Fostering partnerships for sustainability

Guangzhou QU has had 48 courtesy calls with Member States, intergovernmental organizations, and UN counterparts since taking up his role as Director of the FAO Liaison Office in New York. The meetings have focused on strengthening partnerships, joining efforts on the recovery from COVID-19, highlighting FAO’s Hand in Hand initiative, and transforming agriculture and food systems to accelerate efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

Meetings with Member States

During the meeting with Ambassador Mona Juul, Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations, Guangzhou QU recalled her participation in the launch of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in 2020, in her role as then President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and discussed the support FAO gives to the conflict and hunger debate. They also touched upon the important role of oceans and the upcoming Food Systems Summit.

In his meeting with Njambi Kinyungu, Deputy Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations, Guangzhou QU touched upon FAO’s work in addressing food insecurity and spoke about the importance of the blue economy, urban agriculture and trade, and exchanged ideas on conflict and hunger as Kenya is a member of the Security Council.

When meeting Sarhad Sardar Abdulrahman Fatah, Deputy Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations, they underlined the importance of building resilience, restoring degraded land, rehabilitating agriculture areas and irrigation systems, and improving agri-food value chains. Guangzhou QU then spoke about the long-standing relationship between FAO and Turkey, during his meeting with Serhad Varli, Deputy Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations. They also discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the food supply chain and the need to treat it as a multidimensional issue.

Meetings with UN counterparts

Guangzhou QU later met with Elliot Harris, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). They discussed the critical role of rural development in sustainable development strategies and agreed to strengthen collaboration in support of Member States, including in recovery from COVID-19.

The FAO New York Director discussed with Sofia Borges, Senior Vice-President of the UN Foundation, the importance of youth engagement in food systems and achieving the 2030 Agenda. He also presented FAO’s Hand in Hand initiative as a tool to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to eradicate poverty (SDG 1) and end hunger and all forms of malnutrition (SDG 2).