Appointment of Ms. Nora Ourabah Haddad as the new FAO Representative in Lebanon
With the concurrence of the Government of the Lebanese Republic, Ms. Nora Ourabah Haddad took up her duties on 3 June 2022, as the new Representative for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Lebanon. On 16 June 2022, she met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Dr. Abdallah Bou Habib, to whom she officially presented her letter of credentials as the new FAO Representative in Lebanon.
“We cannot but acknowledge the strong relation between FAO and Lebanon since the establishment of its country office in Beirut, and even before that,” said Ms. Ourabah Haddad.
“Today, more than ever before, it is becoming imperative to support Lebanon and the Lebanese population through collaborative actions with all the stakeholders from the public and private sectors to support the country’s efforts in achieving food security and nutrition security for a sustainable transformation of food systems in Lebanon,” confirmed Ms. Ourabah Haddad during her official meeting with the Minister.
A national of Algeria, Ms. Ourabah Haddad speaks Arabic, English, French, Italian and Spanish. She holds a Master of Arts in Business Administration (International Management of enterprises) from Laval University in Canada, a Bachelor of Arts in Economics (Economic Development) from Uppsala University in Sweden, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the Superior Business School of Grenoble in France.
She started her career in 1996 as Research Assistant at the University of Laval in Quebec, Canada. In 1999, she worked as Policy Assistant in the National Centre for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP), in Washington DC, United States of America. From 2000 to 2010, she served as Senior Policy Officer for the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) in Paris, France.
She joined FAO in March 2010 as Policy Officer/Team Leader, Rural Institutions and Peoples Empowerment, in the Gender Equity and Rural Employment Division at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. From 2013 to 2016, she worked as Coordinator/Team Leader, Producer Organizations and Cooperatives Team in the Office of Partnerships, Advocacy and Capacity Development. Before being appointed as FAO Representative in Lebanon, she served as FAO Representative to the Sultanate of Oman from 2016 to 2022.
About FAO in Lebanon:
Lebanon joined FAO in 1945 as a founding member of the Organization. In February 1977, FAO and Lebanon signed an agreement to establish a country office in Beirut, which is the first one to be established by FAO in the world.
Over the past years, FAO’s assistance has focused on the promotion of sustainable development of the agriculture sector, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and other relevant ministries.