Ibrahim Assane Mayaki

Ibrahim Assane Mayaki of the Republic of Niger, is the Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency. He was appointed to the position in January 2009. Prime Minister of Niger from 1997 to 2000, Ibrahim Assane Mayaki has a Master’s degree from the National School of Public Administration (Enap), Quebec, Canada, and a PhD in Administrative Sciences from the University of Paris I, France.

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Josefa Leonel Correia SACKO

Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, an Angolan national, is a leading African Agronomist. She was elected as the new Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission. Prior to that, she was a Special Adviser to the Minister of Environment of Angola, her home country, where she also served as Ambassador responsible for Climate Change. In the Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Josefa Sacko oversaw Food Security, Eradication of Hunger and Poverty Reduction.

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José Graziano da Silva

José Graziano da Silva has worked on food security, rural development, and agriculture issues for over 30 years, most notably as the architect of Brazil’s Zero Hunger (Fome Zero) programme and now as the Director-General of FAO. He led the team that designed the Zero Hunger programme, and, in 2003, was charged by then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to implement the programme as Special Minister of Food Security and the Fight against Hunger.

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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was elected as WHO Director-General for a five-year term by WHO Member States at the Seventieth World Health Assembly in May 2017. He is the first WHO Director-General to have been elected from multiple candidates by the World Health Assembly, and is the first person from the WHO African Region to serve as WHO's chief technical and administrative officer.

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Roberto Azevêdo

Roberto Azevêdo is the sixth Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). His appointment took effect on 1 September 2013, for a four-year term. In February 2017, WTO members reappointed him for a second term, which began on 1 September 2017.

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Moussa Faki Mahamat

Moussa Faki Mahamat, born on 21 June 1960, was elected as the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson on 30 January 2017, and assumed office in March. A Constitutional Lawyer by profession, Moussa Faki Mahamat has occupied senior governmental positions in a career that has spanned over 30 years and includes such tenures as Foreign Minister and Prime Minister in his native country Chad.

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Abiy Ahmed

Abiy Ahmed is an Ethiopian politician serving as the 15th and current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He is Chairman of both the ruling EPRDF (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front) and the ODP (Oromo Democratic Party), which are one of the four coalition parties of the EPRDF. Abiy Ahmed is also an elected member of the Ethiopian parliament, and a member of the ODP and EPRDF Executive Committees.

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Girum Chala

Girum Chala Gemechu is an international journalist currently working for CGTN, as an Africa correspondent based in Ethiopia, AUHQ and UNECA. He has been in the global media platform for more than a decade with experience working on peace and security, politics, agriculture, environment, sports and other issues.

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Nathan Belete

Nathan Belete is an Ethiopian national and a development professional with over 20 years of experience in Asia and Africa. He is currently the Practice Manager for the World Bank’s Agriculture Global Practice for the East Asia and the Pacific Region based in Hanoi, Vietnam.

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Abebe Haile-Gabriel

A national of Ethiopia, Abebe Haile-Gabriel has more than 30 years of extensive experience in strategic leadership and management in complex environments at national, sub-regional and regional levels focused on agricultural and rural development in Africa.

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Robert van Gorcom

Robert van Gorcom graduated in Molecular Sciences at Wageningen University (1981) and received his PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of Amsterdam (1997) on the analysis of gene expression in filamentous fungi.

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Svetlana Akselrod

Svetlana Akselrod, from the Russian Federation, is WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health. She brings more than 15 years of experience in public health coordination and global health diplomacy.

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Mary Lou Valdez

Mary Lou Valdez joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as Associate Commissioner for International Programs in 2009. She leads and manages OIP staff around the world, catalyzing FDA global engagement in collaboration with international health and regulatory partners, ministries of health and agriculture, other U.S. Government Agencies, industry, academia, multilateral organizations, and related stakeholders.

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Arie Havelaar is a Preeminent Professor in the Animal Sciences Department, the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems and the Emerging Pathogens Institute of the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. His research focuses on epidemiology and risk assessment of foodborne and zoonotic diseases and their prevention. He has published extensively on the global burden of foodborne disease. He contributes to the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems, leads the “CAmpylobacter Genetics and Environmental enteric Dysfunction (CAGED)” project and participates in several other projects focusing on food safety in low- and middle-income countries.

