It is time for FAO to Recover, Rebuild and Reform for a Renaissance

Rome - The year ahead will usher in a focus on how to Recover, Rebuild and Reform for a Renaissance of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Director-General QU Dongyu said as he opened a ceremony to recognize employees for outstanding contributions and long service.

In an address for FAO's Employee Recognition Awards 2023 and 25 Year Medal Ceremony, which emphasized the value of employees as the Organization's key asset and the importance of intergenerational knowledge transfer, Qu said: “This year, 2023, has been one of Excellence and we have built on the foundations of 2022, which was the year of the Extraordinary, following the years focused on Efficiency and Effectiveness.

Recover, Rebuild and Reform for a Renaissance

Qu said after the "Four Es" (years of Excellence, the Extraordinary, Efficiency and Effectiveness), which have recently set out the guiding priorities for the Organization each year, 2024 would mark the start of the “Four Rs: Recover, Rebuild and Reform for a Renaissance of FAO.”

The FAO Director-General noted that this year’s Employee Recognition Awards - the fifth occasion of its kind - as the biggest so far due to the presence of FAO Representatives from all over the world – another first - who are this week taking part in a global gathering at the Organization’s Headquarters.

As well as presenting awards to 200 employees, comprising 100 Young and 100 Young-at-Heart FAO staff members, and 17 FAO Teams, Qu also handed 25 Year Medals to 41 colleagues from 23 different countries who have completed a quarter-century of continuous service with FAO.

Organization's greatest assets

"Today, we celebrate our organization’s greatest assets: our colleagues," Qu said, describing employees as the engines for implementing FAO's Strategic Framework and the aspiration of the Four Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life, leaving no one behind.

Since the awards began in 2019, 400 Young and 400 "Young-at-Heart" employees and over 50 teams have been honoured.

This year's awardees were selected out of 549 nominations, with more than 100 nationalities represented from 77 FAO duty stations worldwide, Qu noted.

Intergenerational experience sharing

Addressing those who received medals for 25 years of service, Qu pointed to the evolution of the Organization over the past quarter-century, with accelerated changes over the past four years and said they had "witnessed this evolution firsthand, and you have also evolved personally over the past 25 years. Evolution presents challenges – challenges that you have overcome."

The Director-General invited the long-serving colleagues to share their experience with the younger generation of FAO employees; either through the Organization's Mentorship Programme or informally.

"Intergenerational knowledge is an essential building block for the future, for a better future for all," Qu said.