Inauguration of the renovated Slovak Delegates' Lounge and Food Waste Exhibition at FAO

Rome - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic, H.E. Richard Takáč, today opened the newly refurbished Slovak Delegates' Lounge at the organization's Rome headquarters.   

The Director-General expressed his appreciation to the Government of the Slovak Republic for its generous contribution to the venue's renovation. 

“As I always say, FAO is your (its Member’s) Organization, and this Lounge is a further reflection of the involvement of Members in every aspect of FAO, including by contributing to its premises, both here at headquarters in Rome, as well as the Decentralized Offices around the world,” Qu said. 

For his part, Minister Takáč expressed that the Slovak Delegates’ Lounge will meet its purpose by continuing to serve as a venue that can facilitate negotiations and agreements that will benefit agricultural development and the reduction of poverty around the world. 

The FAO Director-General noted that the renovation work included upgrading the furniture and modernizing IT and video conferencing facilities. The design features were inspired by the Slovak Republic, while adhering to FAO's digitalization standards. 

The Lounge is now equipped with the latest audiovisual technology to support hybrid meetings. The larger room is equipped with a large screen that supports video presentations and the projection of content.  

A food waste exhibition goes on display at FAO   

Later, the FAO Director-General together with the Slovak Minister opened an exhibition on food waste consisting of a series of photos by renowned Slovak artist Mária Miklošková who also attended the ceremony.  

In her photographs, the artist captured the beauty, colours and harmony of examples of food compost - what were once vibrant and edible food items which will now help fertilize the soil to start the cycle of life once more. 

Addressing the ceremony, the FAO Director-General stressed that if we tackle the issue of food loss and waste, we could feed many more people on the planet.  

FAO constantly works to reduce food loss and waste, through innovative solutions in all areas of its work. Last year the Organization installed self-measurement bins in all cafeterias at its headquarters, helping to reduce food waste, while raising awareness on the need for people to also take individual responsibility in tackling this problem.