Pope Francis meets Director-General and renews his commitment to support FAO’s mandate

Rome – Pope Francis today received FAO Director-General QU Dongyu for a meeting at the Vatican during which the pontiff congratulated the Director-General for the achievements made by FAO in 2021 and reiterated his support for FAO’s efforts to combat hunger worldwide during this challenging period. 

The Director-General expressed deep appreciation to Pope Francis for his continued passion and support for FAO’s mandate and initiatives, and said it was “a great honour to be annually received by His Holiness”.

The Director-General informed Pope Francis that millions of people had been affected by the pandemic and conflicts in 2021, and that the vulnerable need urgent assistance to transform their agrifood systems to better cope with sudden shocks of the kind witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic and climate crises. 

“Food is a basic human right,” the Director-General said, as he highlighted several key achievements in 2021 of how FAO was concretely fulfilling the guiding aspiration of Pope Francis to ensure “we can all live with dignity, respect and love.” “Your messages are fully conveyed to both the highest political levels and to farmers, as well as public youth at the grassroots level.”

In 2021, FAO actively participated in or successfully organized a number of significant events such as: the FAO ministerial conference, the UN Food Systems Summit and its Pre-Summit, the G20 Leaders’ Summit and the World Food Forum (WFF), in which the FAO Director-General repeatedly called upon the global community to transform agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all, leaving no one behind.