FAO organized the country level consultation in Myanmar prior to the 35th APRC

FAO Regional Conferences are an official forum where Ministers and high-ranking officials from FAO Members States come together and discuss the challenges in order to provide Safe and Sustain Food and Agriculture Systems in the region. FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific is convened every two years to seek guidance from member countries on FAO’s programme of work in the region. The 35th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC 35) will be held in Thimphu, Bhutan from 17- 20 February 2020. This year’s APRC will be a unique regional conference because of introduction of the innovation and digital technologies that aims to improve food security and nutrition across the region. In addition, for the first time, FAO encourages member countries to hold pre-APRC country level consultations to engage the countries in APRC priorities consultation.  

On 29^th January 2020, FAO organized the informal country level consultation for the APRC 35 in Nay Pyi Taw, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI). The consultation brought together around 30 representatives from the government and non-government institutions, academia and FAO seeking for their inputs and comments to the priority areas for Asia and the Pacific Region related to state of food and agriculture, water scarcity, building sustainable and resilient food systems. “This is my first time to attend a consultation at country level to discuss regional priorities; and it is a good opportunity for us to provide country’s inputs to the priority areas to be discussed at the APRC”, said Dr. Thanda Kyi, Deputy Director General of the Department of Planning, MoALI in her opening remarks.

Ms. Xiaojie Fan, FAO Representative in Myanmar, highlighted the importance of country leadership and ownership during this consultation process as well as the implementation of the selected priorities. Proper alignment with national priorities will ensure the successful achievement of the regional strategic framework areas. Ms Fan also presented the FAO Director General’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative (HIHI) - a flagship initiative aiming to eradicate poverty (SDG1), end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms (SDG2) by accelerating agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development. She assured FAO’s commitment in supporting Myanmar during the planning and implementation of the important Initiative.

The outcome of this meeting will be highly crucial for both the country and the region calling for joint efforts to discover the issues and challenges and to discuss how to leverage the partnerships with the stakeholders for food security and nutrition.

Read more on: http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/conference/en/