7th Informal Joint Meeting of the FAO Council, IFAD Executive Board and the WFP Executive Board (hosted by FAO) Opening Statement

Chairpersons, Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

This meeting is always an excellent platform for collective dialogue with our Members.

FAO is hosting this year accordingly, and I thank the ICC Chairperson of the FAO Council, Hans Hoogeveen, for his efforts.

I also welcome my dear colleagues, IFAD President Alvaro Lario and WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain.

I would like to acknowledge our special guest, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who will participate in a session this afternoon.

Since our previous informal meeting in November 2022, we have seen increased challenges to food security.

We will see the latest global estimates of hunger and food insecurity in the 2024 SOFI report in July. 

Coordinated action is more critical than ever in responding to crises, addressing the challenges and searching solutions. 

Our Members continue to underline the critical role of the UN, and in particular of our three RBAs, for the transformation of global agrifood systems.

They recognize the importance of the tripartite MoU, which I signed together with the other two Principals in South Sudan in August 2023, during our joint mission, to reaffirm our joint commitment in a country faced with a deepening crisis that demands our joint focus, and where we can see the impacts of how our mandates complement each other.

The MoU we signed is grounded in the reforms of the UN development system and covers a wide range of activities, from responding to emergencies and shocks, to the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. It supports a holistic agrifood systems approach, crucial for addressing complex development challenges.

Dear Members,

It is important to recognize the successes of our work together. I wish to highlight just two significant examples:

First, the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, which plays a critical role in aligning country level actions to address global challenges. At the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment in July last year, our collaboration led to the joint preparation of 33 sessions, demonstrating a coordinated approach towards achieving collective objectives.  

Second, is the GEF-8 Food Systems Integrated Programme of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a USD 260 million initiative led jointly by FAO and IFAD, which is dedicated to supporting 32 countries in transforming their agrifood systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.

The increase in magnitude and severity of global food insecurity requires a redoubling and scaling up of our joint efforts for an efficient, effective and coherent response.

I wish to highlight three main areas in which FAO is making substantial contributions in integrated efforts for the food security in the short and long term:

First, we are seeing concrete results on the impact of implementing anticipatory action – a cost-effective investment. Ahead of El Niño, FAO worked with partners in 23 high-risk countries to protect 1.7 million people, and in the Dry Corridor, families could avoid drought impacts worth up to USD 3 for every USD 1 invested in anticipatory action.

I am pleased that we have finalized a global joint Anticipatory Action Strategy together with WFP to ensure a more structured, systematic and strategic approach to anticipating food crises.

Second, we have been scaling up efforts where there is imminent need such as in the Sudan where we are making significant progress in scaling up to avert or reduce the scale of an imminent famine.

And third, we have been focusing on the urgent need to tackle root causes of food crises.

Dear Colleagues,

We cannot continue business as usual – we cannot work in isolation.

In these emergency settings, complementarity and strong collaboration among the three agencies, and beyond, is key and evident.  

For this reason, we are continuing to intensify joint advocacy efforts based on strong evidence, such as through the Global Network Against Food Crises, which now also includes IFAD.

Our joint collaboration is needed to continue the transition from crises interventions to longer-term development: from humanitarian aid to development aid – this is the real business change.

FAO is also leveraging joint funding mechanisms and is developing policy tools to facilitate the integration of the agrifood systems approach in key UN development system frameworks at the global, regional and country levels.

At FAO, we are committed to continuing to do our part, increasingly focusing on delivery at country level.

We delivered assistance to over 56 million people in 2023, helping to anticipate and ease the impact of shocks with rapid local food production in partnership with national and local organizations to deliver this assistance, and we aim to reach 80 million people by the end of 2024.

In August, Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol will participate in a Joint Field Trip to South Sudan together with IFAD and WFP senior managers, to review progress made and to assess our collective impact in the country.

Dear Friends,

The strategic vision and concrete support are key for our successful collaboration and collective outcomes.

The three agencies are continuing to strengthen efforts to build partnerships across the wider UN system, and with all key partners, for more effective and efficient delivery of our programme.

There is still so much work to be done, and FAO is committed to continuing our joint efforts in support of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, on the path towards the Four Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life – leaving no one behind.

Thank you.