FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
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Regional Office
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ABOUT FAO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

FAO's presence in Europe is a long-standing one which dates back to 1961, when a Regional Office for Europe was set up in Geneva. This was subsequently moved to Rome in 1970. Activities in the 1970s and 1980s focused on the exchange of information within the Region and cooperation among member countries on specific aspects of agricultural and rural development.

At the end of the 1980s, the immediate effect on FAO of the political upheavals in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), was the rise in the number of its Members in the European Region. Membership rose from 29 Members in 1990 to 52 in 2006, including one Member Organization (the European Community). The Republic of Montenegro is an applicant Member State.

In response to the changes in Europe and the emergence of transition economies, FAO has taken a number of important steps to increase its presence and to broaden the range of its activities in the Region.

A key move was the establishment in Budapest in 1996, of a Sub-regional office for Central and Eastern Europe (SEUR), staffed with a core team with expertise in various areas, all directly relevant to the development and transition needs of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs).

Another important step was the setting up of a core unit for administrative and operational support for projects in the Regional Office for Europe based in Rome.

As a result of the reform proposals submitted by the Director-General to the 33rd Session of the FAO Conference (November 2005) aimed at improved services to Member Nations, particularly in the light of needed accelerated action to implement the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and in recognition of FAO's role as a knowledge-based Organization, a Sub-regional Office for Central Asian Countries was established in November 2006.

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