Following the success of the IPC Partners and Donors Meeting held on 4 October 2013, this year, the IPC Global Steering Committee organized a two-day IPC Global Event under the theme "Use and Impact of IPC at the Global, Regional and Country Level" which took place on 1-2 July 2014, at FAO-HQs, Rome, Italy.

The IPC Global Event was structured as a two-day series of consultations and interactive seminars including special sessions to launch the IPC Chronic Food Insecurity Classification and present the new IPC Nutrition Classification initiative.

The first day, July 1, was dedicated to the presentation of the preliminary findings of the Baseline Study on the Use and Impact of IPC which was conducted in 12 countries. Representatives of the IPC global partners, funding agencies, regional inter-government bodies, and relevant food security programming and policy organizations reviewed, debated and validated the findings and provided inputs, insights and experiences on the use and impact of IPC at all levels.

"The IPC has very commendable track record. As for FAO, IPC is integrated into the FAO Strategic Framework and provides structure for number of strategic issues extremely relevant for FAO" stated Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Director General, FAO Economic and Social Development Department at the opening session. Ambassador Laurence Argimon-Pistre, Permanent Representative of the European Union in Rome, also stated that "IPC fully fits into the EU food security and nutrition spending approach. We are using IPC analysis as well CH of West Africa to feed our assessment". The importance and need of evidence-based analysis to timely inform international response and the IPC contribution to this global effort was highlighted by John Barrett, Deputy Director, Research and Evidence Division of DFID, who also defined the "three words that capture what the IPC global event is: important, exciting and incredibly worthwhile".

The presentation of the preliminary findings of the IPC Baseline Study was followed by panel discussions and working group sessions involving diverse stakeholders who shared common challenges, opportunities and lessons learned regarding the institutionalization and use of IPC. From a country prospective, like Kenya, "we have used IPC since 2007 and it is the Government leading IPC in the country and it does not work alone; it works with all other stakeholders. It has also created institutions both at national and county level to conduct IPC analysis", said James Oduor, Chief Executive Officer National Drought Management Authority in Kenya.

Sue Lautze, Head of Office, FAO in South Sudan and UN South Sudan Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, also asserted that "If people understand how serious the crisis in is South Sudan it is because of IPC, the IPC is the only voice because is consensus-based". Challenges and issues in using IPC were also stressed , in particular,  the level of analysis, data generation , specificities of certain indicators  which are country specific and challenge the comparability of the IPC analysis, the timeframe of which the information must be collected, analysed and disseminated.

The second day of the IPC Global Event was an open-day to all interested in learning more on the relevance and usefulness of IPC analysis for strategic decision making. In the morning session, the IPC for Decision Makers Seminar Series covered key IPC topics with brief overviews, real practical examples and case studies. The afternoon session served as a platform to launch IPC Chronic Food Insecurity Classification and presents the new IPC Nutrition Classification initiative. 

Overall, all the contributions and feedback collected during the two days of the IPC Global Event will allow refining the IPC Baseline Study as well as helping focus on how IPC can be made more relevant and useful for decision makers.