Bilateral meeting with the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations – Miguel de Serpa Soares

Rome - Director-General QU Dongyu and Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations, met and discussed topics of common interest.

The Director-General welcomed the USG’s visit, thanked the USG for his support and expressed appreciation for the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. For his part, the USG expressed appreciation for the meeting and for FAO’s hosting of the two UN Legal Advisers’ networks (the UN system; and the UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes) meetings, which are currently taking place at FAO Headquarters.

The two briefly exchanged views on the origins of FAO and of the United Nations system, on rules-based governance, on common policies within the UN system and on the need for continued, close collaboration within the UN family on legal issues.  In particular, the Director-General stressed the importance of FAO’s Basic Texts in guiding the work on the Organization as a UN specialized agency.

In closing, the two agreed to continue close collaboration moving forward.