The global Food Security Cluster (gFSC) Partners' Meeting was held 7-8 May 2014 in Rome, Italy. The meeting brought together more than 70 participants and observers representing 39 partner agencies.

The overall purpose of the meeting was to review the work of the gFSC throughout 2013 and early 2014, and to confirm priority areas for 2014. These objectives were addressed through presentations, panel discussions and plenary sessions leading to the capturing of best practice and recommendations on future work to advance them further.

The meeting was chaired by Allister Clewlow from Samaritan’s Purse, one of the several partner organizations that took an active role in the meeting. Panel discussions were provided by a range of partners working in specific technical areas relating to food security, as well as external technical specialists, and representatives of the Cluster Lead Agencies (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and United Nations World Food Programme).

Discussions and outputs were enriched by the participation of active country-level cluster coordinators, whose ground-level experience in cluster responsibilities was especially valuable in highlighting the challenges and successes of the Food Security Clusters in action.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the formal introduction of the new management team of the global Food Security Cluster. Three new senior-level staff had recently joined the team: the new Global Coordinator Cyril Ferrand, the Senior Programme Advisors Anne Callanan and Ariella Glinni. With the engagement of the new team, strategic planning for the Cluster for 2015-16 will take place. It will be based on feedback from this meeting, recommendations of the formal evaluation of the cluster and partner inputs. This will be an inclusive process and the new Strategic Plan will be presented at the next Partners Meeting for approval.

Partners’ expertise was captured in particular when the Working Groups reported back to the Plenary at the beginning of the meeting. Three working groups presented the outcomes of their deliberations held the day before the meeting. These working groups are focused on: Cash and Vouchers, Programme Quality and Food Security in Urban Environments. The theme of programme quality was carried through the meeting, with additional sessions on the topic.