Hand in Hand Initiative: An update on an initiative for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

Hybrid Event, 08/04/2021

Virtual thematic briefing from New York

The briefing is organized by FAO and the UN Office for the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), in collaboration with the Chairs of the LDC Group, LLDC Group and of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

The virtual briefing will take place on Thursday, 8 April from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm (EDT).

Background

Hard-won progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS are being eroded slowly but significantly. Nearly 690 million people were estimated to be chronically undernourished in 2019, up by nearly 60 million in five years. While the prevalence of undernourishment was at 8.9 percent globally in 2017-2019, it reached 23 percent in LDCs, 20 percent in LLDCs and 16 percent in SIDS. The world, and LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS, are off track to reach SDG2 by 2030. And millions more are in danger of being pulled back into extreme poverty and hunger: the economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to add between 83 and 132 million people to the total number of undernourished in the world.

With this in mind, FAO launched the Hand-in-Hand (HIH) Initiative as a key accelerator of progress to achieve the SDGs. The Hand-in-Hand (HIH) Initiative is an evidence-based, country-led, country owned programme to eradicate poverty (SDG 1) and end hunger and all forms of malnutrition (SDG 2). The programme uses integrated geospatial, bio-physical and socio-economic data and analysis, and an agri-food systems lens to identify subnational territories where innovative solutions and investments in agri-food systems and rural development can have transformative impacts within a medium-term time frame. The programme’s signature match-making approach to partnerships is designed to fill gaps in information, technology, capacity, coordination, market access, and technical and financial resources in countries where extreme poverty and hunger are most prevalent.

Speeches and technical presentations

Technical presentations

Máximo Torero Cullen, FAO Chief Economist - Update on the Hand-in-Hand Initiative
Xiangjun Yao, FAO Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific Islands and FAO Representative in Samoa - Briefing of Hand-in-Hand Initiative Implementation in the Pacific

Speeches

Speakers' bios

Welcome remarks

H.E. Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS

Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu is the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. She assumed her role in May 2017.

Ms. ‘Utoikamanu is responsible for monitoring and following up on the implementation of all three Programmes of Action under the purview of UN-OHRLLS. She is also called on to advocate for the issues and concerns of these vulnerable countries as well as to ensure their integration into and coherence with global processes, including those related to the 2030 Agenda and other global development frameworks. Ms. ‘Utoikamanu also coordinates advocacy work related to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in forums and platforms outside the United Nations.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. ‘Utoikamanu was Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Tourism, Tonga; Acting Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the Council of the University of the South Pacific (2015); Deputy Pro-Chancellor and Deputy Chair of the Council of the University of the South Pacific (2009-2016); Deputy Director General and Director of Education, Training and Human Development of the Secretariat of Pacific Community (2009-2015); Permanent Representative and Ambassador of the Government of Tonga to the United Nations, United States of America, Cuba and Venezuela and High Commissioner to Canada (2005-2009); and Secretary for Foreign Affairs and European Commission’s National Authorizing Officer for Tonga (2002-2005).

A Tongan national, Ms. ‘Utoikamanu speaks Tongan and English. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics (1980) and a Masters in Commerce in Economics (1983) from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

H.E. Perks Master Ligoya, Permanent Representative of Malawi to the United Nations, Chair of the Group of LDCs

Dr. Perks M. Ligoya is a macroeconomist holding four university degrees, including a doctorate degree in Economic Policy Management obtained from CERDI, Clermont Ferrand, France, in 1998. He is fluent in both English and French. He was Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, (September 2009 to April 2012). He served as Senior Economist at the International Monetary Fund. He served as Malawi’s High Commissioner to India, Sri Lanka and Kenya and also accredited to Uganda, Central Africa Republic and Somalia. At the UN Office in Nairobi, Kenya he was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and to UN-Habitat. Under a World Bank funded project (Financial Management and Transparency Project (FIMTAP) he was hired as a consultant to serve as Director of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and Treasury Economic Advisor to the Minister of Finance. In 2001 he was a visiting lecturer at Yokohama State University, Japan, where he gave summer lectures in macroeconomic modelling.

