The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) met in Geneva from 17 to 26 October 2017. The meeting was opened by Dr Kazuaki Miyagishima, Director of the Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses of the World Health Organization (WHO), on behalf of the directors-general of WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The current Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has greatly disrupted the ability to produce, process, distribute, obtain and consume healthy and nutritious foods by families and individuals, leading to significant changes in food prices, availability, access, and affordability. Such rapid changes may lead to deterioration in nutritional and health status of the population.
The Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) has been prepared to guide COVID-19 outbreak response activities. This ESMF outlines the framework and mechanisms for environmental and social impact screening, determining extent of required environmental assessment and assessment of environmental and social impacts arising from proposed project implementation, and gives generic guidance on appropriate mitigation measures, and institutional arrangements for monitoring.
The goal of this plan is to provide a framework for coordination and control of COVID-19 by reduction of importation, transmission, morbidity and mortality in a bid to minimize the social economic disruption that might result from this pandemic. The implementation of this plan will be multi-sectoral involving Ministries, Departments & Agencies (MDAs), Development Partners, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), private sector entities and other stakeholders.
