Read-out of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriate of Yemen

Rome--FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu met with Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriate of Yemen.

The Director-General confirmed FAO's continued commitment to supporting the people of Yemen to resume and increase nutritious food production and generate income in the context of the Hand-in-Hand initiative and transformation of agrifood systems transformation to make them more sustainable.

On 16 November 2021, FAO and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) signed a USD 5 million project agreement to improve food security and nutrition for people affected by the conflict and COVID-19 in the Governorates of Hajjah and Lahj.

Yemen is a Hand-in-Hand (HiH) priority country and FAO is supporting the Government of Yemen with the new National Agriculture Sector Strategy 2030 and the National Agriculture Investment Plan 2025, which should be in place during the first half of 2022.

Minister Bin Mubark expressed the appreciation of the Yemeni Government for the crucial role of FAO in supporting the Yemeni people, emphasizing the importance of both the humanitarian and developmental programmes.  The Minister also emphasized the role that FAO can play in supporting the capacity building of the Yemeni institutions within its mandate, reconfirming the Government's commitment to working with FAO to provide support to the population.

The Director-General and the Minister emphasized the importance of working through long-term approaches, alongside the response to immediate needs of the Yemeni population.