At FAO Council, Director-General QU Dongyu calls for more visionary guidance for a better future for humanity | FAO News

Rome – With the approach of the Organization’s 80th Anniversary, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) renewed his call to make the Organization more efficient, more effective & more coherent with “even more meaningful, transparent & visionary guidance” in pursuit of agreed strategies for the decades ahead.

FAO’s goal is to be fit for purpose within the “ever-evolving global development agenda”  & to ensure that “our children & our grandchildren will reap the benefits of the seeds we plant today,” Qu said in remarks opening the 176th Session of the FAO Council, being held in Rome this week.

He urged Members to make sure that FAO plays its “rightful role as a leader in galvanizing collective efforts for a better world & a better future for humanity as collectively agreed by the “Pact for the Future” at the UN Summit of the Future in September.

The FAO Council is the executive organ of the FAO Conference, & its sessions can be followed by webcast. The full speech of the Director-General’s opening remarks can be accessed here.

“The world’s hungry, the world’s farmers, the world’s consumers, they all rely on us to fulfil their vision of a better world,” & it is FAO’s noble mission to support its Members transform global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient & more sustainable, he said.

FAO’s mandate has become ever more urgent in view of the increase in  the global prevalence of undernourishment, which now estimates around 733 million people, or one of every 11, faced hunger in 2023.

Highlights

The Director-General’s Council-opening speech highlighted a number of FAO actions, initiatives & achievements, including effective contributions to major international fora such as the G7 & the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), as well as the G20, which in November launched the Global Alliance Against Hunger & Poverty, for which FAO will host the Alliance’s Support Mechanism. Qu highlighted that FAO drives economic cooperation within these important multilateral fora, among many others.

Qu hailed FAO staff & global leaders for contributing to make FAO more visible globally, as evidenced by greater attention on the role of agrifood systems in addressing & providing the solutions for the climate crisis in recent COP summits on biodiversity, the climate & desertification

The Director-General himself has held more than 250 bilateral meetings & since June has traveled to 21 countries & undertaken 60 field visits in his campaign to make sure FAO & its implementing partners move from vision to action, & to promote global convergence on the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment & a better life – leaving no one behind.

Qu also noted that the new Atoms4Food Initiative, part of a long-running & successful partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency, is now working to serve requests from nine countries. He also hailed the flagship Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme, which has recognized 89 sites around the world & is aiming to reach 100 next year.

The Director-General also noted the increasing benefits of investments in South-South & Triangular Cooperation, especially at the country level, & stated there was great potential to utilize & scale up this cooperation further “with more partners & in more countries”.

FAO is also galvanizing global efforts to promote dietary diversity & continues to strengthen its benchmark work on data & statistics, as well as developing an Artificial Intelligence chatbot interface.

Qu emphasized that FAO continues to be committed to interventions in emergencies in hunger hotspots where it is foreseen that acute food insecurity could increase to the highest level, including in Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti & Mali.

Such work & more are in line with the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31.