Representatives of the private, scientific, academic, and civil society sectors met to provide input for the debate to be held on March 11. More than 1,800 people followed the sessions online.
The Regional Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for Latin America and the Caribbean conducted a round of consultations with non-governmental stakeholders in the run-up to the 38th Regional Conference of the Organization LARC38.
In February, FAO held meetings between FAO officials and representatives of the private, scientific, and academic sectors and civil society to discuss and contribute to FAO’s work agenda for the next biennium (2024-2025). The compilation of these inputs – which include information, experiences, data, and knowledge from each sector – will be used as inputs to the country dialogue at the Conference.
An average of 600 attendees followed the sessions at each consultation via YouTube, X, and Zoom. In addition, the FAO Regional Office in Santiago de Chile received members from all sectors in person.
FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mario Lubetkin, expressed his gratitude for the high level of participation in the various days of the preliminary consultations and stressed the importance of these inputs for the debate that will take place from April 11 at the Regional Conference.
“For FAO, it is essential to work more and better with civil society as a strategic partner of our cooperation, in coordination with governments and the participation of other sectors, to move towards broader and more diverse governance,” said Lubetkin, who added at the end of the meetings: “Through these consultations, we want to contribute to give greater visibility and highlight civil society initiatives that allow us to identify more innovative actions, with scientific evidence, but also with ancestral knowledge of indigenous peoples, women, youth and all actors linked to the agrifood sector and rural development.”
FAO Regional Conference is an official forum where ministers of agriculture and senior officials of the Member Nations of the region meet to discuss challenges and priority issues related to food and agriculture to promote regional coherence on global policy issues.
