ROME, 14 JUNE – From today to friday ministers of FAO’s 194 Members will participate in the 42nd Session of the FAO Conference, the first to be held virtually in history. The Conference, which takes place every two years, is FAO’s supreme governing body and determines the strategies of the UN organization, approves the budget and makes recommendations to members on food and agriculture issues.
Main features of the 42nd Session of the FAO Conference are:
• FAO Director-General QU Dongyu will deliver the opening speech
• Bill Gates, the prominent philanthropist, will give the 2021 edition of the McDougall Memorial Lecture
• Members will discuss FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-2031
FAO’s proposed Strategic Framework 2022-2031, expected to be adopted by the ministers at the end of the Conference, seeks to support the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.
The ‘Four Betters’ represent how FAO approaches its contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 2 (Zero hunger), and SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities).
To implement the Strategic Framework, FAO will apply four cross-cutting/cross-sectional ‘accelerators’: technology, innovation, data, and complements (governance, human capital, and institutions) in all its programmatic interventions to accelerate impact while minimizing trade-offs.
The Strategic Framework highlights the importance of a shift in FAO’s working paradigm to ensure transformational change. FAO’s reinvigorated, fit-for-purpose business model aims to ensure an inclusive and agile Organization that is transparent, open, innovative, responsible, effective and impactful.
