VI. Adoption of a commemorative declaration and closing address by the Director-General

VI. Adoption of a commemorative declaration and closing address by the Director-General

12. Following an introduction by His Excellency F. Tomulesco, Vice-Minister of Agriculture of Romania, the General Commemorative Conference unanimously adopted after some amendments a solemn Declaration, the text of which had been prepared by a Working Party of Selected Member Nations and circulated in advance to Governments. Immediately after the adoption of this Declaration, Mr. A. H. Boerma, Director-General of FAO, delivered the Closing Address, the text of which may be found in Annex H,

13. The Declaration adopted to commemorate the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states:

DECLARATION

Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

THE GENERAL COMMEMORATIVE CONFERENCE OF FAO

Gathered together in Rome on 16 November 1970 to commemorate the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the foundation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, on 16 October 1945, in accordance with the terms of Resolution 24/69 adopted by the FAO Conference at its Fifteenth Session;

Recalling that the United Nations have likewise commemorated the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of their founding on 24 October 1945, by holding a Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Commemorative Session of the General Assembly in October 1970, announcing and defining an international development strategy, to serve as an occasion for all Member States to reaffirm their dedication to the ideals and principles of the United Nations;

1. REAFFIRMS the importance of further efforts aimed at the implementation of the noble goals and objectives enshrined in the FAO Constitution.

2. EXPRESSES satisfaction and pride in the achievements of FAO during its first twenty-five years, in the efforts made toward a world without hunger, and in the Organization's contribution to the development of international cooperation, which constitutes an important factor for the well being of nations and for world peace.

3. THANKS the Governments, public and private organizations and individuals that cooperated in the work of the Organization, both directly and through the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, the World Food Programme and other activities.

4. STRESSES its belief that, agriculture being the mainstay of a planet which must sustain an ever rising number of inhabitants, the tasks and challenges facing the Organization today are still greater than at any time in the past.

5. RECOGNIZES that hunger and malnutrition are linked to poverty and low productivity in both rural and urban populations, and that this limits the technical possibilities and the resources available to agriculture in many developing countries.

6. EMPHASIZES the need to assist developing countries to discharge the primary responsibility they bear for their own development.

7. CALLS on all Member Nations of FAO and organizations which are in a position to do so to increase development aid as appropriate to those countries which are in need of such aid.

8. EXPRESSES the hope that:

(i) development aid will be given and received in a spirit of true partnership and of mutual respect and understanding, thus serving to draw the nations of the world closer together in the cause of social justice;

(ii) the evolution of the world situation will permit all countries to collaborate in the work of banishing hunger and malnutrition and ensuring the well-being of the rural populations and of mankind generally, in order that the gap separating peoples and individuals into rich and poor may be bridged by the united endeavours of all countries in the world.

9. DECLARES that the future programmes of the Organization shall be aligned to the International strategy established for the Second Development Decade, and shall in particular take account of the following objectives:

(i) in the production sector, to continue and intensify its present work to meet the food needs of the world's population, by measures designed to ensure the conservation and rational utilization of natural resources and to promote the adoption of technically improved methods of production;

(ii) to contribute either directly or through joint programmes with other organizations in the United Nations family, toward the improvement of the conditions of life of the rural people, notably by means of successfully organized programmes for land reform, for the raising of productivity and the maximization of employment, and for the establishment of policies which will give rural families their rightful place in contemporary society;

(iii) to promote and assist a process of international adjustment which will permit the world's productive resources to be utilized equitably and efficiently within the context of a world organization of trade, ensuring conditions which are remunerative to producers and equitable to consumers, and to work together with other appropriate agencies for the reduction and where possible ultimate abolition of all such barriers to trade in agricultural products as hinder the achievement of this objective;

(iv) actively to promote international cooperation, in the spirit of the United Nations, not only as regards the free interchange of information on agricultural science and technological advances, but also the advancement of agriculture and improved human nutrition within the overall context of economic development in each country.

Rome, 16 November 1970.

Contents -