Celebrating 25 years of the FAO Liaison Office in Brussels

On 5 February 1997, the FAO Liaison Office was established in Brussels, a city that was already playing host to a number of international and intergovernmental organizations. Working closely with the host country, the liaison office set out on its mission to represent the voice of FAO within the development community in the heart of Europe.

The 25 years that have passed since that first day have seen a great many important geopolitical changes. The European Union has become a top contributor to FAO’s programme and Belgium and its regional governments have provided valuable support to our field work. Academia and the private sector have also gained importance, and there are plans in hand to build even stronger relationships with them in the future.  

To celebrate our silver jubilee, we invited former directors of the FAO Liaison Office in Brussels to look back over the years – not just to the achievements of the office itself, but also to some of the more personal memories and human stories that marked their experiences. Each and every one was  enthusiastic in their response, and those unable to join us at this virtual trip down memory lane were keen to find other ways of sharing their reminiscences. Former Director and FAO Legal Counsel Antonio Tavares shared with us short memories and sent his warmest wishes for the future. He stressed that everyone’s contributions were crucial for making the FAO Liaison Office in Brussels what it is today.

At an emotional gathering, which kicked off with music by Jacques Brel and a slideshow of old photographs, former Directors Richard China, Mustapha Sinaceur, Cristina Amaral and Rodrigo de Lapuerta joined current Director Raschad Al-Khafaji in sharing anecdotes about their first weeks in the new city, the challenges posed by working as a diplomat in Brussels, and the different approaches adopted to ensure that the FAO mandate is well-known and understood by our partners.  

What was it like to arrive in Brussels and live in this vibrant city? What were the challenges they faced? And what did they enjoy the most? These were just some of the questions we asked, and here is what they said:

Cristina Amaral: “I really loved the idea of seeing all colleagues present today and then started running through my memories and files with all my photographs. My strongest memory was that when I arrived – and before this I had been in Algeria, so I knew this theme really well – it was very important to bring the different UN voices around the table on the issue of migration to influence the narrative, as this was the moment that a big wave of migration was heading to Europe and the coasts of Italy and Greece. We created tremendous momentum, FAO had an important contribution and migration was present in all the events we organized: European Development Days, the Strategic Dialogue. The small team did the maximum possible to cover everything–, and there are so many activities in Brussels where FAO’s presence is requested.

Visibility is so important, to show that we have all this unique knowledge that nobody else has in the field of food and agriculture. But I would like to make a special mention of the work we did with the Belgian Government. It was very supportive of FAO and our office is key to increasing the visibility of our field work with the Belgian government and public. The same is true of Belgian academia. There is huge potential there.”

Richard China: “The European Union represents not only a huge marketplace in terms of goods, but also in terms of ideas. It was such a great opportunity to be here and inform the EU on food and agriculture policies and I saw this tremendous opportunity, as the EU was already back at that time one of the top contributors to FAO. Having our Director-Generals in Brussels was always quite an experience. It required a lot of organization, but it was wonderful to see how they were connecting to the different European Commissioners, seeing eye to eye on so many issues, on one occasion even just sharing information about their favourite historian! I truly believe that hosting the Director-General in Brussels does add to the understanding of the fundamental role this office has.”

Mustapha Sinaceur: “In Brussels you have more than 3 000 NGOs, civil society organizations and other UN agencies; all this on top of the EU institutions! By the same token, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions are partners that indirectly support our efforts, sometimes working hand in hand with us on global challenges, but with the European view in mind. The same is valid of course for our other important partners. Just to highlight the strong cooperation with the then ACP (now OACPS), as well as the European Parliament also through the European Parliamentary Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition for which FAO Brussels is the Secretariat; and on the other hand the Belgian Parliament with their Food Security working group that FAO is called to contribute regularly. I am happy to see the office having an increasingly intense interaction with all of them.”  

Rodrigo de Lapuerta: “I must confess that as much as Brussels lacks sunny days, it compensates in terms of exciting work and city life – so many possibilities, but also such an interesting political debate with the Council, the Parliament, the Commission and FAO member countries. Interestingly enough, migration was also an issue when I arrived, and we have so much good work to showcase from FAO on migration issues. That was the moment when I thought it was important to get the technical divisions of FAO involved in the events and meetings we organized in Brussels. And indeed, throughout the years the office has benefited tremendously from the inputs of the technical divisions. Sharing knowledge makes us powerful and the point of reference for our partners. One special mention I wanted to make was about the pandemic: I am very proud of my former team at the beginning of and through a big part of the pandemic. Their creativity, which led to the very successful Brussels Dialogues, and their professionalism is something that really helped us get through this together.”

All the participants mentioned the rich array of appetizing Belgian food in this city and the availability of fresh and delicious produce at almost every street corner. Asked what they would do on one of the –admittedly rare – sunny days in Brussels, they named their favourite park for picnics or brunch, their favourite bicycle road and none of them failed to speak of their good fortune at living in the centre of Europe, just a couple of hours’ train ride from a handful of other major European cities.   

The FAO Liaison Office in Brussels’ current Director Raschad Al-Khafaji assured the participants that their legacy will be continued under his directorship. He invited them to take part in a virtual toast a few days later, together with former and current LOB colleagues, who joined online from around the world to send their best wishes and say Cheers, Santé, Schol, Prost and much more to the Liaison Office in Brussels!