The 75th session of the UN General Assembly adopted on 21 December two Second Committee resolutions whose process were supported by FAO together with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Agriculture development, food security and nutrition and Eradicating rural poverty to implement the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development....

Mountains host about half of the world’s biodiversity hotspots and are home to 15 percent of the world’s population. Unfortunately, they are also currently under threat from climate change, overexploitation, invasive species, and pollution. As a result, the communities who live on the mountains are some of the world’s poorest...

There has never been a more urgent need to restore damaged ecosystems than now due to the rising impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a monumental task and everyone has a role to play. Ecosystems support all life on Earth, and their restoration can create jobs,...

Soils are one of the main global reservoirs of biodiversity and the source of 95 percent of our food. Without maintaining soil health and biodiversity, we cannot end hunger. In 2014, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated 5 December as World Soil Day. The day marks the...

The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, delivered a statement in a high-level virtual event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). The event celebrated the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), their inhabitants and their contribution to advancing regenerative and synergistic development in the global agenda.  ...

The implications of agri-food systems transformation for the livelihoods of rural people in the COVID-19 era was the focus of a high-level event co-organized by FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFP), and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), in collaboration...

In 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres will convene a Food Systems Summit as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Summit will launch bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 SDGs, each of which relies to some degree on...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS) held their second virtual coordination meeting on 1 December 2020. The meeting focused on opportunities for collaboration between the two...

A global response against hungerby Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-GeneralWithin only six months, COVID-19 has reached every part of the world, pushing millions of people into hunger. But hunger was already increasing before the pandemic. In 2019, nearly one in ten people around the world went hungry.The onset of COVID-19 has attested...

During the month of November, the FAO Liaison Office to the United Nations attended the first of a series of coordination meetings with UN entities. These meetings are meant to strengthen FAO's strategic partnership with the UN Sustainable Development Group, improving coordination and supporting delivery on the ground. On 24...

Every year, hundreds of thousands of students from all educational levels around the world enrol in the Model United Nations (MUN), a simulation that allows them to learn more about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations (UN). On 19 November 2020, FAO Senior Adviser Kostas Stamoulis presented the UN’s...

On 12 November, FAO attended the Eleventh Inter-Agency Consultative Group (IACG) Meeting on the Follow-up and Implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action (VPoA) for Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) which was held virtually. The meeting was organized by the United Nations Office of the High-Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked...

On 12 November 2020, the Group of Friends of Food Security and Nutrition in New York met virtually to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and the preparations of the 2021 Food Systems Summit (FSS). This was the fourth meeting of the Group during 2020 and open to the participation of the entire UN...

For today's interview, we speak to Carla Mucavi, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York.What attracted you to the work of the Rome-based Agencies when you first decided to make the jump from government official and ambassador to UN officer? My eight-year tenure as Permanent...

FAO’s 75th Anniversary by Daniel Gustafson, Special Representative of FAO's Director-General   Any institution that has been around for 75 years, has a lot of stories to tell. That is definitely true for FAO but, at this distance, the stories about the early years are not so well known. A big milestone, like this...

Food is essential for life. This simple statement has seldom resonated with so many as on this World Food Day 2020, when hundreds are dealing with the widespread effects of COVID-19.World Food Day 2020 also marks FAO’s 75th anniversary. The organization was founded during the post World War II reconstruction...

The Director of FAO’s Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York, Carla Mucavi, delivered a statement on behalf of FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the World Food Programme, during the Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee) deliberations on the Secretary-General’s Agriculture development, food security and nutrition report. ...

The Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee) of the 75th UN General Assembly convened to discuss the Secretary-General’s report on Agriculture development, food security and nutrition. Following the introduction of the report, the Director of FAO’s Food Systems and Food Safety Division and Lead on Knowledge and Policy for...

FAO introduced the UN Secretary-General’s report on the eradication of rural poverty to the Member States of the Second Committee, on the occasion of the 75th UN General Assembly Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee). The report was welcomed by all participating Member States. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 74/237,...

Rome-based UN agencies' governing bodies focus on joint programmes, COVID-19 response and UN Food Systems Summit 2021