C44 Closing Statement

Your Excellency the Chairperson of the Conference,

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we conclude this historical 44^th Session, we stand at a crossroads defined by unprecedented global changes, and significant uncertainty.

The challenges before us are immense, complex, and deeply interconnected.

The path forward may seem daunting.

But let us be clear, these challenges do not diminish the urgency of our mission – they amplify it.

Hunger persists. Biodiversity erodes. Livelihoods hang in balance.

The need for FAO has never been greater!

The discussions we had this week on the budget highlight the difficulties of finding a balance between the minimum demand for our work in agrifood systems transformation, and the minimum resources available. 

There is a gap between demand and availability. 

But you, notwithstanding all the debate and discussion, unanimously approved the budget and showed solidarity to support the Organization. This is the highest vote for approving the budget level with 165 votes!

I must convey my appreciation to all Members during this critical situation.

As we move forward, I hope that we can continue to increase the commitment to FAO, global agrifood systems and rural communities – we need to make these THREE commitments!

Never before has it been more important to work together – to work MORE and BETTER together – to turn these challenges into opportunities for all – leaving no one behind.

Our discussions this week have reaffirmed some crucial truths:

First: Resilience is built, not given.

The solutions we seek – climate-adapted agriculture (because adaptation is the most important solution - without adaptation there is no resilience); sustainable fisheries; reliable social protection, empowered smallholders, among others – are investments in resilience.

They are the foundations upon which food security and stable societies are built, even in turbulent times.

Second: Innovation is our lever.

When resources are scarce, innovation becomes our cost effective and most powerful multiplier to amplify impact.

Digital tools, scientific breakthroughs, indigenous knowledge, and transformative business models offer pathways to do more with less – that is my guiding principle.

We MUST embrace and make them more available, more accessible and more affordable.

Third: Partnerships are our DNA in humanity because we are intelligent mammal animals.

No single entity, country or sector can overcome complex challenges alone.

Strengthening multilateralism, deepening South-South and Triangular Cooperation, building up ONE FAO, forging impactful alliances with the private sector, civil society, and academia is not optional – it is essential.

You play alone and you will be lonely - even the kids know that!

Fourth: Targeted action yields tangible results.

Any individual, organization and nation have limits - focus is paramount.

My life philosophy has always believed that making a one percent target to be perfect, is better than 100 percent coverage to be normal.

We must prioritize actions with the highest marginal utility, targeting the most vulnerable, and ensuring our interventions are evidence-based, data talks, and the 4Es driven.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This week I was very pleased to inaugurate two new technical rooms at FAO, sponsored by our Members.

These rooms symbolize our shared commitment to the renewal of FAO, but even more importantly, our shared belief that we need a modern FAO equipped with the latest technology to ensure we can efficiently, effectively and coherently support Members when and where they need us most.

The Liberia Situation Room is a real-time decision support hub for food security, crisis response and natural disasters forecasts, and is a cornerstone of the Financing for Shock-Driven Food Crises initiative launched this week.

The Netherlands Acceleration Zone is an interactive hub at FAO headquarters connected to the rest of the world and focused on creating a conducive space for innovation. 

And the foreseen Tajikistan Climate Hub will bring the latest technology to a collaborative space for bringing together stakeholders to co-design and promote agrifood systems solutions to address global challenges such as glacier melting and water scarcity.

In addition, the Swiss Center for Locust and other Migratory Pests, inaugurated one and a half years ago, harnesses the state-of-the-art technologies to constantly improve monitoring and early warning systems for real-time data reporting and highest accuracy in forecasting.

The FAO Transparency Portal, launched this week, reflects a further strengthening of FAO’s digital tools that provide real-time access to information on FAO’s operations and results. This is the first in the UN system.

Dear Members, Dear Colleagues,

This is YOUR Organization. YOU are responsible for translating commitments into concrete action plans and budgets at national and regional levels.

YOU need to champion food availability, food accessibility, food affordability, food diversity and agrifood systems transformation as the foundation for stability and prosperity.

YOU need to explore innovative financing mechanisms.

YOU should focus, one by one, on leading by example.

We must dramatically scale up climate finance for agrifood systems!

FAO is proud to see its long-standing technical collaborations culminate in the Green Climate Fund’s largest-ever approval of FAO climate projects this week. This USD 300 million funding is very timely, together with funding from the World Bank and other international financing institutions.

All project funded countries must ensure the success of implementation because 70 percent are grants and 30 percent are co-funded by the governments.

As funding from our traditional donors has been declining, we have diversified our resource mobilization partners and I am grateful to all my colleagues for their fruitful work.

I appreciate Members’ continuous support and recognition of the vital role of FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), which remains one of FAO’s most effective instruments to deliver timely, cost-effective assistance, and to catalyze transformative results. 

I am also pleased that you agree that it is time for an increased allocation of resources to the core normative work of the Organization such as the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and Codex. I sincerely hope the Members can matchmake the relevant projects.

We thank Members for recognizing FAO’s core work in preventing and responding to Transboundary Animal Diseases and call for joint efforts to establish a renewed mechanism that strengthens early warning, risk management, coordinated action, and capacity building across member countries to address the global threat of transboundary animal disease, including insect and plant diseases.

Dear Friends,

At a time when traditional assistance is under pressure and countries are reassessing their priorities and investments, I urge all our Members and partners to deepen engagement with us through their partnership funds, foundations, in-kind contributions, shared cost arrangements, expertise and networks.

You need to invest strategically and consistently in supporting us to transform global agrifood systems to be the cornerstone of global resilience and the Four Betters – better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life.

Let us not be defined by scarcity, but by our ingenuity, solidarity, and collective will.

The vision of a world free from hunger and malnutrition, with thriving rural communities, efficient and sustainable use of our natural resources, remains our objective, defined by our mandate and set out in our Strategic Framework 2022-31.

Let us be positive and optimistic in facing profound challenges and choosing action over inaction, collaboration over isolation, and innovation over inertia.

We owe it to the future generations to provide them with the proper historic answer!

Let us go forward in building more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems.

Before I close, allow me to congratulate Mr Mina Rizk on his election as the youngest Independent Chairperson of the Council in the history of FAO.

I look forward to working together over the next two years to the benefit of the Organization, all its Members, and especially the farmers and consumers of the world.

I also wish to thank our esteemed Chairperson of the Conference for his leadership and guidance over the past week. He professionally and effectively guided Members in navigating complex discussions, fostering consensus, and achieving important outcomes.

Thank you, Mr Chair! Merci!

And I thank the Vice Chairperson who is effectively leading us during this closing ceremony.

Dear Friends,

History will remember the 44^th FAO Ministerial Conference by your determination to the original aspiration of this noble Organization.

Eighty years is only a small drop of water in the long river of history.

Our generation must do our part, together, before we regret it.

Let us work Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future.

Let us build a modern dynamic professional FAO for a better world!

Thank you!