Thematic paper: The public health burden of unsafe foods: a need for global commitment

Lead Agricultural Economist with the World Bank’s Agriculture Global Practice. His research, policy and investment project work over 27 years at the World Bank has spanned many themes including food security, food safety, agricultural risk management, agricultural policy, value chain development, and trade and standards compliance. He has had extensive field experience in Africa and Southeast Asia. He led the team which recently produced The Safe Food Imperative: Accelerating Progress in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. In the past few years, he co-led major (Asian) regional research projects on rice and food security, agricultural pollution, agri-food system transformation, urban food systems, and agri-environmental measures in export industries. He has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a DPhil in agricultural economics from Oxford University.

Thematic paper: Economic case for investments in food safety

Ed Mabaya is Manager of the Agribusiness Development division at the African Development Bank. He has more than two decades’ experience in agricultural development, agribusiness value chains and food security issues in Africa. He earned his MSc and PhD degrees in Agricultural Economics at Cornell University, and a BSc in his home country, at the University of Zimbabwe. Ed was listed by Ventures Africa’s as '2016 Top African Innovators to Watch.' He is a 2007 Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellow, a 2016 Aspen Global Voices Fellow and current President of the African Association of Agricultural Economists.

Thematic paper: Leveraging private sector investment for safer value chains

Since 2011, John McDermott has been Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), led by IFPRI. Previously, he was Deputy Director General – Research at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). His research has focused on public health, animal health and livestock in Africa and Asia. McDermott has authored or co-authored 200 peer-reviewed publications, advised over 30 post-graduate students, and served as an advisor to FAO, WHO, and OIE.  He has played a pivotal role in major initiatives, including the establishment of the Biosciences East and Central Africa hub and GALVmed.

Thematic paper: People-focussed food safety investment in low and middle income countries

Chibundu Ezekiel holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology (First Class Honours) and Ph.D. in Mycology/Mycotoxicology. He conducts research on food safety and mycotoxins in Africa. Chibundu Ezekiel was Consultant/Visiting Researcher on aflatoxin control to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and supported research activities in Burkina Faso, Kenya and Nigeria. He also served as Technical Advisor for the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) program of the African Union Commission (Ethiopia), and then proceeded for post-doctoral research at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (IFA-Tulln), Austria. He is a recipient of several grants and awards, and is widely travelled.

Thematic paper: The need for integrated approaches to address food safety risk: the case of mycotoxins in Africa

Cristina Tirado-von der Pahlen works at the interface between science and policy related to climate, health, food and sustainability with the University, UN, governments and NGOs worldwide.  She is Director of Climate Initiatives at the Center for Urban Resilience at Loyola Marymount University. She is a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) AR6 Health chapter to be published in 2022. Formerly, she served as WHO Adviser in Europe and in Latin America, Coordinator of the WHO Surveillance Program at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Berlin, and Director of the PHI's Center for Climate and Health. She is a DVM with MS/PhD degrees in Environmental Sciences from Cornell. 

Thematic paper: Climate change and implications for food safety 

Howard-Yana Shapiro has been involved with sustainable agricultural and agroforestry systems, plant breeding, molecular biology and genetics, and systems biology for over 50 years. He led the global effort sequencing, assembling and annotating the Theobroma cacao genome, and founded the African Orphan Crops Consortium and the African Plant Breeding Academy in 2011. In October 2017, he launched the Foldit Aflatoxin Puzzle with 460,000 gamers to redesign and improve enzymes to degrade aflatoxins. On 7 August 2018, he published a landmark paper in PLOS Biology, “Nitrogen fixation in a landrace of maize is supported by a mucilage-associated diazothrophic microbiota.”

Thematic paper: Safe, sustainable, crop production: meeting the goals

Tim McAllister’s research focusses on strategies to eliminate E. coli O157 throughout the food production system and the ecology of antibiotic resistant bacteria in agricultural systems. He has used pioneering techniques like plant bioactives and bacteriophage to control pathogens both on farm and in food. He has published over 700 scientific manuscripts in over 100 different journals covering all known principal life forms. Tim McAllister is a contributor to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, a recipient of Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Award for the Production of Safe and Affordable Food, and the Governor General's Award for outstanding public sector scientist.

Thematic paper: Safe and sustainable livestock production

Veterinarian of the University of Chile, Diploma in Management skills and Good Practices in Veterinary Pharmacology (University of Chile). Former National Director of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service. Head of the Aquaculture division of the Fisheries Subsecretariat, he has been General Manager of a veterinary pharmaceutical company. Specialization studies in the area of Quality Management, Project Planning, Epidemiology and analysis of risks associated with aquatic diseases, food safety, both in Chile and abroad. Member of expert technical commissions specialized in the field of aquatic animals, Executive Secretary of the National Commission of Aquaculture of Chile. Participated in the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreements of Chile with the EU, China, Canada, USA, among others. Researcher in the veterinary faculty of the University of Chile.