He was one of the founding members and President of the Economics Association of Malawi. After a stint serving as Chairman of the Board for the Malawi Enterprise Development Fund (MEDEF), he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi (ESCOM) from April 2017. He was appointed by the State President of the Republic of Malawi to serve as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi to the United Nations with effect from 1st April 2018. He arrived in New York on 11th August 2018 to take up that position. Currently, he is Chairman of the Coordination Bureau of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

H.E. Magzhan Ilyassov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations, Chair of the Group of LLDCs

General information, education

Kazakh State University of World Languages and International Relations (1996), Bachelor's Degree

Training courses for diplomats, Clingendael Institute of International Relations, the Hague, Netherlands (1998)

Harvard University, Kennedy School of Public Administration (2013), Master's Degree in Public Administration

Languages: Kazakh, Russian, English, German

Career

1996-1998 Referent, Attaché of the International Organizations and International Economic Relations Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan

1998-1999 Third Secretary, Second Secretary of the United Nations and International Economic Organizations Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan

1999-2007 International visits Department, Protocol to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

2007-2012 Head of the Foreign Policy Center, Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

2013 Adviser to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

2013-2016 Adviser to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Head of the Foreign Policy Center of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

2016-2020 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Since October 2020 - Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Nations

Diplomatic rank: Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the I Class

H.E. Walton Webson, Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations, Chair of the AOSIS

H.E Dr Walton a Webson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations.

H.E. Dr. Walton Webson holds a Bachelor of Science degree, a Master of Science in Management of Non-Profit Organizations, a Post Graduate Diploma in Organizational Development from the New School for Social Research, and a DM in Management from Case Western Reserve University. He worked for several international nongovernment organizations including: Sight Savers International of the (UK), The Caribbean Council for the Blind, (Antigua and Barbuda), Hellen Keller International of New York and Perkins International where he worked from 1992 to 2014 and was the organization's Chief Executive from 2011. Dr. Webson is an Antiguan diplomat. He has served as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York of Antigua and Barbuda since 2014.

Since at the United Nations, Ambassador Webson served as President of UNICEF, 2017 and was Vice President of its Board in 2016. Ambassador Webson chaired the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence of Colonial Countries and Peoples also known as the Special Committee on decolonization or C-24 in 2018. He was appointed by the President 72nd session of the UN General Assembly to co-facilitate with the Ambassador of Japan the high-level meeting on tuberculosis which took place in September 2018 and was appointed by the President of the UN General Assembly in 2019 to be a co-facilitator on the Steering Committee on Accessibility and continues to chair that committee on the reappointment from the president of the 74th session of the General Assembly.

Ambassador Webson is an innovator and a leader. He founded the Friends of Vision at the United Nations; a group responsible for advocating for eye health to be included in universal health care. He was successful in getting eye health for the first time included in a UN resolution on UHC.

Ambassador Webson with the Ambassadors of Denmark and the UAE formed the informal group of the Presidents of the UN agencies to coordinate the work of the Funds and Programmes of the United Nation agencies.

He was the lead sponsor on two resolutions affecting the lives of persons with disabilities around the world and is considered as a champion on disabilities issues and a leading voice on issues of Small States.

Ambassador Webson served in 2020 as the President of the board of the United Nations Development Programmed (UNDP, UNOPS AND UNFPA). He is the current co-chair of the UN Steering Committee on the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and has had the honor to lead the CARICOM Caucus at two General Assemblies over his first four years at the UN.

In 2017, Ambassador Webson was the lead voice of the initiative for raising pledges in support of global response to the needs of the Caribbean to Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The UN sponsored activity attracted more than 2.1 billion dollars in pledges.

He continues to sit on several UN committees including committees responding to the challenges of COVID19.

Ambassador Webson led Antigua and Barbuda’s team on the negotiations on the resolutions of the SDGs 2015. He also led the Antigua and Barbuda’s team at the 2016 meeting on climate change and he has led several climate change meetings for Antigua and Barbuda since his appointment at the United Nations.

Ambassador Webson has spearheaded several initiatives on Antigua and Barbuda including: a para-transit programmed for persons with disability, the Antigua Barbuda Science Park, driving solar energy in support of the Department of Environment, the diaspora response to Hurricane Irma and Maria and support to areas of sports, education, gender issues and youth development.

Keynote Presentation

Mr. Maximo Torero Cullen

Mr. Maximo Torero Cullen is the Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He joined the Organization in January 2019 as Assistant Director-General for the Economic and Social Development Department. Prior to joining FAO, he was the World Bank Group Executive Director for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay since November 2016 and before the Bank Mr. Torero led the Division of the Markets, Trade, and Institutions at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). His major research work lies mostly in analyzing poverty, inequality, importance of geography and assets (private or public) in explaining poverty, and in policies oriented towards poverty alleviation based on the role played by infrastructure, institutions, and on how technological breakthroughs (or discontinuities) can improve the welfare of households and small farmers. His experience encompasses Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia.

Mr. Torero, a national of Peru, holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the Pacific, Lima, Peru. He is a professor on leave at the University of the Pacific, Perú, and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at University of Bonn, Germany, and has also published in top journals (QJE, Econometric Theory, AER-Applied Microeconomics, RSTAT, Labor Economics and many other top journals).

