2025 INDUCTION SEMINAR FOR NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES TO FAO Welcome Remarks

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

I am very happy to welcome all new Permanent, Deputy and Alternate Representatives to FAO.

I am so pleased to see all the new faces, and the more familiar ones, and to welcome all of you here today to this year’s Induction Seminar.

I also warmly welcome all the Members who are joining us virtually.

This seminar is important because it opens the lines of communication between the Core Leadership, the Secretariat and the Membership of the Organization.

FAO is a big family, and now you are part of that family too.

Your work here is important, and I look forward to your support to achieve our joint vision for the Organization as set out in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31, in line with our mandate.

Since last year’s Induction Seminar, we have had 133 new Representatives accredited to FAO, including two accredited outside of Rome.

Today, Rakesh Muthoo, the Secretary-General of the Conference and the Council will give you an overview of the governance structure of FAO, and the functioning of the Governing Bodies through which the Members provide guidance and review the work and activities of the Organization.

And Ms Donata Rugarabamu, our Legal Counsel, will provide a briefing on the FAO Basic Texts.

The FAO Constitution, the General Rules of the Organization, and its Financial Regulations are very important for both the Members and the Secretariat to guide our collaboration, ensure strict adherence with the legal provisions regulating our work, and ensuring we carry out our work in line with our mandate. This is fundamental.

The rules and regulations of FAO provide the enabling framework for achieving consensus and taking decisions that help us deliver our mission to create a better world for the people we serve – the world’s farmers and consumers.

You will also receive brief introductions to the various work streams in the Organization, from Strategic Planning to FAO’s technical work, including on the Organization’s work on emergency and resilience, as well as resource mobilization.

You will also be briefed on FAO’s work with and partnerships; on Climate Change and Natural Resources, on Global Food Security Challenges, and on Blue Transformation, among many others.

The Core Leadership team will provide you with a holistic insight into FAO’s programme of work, and our vision for supporting Members in achieving the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

You will understand our focus on working hand in hand to transform global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable, and ensure the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life - leaving no one behind.

I am proud today to welcome you to the new FAO.

A new renovated, restructured, and dynamic FAO for a better world.

A new ONE FAO that brings together all the professional and scientific expertise of the Organization from around the world, responding efficiently, effectively and coherently to global challenges, and, together, identifying the opportunities they provide.

My first four-year term in FAO were marked by the four E’s: Efficiency, Effectiveness, Extraordinary and Excellence.

We are now in the phase of the four R’s: Recovery, Reform, Rebuild and Renaissance.

Renaissance demands innovation, adaptation and transformation.

Dear Colleagues,

This year marks the start of the Year of the Snake and FAO’s 80th anniversary, celebrating the transformation of our Organization over the past eight decades.

The Year of the Snake represents opportunities for life-changing transformation.

Let us be inspired by the Year of the Snake to turn challenges into opportunities.

Throughout the year, we will also engage with Members and partners through a series of events and activities that reflect our shared mission and vision, culminating on 16 October 2025 – FAO’s 80th Birthday - when we will inaugurate the Food and Agriculture Museum & Network.

The Museum will be an interactive, digital and informative space open to students, schools, families, and individuals. It will further elevate FAO’s visibility and centrality on a global scale, preparing for the future.

Member involvement in the Museum is important to showcase traditional agricultural practices and modern technology. The FAO Museum is not only about the past, but also about the future.

The FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31, endorsed by the FAO Conference in 2021, marked the beginning of a transformative journey for FAO.

Since then, we have come a long way in implementing the programmes and mechanisms we put in place.

Recent external assessments have recognized that FAO has a fundamental role in all its areas of expertise and has maintained its leading position in its technical focus through the Four Betters, as well as with our innovative strategic thinking.

As I stated in my Manifesto in 2023 upon my re-election for a second term of office, let us continue to embrace innovation, strengthen internal management governance, and work together to improve delivery, accountability and transparency.

And I emphasized then, as I do now, the success of FAO relies on the ownership, trust and support of its Members.

Dear Colleagues,

As FAO approaches its 80th anniversary, let us strive together to make it an even more dynamic and reinvigorated organization, fit for purpose to address global challenges and turn them into opportunities for all humanity.

This is your Organization.

Let us unite as ONE FAO focused on providing service to the world’s farmers and consumers, ensuring the transformation of global agrifood systems, and continuing to support the most vulnerable.

The FAO Renaissance will only happen if we are determined to think together, learn together, design together and devote together.

I count on your support to build a dynamic FAO for a better world, together.

Thank you.