UAE awards Graziano da Silva Second Zayed Medal of First Class at FAO Conference

Rome, June 26, 2019 - The United Arab Emirates awarded José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Second Zayed Medal of First Class in recognition of his efforts to develop agriculture and fight malnutrition and hunger in the world.

During a special ceremony held at the Sheikh Zayed Media Center at the FAO headquarters to mark the Year of Tolerance, Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Al Mehairi, Minister of State for Food Security, conferred the medal upon the FAO chief. The ceremony was organized by the UAE Embassy in Rome on the sidelines of the 41st FAO Conference, during which Qu Dongyu was elected to succeed Mr da Silva, whose tenure expires at the end of July.

A video on the Year of Tolerance, which the UAE declared as a headline for its agenda this year, was shown during the ceremony. In a speech after that, Al Mehairi thanked FAO and da Silva for their efforts to improve the food security situation in the Near East and North Africa and the support they provided for the countries of the region to improve sustainable development in the fields of agriculture, food supply chains, and control of harmful plant and animal pests.

Biography

José Graziano da Silva has contributed more than 30 years of academic, professional and political knowledge on issues related to security, food and rural development. In particular, as the Director General of the FAO from 2012-2019, he implemented the experience garnered with the Zero Hunger program in Brazil, which he conceived and later led while serving as Extraordinary Minister of Food Security and Fight against Hunger during the first government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.