OACPS Subcommittee on Sustainable Development discusses FAO's response to COVID-19 in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Regions with FAO Brussels Director

FAO Brussels Director Rodrigo de Lapuerta presented on 30 September elements of the FAO Response to the COVID-19 in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific States in an intervention during the 123rd meeting of the OACPS Subcommittee on Sustainable Development.

Mr de Lapuerta highlighted FAO’s response as a way to proactively and sustainably address the short, medium and long-term impacts of the pandemic and the COVID-19 crisis is not only a health crisis - it is becoming a food crisis, particularly in developing countries. The African regional approach is based on the seven pillars of FAO’s global response to COVID-19, which includes food systems, trade and social protection dimensions. In the Caribbean and in the Pacific, FAO is involved in mobilizing funds through the food security and nutrition pillars present in the regional consolidated responses. Both are articulated and coordinated with regional organizations and other UN agencies. During the presentation, the FAO Director emphasized the recent engagements of the office with the OACPS Secretariat, particularly on contacts with new key staff as well as on South-South and Triangular Cooperation activities.