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FAO and Norway have today launched a brand new, state-of-the-art marine studies vessel, among the most advanced of its kind — and the only research ship on the globe that flies the UN flag. Its mission: To investigate some of the planet's least-explored oceans, using cutting-edge technology and sophisticated equipment to help developing countries assemble scientific data critical to sustainable fisheries management and study how a changing climate is affecting our oceans.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva completed on Thursday 9 March a two-day visit to Egypt aiming at boosting collaboration between the Organization and the most populous Arab Country.  His visit included meetings with the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation H.E. Abdel Moneim Al-Banna, the Minister for Investment and International Cooperation H.E. Sahar Nasr, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Sameh Shoukry, as well as the Secretary General of the League of Arab States H.E. Ahmad Abou El-Gheit.

A high-level conference in Belgrade today marks the first stage in a recently-begun four-year commitment on the part of FAO. A project worth US$3.75 million, financed by the Global Environment Facility, or GEF, is directed towards the long-term sustainability of forest ecosystems in Serbia.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva completed on Thursday 9 March a two-day visit to Egypt aiming at boosting collaboration between the Organization and the most populous Arab Country.  His visit included meetings with the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation H.E. Abdel Moneim Al-Banna, the Minister for Investment and International Cooperation H.E. Sahar Nasr, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Sameh Shoukry, as well as the Secretary General of the League of Arab States H.E. Ahmad Abou El-Gheit.

FAO is assisting Bolivia in its effort to access financial support for improved water management programs in those areas of the Andean nation that have been hardest hit by prolonged drought. At a meeting here today, FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva and Bolivian President Evo Morales agreed to jointly submit a technical proposal to the UN’s Green Climate Fund requesting $250 million in support for efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change on food security and rural livelihoods in Bolivia.

FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and representatives from Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) today re-affirmed their close collaboration on technical cooperation work in the region during an annual review of the programme.

In an effort to alleviate the challenges that millions of African families face from abject poverty, malnutrition and food insecurity, FAO and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) signed a new partnership agreement that paves the way for a stronger cooperation in fostering sustainable agriculture.

FAO today hosted a high-level delegation from Japan in a bid to bolster both sides of a strong relationship between the UN agency responsible for fighting hunger and its second-largest donor. Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries sent a number of senior officials to the meeting, one of a series aimed at crafting a strategic plan for further advancing the key partnership. The broader Japanese delegation underscored the increasingly geopolitical nature of assuring food security and putting agriculture on a sustainable and responsible footing in an era of globalization and border-hopping challenges such as...

Canadatoday announced it will contribute an additional $1 million to international bodies that develop the standards for food safety and plant protection. Lawrence MacAulay, Canada's Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, told FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva of the decision while both leaders were in Berlin attending high-level meetings including Sunday's meeting of agriculture ministers from the G20 countries.

Cancun, Mexico - More than 190 countries at a major United Nations conference in Mexico have pledged to step up efforts to integrate biodiversity into the policies of their agriculture, forests and fisheries sectors. On 3 December, countries adopted the Cancun Declaration, named after the Mexican city where the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known as 'COP13,' is being held. The Declaration represents an unprecedented recognition from the international community that biodiversity protection must involve different governmental and economic sectors and not just environment ministries. At the closure of the COP13 High Level...