Director-General discuss responses to COVID-19 challenges with all FAO Country Representatives

9 April 2020, Rome – Director-General QU Dongyu today participated in a virtual meeting that for the first time in FAO’s history gathered all the organization’s Country Representatives (FAORs) around the world. The teleconference was set up with the objective to discuss how headquarters can support the FAORs in challenging times, the importance of developing detailed action plans and FAO’s role during and after the COVID-19 crisis.

About 130 FAORs plus other senior officers from regional and sub-regional offices and the headquarters in Rome attended the meeting, during which the Director-General emphasized that the foremost priorities in these trying times are the health and wellbeing of staff and their families and delivering on FAO’s mandate – “as much as possible, through innovative ways.” 

In this sense, he strongly urged Country Representatives to upscale efforts to find and use innovative partners in new ways, particularly from the private sector, adding that the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which matches countries in need with donors, offered a strong framework for rapidly identifying feasible projects, with particular focus on the most vulnerable populations.

The Director-General highlighted that the current crisis will extend over time with multiple waves. “We need to plan ahead and be prepared for this new scenario, early prevention and early action are essential,” he said, adding that “such plans need to contain concrete implementation steps, have to be based on solid risk assessment and adapted to local circumstances.” 

QU Dongyu also emphasized that FAO needs to play a central coordination role, globally and at country-level, during and after the crisis. In this context, he noted that the FAORs are the best positioned to support governments to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic. “You know the frontlines, the real programmes, and you deal with them daily,” he said. 

The Director-General stressed that FAO needs to offer professional technical support to its Member Countries to strengthen production, processing and value chain of food. “Countries should be encouraged to shorten food supply chains, boost local production and ensure local distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables,” he said, observing that southern countries are now experiencing their harvest season.

QU Dongyu also mentioned the importance of close collaboration with UN Resident Coordinators in the countries for FAO to play a role that is “more visible, more tangible and more deliverable for the agri-food sector in the aftermath of the pandemic”.

The FAORs expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to exchange with the Director-General in such an interactive and direct manner. They also stressed their satisfaction with the support they have been receiving from headquarters in an efficient and effective way since the start of the pandemic, which includes the development of policy proposals and briefings to discuss with national and local governments.  

The FAORs also shared ideas, such as tailormade “tele-training” initiatives, that they are adopting to pursue FAO’s core mandates and carry out field projects amid severe restrictions on mobility.