Director-General QU Dongyu

Director-General congratulates FAO's Programme and Finance committees for valuable guidance and insights

11/11/2022

Rome - Director-General QU Dongyu today congratulated FAO's Programme and Finance committees for providing guidance and invaluable insights to the Organization as it moves forward in its efforts to tackle the current food crises and the transformation of global agrifood systems during trying times marked by overlapping and complex challenges.

Qu delivered his remarks at the close of the Joint Meeting of the 134th session of the Programme Committee and the 194th session of the Finance Committee, two key bodies in FAO’s governance framework through which Members make recommendations on funding and priorities to the FAO Council, of which the next session will take place on December 5-9.

The committees opened their meetings on Monday and have been discussing a variety of topics, ranging from FAO's strategic priorities for food safety and real-time evaluation of its COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme, to the state of the Organization's internal finances and issues of transparency.

The Director-General also said he recognized the recommendations arising from the committees' discussions on key issues such as food safety, statistics, auditing and management. 

He reiterated that FAO continues to have "zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, discrimination and all types of harassment and abuse," and said ongoing efforts to ensure that FAO is a transparent, accountable, dynamic, engaged and ethical workplace will be enhanced.

"Let us continue to work better, together in an efficient, effective and coherent manner in our common journey towards the transformation to more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems," Qu said, “to achieve our collective goal of the 4 Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.”