Governance (ISC)

International Steering Committee

The International Steering Committee of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF ISC) is the governing body for the Decade of Family Farming and was set up to oversee its implementation.

The Committee consists of representatives of the Member States of the United Nations that act on behalf of different regions. Each region is represented by two countries that change every 11 months. The Committee also includes family farming organisations (La Vía Campesina, the World Rural Forum (WRF), the World Farmers Organisation (WFO) and 5 regional family farming organisations, including COPROFAM, AFA, ROPPA, PIFON and La Via Campesina Europe), FAO, IFAD and WFP.

Currently, the countries representing each region are the following:

• South America: Costa Rica and Dominican Republic (alternates,Panamá y Perú)
• North America: Canada (alternate USA)
• Africa: Angola and Burkina Faso
• Asia: India and the Philippines (alternates, Indonesia and Bangladesh)
• Europe: Switzerland and France (alternates Italy and Hungary)
• Middle East: Kuwait and Iran
• Pacific: Australia (alternate New Zealand)

The UNDFF ISC is supported by the FAO and IFAD joint secretariat.

The responsibilities of the Presidency of the UNDFF ISC lie currently with Costa Rican government and the powers of the Vice Presidencies devolve on the Kuwaiti government and the World Rural Forum (WRF).