Read-out of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and H.E. Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland

16 September 2021, Rome - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and H.E. Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, met to discuss further collaboration between FAO and Ireland and partnering for a peaceful, equal and sustainable world.

The pair discussed the intersection of agri-food challenges and the importance of food diversity and biodiversity in achieving sustainable agri-food systems, as well as the importance of preserving and sharing local knowledge.

The President expressed his appreciation for FAO as a knowledge Organization and noted the importance of sharing knowledge widely, including drawing lessons from history. In this regard, he referred to the great famine that occurred in Ireland in 1845-49 when the potato crop failed in successive years.

The Director-General thanked Ireland for being a steadfast and committed partner in the global fight against hunger and malnutrition ever since becoming a member of FAO in 1946.

They agreed that FAO and Ireland will continue to work together in concrete and efficient ways, especially in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and landlocked countries (LLCs), as well as on biodiversity as a global public good.

In that respect, the Director-General mentioned the FAO Hand-in-Hand Initiative, the recently established FAO SIDS Solutions Forum, the Digital FAO, the Office of SDGs, the Office of Innovation, and the appointed of the first-ever FAO Chief Scientist as innovative ways of delivering on the 2030 Agenda.

The pair further discussed the important role Ireland can play in sharing experiences in sustainable crop production, animal husbandry and rural revitalization.

The President mentioned that Ireland has a global view and commended the many Irish people that help the international community in crisis situations, for example in fighting famine and conflict induced displacements. Both agreed that urgent action is needed to help achieve SDG 2 to achieve Zero Hunger.

They discussed the conclusions of the SOFI 2021 report, showing that in 2020, between 720 and 811 million people faced hunger, and that around 660 million people may still face hunger in 2030, in part due to the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on global food security and nutrition. The President stated that the future of food security in the world cannot be left to the strongest.

The Director-General referred to FAO's new Strategic Framework 2022-2031 that seeks to support the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.