Pablo Frère has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance Partnership (FAO LEAP) during the 25^th Steering Committee Meeting held, for the first time virtually, on 3 March 2020. 

Frère has been an active member of LEAP since 2016, as representative of the Pastoraméricas on behalf of the World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous People (WAMIP). He is an Argentinian veterinarian based in Salta, a city in the northwestern region of Argentina where he is also Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Salta and coordinator of the multi-stakeholder partnership Redes Chaco. Over the past 30 years, he has been involved in animal and forest management. He brings to the chair his knowledge and experience in agronomy as a professor at the University of Salta. He has also actively participated in a project conducted in the Chaco region to test the LEAP guidelines on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in pastoral systems.

“The civil society organizations are very involved in LEAP and the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock.  We are working hard to move on and road-test the LEAP guidelines. As we say every time, road-testing is our best contribution to LEAP”, he said in his introductory speech. He concluded highlighting the need to keep working to promote sustainable development of livestock systems and coherent climate actions.  

For a year mandate, until March 2021, Frère will be responsible for the agendas of the Steering Committee meetings, represent LEAP in outreach events, support the LEAP manager in monitoring the implementation of the project and raising funds, and oversee the work of the Secretariat. He will work alongside Mr. Henning Steinfeld, permanent vice-chair of the Steering Committee and chief of FAO’s Livestock Information, Sector Analysis and Policy Branch (AGAL).

The NGOs and civil society groups were invited during the 24^th Steering Committee Meeting to submit their nomination for the new LEAP chairperson. This role rotates on an annual basis between the three clusters that are part of the Steering Committee: governments, private sector, NGOs and civil society. From the private sector, it is now the turn of the civil society with Frère. The past chairs from the NGOs and civil society cluster were Lalji Desai (WAMIP, LEAP Chairperson 2014) and Pablo Manzano (representing the International Union for Conservation of Nature, LEAP Chairperson 2017).