H.E. Anne Eastwood accredited as Monaco’s Permanent Representative to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Accréditation FAO © FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto

 

On 10 February 2023, H.E. Anne Eastwood, Monaco’s Ambassador to Italy, presented to Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the FAO, her credentials as the new Permanent Representative of the Principality to this Rome-based United Nations organisation, of which the Principality has been a member since November 2001.

The FAO’s mission is to tackle food insecurity around the world, improve agricultural production and nutrition, reduce rural poverty and contribute to environmentally friendly global economic growth.

During the private talks which followed the ceremony, the Director-General of the FAO noted that with 194 member States and one member organisation (the European Union), as well as two associate members, the FAO is the largest United Nations organisation, bringing together very wide-ranging international efforts to combat malnutrition and work towards a global transition to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems that will deliver the capacity to guarantee regular and sufficient access to high-quality food for everyone. He then talked about the importance of the FAO’s work to support those populations that are most vulnerable to the exacerbation of crises related to climate change, economic shocks and the proliferation of conflicts, and to work more broadly towards achieving the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals.

For her part, H.E. Anne Eastwood emphasised the similarities between the FAO’s goals and Monaco’s priorities for cooperation. She also noted the Prince’s Government’s unwavering commitment to solidarity as part of its official development assistance policy, one third of the annual budget for which is devoted to action to combat hunger and poverty. She welcomed the fact that this solidarity effort had not diminished during recent crises, with Monaco one of the only countries in the world to have maintained and even continued to increase its official development assistance throughout the pandemic. Finally, the Ambassador expressed her determination to work to strengthen the Principality’s involvement in the FAO even further and to make Monaco an active and committed member of the organisation. She noted that she was pleased that, since 2018, a young Monegasque national had been working for the FAO’s Office of Strategy, Programme and Budget.