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

Rome – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has made “good progress” in supporting Members advance towards the 2030 Agenda and transforming their agrifood systems, Director-General QU Dongyu said today.

He addressed the Joint Meeting of the 138th Session of the Programme Committee and the 199th Session of the Finance Committee, FAO governing bodies that provide recommendations to the FAO Council on matters related to the Organization’s programme of work.

The Director-General hailed the completion last Friday of the Regional Conference for Europe, the last of the five regional ministerial conferences that took place in 2024, as well as the informal North America Regional Conference. He noted that discussions are now intensifying on how to create an even more “professional, modern and efficient country office network” to deliver on FAO’s goals, as well as to participate strategically within UN country-level discussions.

Qu reiterated his willingness to continue working with Members on the foundation for  his second term as Director-General: Recover, Reform, Rebuild and Renaissance.

He also highlighted some of FAO’s achievement in the past year, including becoming one of the main enables for countries to access resources from the Global Environment Facility, with grants and co-financing now totalling more than $14.5 billion, as well as a host of other initiatives including Atoms4Food and RENOFARM, which aims to reduce antimicrobial use on farms.

FAO’s strong credibility is underscored by high levels of voluntary contributions, which continue on a strong upward trend so far in 2024, he said.

Qu praised FAO’s staff and his strong core leadership team, which are empowered by a flatter, modular  structure he introduced upon taking FAO’s helm.

He also said he welcomed the ongoing reviews of FAO’s work and reviewed some of his initiatives to speed up recruitment times, broaden inclusivity and prioritize engagement with women and youth inside and outside of the Organization. Last year FAO met the UN gender parity targets for the first time for staff in the professional level categories globally, he said.

“We did a lot together,” Qu said. “We walked the talk.”

The  complete speech of the FAO Director-General is available here.