The Alliance played a major role in helping our partner, the Jordanian Alliance for Combating Hunger and Enhancing Food Security, to organize the Regional Forum to Promote National Alliances Against Hunger in the Near East Region.
This was the first conference in the region to bring together representatives of government, the private sector, and all aspects of civil society in order to explore ways to work together to end hunger. The Forum was hosted by the Jordanian Alliance’s chair, Her Royal Highness, Princess Basma bint Talal - aunt of King Abdullah. The Forum took place in Amman, Jordan, in December 2007, with representatives from throughout the Near East. Delegations came from Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, the Palestinian Authority, Brazil, the United States and elsewhere.
In addition to advising the Jordanian Alliance on the structure and content of the conference, the Alliance to End Hunger led a large U.S. delegation of Alliance members representing a cross section of institutions and religions. The delegation was headed by the Honorable Eva Clayton, an Alliance honorary co-chair and former Member of Congress and Assistant Secretary General of FAO. The delegation included representatives from The Bottle Crew, MAZON: the Jewish Response to Hunger, World Vision, International Relief and Development, Stop Hunger Now, and the Global FoodBanking Network. This was truly an interfaith delegation whose members included a Jewish businessman, a Palestinian development professional, a Methodist minister, and a former Presbyterian Woman of the Year.
Eva Clayton was one of the featured speakers at the opening ceremony. Max Finberg, director of the Alliance, gave a presentation at the forum and organized a panel on foodbanking, an effective public-private response to food security.
Through the formal partnership with the Jordanian Alliance, we will continue to connect Alliance members with opportunities to assist in this country. In 2007, the U.S. and Jordanian Alliances signed a formal partnership. The Alliance is helping make connections between the Jordanian Alliance and organizations in the U.S. who could possibly assist them. Recently, a Jordanian Alliance board member came to Washington, D.C., where the Alliance arranged meetings for him with Members of Congress, administration officials and Alliance members. He also spoke to a large forum on the work of the Jordanian Alliance and then met with more than a dozen leaders of Muslim American organizations and mosques. |
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