DIRECTOR-GENERAL’S ACTIVITIES IN JULY 2008

Brussels, , 2 to 3 July:

At the invitation of His Excellency Michel Barnier, French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, the Director-General arrived in on 2 July at 23:30 hours to participate, the following day, in the ’s International Conference on “Qui va nourrir le monde”. The Conference, jointly organized by His Excellency Michel Barnier and the , was attended by more than 800 participants, including a number of Ministers and Commissioners, other stakeholders dealing with the agricultural sector, and civil society representatives. The Director-General intervened during a session titled “Quelles gouvernance régionale et mondiale pour les agricultures?”, which was also attended by His Excellency Louis Michel, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid; Mr Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Mr Aziz Akhannouch, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries of Morocco; and Mr Neil Parish, Chairman of the Committee of Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Parliament. Discussions focussed on agricultural trade negotiations and the need for investment in agriculture in developing countries. The Director-General shared FAO’s views on these issues and described the activities being undertaken by the Organization to address the current global challenges. He also highlighted the strong and unified commitment of the and other partners to respond to the current situation of soaring food prices in a comprehensive and sustainable manner. 1

The Director-General also met with Her Excellency , Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development to discuss issues related to agriculture and rural development in the poorest countries of the world as well as topics related to food security worldwide, including soaring food prices, climate change, bioenergy, genetically modified organisms and trade liberalization. They exchanged views on the urgent actions and measures to be taken in the momentum of donor pledges made at the recent FAO World Food Security Summit, and on medium and long term measures, including the investments needed in water management and storage facilities at the local level as well as in rural infrastructure, in order to help small farmers benefit from market opportunities. They also touched upon the European Union’s initiative to establish a facility to provide a rapid response to soaring food prices in developing countries, FAO’s Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP) and strengthening of the existing partnership with the European Commission.

The Director-General attended a joint Press Conference with His Excellency Josep Borrell Fontelles, the Chairperson of the Committee on Development of the European Parliament, on the topic of “Les défis de l’agriculture: Les rôles de l’Union Européenne et de la FAO”. The Director-General elaborated on topics such as soaring food prices, bioenergy, climate change and the consequences on food security, as well as the need for investment in agriculture and the necessary initiatives to be undertaken in the short, medium and long term. He gave two interviews, one for the Belgium Radio RTBF and one for CNN.

The Director-General left Brussels on 3 July at 19:50 hours.

1 WWW .PARLONSAGRICULTURE .COM /FILE /GET ?PATH =/ VAR /DOCS /D OSSIER FR. PDF

Rome, Italy, 4 to 11 July:

The Director-General attended the following meetings:

• Senior Management Meeting; • Meeting 2008-09 Programme of Work of the Office of the Inspector-General; • Meeting on the Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP); • First meeting of the Committees on Joint Ventures and Rehabilitation of Institutions; • Meeting with UGSS; • UN Security Management System Arrangements for Headquarter Locations.

He had bilateral meetings with the Ambassadors/Permanent Representatives of Canada, El Salvador, Italy, Japan, Peru, Venezuela and with the Ambassadors of and Uruguay who had terminated their mission in Rome.

His Excellency Shri Arif Shahid Khan, India, and His Excellency Darko Uskokovic, Montenegro, presented their credentials as new Permanent Representatives to FAO.

The Director-General met Ambassador Juma W. Mwapachu, Secretary General of the East African Community and Mr Cobban, Former Permanent Representative of Australia to FAO.

He had a press interview with “Agence Press”.

Asunción, Paraguay, 14 to 16 July:

Mr Diouf arrived in Asunción on 14 July at 09:45 hours. On the first day, he had bilateral meetings with the President of Paraguay, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock as well as with the future government authorities (President elect of Paraguay, designated Ministers for Economy, Agriculture and Livestock, Education and Social Affairs).

On the same day, he was awarded the Condecoración Nacional al Mérito en el Grado de “Gran Cruz””. The ceremony was followed by a lunch at the Presidential House in the presence of several Government authorities. The Director-General was also awarded a “Honoris Causa” Degree by the “Universidad Nacional de Asunción”.

