FAO Town Hall Meeting - Opening Remarks

Opening Remarks by
Director-General Dr. QU Dongyu
FAO Town Hall Meeting

11 May 2021

As prepared

 

 

Dear colleagues,

1. Greetings from Rome to all of you, across the globe!

2. I am pleased to see so many energized and motivated colleagues at this third ‘Big Family Reunion’.

3. We are living in challenging times and I want to start by paying tribute to all of you for continuing to deliver despite the circumstances we face. 

4. You have proven loyal to our mandate and to the hundreds of millions of farmers, fisher folk, herders and consumers around the world!

5. Many of you have been on the frontlines of major crises, from the desert locust upsurge to hurricanes, from conflict to floods, all in the midst of the pandemic.

6. I applaud you for your extraordinary commitment to serving the most vulnerable.

Colleagues,

7. You are the engine behind the ongoing successful reform and renewal of FAO.

8. This most significant transformation of FAO since its creation is evolving through your everyday behavior, where seeds of change are planted that accumulate and are amplified over time. 

9. These incremental, 'small wins', and 'small changes' range from colleagues who started collaborating across offices and disciplines, to a country office that reached out to regions to learn and share, to an innovative change in how a certain work process is handled on a daily basis.

10. Today’s FAO is an agile, modern and digital one that is ahead of the curve and becoming a model to follow by other agencies.

11. All these developments are the result of strategic decisions and transformative actions that follow a clear, coherent and transparent vision.

12. So, you see that I walk the talk.

13. And just as I had declared 2020 the FAO Year of Efficiency, 2021 is the Year of Continued Efficiency and Increased Effectiveness.

14. With Transparency and accountability remaining cornerstones of our work.

Colleagues,

15. Keeping all employees safe during the pandemic remains a central concern of mine.

16. To ensure adequate vaccine coverage of employees globally, we are working closely with the UN system-wide Vaccine Deployment Working Group.

17. Within this framework, the UN is sourcing COVID-19 vaccines to countries that either do not have national vaccination programs or where UN employees and dependents would not be covered.

18. The first 50 such countries have been identified and many are already receiving the vaccines.

19. In other countries, agreements are being pursued to allow UN personnel and dependents to be included in national vaccination plans.

20. We signed an agreement with the UN Secretariat to ensure that all FAO employees and eligible dependents be covered by the UN-administered vaccination programs in countries where no national vaccination programs are in place.

21. We continue to support COVID-19 medical evacuation arrangements as agreed with the UN Secretariat, in addition to supporting COVID-19 prevention and local healthcare services, for individual FAO Country Offices.

22. We continue to support our Country Offices to ensure that all employees have access to quality personal protective equipment (PPE).

23. Clear technical requirements for home solar systems have been defined in order to guarantee the necessary minimum electrical supply for staff teleworking, in particular in countries experiencing electricity issues.

24. Regular Organization-wide communication has accompanied management measures to support employee safety awareness, engagement and connection, in addition to boosting morale.

25. I am pleased with the overwhelming positive feedback we received from employees and staff representative bodies and the appreciation they expressed for this internal communication campaign, which has been the largest in FAO’s history.

26. We continue to provide training sessions on health and well-being, mental health and ergonomic awareness.

27. We continue to implement safety and hygiene protocols, install disinfection stands and provide relevant guidance to offices worldwide.

28. Remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint, so we will continue to spare no efforts in working with host countries, the WHO and others to address the challenges of the pandemic.

29. And I count on all of you to continue following all measures and regulations.

30. By doing so, we are not only putting local health services under less pressure, but we even serve as role models of discipline, solidarity and civic duty.

Dear Colleagues,

31. Creating a safe and positive work environment and improving working conditions continue to be a top priority for me.

32. Here again: Concrete actions and decisions have made a real difference.

33. To start we needed to strengthen our HR team by filling a number of key positions.

34. The new Deputy Director, the Head of Policy, a Data Analytics Officer CSH, a Career Development Officer and a Workplace Relations Officer have joined FAO.

35. This augmented the capacity of the HR team to deliver people-centred approaches and to implement further change.

36. We adapted our working methods to the pandemic.

37. We issued HR policy guidelines on the management of all personnel to ensure that all employees know what they need to do, including how to contract, on-board, train and support their teams to do their jobs while working from home.

38. As the situation evolves, the guidelines continue to be adjusted and updated.

39. All training opportunities were converted to virtual so that they could continue during the COVID-19 remote working lockdown.

40. We launched a digital workspace with guidance for working remotely, new courses and tools on how to manage virtual teams and performance, and a new virtual forum called ‘Zoom in on Learning’.

41. We ensured access to the Virtual FAO, and that FAO is “open for business” 24/7, from anywhere, anytime.

42. The FAO Intranet is now securely available globally - keeping the FAO family virtually together and well informed.

43. We continue expanding the provided digital services with the next stages of paperless office tools and electronic signatures.

