In 2015-16, gFSC will continue to strengthen the capacity of the country clusters to respond to the food security needs of individuals and communities in humanitarian crises. The work of gFSC will be organized around six results, while remaining responsive to partners’ needs:

1. Strengthened and Developed National Clusters' Capacity
2. Harmonized and Globalized Information Management System
3. Improved Operational and Surge Support to National Clusters
4. Scaled-up advocacy, communications and resource mobilization
5. Deepened and Diversified Global Partnerships & Operational Collaborations
6. Systematized Learning & Knowledge Management Processes

The gFSC Strategic Plan is now available on the FSC website.

The 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.

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.

The role of the gFSC support team is to provide guidance and support to country-level clusters. In 2014, gFSC organized its work around four pillars, as identified in the 2013-2014 Strategic Plan:

1. Operational and Surge Support to National Clusters
2. Capacity development in support of national clusters
3. Information management and learning
4. Advocacy, communication and partnerships

• The coordination of partners’ projects submission in Online Project System (OPS) is now finalized. In total, 162 projects from fifty NGOs, seven from FAO and two from WFP have been consolidated into seven programmes elaborated by the FSC on the basis of SRP objectives. The total amount requested is US$205 million (costing based on implementation capacity), and is thus very close to the amount of US$195 million requested in the SRP (calculated using the “activity-based costing” methodology and based on humanitarian needs). The combination of activity-based and project-based costing methodologies should be acknowledged as a good practice for budgeting strategic response plans while ensuring at the same time more coordinated and harmonized programming.
• Planning of the agricultural campaign is ongoing through strong coordination between FAO, WFP and FSC partners: seeds and tools are under procurement by FAO for a preliminary target of 61,400 households for distribution in April in time for the crop season. WFP is planning to provide seeds protection rations for an estimated 70,000 households, and the two agencies are now determining the priority areas and implementing partner NGOs. Coordination is also ongoing for food-for-work programming, early warning and surveillance mechanisms and P4P, to ensure that WFP and FAO share knowledge, pool resources and promote integrated food security and livelihood programming.  
• The selection of projects for the first allocation of the Common Humanitarian Fund is now finalized: the three projects recommended by the FSC for funding have been accepted for a total amount of US$1 million (out of a total of ten million).

• The FSC cluster is supporting coordination in Ninewa trough its coordination hub in Dohuk by organizing a Food Security dedicated coordination cell for Ninewa’s accessible areas (Sinjar, Zummar, Al-Qosh and part of Tel-Afar) composed by the FSC partners that are operationals in the area.
• FSC together with OCHA and other clusters is working on the Mosul contingency plan.
• FSC is leading coordination in livelihoods interventions in Dohuk.

• Critical needs in South Sudan are immediate access to food, agricultural inputs before the planting season, and support to rehabilitate/construct community livelihood infrastructure.
• The latest IPC Update of the food security projections estimated in September 2014 confirms that 2.5 million people are facing Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and Crisis (IPC Phase 3) food insecurity levels between January and March 2015.
• Key contributing factors to the country’s food insecurity are conflict-related displacement, disruptions in livestock and crop based production, high staple food prices, and high malnutrition.
• The FSL cluster is taking a lead role in facilitating food security assessments in Pigi and Ayod Counties, and has deplpyed technical experts on a needs basis, as per FSL partner demands.
• An evaluation survey was carried out in January 2015, to assess the performance of the cluster in achieving core functions and the accountability of the cluster to affected populations. The findings will be discussed with participants, including cross-cutting focal points, during a cluster meeting in order to decide on appropriate actions to be taken for improvement, if needed. (More information is available in the FSC Bulletin - January 2015).

• A new Food Security Cluster Coordinator, Abibu Tamu, was deployed to Monrovia on 18 February.
• According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), as of 31 January 2015, the cumulative total of suspected, probable and confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Liberia stood at 8,678. Case incidence declined from a peak of over 300 new confirmed cases per week in August and September 2014 to only 5 new confirmed Ebola cases in the week ending 1 February - compared to 4 last week.
• Find out about mVAM remote food security monitoring for the Ebola-affected countries in West Africa in the  third issue of the Regional mVAM bulletin focusing on the Ebola outbreak.
• To learn about FAO's response to EVD outbreak, please visit here.

