Jun 13, 2021

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has recently been invited to co-convene regional dialogues for the United Nations (UN) Food Systems Summit alongside the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Wasafiri Hub. As ICC Regional Coordinator of the B-MENA Region, ICC Qatar will participate in the MENA Regional Dialogue 'Small Businesses: Good Food for All – MENA' to engage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The 2-hour virtual event will take place on Monday 14th June 2021 at 11 AM Doha time. Registration is now open at https://bit.ly/3up6viY The ICC Qatar member, Dr Ghada Darwish, Founder and Managing Partner of Dr. Ghada M. Darwish Karbon Law Firm, will represent the ICC Qatar at the virtual event and contribute as a convener. ICC Qatar is calling on SMEs operating in the agri-food industry to participate in the dialogue, share their knowledge and expertise to enrich the session outcomes. The sessions aim to; spotlight the role that SMEs have in the food system; enhance the role of SMEs in providing quality food for all, as well as identify actionable pathways for SMEs to contribute more significantly to positively transform the food system. Ultimately, the UN FSS seeks to make our food systems more nutritious, sustainable, fair and resilient. The MENA dialogue is one part of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UN FSS) regional dialogues series; there will be a total of 12 regional dialogues. The virtual session will be highly interactive, with small breakout sessions to enable participants to discuss and exchange experiences, challenges, and ideas for SMEs' business and policy solutions to be significant contributors to transform the food system positively. From food producers to food distributors, businesses such as bakeries, farmers, coffee shops all the way to digital start-ups play a vital role in food economies. On a country level, SMEs often account for a large percentage of businesses in the agri-food sector, have a hefty economic value, and are responsible for producing jobs in the country and handling food consumption. During the Covid-19 pandemic, these companies have continued to persevere and move quickly to ensure food security. SMEs in the agri-food sector make many decisions that shape their diets which is often overlooked. Therefore, cooperation with small and medium businesses is necessary to provide good food to all. Their collective response will shape the future of the food systems and will move forward to the global Food System Summit dialogue 2021.\n