Having Member States’ support and buy-in is paramount to FAO successfully rolling out new initiatives, such as the new Hand-in-Hand Initiative, to help accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals - especially ending poverty and hunger - and not leaving anyone behind. This was FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu’s message to the UN agency’s Member...

Transforming food and nutrition systems is central to achieving the 2030 Agenda, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said today at a Leaders' Dialogue on the Sustainable Development Goals as part of the 74th UN General Assembly. One of the most urgent areas for action in order to leave no one behind is to pursue targeted...

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and USAID Administrator Mark Green met today in talks that focused on cooperation between the two organizations. Green said he looked forward to working closely with Qu, and said that USAID wants to see a strong, vibrant and accountable FAO succeed in its mission. Qu said he fully...

Food systems are huge economic, social and environmental drivers of transformational change, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyusaid  today. Turning them into accelerators of progress on the SDGs is essential to achieving several core objectives of the 2030 Agenda, including ending extreme poverty, addressing hunger an all forms of malnutrition, protecting and...

President of Hungary János Áder has congratulated FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu for taking office, while noting the important issues FAO needs to help countries address, including the depletion of natural resources which is critical for the development of agriculture. Áder noted that his country, like many others, is losing both forests...

President Sebastián Piñera of Chile and FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu met today for talks that focused on the need for people to have access to a choice of nutritious food. During their meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly, President Piñera explained how Chile’s food labelling law, which entered...

The Kingdom of the Netherlands has contributed $28 million to back FAO's work to boost the resilience of food systems in Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan - part of a new initiative to scale-up resilience-based development work in countries affected by protracted crises. In such contexts, humanitarian interventions often focus on...

During a meeting today Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein, and FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu discussed ways the agricultural sectors can be modernized to make more efficient use of natural resources while still remaining respectful of local traditions. In particular, Alois  expressed interest in FAO’s designation of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Qu explained...

During their meeting today, Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs told FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu that the UN has high expectations on FAO’s ability to help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. He congratulated Qu for taking office at FAO and expressed confidence that the organization and its...

Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States in talks today with FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, welcomed the FAO’s new Hand-In-Hand Initiative. As Qu explained, the Initiative prioritizes targeted work that benefits people in the world’s most vulnerable regions including...

Agriculture has a crucial role in providing sustainable solutions to many of today's most urgent environmental issues, provided we change the way we farm, fish and herd livestock, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said today. Transforming the agricultural sectors requires "changing the way we think and changing the way we live ......

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu today met President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt for talks that focused on working together to improve the agricultural sectors in the country and in Africa as a whole. El-Sisi, who is also the current Chairperson of the African Union, noted that cooperation between the continent’s countries...

Tackling the challenges in the Sahel will require a "common, coordinated and coherent response" to provide people living in the desert region with viable livelihoods and establish resilient agrifood systems, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said today. He noted how since 2005, the Sahel region has been hit by repeated crises, each...

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu today met with young people on the sidelines of the Youth Climate Summit in New York to discuss concrete actions that must be taken to urgently address climate change. “Youth are the future and the driving force behind ideas and innovation,” Qu said, noting how it...

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Director-General Qu Dongyu today announced the Great Green Wall for Cities initiative that aims to support nature-based solutions to climate change. The Director-General made the announcement on the eve of this week's Climate Action Summit in New York at a Summit side event. "The rapid expansion...

FAO participation at Summits & High-level events   Saturday, 21 September | 11:30 - 12:00 (EST)Director-General book signing at Youth Summit side event Saturday, 21 September | 16:00 - 17:00 (EST)Climate Summit Side Event: Local Leadership for ClimateLive webcast available here Sunday, 22 September | 09:30 - 12:00 (EST)Nature-Based Solutions Momentum High-level event Sunday, 22...

Every person can play a role to achieve the SDGs. This was the message echoed by the young gardeners of the GreenThumb Youth Leadership Council (YLC) programme during their graduation event at UN Headquarters. For the 4th year, FAO partnered up with NYC Parks and the UN Food Garden to bring...

Family farmers need enabling public policies and legal frameworks that will “allow them to adapt and flourish in today’s changing environment” and maximize their contribution to sustainable development, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today. He made the remarks at the launch of the UN Decade of Family Farming on...

This year’s The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report has found that world hunger is still not going down after three years and obesity is still growing.

Obesity affecting populations of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is a health emergency and these nations need to take ownership of measures to address this worrying trend’s underlying causes, said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today. The FAO chief made the remarks to participants – including leaders of small...