Joint Meeting of the Programme and Finance Committees Opening Statement

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

Good morning. 

I am always pleased for the opportunity to address the Joint Meeting of the Programme and Finance Committees to provide an overview of progress and developments in our work over the past months since the last session. 

First of all, I want to share the big news with you that the prestigious King Hassan II of Morocco World Water Prize is being awarded to FAO at the World Water Conference in Bali, Indonesia, today. I wish to thank the Judging Committee of this Prize for their recognition of the contributions to FAO's works on water. 

Last Friday with the close of the Regional Conference for Europe, we completed the cycle of regional ministerial conferences for this biennium.

It has been a fruitful cycle, which has led to the consolidation of regional priorities to guide the work of the Organization going forward.

Each conference has been distinct, as it should be to reflect the distinct characteristics of each region, and it is this very distinction that will ensure tailor-made objectives, action plans and implementation modalities to ensure we provide the most impactful solutions on the ground. 

Following the restructuring at headquarters, and at Regional and Subregional Offices, the review of the country offices has started with discussions at each of the regional ministerial conferences.  

We have put forward five overarching principles guiding the proposed adjustment of FAO country presence, as well as four country models to meet the challenges of delivering our work in a rapidly evolving environment. 

We look forward to taking this important review forward through a progressive, open, and transparent process. 

We need a professional, modern, and efficient country office network that can deliver successfully under the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31, is able to position itself strategically within the UN country-level discussions, and which fully observes accountability, internal control, and good management in line with the FAO mandates.

I am also pleased that we will share with you the Programme Implementation Report (PIR) 2022-23, which looks back at the first biennium of implementation under the Strategic Framework. 

We report on what we have jointly achieved in a biennium marked by multiple shocks and crises, including global conflicts and unprecedented food insecurity. 

The international community’s commitment to transform agrifood systems was placed firmly on the global agenda and public spending on agriculture reached an all-time high.

But more needs to be done.

The financing gap for meeting the SDGs is estimated at over USD 4 trillion per year - 600 billion of which for food, agriculture, and biodiversity.

As you can see in the report, FAO stepped up to the challenge as a respected leader and provider of data, platform, network, knowledge, and expertise.

We worked with our partners to support Members in progressing towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda by transforming to more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable agrifood systems,

For better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind - the Four Betters - which has been global commitment.

The Strategic Framework provided a guiding light, and the thematic strategies, Value Added Impact Areas and Country Programming Frameworks ensured we focused our efforts in a coordinated, coherent, and consistent manner.

We put forward our expertise in delivering services, providing data and information to enhance market transparency, foster investments and propose policy options.

Through the Hand-in-Hand and One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiatives, we have supported relevant Members in leveraging investments and strengthening value chains at country level. 

The PIR also sets out the work carried out by FAO in nutrition, reporting to Members on how this cross-cutting technical theme is supporting Better Nutrition.  

We have reported against the 27 output indicators and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of FAO’s work to share with Members the Organization’s efforts to enable healthy diets for all.

Dear Colleagues,

I am convinced, now more than ever before, that achieving the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs is only possible if we transform global agrifood systems. 

At COP28 my message was clear: transforming agrifood systems will provide solutions to many of the major challenges facing people and the planet, including the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, hunger, malnutrition, and poverty.

To deliver these solutions we need even more global collaboration to set policies, scale up innovation, boost investment and improve our reach to smallholder farmers and producers.

Without increased investment we run the risk of falling short of the targets we have set for ourselves and compromising our food security objectives.

We have made some good progress.

2023 was a year of excellence for FAO’s engagement with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) - FAO is now one of the “big three” GEF agencies globally.

We are supporting 141 countries, including Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), to access GEF financing to transform their agrifood systems.

Through this partnership we have supported countries access USD 1.76 billion in grants, and USD 12.8 billion in co-financing.   

