Read-out of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Minister for Health of Italy Roberto Speranza

Today, 30 March 2021, the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the Italian Minister for Health, Roberto Speranza, had a virtual meeting, to exchange on areas of interest for cooperation between FAO and Italy, including the G20 presidency of Italy, the FAO COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme and the Food Coalition, as well as the Food Systems Pre-Summit event that will be hosted by Italy from 19 to 21 July 2021 in Rome.

The Director-General welcomed Italy’s prioritization of One Health, to provide a collective voice during the G20 Global Health Summit and encouraged the inclusion of other relevant sectors in addition to Public Health.

The Minister thanked the Director-General for his support of Italy’s G20 presidency and the close cooperation between FAO and Italy on the G20 Global Health Summit.

The Director-General welcomed the Italian presidency’s health agenda, focusing on health issues for global growth, with particular attention to global health risks, such as Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), infectious disease threats and weak health systems; and the importance of a coordinated international response. They agreed about the need for Global Governance on One Health.

The Director-General and the Minister also discussed the strong link between the quality of food, healthy diets, good nutrition and health. They agreed to work closely together on promoting healthy diets. The meeting also discussed the close collaboration of FAO and the Italian Ministry of Health, allowing constant monitoring of the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Director-General thanked Minister Speranza for his support to UN personnel and dependents in Italy. The FAO Director-General is the UN Designated Official, the highest ranking official responsible for the safety and security of the personnel of UN agencies, funds and programmes based in Italy, as well as their dependents. They reviewed plans to vaccinate UN personnel and dependents based in Italy, in accordance with Italy’s national vaccination programme.   

The Director-General expressed his appreciation for Italy’s strong relation with FAO and the longstanding contribution to the Organization.