Traditional ceremony congratulates 44 FAO employees for long service
Rome – “Be like the tiger – be bold, be fearless and be strong!” The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, exhorted FAO employees all over the world to keep on delivering in challenging times and circumstances to help transform agrifood systems to end rural poverty, hunger and malnutrition in the world.
His remarks, drawing on symbols from the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Tiger, came as he celebrated 44 employees for 25 years of service, hailing them for their “long-standing loyalty and dedication to the noble mandate of FAO.”
Congratulating employees who complete 25 years of continuous service to FAO with a medal is a decades-old tradition in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This year’s recipients come from 32 countries ranging from Iceland to Papua New Guinea and work in 22 duty stations around the world. The event included videos sharing their reflections and insights on how they and FAO itself have changed during the past quarter of a century, along with some advice to newer staff.
In a virtual event attended by more than 800 participants, Qu also expressly thanked many other long-serving colleagues for their commitment to the Organization, and additionally thanked everyone for their efficient and effective, individual and collective, service to FAO, especially over the past two years, when FAO managed to adapt to many pandemic-related obstacles to pursue its mandate.
Looking ahead
“In an ever-evolving world, we have built a new FAO,” Qu said, noting a series of reforms executed since he joined in mid-2019. These included breaking down vertical silos, streamlining administrative processes, reorganizing reporting lines, bolstering local offices and other initiatives aimed at making FAO a fully digital Organization with modernized systems and ways of thinking.
He pointed to the flexible plan for Rome-based workers, 95 percent of whom have been fully vaccinated, to return to the office gradually from 1 March, noted that circumstances vary between regions of the world, and urged FAO staff everywhere to be careful of their health and of local rules. Variants such as Omicron continue to circulate, highlighting that the COVID-19 crisis is not over and the importance for everyone to observe safety rules and measures, he said.
“We can only deliver if we are well, fit and strong,” the Director-General said, noting that 2022 will be busy, with a series of FAO Regional Conferences already underway, and should be approached with “extraordinary efforts leading to extraordinary results.”
Those conferences, followed by meetings of other Governing Bodies, are important forums for listening and exchanging ideas to identify, together with Members, emerging policy and technical issues, seek solutions, and provide actionable advice on appropriate actions to be taken, he said.
The Director-General also described FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-31 as the map to guide efforts to ensure “the transformation of the world’s 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.”