Read-out of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Nick Dyer UK Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs

Today, 21 April 2021, the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the UK Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs, Nick Dyer, had a virtual meeting to discuss FAO-UK collaboration to address acute food security and FAO’s vision and work on the prevention of food crises by addressing their root causes, bridging humanitarian and development response through protecting agriculture-based livelihood and promoting science-based approaches.

The UK Special Envoy commended FAO’s long-term approach for food crisis prevention and the Organization’s anticipatory action, which is at the core of famine prevention.

He briefed the Director-General on the G7 efforts to prevent famines and tackle the rising acute food insecurity and humanitarian crises under the UK presidency.   

The FAO Director-General stressed the importance of long-term, holistic efforts to prevent food crises by addressing their root causes. This includes concrete action to help farmers quickly re-establish and maintain agricultural production, build resilience and sustain income. He also reiterated the crucial role of anticipatory actions at the core of famine prevention, which is based on solid information and early warning systems – areas in which FAO has demonstrated global leadership.

The FAO Director-General further reiterated the importance of science-based approaches and the provision of timely data and analysis, which is essential to inform humanitarian actions. 

The FAO Director-General  and the UK Special Envoy agreed to continue their dialogue and the coordination, especially in the humanitarian context.