Through the GEF’s Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, FAO is assisting Members to improve the sustainable use of biodiversity in agrifood systems in line with the FAO Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity across Agricultural Sectors.

The importance of aquatic foods for food security, nutrition and poverty alleviation is increasingly recognized worldwide, and FAO’s Blue Transformation has been identified in the FAO regional ministerial conferences as key to increase the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to nutritious food and resilient livelihoods, while sustainably and effectively managing aquatic food systems.

The Atoms4Food Initiative launched jointly with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in October 2023 seeks to provide Members with tailor-made solutions tailored to their specific needs by harnessing nuclear techniques to enhance productivity, natural resources management, reduce food losses, ensure food safety, improve nutrition, and adapt to the challenges of the climate crisis.

The Roadmap of Atoms4Food will be published shortly and will provide the needed guidance to better support Members.

Next week FAO and IAEA will co-organize an International Symposium on Food Safety and Control in Vienna.

In preparation for the Rome Water Dialogue and the High-Level Dialogue on the Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture (WASAG), to take place during the World Food Forum in October this year, a technical preparatory meeting was held at the end of April to discuss the new business model and operating modalities.

In April, FAO also launched the initiative to Reduce the Need for Antimicrobials on Farms for Sustainable Agrifood Systems Transformation (RENOFARM). 

This 10-year initiative aims to support countries in reducing the need for antimicrobials in livestock, aquaculture, and crop production through a holistic One Health approach that includes policy support, technical assistance, capacity building, and knowledge sharing.

Preparations are already underway for the first-ever Global Conference on Animal Health Innovation, Reference Centres and Vaccines to be held at FAO headquarters in September, to discuss how to improve animal health for the sustainable transformation of livestock systems at the country level.

Today - 20 May - we celebrate World Bee Day. 

This year, together with the Government of Slovenia, FAO is hosting the first-ever International Forum on Sustainable Beekeeping and Pollination in Slovenia. 

The 18th Session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures was held in mid-April and consolidated the expansion of digitalization efforts, together with the International Plant Protection Convention, through the e-Phyto system to facilitate safe and efficient flow of international trade, as well as to strengthen phytosanitary capacity in Africa for pest prevention through the Africa Phytosanitary Programme.

The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) supported by the United States and the African Union is a global Iniatative that aims to foster more resilient agrifood systems by climate-adapted nutritious crops and healthy soils for improved food security and nutrition. FAO and the CGIAR will be hosting a joint secretariat to provide all the necessary technical and operational assistance this initiative requires.

Under the Transparent Markets and Trade Priority Programme Area (PPA) of our Strategic Framework, FAO has intensified its market intelligence and early warning activities and expanded its monitoring work to cover fertilizer markets.

The 25th Session of the Intergovernmental Group on Tea was successfully held in February, covering several aspects related to tea markets and trade. We will be celebrating International Tea Day tomorrow, 21 May, in Rome.

FAO also hosted the 4th Global Conference of the World Banana Forum in March, as part of ongoing efforts to promote sustainable production and trade through multistakeholder partnerships.

Dear Colleagues,

FAO continues to see steady progress in mobilizing voluntary contributions, and the first quarter of 2024 continues a strong trend.

Despite a general tightening of funding across UN organizations last year, FAO reached over USD 2 billion in voluntary contributions. 

This was the second highest level in the history of the Organization, and just slightly below the record breaking 2022.

The financing gap to achieve the SDGs can only be closed by increasing targeted investments from the private sector.

The new Global Report on Food Crises, released in April, was a wake-up call.

In 2023, more than 282 million people in 59 countries and territories faced Crisis, Emergency and Catastrophe (IPC/CH Phase 3-5) levels of acute food insecurity. 

The main drivers are conflict, the climate crises, and economic shocks.

In these crises, more than two-thirds of affected people rely on some form of agriculture for their livelihoods.

In 2023, FAO reached over 56 million people through humanitarian and resilience building support, including by distributing 2 million tonnes of seeds and 170 000 tonnes of fertilizer. 

