Bilateral meeting with Dr Ayoade Olatunbosun-Alakija, Global Ministerial Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Rome – FAO Director-General QU Dongyu welcomed Dr Ayoade Olatunbosun-Alakija, Global Ministerial Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to FAO headquarters.

Dr Olatunbosun-Alakija thanked the Director-General for the opportunity to meet and provided an overview of the objectives, expected outcomes and preparations in the lead up to the Fifth High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) to be hosted by Nigeria in Abuja in June 2026.

The pair discussed the One Health approach, with both parties agreeing that the concept should evolve beyond a health-centric approach and that the agricultural, and in particular the animal health perspective was critical to ensure a holistic approach. To achieve this, both agreed on the need to ensure meaningful, equitable and cross-sectoral engagement of all relevant sectors across the human, animal, plant and environmental spheres.

The Global Envoy emphasized her commitment to driving this change by ensuring impactful dialogue between the Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Livestock, Environment, Economy, Trade, Finance and Health to ensure a true One Health approach. In this regard, the Director-General noted it was also critical to integrate water and soil considerations, among others.

Dr Olatunbosun-Alakija then briefly presented the conference agenda, notably the inclusion of a Ministerial Segment, with a foreseen strong participation from Ministers of Agriculture from across the globe, scheduled for the second day and to be followed by the adoption of a Ministerial Declaration. In particular, the Global Envoy highlighted that she viewed the conference as part of an ongoing process.

The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to continuing strengthening collaboration at all levels to advance the One Health agenda.