• A new Food Security Cluster Coordinator, Elena Rovaris, has been deployed to Ukraine on 5 February. Cluster meetings are held every two weeks. All partners working on food security issues in Ukraine are encouraged to approach the FSC.
• Needs: Considering the ongoing instability, prepositioning food in key locations within NGCAs is a priority. Following implementation of Government of Ukraine access regulations, food availability in Non-Governmental Controlled Area (NGCA) is increasingly worrying, especially in areas outside of urban zones. This issue is compounded by the closure of state services and banks, inaccessible pensions, depleted savings and the overall lack of available hard currency in NGCA. Support, protection and promotion of breastfeeding and safe complementary feeding are urgently needed for the population in NGCAs and for IDPs.
• Response: Food parcels were provided to 4,260 individuals in NGCA of Donetsk, including Donetsk city, Horlivka, Debaltseve, Yenakiieve, Makiivka, and Amvrosiivka. Voucher distributions are ongoing for over 2,000 individuals in NGCA of Donetsk. 3,700 food parcels are being distributed in Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Novoaidar. 1,000 parcels are being delivered to Luhansk.
• Gaps & Constraints: Although access to vulnerable and trapped groups remains a challenge, so far partners have been able to reach out to the affected population. Security-related access issues, new regulations imposed by the Government of Ukraine has led to significant supply problems as clearance processes are heavily bureaucratic, slow, and inconsistently enforced. Up-to-date information on the nutritional status of most nutritionally vulnerable groups (children under age 5, pregnant and lactating women, elderly people) in NGCAs and IDPs is lacking.

• The Feinstein International Center's new report "Against the Grain: The Cereal Trade in Darfur."  is the third in a series of in-depth studies researching and analyzing the impact of conflict and associated factors on trade in Darfur’s main agricultural and livestock commodities. This third study explores both the impact of a decade of conflict and the impact of a decade of food assistance (in-kind food aid and, more recently, food vouchers) on the cereal market, as well as the influence of government policy. The report ends with recommendations for a wide variety of stakeholders looking to improve policies or programs in the region.
• In 2014, the Humanitarian Committee of the Danish NGO Forum started a capacity building project, “Accountability in Action”, to develop and strengthen accountability through a number of workshops. A webinar series was developed as a part of this project, including sessions on 1) Basic Accountability Principles and Benchmarks; 2) The Accountability Chain when Working in Partnerships & Alliances; 3) Working with Accountability during Conflict; 4) Improving Impact - Do Accountability Mechanisms Deliver Results? and 5) Management and Implementation of Accountability Commitments.
• IASC Gender Alert, February 2015 - Humanitarian Crisis in West Africa (Ebola) has been published: The Ebola crisis is having a signficant impact on the livelihoods of the affected populations, their purchasing power and their ability to fend for themselves. With market closures, closed borders and reduced agricultrual production, rising prices are more pronounced on food items than on non-food items. As a consequence, levels of food insecurity are rising. This is especially true amongst the rural poor and in particular female-and child-headed households, who often face additional constraints in rural areas due to their limited access to resources and services.
• A new e-learning course entitled: "Qualitative Methods for Assessing the Impact of Development Programmes on Food Security" is now available free of charge online and on CD-Rom. The course was jointly developed by Wageningen University and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This course promotes a common methodological approach and a set of practical tools to provide guidance and assist, programme managers, and monitoring and evaluation officers, on the use qualitative methods to conduct the assessment of food security and nutrition impact, of development programmes. This course is part of a series of three courses in this thematic area, accessible from the same website, namely: "Assessing Impact of Development Programmes on Food Security" available in English, French and Spanish and "Monitoring and Evaluation of Food and Agriculture Programmes" soon available in English.
• OCHA's Communications with Communities (CwC) activities in 2014: There was a sharp rise in the number of people affected by conflict and millions were forced to flee and became dependent on humanitarian aid for their survival. As the scale and frequency of humanitarian crises increased throughout the year, many humanitarian actors recognized that communication is a form of assistance as important as water, food and shelter. Here is an update of OCHA and partners' efforts to make CwC an integral part of humanitarian responses in 2014.
• The Food Security Information Network (FSIN) supports the development and harmonization of resilience measurement methods. In this context, a resilience measurement technical working group composed of renowned experts was constituted to lead the development of principles and A Common Analytical Model for Resilience Measurement.
• As part of a three-phase project, FSIN sponsored a comparative study of the globally managed cross-country price and market information systems to assess complementarities and overlaps.This report contains a review of these databases in terms of data collection, quality control mechanisms, management, use, analysis methods and tools. It includes recommendations to improve the integration and harmonization of the FAO, WFP and FEWS NET databases, in order to improve efficiency and enhance inter-operability.

• Food Security Cluster Coordinator, Amman, Jordan. Deadline: 31 March 2015
• CARE Food Security and Nutrition Roster for Emergency Deployment - To apply, please visit this link.
• COOPI is recruiting a Regional Emergency Coordinator in DRC. Deadline: 1 March 2015. For further information, please visit this link.
• UNICEF/Mali is advertising a vacancy announcement for a 9-month TA for Nutrition M&E to cover a period of maternity leave.  Interested candidates should send their complete Personal History (P11) form, up-to-date CV/resume, as well as a cover letter explaining what makes them suitable for this position, to Mali_Recruitment@unicef.org by 26 February 2015.

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