Senior FAO Leadership arrives in Washington, DC to meet with key U.S. Agencies to promote global food security

Readout   

7 June 2022, Washington, DC - The combined effects of conflict, weather extremes, economic shocks, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine is pushing an unprecedented number of people worldwide into poverty and hunger. To bring attention to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) work to prevent famine and support agricultural livelihoods, Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General, and Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, came to Washington, D.C. to meet with Congressional leaders, senior officials from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). 

Deputy DG Bechdol met with senior staff for U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro of the 20th District of Texas and shared FAO’s mandate to advance innovation in sustainable agriculture production and the critical importance of U.S. leadership in building food systems resilience. She highlighted FAO’s work in Ukraine and Afghanistan providing agricultural assistance to farmers and ensuring food security. She also met with senior staff for U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and discussed FAO’s technical expertise on plant health, Desert Locust, and resilience building in emergency contexts.  

At the U.S. Department of State, Deputy DG Bechdol and Rein Paulsen joined a briefing on the Ukraine crisis. FAO Representative Pierre Vauthier and other FAO personnel currently on the ground in Ukraine joined the meeting virtually. 

At the USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), Paulsen held meetings with Jeff Bryan, Director Office of Africa, Rachel Grant, Director Office of the Middle East and North Africa, and James Fleming, Director of Asia and Latin America. In a wide-ranging discussion that touched upon several of the "hot spots” currently experiencing acute food insecurity and where FAO is providing support to rural communities, Paulsen stressed the efficiency and longer-term effectiveness of agricultural aid. He also had the opportunity to meet with BHA Assistant to the Administrator Sarah Charles.   

Deputy DG Bechdol also met with the Millennium Challenge Corporation staff and discussed a wide range of challenges facing the agricultural sector from land rights and rural infrastructure to water scarcity and research capacity.