In the evening, he attended a conference held at the Central Bank of Paraguay on “La Seguridad Alimentaria Mundial: los desafíos del Cambio Climático y la Bioenergía”.

On the following day, he had a meeting with Ms. Gloria Penayo de Duarte, First Lady of Paraguay and Extraordinary Ambassador to FAO . He visited a TeleFood project on “Cría de Cerdos” organized by the Comité Tacuruty in the District of Villeta, Central Department.

The Director-General then had lunch with the Extraordinary Ambassador and meetings with the designated Ministers for Agriculture and of Economy and the Governor of Central Department.

He met the President of the South American Confederation of Football, CONMEBOL, to discuss a possible future agreement between the Organizations. The day ended with a working dinner with the UN System Country Team and other international cooperation representatives.

The Director-General left Asuncion on 16 July at 11:00 hours.

Montevideo, Uruguay, 16 to 17 July:

The Director-General arrived in Montevideo on 16 July at 15.00 hours.

During his visit, he had a bilateral meeting with His Excellency Tabarè Ramòn Vàsques Rosas, President of the Republic of Uruguay; His Excellency Ernesto Agazzi Sarasola, Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries; His Excellency Gonzalo Fernández, Minister for External Relations and Prof. Enrique Rubio, Director of the Planning and Budgetary office (OPP).

Discussions focussed on bilateral cooperation and topics related to agriculture and food security in Uruguay, as well as activities being undertaken to address the current global challenges, including those implemented within the framework of the United Nations Comprehensive Framework of Action (CFA) and FAO’s ISFP.

The Government indicated its interest in FAO’s technical support for the establishment of the “Instituto Nacional de Lechería” (National Institute of Milk). Other topics of interest raised by the Government included: (i) increasing Telefood projects in the country; (ii) facilitating South-South Cooperation with Spanish-speaking countries, in particular on animal health, TADs, and plant and pest protection; and (iii) increased cooperation in the “Delivering as One” framework;

The Director-General also met with the UN Resident Coordinator and members of the UN Country Team.

The Director-General left Montevideo on 17 July at 18:35 hours.

Lima, Peru, 17 to 20 July:

The Director-General arrived in Lima on 17 July at 23:30 hours.

On 18 July, he met with His Excellency Jorge del Castillo Gálvez, President of the Council of Ministers; His Excellency Antonio Brack Egg, Minister for the Environment; His Excellency Ismael Benavides Ferreyros, Minister for Agriculture; His Excellency José Antonio García Belaúnde, Minister for Foreign Affairs; and His Excellency Rafael Rey, Minister for Production in the presence of the Vice Minister for Fisheries.

Discussions focused on bilateral cooperation and topics related to agriculture, environment, post-disaster rehabilitation and food security at country level, as well as activities being undertaken to address the current global challenges, including those implemented within the framework of the United Nations CFA and FAO’s ISFP.

Following the meeting with His Excellency Jorge del Castillo Gálvez, a press conference was held on topics related to global food security and soaring food prices.

After the meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Director-General visited an exhibition on the International Year of the Potato.

On 19 July, he met Mr Jorge Chediek, UN Resident Coordinator and other members of the UN Country Team.

He also had a meeting with Ms Pamela Anderson, Director of the International Potato Center (CIP), who handed over the final signed version of the Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and the CIP. Discussions focused on global trends and challenges in food security and agriculture; activities undertaken in the framework of FAO’s ISFP and possibilities of strengthening the existing cooperation between CIP and FAO. It was agreed that cooperation to be started in a number of countries should not focus exclusively on short term measures, but also on the evaluation and development of the appropriate scientific and institutional capacities in the relevant countries. Emphasis should be placed on similar cooperation agreements recently signed with CIMMYT, ICRISAT, ICARDA, IFDC, IRRI and WARDA.

The Director General had the opportunity to greet the staff of the FAO Representation.

The Director-General left Lima on 20 July at 11:30 hours.

Havana, Cuba, 20 to 22 July 2008:

The Director-General arrived in Havana on 20 July at 22:35 hours.

