Great news out of Washington, DC: On March 10th, by voice vote with no vocal opposition, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) passed S. 1252, the Global Food Security Act (GFSA), a key piece of legislation to fight hunger and strengthen food security.

Around the world, approximately 795 million people suffer from hunger. While progress has been made in recent years to reduce this number, we still have a long way to go to ensure food security for all.

The Global Food Security Act strengthens efforts to combat hunger by permanently authorizing Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s food security initiative currently operating in 19 focus countries around the globe, as part of a comprehensive food and nutrition security strategy. Action Against Hunger conducts Feed the Future programming in several countries.

The GFSA also authorizes continued use of the International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account to respond to emergency food needs in places where natural or man-made disasters have occurred by creating the Emergency Food Security Program.

The Feed the Future initiative was launched in 2010, but it hasn’t yet been formally put into law. If the GFSA is approved by both the House and Senate and is signed by the president, this would ensure that Feed the Future would continue under subsequent administrations after President Obama’s term ends in 2017.

Now that the Global Food Security Act has been approved by the committee, the next step is for the full Senate to hold a vote on the bill. We hope to see floor votes on GFSA soon in both House and Senate.

Action Against Hunger applauds the Senate Foreign Relations committee for passing GFSA. We would like to thank the bill’s sponsors, Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Robert Casey (D-PA), as well as Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) and Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-MD), for their leadership in moving GFSA forward. We hope the full Senate will vote on this important legislation very soon.