing private sector actors to flee the country, market fragmentation, and food and fuel price inflation making availability and affordability a challenge. Access constraints, including insecurity, require a flexible approach to delivering assistance, focusing on rapid distributions and pre-positioning in strategic but accessible hubs.

• New research published by Handicap International and HelpAge International shows that older, disabled and injured Syrian refugees are paying a double toll as a result of the conflict. The report, Hidden victims of the Syrian crisis: disabled, injured and older refugees released provides new data showing how much these vulnerable refugees are struggling to meet their specific needs.

• For information on the Food Security and Nutrition sessions which took place at the Global Conference on Community Health 2014 in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 19-22 March 2014, please visit these links: Summary of Day 2 and Day 3.
• For background  information on Food and Nutrition Security in the Solomon Islands, please read the Australian Government Working Paper AAS-2013-06.
• Wageningen University: Course on Food Security in an Urbanizing Environment, 2 to 13 June 2014. For more information, please visit this link.
• Harvard University Course on Urban Humanitarian Emergencies, July 16 - 18, 2014. For more information, please visit this link.