Thematic paper: Safe and sustainable aquaculture intensification

Eva Maria Binder is Chief Research Officer at ERBER AG. After obtaining her PhD in biochemistry and biotechnology at the Vienna University of Technology, she joined BIOMIN as R&D project manager, was appointed CSO of BIOMIN and ROMER Groups in 2002, and moved to Singapore. Since 2005, she is CRO at ERBER AG. In 2018, she was assigned Managing Director of ERBER Future Business (EFB). Eva Maria Binder is deputy chair of the Scientific Board of the Christian Doppler Society and has been head of the Scientific Committee of the World Nutrition Forum since 2008; she edited several books (animal nutrition, mycotoxin management).

Thematic paper: Alternative food and feed products

Leon joined Unilever R&D in 1997. He has been based in the UK, China and The Netherlands. His expertise is in food microbiology, food safety management; microbiological hazards and risks.Leon chairs the IUFoST Food Safety Committee; he is a fellow of IAFoST and IAFP.  He was part-time professorship at Wageningen University (2001-2012) and is a visiting professor at three Universities in Beijing and Shanghai. Leon is Secretary of ICMSF and represents ICMSF at Codex Alimentarius. He is on the roster of JEMRA (the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment) 

Session: Panel scission Civil Society & Private Sector

Cris Muyunda is a lead agribusiness strategy and development specialist. His key interests are on efforts to ensure the African private sector becomes a reliable supplier of safe, quality foods in local, regional and international markets. Cris Muyunda was elected Chairman of the CAADP Non State Actors Coalition (CNC) in 2017. Previously, Cris Muyunda was founding CEO of the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA), Senior Agricultural Advisor for COMESA (2005-2009) and USAID Economic Growth Deputy Director USAID Mission to Zambia (1998-2005).  Cris Muyunda attended university in Zambia and undertook post graduate research in Western Australia, Northern California and state of Pennsylvania, USA and holds a PhD in business competitiveness

Session: Civil Society

Samuel Godefroy is a Full Professor of Food Risk Analysis and Regulatory Policies in the Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada. Before joining Université Laval in the fall of 2015, Dr. Godefroy completed a secondment with the World Bank’s Global Food Safety Partnership where he led the development and adoption by consensus of the 2015-2020 strategic framework this public-private partnership devoted to food safety capacity building. Dr. Godefroy assumed senior food regulatory positions at the executive level with Health Canada for over 10 years, including the position of Director General at Health Canada’s Food Directorate – the federal food standard setting organization in Canada – from 2009 to 2015.Samuel also served as Vice Chair of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the international food standard setting body from 2011 to 2014.

Session: CSO and Private Sector Panel

Dr Laura Fernández Celemín holds a degree in dietetics & human nutrition and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. Laura joined EUFIC in 2002 and she fulfilled different roles in the organisation before taking the leadership in 2015. Her role as Director General of EUFIC includes deciding on the Nutrition and Food Safety strategy for EUFIC and the supervision of EUFIC activities in EU-funded research projects. Laura has published several manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, trade magazines and other specialised press. In addition, she has given numerous presentations about EUFIC, EUFIC’s consumer research, as well as on results from EU-project research and other topics to various audiences.

Session: Civil Society

Owen Paul Fraser is the President of the Sub-Saharan Africa Section of the AOAC INTERNATIONAL. He also works as a Scientist at the Nestlé Institute of Food Safety and Analytical Sciences, Nestlé Research in Lausanne, Switzerland. He worked previously as the Head of the Nestlé Quality Assurance Centre in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and as Quality Assurance and Scientific Support Manager at the Nestlé Research & Development Centre also in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Owen has a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Westminster in collaboration with Imperial College London and St Georges University of London.

Session: Civil Society

Greg S. Garrett directs GAIN's food policy and financing programs. Before joining GAIN in 2011, he spent over a decade in senior roles at Abt Associates, Futures Group, Soros Foundation, Global Fund and PSI. This included five years working in Asia delivering national health and nutrition programs. Greg is on the Executive Management Team of the Food Fortification Initiative and on the Board of the Iodine Global Network. He holds a B.A. and an MSc in international development from the University of Bath, U.K.

