FAO in Review: A proud UN Organization for a better world

Figure: European Space Agency Astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador Thomas Pesquet at the inauguration of the new FAO selfie point outside FAO headquarters on World Food Day 2022. © FAO/Giulio Napolitano

FAO News

Since August 2019, FAO has reshaped its business model, improving efficiency, implementing best practices that support programme and administrative effectiveness, and ensuring capacity and capability of its human resources.

There has been renewed focus on creating people-centred HR policies over the last three years. In addition, the FAO Women’s Committee was launched in 2019 to provide an inclusive, safe space that reflects the diverse and dynamic nature of FAO’s workforce.

“Today, gender equality, diversity and inclusion are very high on the FAO agenda. The Women’s Committee has proven a successful platform to build a meaningful space to share, discuss and showcase ideas and actions that can empower women – and through them, the Organization,” said Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo, Chair of the Women's Committee. “The Committee’s wide range of activities – from the Joint Mentorship Programme, VirtualiTeas, information campaigns and partnerships – is working to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in FAO and to contribute to a gender-equal world. For instance, our collaboration with the Mountain Partnership and designer Stella Jean in Kyrgyzstan and Peru has allowed mountain women to boost their livelihoods through ethical fashion.”

Attention to gender parity has reaped rewards, highlighted by FAO achieving a score of 94 percent for indicators met or exceeded on the UN Action Plan on Gender Equality, and the Organization recently being recognized for excellence in implementing good practices that advance gender parity in the UN System.

The first-ever FAO Youth Committee has also been created, “providing youth with a dynamic space to foster their innovative spark and to play a key role in the transformation of our agrifood systems, by identifying actionable and out-of-the-box solutions to current and future challenges,” said Chief Economist, Máximo Torero Cullen. “Since its inception, the Youth Committee has led to the creation of the World Food Forum (WFF), which in two short years has grown from an idea to a global intergenerational platform. The WFF demonstrates that the ingenuity and energy of global youth is one of our biggest resources to overcoming global hunger and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Going forward we need to continue tapping into this potential energy as well as fostering an intergenerational dialogue among all agrifood stakeholders, ensuring no one is left behind.”

See more https://www.fao.org/director-general/news/2022/a-proud-un-organization-for-a-better-world/en/