What to expect from the FAO New York Liaison Office in 2022

Guangzhou QU, FAO Director of the Office, outlines what you can expect from the FAO New York-based team

For the first newsletter of 2022, I wanted to take the opportunity to wish you a Happy and successful New Year once again. Although 2021 has been a challenging year, we worked consistently and coherently to bring about the needed changes and achieve excellent results. You can watch our highlights video for a recap. 

The FAO Director-General declared 2020 as the year of efficiency, 2021 the year of effectiveness and 2022 will build on this and be the year of the extraordinary! 2022 will be a year of extraordinary efforts to achieve extraordinary results, during extraordinary times. He called us to challenge ourselves and move from words to action and commitments. Our office stands ready to deliver and to work together to lead to extraordinary results.

January has already been an active month for us. We have been supporting Member States in moving forward the draft Resolution for the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP). UN observances are opportunities to raise awareness of important topics and their contribution to global food security and support for the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. We are also engaged in the preparations of the 60th Session of the Commission on Social Development. 

This month, we heard the UN Secretary-General presenting his Priorities for 2022 and his calls for action to put out ‘5-alarm global fire’; the President of the UN General Assembly who stressed the importance of solidarity and fostering hope; and the President of the UN Economic and Social Council. FAO’s work is aligned to these priorities and in particular to ‘Our Common Agenda’, to the global efforts to build back better, and to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. We stand firmly committed to achieving the Four Betters – better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life for all. Through these four aspirations, we aim to build a better future, leaving no one behind.

We heard from some of you through our survey, and we appreciate your feedback. We have taken it into consideration in our focus for this year. We will continue to provide these platforms to ensure we continue to hear from you and tailor our support to you.

We look forward to working with you.

QU Guangzhou, Director, FAO in New York