Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Members of the Council, Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all I wish to thank you for inviting me to speak at this session of the Council. My presence here, in my capacity of Director-General Elect, confirms our mutual interest in working closely together.
Last April, I came before you as a candidate to present my proposals for FAO. I set out five pillars on which I considered we should focus: to eradicate hunger; to accelerate the shift towards truly sustainable food consumption and production systems; to promote greater fairness in the global management of food; to complete the agreed reform process improving decentralization; and to expand South-South Cooperation in FAO.
When we look back at the platforms of all the candidates, we find a pleasant convergence between their views on these priorities for FAO. The fact that we all addressed more or less the same issues is highly significant. It means that we have a common vision for the Organization’s future, inspired by the goals for which it was originally created.
Now the time has come to begin our work together. [...]