FAO at the European Humanitarian Forum 2024

The third edition of the European Humanitarian Forum took place in Brussels in a context of sharply increasing humanitarian needs around the world.  

Co-hosted by the European Commission and Belgium as President of the Council of the European Union, the Forum brought together 1 400 representatives from the humanitarian community and included a series of high-level discussions, political debates, and brainstorming sessions involving national authorities, resource partners, international organizations, and representatives of civil society. 

FAO Deputy Director-General, Beth Bechdol, led FAO’s participation at the Forum, which included a keynote intervention, a panel moderation and organizing a humanitarian talk.  

Bechdol joined a panel discussion with the title “From crisis to transition: how to use the nexus to provide basic services to people. Lessons from Iraq" that focused on the response to this complex and protracted crisis highlighting the critical funding gap.  

She presented FAO’s work in Iraq, as an excellent example of the importance of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. “Our approach is evidence-based – we use data and analysis for informed decision-making and for targeted interventions” Bechdol said. “In Iraq, our work was underpinned by a conflict-sensitive situation and needs assessment. This allowed us to have a better understanding of the real needs and priorities of the country and, in particular, of displaced communities, and in that way, we were able to deliver assistance beyond what we consider traditional humanitarian assistance – agricultural inputs, such as seeds, tools, animal vaccines, and training” she added. 

FAO’s Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, Rein Paulsen, moderated a session on food assistance and funding gap shedding light on the trade-offs humanitarian actors need to face when funding is limited.  

The FAO-organized event on "Emerging Social Protection and Community Resilience Experiences to Bridge the Nexus" brought around the table representatives from the Government of Somalia, the G7+, the World Bank, the Sahel and West Africa Club at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (SWAC/OECD), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). 

Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol, held several bilateral meetings during her two-day mission to Brussels, engaging with EU partners, international and non-governmental organizations, as well as the media.