14 May 2013, Rome, Italy - FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva met today with Richard Dictus, Executive Director of the United Nations Volunteer Programme, a UN organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide.

Graziano da Silva and Dictus agreed to explore ways of improving and expanding collaboration. More than 7000 UN Volunteers work in some 132 countries worldwide, Dictus told Graziano da Silva. Dictus added that these [...]

14 May 2013, Rome, Italy – FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today met with a delegation from Côte d’Ivoire headed by Mamadou Fofana, Special Advisor to the President of the Republic for the Environment, Water Resources and Forests. The delegation is in Rome this week for the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition. 

The delegation included representatives from a wide range of government ministries, including Agriculture, Planning, Water and [...]

13 May 2013, Rome, Italy – FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today met with Henri Djombo, the Minister of Forest Economy, the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Republic of the Congo, after the opening session of the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition, the first of its kind, held in Rome. Djombo is a keynote speaker featured this week. 

The Director-General praised the Congo for showing [...]

13 May 2013, Rome, Italy - FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today met with Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the sidelines of the first International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition being held this week in Rome.

Graziano da Silva and Ferreira de Souza Dias took a moment to review the two organizations’ joint work and how relationships have [...]

13 May 2013, Rome, Italy - FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva met today with Gabriel Tchango, Gabon’s Minister for Water and Forests, on the same day that FAO began a week-long International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition, the first of its kind. The Gabonese Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Célestine Oguewa Ba, was also present for the bilateral discussions following the opening session of the Conference. 

The Director-General [...]

13 May 2013, New York, USA - Sustainable development efforts will amount to little if there is no continued progress on global food security and nutrition, declared FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva in a keynote speech to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. “Last June’sRio+Conference made a clear link between food security and the future we want,” remarked Dr. Da Silva via video-link. “We cannot [...]

8 May 2013, Rome, Italy - FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva met with Nikolay Prisyazhnyuk, Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food to discuss the further strengthening of the already excellent collaboration with the country. 

The Director-General expressed his appreciation for Ukraine’s role in the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), a G20 initiative to enhance food market transparency and encourage coordination of policy action in response to market uncertainty, the secretariat of which is hosted by FAO. 

The Minister highlighted the important role and potential of Ukraine, [...]

7 May 2013, Rome, Italy - FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva warmly welcomed an Indonesian delegation to FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy today.  

Helmy F. Zaini, Minister for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions, Republic of Indonesia, and the Director-General discussed the importance of a ‘blue economy’ and the priority FAO has placed on fisheries and aquaculture in several regions.

“Efforts to end hunger and fight [...]

4 May 2013, Havana - FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva has acknowledged Cuba's efforts to ensure the food security of its population at a meeting on Friday with President Raul Castro. He invited the President  to a ceremony marking the achievement during  FAO's governing Conference in Rome next month.  

"Cuba is one of the 16 countries of the world which have already reached the [...]

30 April 2013, Mexico City - Mexico's National Crusade Against Hunger can mark a historical turning point for the country, said FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, at the end of a two-day visit.

"Mexico has decided to say 'no more hunger."Although no society favours hunger, few have managed to unite in order to defeat it," Graziano da Silva told an ceremony marking the end of a month [...]