CL 172 Closing Remarks

CL 172

Closing Remarks

By

Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

28 April 2023

 

Independent Chairperson of the Council, Dear Hans

Excellences,

All the delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

 

I wish to thank the Council for the constructive and professional manner in which it conducted its business this week. I felt the strong solidarity during this Council, after having participated in eleven sessions.

 

We always find ways to agree and compromise, even with some level of disagreement on some issues, but we are united by our collective understanding and shared goal on achieving the SDGs.

 

The international community is facing huge challenges that call for coordinated and joint responses. The 2030 Agenda is a fundamental tool for that collective response, and we need to work together to achieve its targets.

 

We must act globally. No one can be left behind. 

 

As a UN specialized agency for food and agriculture, let us continue to search for consensus, openness and inclusiveness as the basis for our decision-making process. This has always been a priority for me since taking office as FAO Director-General in 2019.

 

Let us preserve the trust we have built together over the last four years, and keep the focus on the professional aspects of our common agenda to fight poverty, hunger and all forms of malnutrition, and to support the transformation of global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable to achieve the Four Betters.

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

During your discussions this week, there was recognition of FAO’s role as a global center of technical excellence, and that such a role requires to be adequately resourced.

 

There was recognition that FAO has had over 12 years of a zero nominal growth budget, leading to a substantial loss of purchasing power, and a steady growth of voluntary contributions, which put more demands on delivery capacity.

 

I appreciate the Council’s careful review of the PWB proposal for the next biennium 2024-25, and the constructive discussion confirming the need for a budget at a higher nominal level.

 

The Council discussions also evidenced that Members acknowledge the Oversight Advisory Committee’s assessment that budget constraints over an extended period can negatively affect efficiency and effectiveness.

 

I also heard your call on the need for increased support, capacity building and the mobilization of additional financial resources for developing nations.

 

We want to continue to meet your needs and requests for support in the next biennium and I am sure that with the positive spirit I saw around the budget discussions this week, we will be able to do so, together.

 

As I said at the beginning of the week, a consensual approval of the proposed budget level will be a powerful sign that we are indeed ONE FAO.

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

We need to continue to prioritize implementation of outstanding recommendations from audit reports, and in completing identified agreed actions as soon as possible.

 

During this week, you have highlighted the importance of the Strategy on Climate Change and its Action Plan, and provided recommendations for its implementation, as well as the importance of synergy with the strategies on Science and Innovation, and on Private Sector Engagement.

 

I am pleased to see the consensus on such important areas of FAO’s technical work.

 

I also noted the recommendation to address both regional and country specific needs, and to facilitate inter-regional exchanges. This fully aligns with the structural reform of FAO’s Regional and Sub-regional offices that I initiated, and my vision going forward for increased coordinated delivery at the country level, including for increased RBA coherency and efficiency for collective delivery on the ground, and for a holistic joint design for better production and rural development at the country level.

 

I am pleased to see we are on the same page, and we have a common starting point to go forward.

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

We also welcome the emphasis placed on integrated water resources management, and we will continue working with partners to support development and implementation of national water roadmaps.

 

We will continue to strengthen work on One Health through the Joint Plan of Action, launched under FAO’s Chair last year, as well as on AMR for which I strongly advocate at the global level, together with the support of the Prime Minister of Barbados who champions AMR.

 

I was also pleased to note the Council’s appreciation for FAO’s ongoing efforts and leading role in providing timely data and information on global food markets, including by updating Members through the G7 and G20 fora, as well as key UN bodies in New York.

 

The majority of the G20 members have doubled their support to Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), to help us strengthen this important initiative.

 

I look forward to your ongoing support for the Hand-in-Hand initiative, including preparations for the next Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum during the World Food Forum in October. So far we have had many positive reactions from Heads of State and Government from around the world who are committed to making a contribution to this important Forum, which will continue to be an impactful platform and I look forward to your continued support.

 

I also appreciate the Council’s support for FAO’s digital transformation, with a focus on Digital for Impact and the Digital Workplace.

 

I wish to thank the ICC for guiding the discussions this week with his professional and neutral manner, and for the harmonization I felt for the first time in four years, as well as to the Chairs of the Council Committees for their invaluable support.

 

I always say that FAO is large, and it is poor.  But its richness lies in its greatest asset, its employees - highly recognized international employees. 

 

Today, I would like to ask you to join me in recognizing the service for more than 30 years of a FAO staff member who has been working to support the efficient running of governing bodies at FAO: Sergio Ferraro, the Deputy Director of the Governing Bodies Servicing Division, who will retire at the end of May this year.

 

Today is officially the last working day of this Council – it is also the last Council for Sergio. In his career, Sergio has supported over 70 sessions of the Council, as well as 15 sessions of Conference, and thousands of other meetings. Like many other FAO employees, I applaud Sergio’s professionalism, passion and dedication to duty. We know that there are many employees working behind the scenes as hidden heroes – like Sergio - with a long commitment to the Organization.

 

Dear Friends,

 

We are all fortunate to work for FAO, working together towards FAO’s mandate.

 

This morning I welcomed the Vice Premier of Italy to FAO on the occasion of the inauguration of the new façade of the FAO building and I used the opportunity to once again convey my appreciation to the Government of Italy for all their support.

 

Let us all continue working together – we have achieved so much together so far, let us continue to achieve even more and better together, to protect people and the planet.

 

Thank you.