Read-out of the FAO Director-General’s meeting with Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State, United States of America

Rome - Director-General QU Dongyu and Wendy Sherman, the US Deputy Secretary of State, met today and discussed the longstanding partnership between FAO and the United States of America. The Deputy Secretary was joined at the meeting by Ambassador Cindy McCain, US Permanent Representative to the UN Agencies in Rome.

The Director-General welcomed the Deputy Secretary to FAO headquarters and expressed his sincere thanks for the United States of America’s long-term commitment and ongoing support to FAO.  He emphasized his appreciation for US leadership across its relevant government departments, including the Department of State, the Department of Agriculture, the US Agency for International Development and others, for their ongoing, constructive engagement and collaboration with the Organization.

The Director-General also commended the United States for its White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, held in September 2022, and recalled the importance of US leadership on food security issues both domestically and internationally. 

During the meeting the Director-General and the Deputy Secretary discussed the state of food security worldwide, including the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food security and related matters under the mandate of FAO. 

The Deputy Secretary commended FAO’s latest achievements and stressed that the work of FAO has never been more important given the current global food security challenges the world is facing.  She highlighted that the United States has significantly increased its voluntary contributions to the Organization in 2022 (which have doubled when compared to 2021), and expressed appreciation for several of the key strategic changes the Director-General has introduced in FAO; specifically, she commended the two new thematic strategies on Climate Change and on Science and Innovation, along with the new FAO Strategy for Private Sector Engagement.

The Director-General provided a very brief overview of his vision for FAO moving forward, in line with the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31 and the 4 Betters, and referred to the key role of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative in mobilizing and catalyzing investment support for countries and territories where poverty and hunger are highest, where national capacities are limited, or where operational difficulties are greatest due to natural or man-made crises.  He also informed the Deputy Secretary of the Organization’s intensified engagement moving forward on areas related to investment, science and innovation, and youth among others, specifically highlighting the successful World Food Forum 2022 held in October. The Director-General also reaffirmed his commitment to and vision for continued transparency, accountability and oversight in FAO.

The Deputy Secretary welcomed the DG’s vision in the years to come and stressed the importance of improved, close collaboration between the Rome-based Agencies (RBAs).