Session: Private sector and civil society

Dr. Barbara Kowalcyk is a recognized expert in food safety and has a strong analytical background. She spent the first 10 years of her career in the pharmaceutical industry as a biostatistician conducting clinical research. In 2001, her focus shifted to food safety when her 2 ½ year old son Kevin died from complications due to an E. coli O157:H7 infection. Since 2001, Barb has worked to improve food safety by bridging the gap between research and policy. In 2006, she co-founded the Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing foodborne disease by advancing a stronger, more science-based food safety system that improves public health locally and globally. In 2017, Barb joined the faculty of the Department of Food Science and Technology at The Ohio State University. She is also affiliated with OSU’s Translational Data Analytics Institute, Global One Health initiative and College of Public Health. Barb currently serves as a CFI Board Director.

Session: CSO-Private Sector Panel

David Crean is currently the Vice President, Corporate R&D for Mars Incorporated based in McLean, Virginia. Previously he was the Global Research and Development (R&D) Staff Officer from 2009 to 2014. Prior to 2009, he served three years as the Technology Staff Officer of Mars Western Europe, in Slough, UK. From 1999 to 2006, David was the Vice President of Innovation for the Mars European Food Business, located at Oud-Beijerland, The Netherlands. He was the Vice President of Research and Development (Snackfood and Petcare) at Masterfoods Polska , Sochaczew, Poland for three years and R&D Director at Masterfoods in Poland for two years. Prior to his Mars career, he was a Microbiologist with the Public Health Laboratory Service in Liverpool, UK (1983 to 1986). David graduated with a BA (Hons) Degree in Applied Biology in 1982 from Liverpool Polytechnic with specialisms in Microbial Pathogenicity and Virology.

Session: Civil Society and Private Sector

Juno Thomas’ areas of expertise include communicable disease epidemiology, surveillance and outbreak response. She leads syndromic and laboratory-based surveillance activities for priority enteric bacterial and viral pathogens (including typhoid fever, salmonellosis, cholera, listeriosis, shigellosis and rotavirus). Dr Thomas oversees the food- and water-borne disease outbreak investigation and response activities of her centre, providing key epidemiological and laboratory support to the South African National Department of Health as well as neighbouring southern African countries. Her research activities focus on identifying opportunities for locally relevant public health interventions for endemic enteric diseases and foodborne disease outbreaks.

Thematic paper: Whole-genome sequencing: Paving the way forward globally to better understand food systems

Aideen Mc Kevitt holds a BSc in Industrial Microbiology, MSc in Food Microbiology, and a Higher Diploma in Education from University College Dublin. She completed her PhD in Medical Science at the University of Calgary specializing in microbial pathogenesis. Her postdoctoral research in microbial toxicology and molecular biology was at the University of British Columbia. She returned to Ireland to take up a post as a research scientist at University College Cork. She has held lecturing posts at a number of institutions in Ireland, the UK and abroad. Aideen McKevitt has a strong interest in curriculum development in the areas of Food Safety, Food Regulation, Veterinary Public Health, Nutrition and Food Science and has designed and delivered a range of inter and intra institutional e-learning postgraduate courses including courses targeted to the requirements of the food industry. She has managed EU funded research projects including EQUASE (Quality Assurance in Water Microbiology); Leonardo da Vinci (Curriculum Design) and has participated in the EU-funded 7th Framework project FACET (Flavourings, Additives and Food Contact materials Exposure Task)2008-2012. Her research interests are in the area of Food Safety, Food Chemical Exposure, Veterinary Pubic Health, and consumer protection.

Thematic paper: Novel food production

Steven Musser is the Deputy Center Director for Scientific Operations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).  In addition to managing the Center’s scientific operations, he oversees the Center’s activities in cosmetics safety, color certification, pre-market review of food additives, food contact notifications and foods derived from bioengineered plants. He has directed the Center’s research in precedent setting areas of food and cosmetic safety research, which include food allergen detection, methods for detecting chemical contaminants, dietary supplement analysis, and the use of whole genome sequencing during foodborne illness outbreak investigations.

Thematic paper: Novel analytical methods and models for enhanced food safety

Kennedy Bomfeh is a Food Scientist with research interest in Food Safety Risk Assessment. He is presently looking into the impacts of traditional and novel fish-smoking techniques on the safety of smoked fish in Ghana at Ghent University, Belgium (PhD study). He also oversees food safety quality management in the production of a food supplement for a research in the University of Ghana, aimed at improving the nutritional status of Ghanaian children aged 6 to 24 months.

