FAO and Spain pledge to continue collaborating closely on global food security and nutrition – World

First Partnership Report marks joint efforts and achievements of the final ten years

**June 23 2021, Rome/Madrid – **The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Kingdom of Spain right now acknowledged their joint efforts to battle international starvation and malnutrition previously decade and pledged to additional strengthen their collaboration sooner or later.

The Director-General of FAO, QU Dongyu, was joined by Spain’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas Puchades, and Spain’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno Bau, at a digital occasion to launch the primary version of their Partnership Report entitled FAO + Spain: Working for global food security and nutrition to mark their long-standing co-operation.

“The strategic alignment between our priorities is steadfast and so is the inspiration of our lengthy‑standing partnership,” mentioned the FAO Director-General. “It displays our shared objectives and historic dedication to eradicate international starvation and malnutrition.”

Minister Planas Puchades congratulated FAO for “the large function” it’s taking part in and confused that the Government of Spain and FAO have been working collectively to search out international options to fight malnutrition and starvation in order that nobody was left behind.

The Partnership Report captures the character and scope of the cooperation between FAO and Spain over the previous ten years and highlights areas the place outcomes have been achieved at a world, regional and nation degree, because of Spain’s continued help for FAO from 2010 to 2020.

“The report we’re launching right now conveys the spirit of our wonderful collaboration. It exhibits how our joint efforts have translated into concrete outcomes on the bottom,” the Director-General said.

He thanked the Minister for the nation’s beneficiant funding and help – €245 million – for over 240 programmes and initiatives whereas noting the numerous alternatives for additional cooperation and information change.

Secretary of State Moreno Bau cited varied initiatives supported by Spain in Africa, Asia, and Central America to underline Spain’s dedication and shared targets with FAO to eradicate starvation and obtain the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Spain’s targets have lengthy been carefully aligned with FAO’s strategic framework and regional priorities. In current years, Spain’s help has targeted on Latin America and the Caribbean, the Near East and North Africa in addition to Sub-Saharan Africa.

However, joint efforts to boost meals safety, shield the livelihoods of farming households and enhance the resilience of rural communities and help actions aligned with attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have change into much more difficult as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Director-General recalled fond reminiscences of his journey to Spain on the margins of COP25 in December 2019 and the way he loved seeing first-hand the Spanish olive sector, emblematic of Spanish agriculture, and different agricultural actions throughout his go to to Córdoba. He additionally recalled his go to to the amenities of the International Agrifood Campus of International Excellence [ceiA3] of the University of Córdoba, and the Olive Germplasm Bank.

During his intervention, the Director-General additionally highlighted Spain’s help for the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), for which FAO has designated 4 Spanish rural websites, and famous the good potential for these websites to be a part of a robust international effort to revitalize rural areas.

Strengthening partnership

For a few years Spain has been an essential accomplice and labored carefully with FAO, primarily specializing in the fisheries sector and the promotion of insurance policies that assure the proper to meals, shield plant genetic sources and meals safety.

“I extremely commend Spain’s willpower to make sure that the battle in opposition to starvation and malnutrition stays excessive on the worldwide political agenda, a dedication that has, through the years, reached the best ranges of management within the nation,” Qu mentioned.

In June 2015, Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain was named FAO Special Ambassador for Nutrition. In that function, Queen Letizia engages in elevating consciousness of world starvation challenges and constructing help for starvation eradication. The Director-General recalled his assembly with Queen Letizia in 2019 and her curiosity in FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative and the Youth and Women Committees of FAO.

The Director-General additionally alluded to his assembly with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during COP25 the place they talked about strengthening collaboration.

Spain plans to proceed to concentrate on initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, West Africa and the Sahel, in addition to the Near East and North Africa.

FAO lately signed collaboration agreements with quite a lot of Spanish entities: the Autonomous Regional Government of Galicia; Valencia City Council; the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP); the Spanish and Portuguese-language media firm, PRISA Group; Carlos III University; the Polytechnic University of Madrid; town council of Madrid and publicly-owned enterprises such because the Spanish Development Fund, COFIDES, and agrarian transformation firm, Tragsa.

Spain has been supporting a challenge underneath the Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 Initiative.

Today’s occasion was moderated by Rodrigo de Lapuerta, Director of FAO’s Logistics Services Division and Director a.i. of the FAO Liaison Office with the European Union and Belgium.

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