Bilateral meeting with The Honourable John Salong, Minister for Climate Change, Adaptation, Meteorology and Geo Hazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Management of Vanuatu

Bangkok – The FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with The Honourable John Salong, Minister for Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology and Geo Hazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Management of Vanuatu, on the margins of the International Soil and Water Forum 2024. 

The Director-General welcomed the Minister to the Forum and appreciated FAO’s long history of cooperation with Vanuatu. The Minister highlighted the significant challenges faced by Vanuatu, including a small population dispersed on an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean and vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis. The Minister expressed gratitude for FAO’s support to Vanuatu to enhance food security and build resilience to the impacts of the climate crisis.

The Director-General thanked the Minister for Vanuatu’s strong support to FAO and reaffirmed continued collaboration in support of sustainable and inclusive agricultural development in the Country. The Director-General also emphasized that the FAO Office of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) is exclusively focused on addressing these countries’ needs and interlinked challenges, and encouraged Vanuatu to further expand its partnership with FAO to promote integrated approaches for the transformation of its agrifood system and achieve the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, ensuring that no one in the Pacific is left behind.