Read-out of the Director-General’s meetings with Government representatives in Doha
Doha - On the sidelines of the 5th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with the President of Central African Republican, Faustin-Archange Touadéra (photo); the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchhen Dr Lotay Tshering; the Prime Minister of Rwanda, Édouard Ngirente; the Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Narayan Kaji Shrestha; the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Vershinin; and the United States Assistant Secretary of State, Michele J. Sison.
During the meetings, the Director-General highlighted the establishment at FAO of the Office of Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries (OSL) to support the most vulnerable countries. He also referred to the FAO Hand-in-Hand Initiative to support implementation of nationally-led and nationally-owned programmes to accelerate agrifood systems transformation in these countries.
The Director-General also called attention to the establishment of the Office of Sustainable Development Goals and the Office of Innovation to provide the necessary focus to these key issues. Moreover, he also informed of the creation of a FAO Women’s Committee and a FAO Youth Committee, which have a key role both internally and externally to the Organization to promote women and youth. Another initiative referenced to is the new Digital FAO, which provides a platform for Members to access relevant information on FAO programmes, projects and events.
The Director-General invited the President of the Central African Republican and the Prime Ministers of Bhutan and Rwanda to the World Food Forum in October 2023, where LDCs could present their FAO supported comprehensive investment plans to transform their agrifood systems.
In the meeting with Bhutan and Nepal, the key role of climate adaptation in agrifood systems transformation was emphasized. The discussions also stressed the importance of capacity building.
In the meeting with the Central African Republic, the Director-General indicated that the FAO proposal for a Food Import Financing Facility (FIFF) had been implemented by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through a Food Shock Window under its emergency financing instrument to support the most vulnerable countries to cope with the increase of their food import bills. The Director-General further emphasized that given the importance of the agriculture sector for livelihoods in the Central African Republic, agriculture has a key role to play in the country’s sustainable development.
During the meeting with Rwanda, the potential of the aquaculture sector to contribute to food security and nutrition, as well as youth engagement and training, were highlighted.
In the meetings with the United States and with Russia, the Director-General reiterated that FAO is a technical, professional organization, and will continually providing scientific and technical analysis and support on matters related to food and agriculture. Regarding the Black Sea Agreement, Qu reiterated this is an initiative of the UN Secretary General, and FAO supports the Secretary-General with technical analysis through the Global Crises Response Group, which is co-led by FAO. The Director-General also explained that the Black Sea Initiative has helped to increase food availability and as a result to stabilize markets.