Director-General addresses Joint Meeting of FAO Programme and Finance Committees

Rome – Cooperation, consistency and focus are critical for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to pursue its core mandates amidst a rapidly-evolving geopolitical situation and the likelihood of “significant resource mobilization changes for the entire UN system,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said Monday in his opening address to the Joint Meeting of the FAO Programme and Finance Committees.

“The path ahead is challenging with a lot of crises but also provides us with many opportunities,” he told participants in the 140th Session of the Programme Committee and the 203rd Session of the Finance Committee, bodies that provide recommendations to the FAO Council on matters related to the Programme of Work and Budget of the Organization. The Director-General’s speech is available here.

“We need to remain coherent and determined to our long-term vision for change, otherwise we will lose our direction. But we also need to change our business model in line with global evolvements,” Qu said.

Currently, more than 733 million people face chronic hunger, including one of every five people in Africa. Even more experience food insecurity and lack access to healthy diets, the Director-General said.

“We urgently need collective and coherent action for transformative change to establish new business model for food availability, food accessibility and food affordability for all, and we have no time to waste,” Qu added.

This week the FAO Programme and Finance Committees will focus on key guidance documents including the Medium-Term Plan (MTP) 2026-29 and the Programme of Work and Budget (PWB) 2026-27, both of which present a results-driven roadmap for operationalizing FAO’s strategic vision.

“FAO will continue to actively work to demonstrate clear value and results to Members, while diversifying funding sources, developing innovative financing mechanisms and pursuing excellency in all its aspects,” Qu said.

FAO has continued to achieve robust levels of voluntary contributions, amounting to $1.77 billion in 2024, with 63% for development initiatives and 37% for emergency programmes .

FAO has effectively diversified its partner base, and currently more than half of its total voluntary resources comes from vertical funds such as the Global Environment Fund and the Green Climate Fund as well as multilateral development banks.

The Director-General noted that he has commended partners and assured FAO’s commitment to initiatives such as the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty launched under the Brazilian G20 Presidency. Maintaining a stable position across for a such as the G20 and the various COPs is key, he insisted.

“We need change but also continuity,” Qu said. “Countries can change priorities, but FAO is consistently focused on its coherent mandate.”