Thematic paper: Policy considerations for the development and adoption of technologies for food value chains in Africa: the case of improved fish smoking kilns

Mark Booth is the Chief Executive Officer of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) – a bi-national government agency that develops and administers the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code as well as undertaking a number of other food related activities. Prior to joining FSANZ in early 2017, Mark Booth had a career predominantly in the health sector looking at strategic policy issues.  He has worked in the public, private and academic sectors in the UK, New Zealand, Australia and the USA. Mark Booth’s original background was as in health economics and he has post graduate qualifications in Economics, Public Administration and Public Health.

Thematic paper: Digital transformation of food systems

Francesco Branca is the Director of the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development in the World Health Organization, Geneva. During his tenure, WHO has developed a nutrition strategy, established a new nutrition guideline development process and developed a Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition with six global targets. He has been leading the preparation of the 2nd International Conference on Nutrition and its implementation through the Decade of Action on Nutrition. He has been a Senior Scientist at the Italian Food and Nutrition research Institute where he was leading studies on the effects of food and nutrients on human health at the different stages of the life cycle and on the impact of public health nutrition programmes. He has been President of the Federation of the European Nutrition Societies in 2003-2007. Dr Branca graduated in Medicine and Surgery and specialized in Diabetology and Metabolic Diseases at the Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma and obtained a PhD in Nutrition at Aberdeen University.

Barbara Gallani is Head of EFSA’s Communication Engagement and Cooperation Department. She was listed as one of the UK Top 100 Scientists by the Science Council in January 2014, for her work on the application of science and evidence to ensure proportionate regulation. Barbara Gallani has extensive experience of communicating complex issues in the areas of food safety, authenticity and research to lay audiences; managing incidents and food scares; and developing and delivering specialist training courses on risk communication for the UK and global audiences. Barbara is a Chartered Scientist and Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and has 16 years of professional experience, both in the public and private sector. Before joining EFSA, she worked in the UK at the Food and Drink Federation, at the British Retail Consortium and at the UK Food Standards Agency, including a secondment to the European Commission (DG SANCO) and a BA Media Fellowship on science communication at the Daily Telegraph. She also worked at the European Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC) in Brussels. Barbara holds a Bachelor's Degree in Physics, a Post Graduate Certificate in Education PGCE (Physics and Sciences) and a Master's Degree in Advanced Instrumentation Systems.

Thematic paper: Understanding food safety risks and uncertainties and meeting citizens’ expectations as food systems become more complex

Professor Lynn Frewer is chair of Food and Society at Newcastle University (UK). Previously, she was Professor of Food Safety and Consumer Behaviour at Wageningen University (Netherlands), and Head of Consumer Science at the Institute of Food Research at Norwich (UK). Lynn Frewer’s research interests focus on developing effective risk and benefit communication strategies with consumers, understanding and measuring societal and individual responses to risks and benefits associated with food security issues throughout the supply chain, and agrifood governance and associated policy issues. Lynn Frewer also has interests in stakeholder engagement in the development of improved food security linked to agrifood research.

Thematic paper: Effective communication and engagement with the public about food safety and quality issues in the digital age

Stephen Mbithi Mwikya, PhD (50) is an international consultant on standards, policy and trade, including food safety. He is currently a technical advisor on fisheries and agriculture in Namibia. From 2007-2014, Stephen Mbithi was the CEO of the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK), a sector where small scale farmers export about US$ 500 million annually mainly to the EU. Stephen Mbithi was key in the benchmarking of KenyaGAP to GLOBALGAP (2007) and was later the GLOBALGAP Ambassador for Africa. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Association of Fish Processors and Exporters of Kenya (AFIPEK), where he played a key role in the listing of Kenya from List 3 to List 1 of fish exporting countries to the EU in 2003. In 2014, he was the consultant responsible for drafting of Namibia Food Safety Policy, which brings together 5-line ministries. Stephen Mbithi has long term experience with the implementation of public and private sector collaboration on food safety.

Thematic paper: Harnessing market drivers of food safety

Rebecca Berner is Institutional Development Director at El Poder del Consumidor ("Consumer Power"), a Mexican non-profit organization that advocates for policies in the public interest that defend consumer rights as well as the right to health, food, nutrition, water, clean air and safe & sustainable urban mobility. Working in collaboration with the national Nutritional Health Alliance, El Poder del Consumidor seeks to advance an evidence-based, comprehensive policy agenda to ensure healthy food environments and systems, and to prevent obesity and undernutrition. Rebecca contributes to awareness-raising, alliance-building and innovation efforts, including participation in the development and evaluation of mass media campaigns.

Thematic paper: Sharing responsibility for consumer empowerment