Regional Stakeholders meet for “Recovery and Restart”

13 July 2021, Cairo - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its regional partners met virtually today for "Recovery and Restart" to help the transformation to better, more environmentally friendly, and resilient agri-food systems to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

 

Around 450 participants from FAO, Regional Stakeholders, Government partners, Civil Society, Private Sector, and counterpart Organizations were present at the launch of the three-day event.

 

The Regional Stakeholders Dialogue and Consultative meetings are in preparation for the Regional Conference for the Near East, which will take place in February 2022, in Iraq, as announced by Abdulhakim Elwaer, FAO Assistant Director-General/Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa (NENA) Region, in his opening remarks. Elwaer stressed the importance of the perspectives from every one of the distinguished participants and will guide FAO's efforts in finding a roadmap for transforming agri-food systems in the region.

 

"(A) new Strategic Framework will have a profound influence on the way FAO will work in support to member countries in recovering from COVID-19 and achieving the SDGs.", Elwaer added.

 

Hans Hoogeveen, Independent Chairperson of the FAO Council, opened the consultations with a statement, highlighting the importance of focus in implementing regional and national priorities to leave no one behind.

 

Safia Al-Sohail, Chairperson, Near East Regional Group of Permanent Representatives of FAO, convened the gratitude to member countries for choosing Iraq to host the upcoming #NERC36. Safia highlighted the recent findings of #SOFI2021 and the ongoing regional challenges that demand a strategic framework that offers impactful solutions.

 

Beth Crawford, Director, Office of Strategy, Programme and Budget of FAO, gave an insight into the new FAO strategic framework, calling for better production, better nutrition, and a better environment for a better life.

 

The main expected outcome of the meeting is ownership by Member Countries of FAO's regional governance process through the joint identification of issues for deliberation at the FAO Regional Conference for the Near East.

 

About the Event

 

The FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (NENA) convenes a regional stakeholder dialogue to engage in informal consultations with the Member States and stakeholders from the region to help shape the agenda of the Conference. Through this consultation, countries and relevant stakeholders will shape the agenda of the FAO Regional Conferences, focusing on salient priority issues and challenges. This meeting is part of FAO efforts to strengthen the governance mechanism and ownership of the Organization's activities in the region. The meeting will allow for substantive technical deliberations on the thematic and programmatic areas deemed necessary by the Member States, particularly concerning addressing the four regional priorities. 

 

The results of the meeting will be used to identify the problems and will help define how the Member States, together with FAO and partner institutions, can collectively develop and implement a programme to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the countries of the region, build more resilient agri-food systems and ensure that their transformation paves the way towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

 

 

Hand in Hand for a better life

 

Transforming the world’s agri-food systems, the way we produce, process, distribute and consume food has been identified as one of the key avenues to achieving many targets of the 2030 Agenda. This means better production, better nutrition, and a better environment for a better life.

The evidence-based and country-led Hand in Hand Initiative launched by FAO can provide a tangible framework that would allow us to demonstrate the impact of working together.

This initiative focuses on the poorest rural communities left behind and have not had the opportunity to contribute to their country’s development.

Through match-making partnerships, including donor countries, development banks, the private sector, and others, FAO wants to lift these communities out of poverty. And by facilitating their access to investments, markets, and more effective production tools, the goal is to render them active actors in developing their countries and territories.

 

 

 

 

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