By the end of the year, we aim to reach 80 million food insecure and vulnerable people.

FAO is working in the Sudan, where almost 18 million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity. We need increased funding to ensure farmers get enough seeds and agricultural inputs before the main planting season next month.

Famine is imminent in Gaza.

FAO’s priorities right now are provision of agricultural inputs, including agriculture, livestock, and fishing, and conducting assessments of damage and losses in the agricultural sector.

In Haiti, over 4 million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, and we are stepping up support for the upcoming agricultural season starting in June/July to prevent the disruption of the main crop season.

We are also seeing increasing needs due to the impacts of El Niño, and together with governments and partners, we have launched anticipatory actions in 19 countries at risk.

Dear Colleagues,

FAO continues to be committed to promoting worldclass science, technology, and innovation to support agrifood systems transformation and the Four Betters. 

I recently returned from a visit to Cornell University in New York, where I met with the senior leadership and a number of professors, as well as passionate students, to learn about their work on a wide range of topics such as plant breeding and genetics, plant pathology, reducing methane emissions in livestock, and integrated pest management.

I intend to continue to strengthen these ties with global academia to promote scientific solutions to end hunger and leave no one behind.

The FAO Regional Technical Platform on Green Agriculture aims to accelerate the adoption of science, policy, and technology innovations for greening agrifood systems with a focus at the regional level.

Since the last Joint Meeting, FAO has continued to build its partnerships with the broader UN system.

FAO is taking the lead, together with WFP and IFAD, on a coalition of UN partners driving agrifood systems transformation.

At the end of May, I will visit the Geneva-based UN entities with the aim of launching new partnerships and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for agriculture.

Over the past months, tangible results were delivered through effective engagement in the UN Efficiency Agenda, establishment of a revised framework for the Organizational Resilience Management System, and launch of the Occupational Health and Safety Framework. 

FAO also steers the global-level High Impact Initiative on Food Systems Transformation, in collaboration with IFAD, WFP, the World Bank, UNIDO and UNEP.

Following the successful High-Level Ministerial Event on SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs in June last year, each regional ministerial conference held sessions focused on regional priorities for agrifood systems transformation, as identified by these groupings of countries.

Members emphasized the need for additional support from FAO, including through technical assistance, resource mobilization and in facilitating the scaling up of investments, to build resilience to food insecurity, to the climate crisis, and to enable access to healthy diets, among others. 

FAO is actively participating in the lead up to the 4th International Conference on SIDS and the 3rd UN Conference on LLDCs.

In March 2024, FAO and UNDESA convened an Expert Group Meeting at FAO headquarters to prepare the 2024 HLPF review of SDG2, and its role in advancing sustainable development across the 2030 Agenda.

The meeting brought together multidisciplinary experts working on SDG2 resulting in policy messages and recommendations as input to the 2024 HLPF deliberations.

The implementation of the FAO Science and Innovation Strategy is on-going, in synergy with the other thematic Strategy on Climate Change, and the first monitoring reports of these two strategies are included in the PIR before you for discussion.

In line with the Action Plan of the FAO Science and Innovation Strategy, FAO is developing guidance on strengthening science-policy interfaces at the national level.

The guidance development process is currently undergoing a wide e-consultation and is expected to be finalized soon. 

FAO is also developing a Science, Technology and Innovation Portal which will act as a comprehensive repository, housing a vast array of scientific research, technological innovations, and best practices from diverse fields.

By providing a centralized platform for accessing up-to-date information, it empowers stakeholders to make informed decisions and drive impactful actions, and it facilitates a Collaborative Innovation Ecosystem. 

The Digital FAO continues to be at the forefront of digital transformation, internally as a FAO corporate engine of efficiencies enabled by the Digital Workplace, and externally providing digital capabilities for impact via unique capabilities from FAO's Agro-informatics Platform, and direct assistance to farmers through FAO's Digital Service Portfolio.

