FAO to open Partnership and Liaison Office in Kuwait

4 December, 2019, Rome - FAO and the Government of Kuwait have agreed that the UN agency will open a Partnership and Liaison Office in  the country in order to step up joint efforts to end hunger and poverty, boost nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture in the Near East region.  

A five-year agreement for the FAO-Kuwait Partnership Programme was signed on Tuesday by FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and the Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs of Kuwait, Mohammad Nasir Abdullah Al-Jabri, on the sidelines of the FAO Council, the Organization's executive body.

At the signing ceremony, the Minister noted that the agreement entailed close collaboration with multiple partners and reiterated his commitment to support all FAO initiatives within the framework of the joint programme. For his part, the FAO Director-General stressed the importance of transforming the food systems in the region for better production, better nutrition and better environment.

Both sides agreed on the need to develop synergies between the new Programme and FAO's Hand-in-Hand Initiative to better target those who are in most need.  

The agreement and the new FAO Partnership and Liaison Office aim at reinforcing the interaction and synergies between the parties towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Kuwait and other countries of the Near East.

In this new framework, Kuwait will support the implementation of projects aimed at enhancing food security, improving nutrition, agricultural and rural development in the region.

The priority technical areas under the agreement include: natural resources conservation; water resources management; land restoration; livestock production and animal health; food security; food waste and losses; sustainable management of fisheries and development of responsible aquaculture; integrated pest management; responsible agriculture; as well as capacity building and research and development.

In addition, the Partnership will provide opportunities to young experts from  Kuwait to engage in the FAO Associate Professionals Programme (APO) and other activities.

The training programme offers graduates exposure to international development cooperation activities, while enabling them to apply their technical specialization under the supervision of an FAO expert.

This agreement marks a new phase for the FAO-Kuwait collaboration.