Mr. Torero has received in 2000 the Georg Foster Research Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, won the Award for Outstanding Research on Development given by the Global Development Network, twice, in 2000 and in 2002, and received the Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole in 2014.

Country perspectives

H.E. Salem Abdullah Issa Al-Soqtari, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Fisheries, Republic of Yemen

H.E. Linkham Douangsavanh, Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Lao People's Democratic Republic

EDUCATION

Associate Professor (Agricultural Economic) to the National University of Lao PDR

2006 Post Doctor, National Institute for Agro-Environment Science (NIAES), Tsukuba, Japan

2006 Doctor of Philosophy (Systems of Agriculture), Khon Kean University of Thailand

1999 Master of Science (Regional and Rural Development Planning), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand

1994 Master of Science (Agricultural Economics), Higher Institute of Economic-Sofia, Boungaria

1992 Bachelor of Economic, Higher Institute of Economic-Sofia, Boungaria

Work Experience / CAREER HISTORY

- 2007 - 2012: Director of Agriculture and Forestry Research Center, NAFRI, MAF

- 2013 - 2015: Deputy Director General of National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), MAF

- 2015 - 2017: Director of Agriculture and Forestry Office, Vientiane Capital

- 2018 - July 2020: Director General of General Research Department, Prime Minister Office

- August 2020 to date: Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (including Rural Development): Responsible for Policy, Planning, Finance, International Cooperation, Local and Foreign Direct Investment, and Research. Chairperson of Sector Working Group on Agriculture and Rural Development, which is the forum/platform to promote policy dialogue between Development Partners (DPs) and Government.

- National Parliament Member VIII

H.E. Johannes Petrus Hoogeveen, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to FAO and Chair of the FAO Programme Committee, Italy

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Hans Hoogeveen is duly acknowledged to be a respected professional and an expert on the agriculture sector. With an unwavering focus on stimulating and promoting sustainable agriculture, food security and safety globally, he has served in numerous international roles. He is political advisor to the World Bank. He serves on several boards, including the Yale University Governance, Environment, and Markets Initiative, and Forest Trends, a leading international NGO on innovative natural resource policy in Washington D.C.

He served as chair of the Seventh Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests Bureau, which under his leadership adopted an international instrument on forests deemed a landmark achievement by the UN Secretary General after 15 years of stalled international negotiations. This noteworthy accomplishment within the forum earned Dr Hoogeveen a UN award. He is one of the founding members and a current cochair of the Global Alliance for ClimateSmart Agriculture and the Global Action Network for Oceans and Blue Growth.

In addition, he is a founding member and current cochair of Champions 12.3, an international coalition of eminent commissioners and CEOs of companies, international organisations and NGOs, focusing on a 50% worldwide reduction of food losses and waste by 2030.

In the context of FAO, he has served as chairperson of the Programme Committee, chair of the Committee II of the FAO Conference, chair of informal consultations on the 10 Elements of Agroecology, the Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity and private sector strategy, vice chair of the FAO Regional Conference for Europe, and chair of the European Region. In the context of WFP, he has served as List D Convenor, member and chair of a subworking group of the joint Board/Management working group on harassment, sexual harassment, abuse of power and discrimination. In the context of IFAD, he has served as chair of the Governing Council (twice), as chair of the Bureau, and as List A Convenor.

Ms. Xiangjun Yao, FAO Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific Islands and FAO Representative in Samoa

Ms Xiangjun Yao assumed her role as the FAO Sub Regional Coordinator and Representative for the Pacific Islands in Oct., 2020. She oversees FAO’s work in providing policy advisory and technical assistance to its 13 Member Countries and one associate member country to improve food security and nutrition, income-earning opportunities in agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and increasing resilience of small farmers and producers in the Pacific. She joined FAO Headquarters in June 2011 and has held leading roles in several technical divisions/offices within FAO.

Closing

Ms. Heidi Schroderus-Fox, OHRLLS Director

Moderator

Ms Angélica María Jácome Daza, Director, FAO Office of SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs

Ms Angélica María Jácome holds a Master of Science in International Development from Tulane University, a Master of Arts in Law from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Tulane University. Prior to joining FAO, she was the Permanent Representative of Panama to the United Nations Rome-based Agencies (RBAs) from 2015 to 2019. She served in other foreign missions of Panama and worked as a consultant for various international organizations, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) on areas related to planning, social and economic policy, and resilience. She is currently the Director of the Office of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), OSL, and the Executive Chief for both the FAO Women’s and Youth Committees.

FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York