44. FAO is also rapidly shifting from a static, computer desktop setting to an agile, “laptop based” flexible work environment.

45. Assistance is also provided to staff to better accommodate their work environment in terms of equipment and teleworking setup, with the Service Desk remaining available 24/7.

Dear Colleagues,

46. Despite the focus on the COVID-emergency response, progress on HR management has continued, and concrete actions were taken to make a difference. These include, for example

• Solving the long-standing legal issue on the Break-in-Service matter for short-term employees, and taking the first steps in simplifying and decentralizing procedures for the management of Affiliate workforce (NSHR).
• FAO’s new medical insurance plan significantly improves medical coverage for all employees, which is particularly important during this pandemic. 
• Since January 2021, coverage for the affiliate workforce (NSHR), representing 75 percent of FAO’s employees, has been substantially enhanced, including coverage during maternity leave and optional coverage during service breaks and for dependents.
• All colleagues affected after the restructuring at headquarters last year were successfully placed.
• We undertook a recruitment drive focusing on senior positions and FAO representatives, to provide strategic support for the Organization and to strengthen capacity. 
• We now turn our focus to the Decentralized Offices to ensure that we can work as One FAO.
• As a priority we are working to bring the vacancy rate down, and as you can see from the high number of vacancies published, we are addressing this issue in a more systematic way.
• A new recruitment policy is being developed to further streamline the process.
• Recruitment, along with the job growth policy will result in career development opportunities for internal staff, a key area of concern.
• Efforts will also improve gender balance and geographical representation. 
• Diversity and inclusion remain important considerations that are integrated in all FAO initiatives.
• And I have recently decided to extend parental leave for staff to bring FAO more in line with other UN agencies and in support of the gender equality agenda.

47. I am also pleased with the feedback received from the survey launched in December 2020 on employees’ experiences with remote working.

48. The survey received almost 6 000 responses. Out of which over 85 % were satisfied with the information provided by FAO during the pandemic, and over 75 % with the overall management of the working environment.

49. The results also showed that people felt safer working from home, and it helped to balance work and family commitments.

50. Working remotely is now part of our daily working life and brings benefits and challenges.

51. We plan to revise the policy on Flexible Working Arrangements this year, based on the feedback and recommendations collected from the survey and discussions taking place at the wider UN level.

52. That is real evolution and adaptation to jointly strive for improvement and excellence.

53. Our positive dialogue became even more important during these difficult times when we needed to collaborate to ensure the safety of all of us.

54. So we continue to listen to our employees and work constructively with the Staff Representative Bodies.

55. At the 2020 Employee Recognition initiative ceremony we gathered to honour 100 young colleagues, and 100 “young at heart”, as well as ten teams.

56. The 200 awardees represented 92 nationalities, with two-thirds coming from FAO Decentralized Offices.

57. This creative and colourful event to recognize colleagues also showed how culturally rich and diverse the FAO family is.

58. I, and the entire leadership team, are committed to ensure that there is zero-tolerance in FAO for any form of Harassment, Discrimination, exploitation and Abuse of Authority, not only within the walls of our Offices but also when delivering our mandate in the field. 

59. To this end, I established an internal Task Force on Workplace Integrity and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, chaired by Laurent Thomas, Deputy Director-General, assisted by the Director, Human Resources, the Legal Office, the Ethics Officer, the Ombudsman and the Inspector General as the custodians of the policies and processes.

60. A key audit recommendation for reference checks of candidates through the UN clear check database, has also been established to guard against any possible rehiring of people with sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse records.

Dear Colleagues,

61. We entered this historic year of 2021 with ambition and energy!

62. The FAO Strategic Framework for the next ten years received the support of the recently concluded Council.

63. The Council appreciated the extensive, inclusive and transparent consultation process that we used in developing the Strategic Framework.

64. An unprecedented consultation process, where hundreds of you participated and contributed.

65. I warmly thank all those who were part of this massive effort.

66. Our Strategic Framework supports the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. 

67. Our various initiatives, programs and activities are thriving.

68. Our desert locust response alone helped to protect the livelihoods and food security of well over 20 million people last year.

69. Our wider humanitarian and resilience building efforts reached over 20 million people experiencing the most extreme forms of acute food insecurity.

70. We raised over USD 750 million.

71. Our partnerships within the UN System and beyond are unprecedented in quality and impact.

72. Our engagement with the Private Sector, Civil Societies and academia is thriving.

73. We are preparing for the FAO Conference next month, we are supporting the preparation of the UN Food Systems Summit and we are in close partnership with Italy’s G20 Presidency to support and advice their events.

74. And we continue improving the services we offer to all our Members.

75. The achievements made so far, are a source of pride for all of us!

76. Each one of you, from your position and through your function, contributed to this!

77. I thank you all, once again for your tireless efforts in adapting to the pandemic, in keeping safe and continuing to work with dedication and commitment for FAO’s noble mission.

78. Let’s continue with high energy and full enthusiasm!

Thank you.