With my support, the FAO Office of Evaluation has conducted 25 evaluations between November 2023 and May 2024.

To build capacity and promote the use of findings in decision-making, Regional Evaluation Officer positions have been created to present results at country and regional levels.

A key element of the new Evaluation Strategy is to focus on measuring the impact of FAO’s activities, and includes evaluations on work related to SDG14 (Life Below Water); FAO’s Cash and Voucher Assistance; and the Reduction of Food Loss and Waste Programme Priority Area (PPA). 

The latter being the first comprehensive assessment of FAO’s food loss and waste portfolio and the first evaluation of any of the 20 PPAs in the current Strategic Framework.

Dear Colleagues,

A strong Core Leadership team continues to support me.

The renewed Organizational structure that I put in place in my first biennium as Director-General is demonstrating its value: our teams are empowered within a flatter structure with Reporting Lines A and B, our decentralized offices are stronger, and we are now in the process of further strengthening our country office network.

We did a lot! We walked the talk!

Our financial delivery increased by over 30 percent compared to the previous biennium.

And our work was appreciated. Our partners want to continue working with us and resource mobilization has soared higher than ever, to USD 4.2 billion - a new historic record!

I very much appreciate external consultations such as the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) Management and Administration Review of FAO, and others. 

The JIU has delivered a highly informative report, which is also very timely as I embark on my second term in office.  

Overall, the report presents a positive picture of the state of management and administration in FAO, and it provides helpful proposals for consideration aimed at continued improvement.

We have provided our responses to the four recommendations addressed to Management and, for the other six, have provided some reflections to assist the Council in its deliberations in June. 

I’m very pleased to announce that FAO just launched its updated and strengthened Policy on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, and the message is very clear: FAO has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse.

Significant milestones were achieved in implementation of the Corporate Environmental Strategy 2020-2030, contributing to a reduction of FAO’s environmental footprint across the FAO offices worldwide. 

Special efforts have been made in starting a pilot project over the past months on measuring Food Waste in catering areas at headquarters. 

As a knowledge organization, every employee is integral to FAO’s mandate, and we continue to focus on ensuring excellence in recruitment.

Over the past year, we have seen a reduction in the number of vacant FAO Representative and senior management positions, ensuring key organizational leadership positions are filled.

At the end of last year, I also convened the First Global Working Conference of FAO Representatives with the aim to develop a concrete action plan to strengthen the network and capacities in the decentralized offices for the effective implementation of FAO’s programme of work and the thematic strategies, focusing on delivery at the country level.

Preparations are underway for the Second Global Working Conference to be held in Bangkok later this year.

On the back of this successful working conference, a new Integrated Talent Management Model for FAO Country Offices and FAOR Leadership Academy are being developed to further support FAO Representatives in carrying out their roles effectively.

Women and Youth are a priority for me, and the establishment of the new Office of Youth and Women - a first in the UN System – will take forward and further institutionalize the work of the FAO Youth Committee and the FAO Women’s Committee.

Work is ongoing as we speak to set up the new Office and be operational.

A new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan was recently launched with the aim to promote all forms of diversity in FAO, including equitable geographical distribution and gender balance, cultural, generational, multilingual and persons with disabilities.

I am proud to announce that in 2023, FAO met the UN gender parity targets for the first time, for staff in the Professional 1-5 level categories globally.  

At the same time, our pipeline of young talent continues to grow through our Young Talent programmes.

The now established annual practice of all FAO Employee Town Halls, with the most recent edition held in February 2024, provides an essential platform for all FAO employees across the Organization to come together and discuss issues that affect them directly with me and my Core Leadership team.

The Renaissance of FAO relies on our employees, and in the journey ahead, to need to continue moving forward as ONE FAO.

I am ready to continue working with you as we take FAO into a period of Recover, Reform, Rebuild, and Renaissance.