On 6–8 May 2024, the WHO Nutrition and Food Safety Department is hosting the inception meeting for the WHO Alliance for Food Safety in Geneva, Switzerland. This hybrid meeting, organized in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States of America, brings together WHO collaborating centres and other institutions with demonstrated leadership and technical competency to support the implementation of the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022–2030, particularly in the area of foodborne disease surveillance.

The Strategy, adopted by Member States at the 75th Session of the World Health Assembly – Resolution WHA75(22) – sets concrete global food safety targets to be reached by 2030, including a progress indicator on surveillance of foodborne diseases and contamination. Currently, there is no global mechanism in place to align efforts in this area and to provide innovation and support to countries in a coordinated way.

To address this gap, WHO is convening a meeting with its network of collaborating centres and other institutions with the following objectives: 1) to develop the terms of reference of the WHO Alliance for Food Safety, identifying its added value in the area of foodborne diseases surveillance and 2) to develop a draft work plan 2023–2030 to help countries meet the WHO target of foodborne disease surveillance by 2030.