25 Year Medal Awarding Ceremony

25 Year Medal Awarding Ceremony
28 January 2021

REMARKS BY

Dr QU Dongyu
FAO Director-General

As delivered

 

        Dear colleagues and moderators,

1. I will start by saying Happy New Year. In two weeks, we will celebrate the Chinese New Year. It’s the lunar calendar. It is the year of the cow, of the bull, bullfighter, according to the lunar calendar. It is a good year; it should be good for agriculture and food, because the year of the bull should be good for farming.
2. This is the first time I address all of you together this year, 2021. So, I start by wishing you and your families a healthy, happy and successful 2021.
3. Today we are honouring colleagues who have reached 25 years of service at FAO. It is a tradition. I wanted to remind you that it is a tradition because we should honour the people who have a long commitment to their service to FAO.
4. As you already mentioned, we did not give a Medal to Mr Mehboob because he could get at least two. He has reached 52 years of service. And also, I did not give it to Mr Laurent Thomas, and he has been at service in FAO for more than 30 years - because they are senior. But I do want to share with you that these thirteen people have all reached 25 years of service.
5. Eleven colleagues originating from eleven countries – this reflects our diversity. Each of them contributing at different levels and in different fields to the noble mandate of our Organization. In the name of the big FAO family, I thank them for their service and say Congratulations!
6. As you recall, we innovated last year, by having an event for the newly recruited colleagues on the same day of this awarding ceremony.
7. As we are gathering in a virtual manner today, I want to welcome all 238 new colleagues, who joined FAO in 2020. Even during the pandemic, during these challenging times, we still had more than 238 new colleagues who joined FAO. I think this indicates that FAO is becoming an ideal and better place to work. Because for every recruitment we have received so many applications.
8. Let us continue to build a more attractive, more dynamic FAO, making it a better place to work, and to enjoy the work.
9. As a scientist, I know how important fresh blood is for the body. So, we need to recharge the senior ones, and also, we need the new, fresh blood to give to this FAO body.
   
   Colleagues,
   
   
10. 2020 was a challenging year that forced us all to adapt to new realities.
11. It was impressive to see how FAO was not only capable to adapt, but to thrive on change.
12. How much progress we made in the span of a year: collaborating remotely, streamlining processes and focusing on results.
13. Last Year, in January, I declared 2020 the FAO Year of Efficiency
14. And despite the pandemic, we implemented the most significant reform and reorganization of FAO since its creation. That is what I was informed of by the ICC Chair, Mr Mehboob. Only he has the authority to come to this conclusion remark.
15. We broke down silos, focused our work on future-oriented topics, removed administrative layers and introduced innovative approaches.
16. Going forward, we will deepen the reform efforts at Headquarters and ensure regional harvesting of its results on the ground.
17. Let me share with you what external and internal observers agree on. Today, FAO is more agile, efficient and inclusive, and of course more visible. Yesterday I was invited to the High Panel for Leadership to transform Agri-food Systems and Land Use, at the Davos World Economic Forum.
18. Now we come to the stage, due to all your efforts. Now we are making FAO more visible, more impactful, and of course, more able to deliver.
19. We are moving in the right direction.
20. This international recognition of our hard work and the many tangible results should motivate us to continue seeking ways of improving – at all levels and across the entire Organization.
21. And so, I invite you to focus this year on another crucial factor of success: effectiveness.
22. Ask yourselves: How effective am I in my daily tasks? What can I do to improve it at my level, within my team and across the office? Share your thoughts and proposals with your colleagues!
23. We are coming to a digital world. What is the biggest characteristic difference from the traditional economy of our world? It is sharing. We share the virtual, we share the economy, we share the internet, we share the information– everything is based on sharing. We have to change the way of thinking, the way of doing business. You share one, you get more to share. So, share with your colleagues and friends first, and then you will harvest more results from sharing with others.
24. Let us make sure that 2021 is FAO’s year of continued efficiency and increased effectiveness.
25. Remember: being effective is about doing the right things – more deliverables – while being efficient is about doing things before a certain time. That is my interpretation.
26. It maybe not be the proper one, but let us build a common understanding of what effectiveness is and what efficiency is. Being effective is about doing right things - more deliverables; while being efficient is about doing things before a certain time.
27. That is why we started to improve the efficiency first, because in FAO, you know, there is so much bureaucracy, so many excuses, so many left behind because you move things so slowly. We need to speed up the process. That is why I started introducing in 2020 the need to improve the efficiency.
28. Of course, there is still a lot of room for improvement. That is what I mean by efficiency.
29. And effectiveness: this means you have to do the right things, more deliverables to our customers, our Members, farmers, collaborators and colleagues who join hands with you on the same programmes, projects or tasks. That is effectiveness. Less or zero risk always ends up with positive results.  
30. Transparency and accountability remain cornerstones of our work and I encourage all of you to lead by example within your own work.
31. And also learning from your colleagues surrounding you. I saw a lot of kudos or good examples surrounding you. Just open your mind, open your eyes, open your arms to get to know, to get to embrace them and then you will find your real heroes among your colleagues.
    
    Dear Colleagues,
    
    
32. The challenges ahead of us are considerable.
33. The socio-economic effects of the pandemic did not spare any country or region of the world.
34. Rich and poor, small and big, all our Members need our practical support and technical assistance today, more than ever before.
35. FAO’s leadership in the global transformation of agri-food systems is crucial in building back better.
36. Yesterday, I heard the real deep thinking from the Honourable President of Costa Rica. He is young; he was born in the 1980s. A really young President, but he also agrees that food is a basic human right. Before, everybody had enough food, most countries and the majority of people had enough food, and they did not consider food a problem at all. Once the pandemic started, politicians realized that the agri-food systems are fragile, and it is a big challenge for them to keep the basic human right for all people to have enough food.
37. So, it is a big political momentum for us to transform agri-food systems to make them as efficient as possible, as effective as possible, and of course, as collective as possible.
38. Contributing to such noble goals in such decisive times is a source of pride and energy for all of us!
39. I count on all of you to continue learning, sharing and contributing.
40. For a more just and happy world, free of hunger and malnutrition.
41. Let’s do it. I always say, let us roll up our sleeves to work hard, efficiently and effectively for all mankind we are serving. 

Thank you.