In the morning of 21 July, he addressed the “Conferencia Magistral” entitled “La crisis alimentaria actual: desafíos y oportunidades para el desarrollo agrícola”, at the University of Havana

He then met with His Excellency Felipe Pérez Roque, Minister for External Relations and His Excellency José Ramón Machado Ventura, First Vice President of the Council of State.

Discussions focused the causes of the profound global food crisis, the limited attention of the international community to the fact that resources for finance agricultural programmes in developing countries were decreasing instead of increasing, and other global trends and challenges in food security and agriculture. They also touched on activities undertaken in the framework of FAO’s ISFP and possibilities of strengthening the existing cooperation between Cuba and FAO. The Government expressed its commitment to South-South Cooperation programmes.

This first day concluded with a visit to the “Escuela Latinoamericana de Ciencias Medicas” (ELAM), an institution which provides training for medical personnel from Latin America, Africa and other regions of the world.

On 22 July, the Director-General attended a working breakfast with the United Nations Heads of Agencies.

He then continued with bilateral meetings, including a meeting with Her Excellency María del C. Pérez, Minister for Agriculture, and Her Excellency Marta Lomas, Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation (MINVEC).

The discussions with the Minister for Agriculture focussed on bilateral cooperation, and notably on progress made in the livestock, crop production and forestry sectors. The Minister highlighted major priorities for improving productivity and effectiveness, which would include improvements in post-harvest processing, seed multiplication and livestock production.

During the Director-General’s meeting with Her Excellency Marta Lomas Morales, Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation discussions touched upon the country’s strong engagement in the South-South Cooperation Programme. The Minister informed about the “Petroalimentos” initiative which used revenues from petrol trade to support a fund for agricultural inputs procurement. The initiative is linked to “Petrocaribe”, which involves 18 countries of the region.

Her Excellency Marta Lomas Morales hosted a working lunch for the Director-General with the presence of the Minister for Food, the Minister for Fisheries, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Sugar, the Director of International Collaboration, MINVEC, and His Excellency Enrique Moret Ecchevería, Permanent Representative of Cuba to FAO.

In the early afternoon, he also had the opportunity to pay a visit to the FAO Representation.

The Director-General then met the Minister for Health who elaborated on the nutritional situation of urban and peri-urban areas and the need to improve the population’s awareness of healthy diets.

He left Havana on 22 July at 20:35 hours.

Lisbon, Portugal, 24 to 25 July:

The Director-General arrived in Lisbon on Thursday 24 July at 10:15 hrs.

On the same day, he met His Excellency Jaime Silva, Minister for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries. The Director-General attended a dinner offered by His Excellency Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, President of the Portuguese Republic. On that occasion he met His Excellency José Ramos Horta, President of the Republic of Timor-Leste. On Friday 25 July, the Director-General delivered a speech to the CPLP Conference and met His Excellency Luis Amado, and Minister for Foreign Affairs with whom he later signed the agreement between FAO and Portugal for the opening of an FAO Information Office in Lisbon. After lunch with the Heads of State and heads of other delegations, the Director-General met His Excellency Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

He left Lisbon on Friday 25 July at 18:55 hrs.

New York, USA, 27 to 29 July:

The Director-General arrived in New York on Sunday, 27 July at 13:20 hours.

Early on Monday morning, he participated in the meeting of the High Level Task Force Meeting on Global Food Crisis. Later on during the day he had meetings with Mr Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) to share views on global trends in food production and to discuss the best means for increasing agricultural productivity at the global, regional and local levels.

The Director-General requested the UNSG for assistance in mobilizing the funds committed to address the needs of countries in achieving food security, in particular for agricultural inputs. The UNSG agreed on the need to follow-up on the commitment made at the FAO High-Level Conference on World Food Security and to discuss the Common Framework of Action prepared by the High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis.

In this regard, the Director-General expressed his interest in sending letters to the Heads of State and Government and to the institutions that made the pledges, calling on them to fulfil their promises.

On that day, the Director-General also met Mr. John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and participated in a video-message recording in the UN studio.

The following day, he met Mr. Kemal Dervis, UNDP Administrator to discuss issues of common interest, in particular the global food crisis, the firewall issue and the security situation in the field.

He left New York on Tuesday 29 July at 16:44 hours.