Annan Attends 34th IFAD Governing Council Meeting In Rome

Annan Attends 34th IFAD Governing Council Meeting In Rome

A Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan will deliver an address at the 34th session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

A statement issued in Rome said the two-day meeting will open on Saturday and would bring together other international figures, youth leaders and high-ranking government officials.

THE PERSONALITIES

Prominent among the personalities is Princess Haya Al Hussein, the UN Messenger of Peace and wife of the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.

Annan, who is also the Chairman of the Board of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a Non Governmental Organisation, would also lead a panel discussion on supporting rural youth.

The plenary panel discussion titled  “Feeding future generations: young rural people today – prosperous, productive farmers tomorrow” , would be moderated by former CNN International presenter, Tumi Makgabo.

The panel will hear views from representatives of IFAD's 165 Member States, youth leaders and entrepreneurs from around the world.

REGIONAL FOCUS

The statement said that second day of the meeting would include four panel discussions with a regional focus covering Asia and the Pacific, the Near East, North Africa and Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The panels would explore the challenges faced by rural young people and feature agricultural and rural development experts, young entrepreneurs from rural areas and leaders of youth-based organizations.

UN statistics show that there are more than one billion people in the world today aged between 15 and 24 years.

This group, according to the statistics, makes up an average 20 per cent of the population of developing countries.

INNOVATION

IFAD believes that young people have enormous potential for the innovation and risk-taking that is often at the core of growth and development in rural areas, particularly of small holder agriculture.

This development, the statement said, is critical to meeting the food security challenges presented by a rising global population.

The Governing Council would also review IFAD's work over the past year.

STOCK TAKING

It would also take stock of the agency's progress on increasing both the size and effectiveness of investment in agriculture, with the goal of empowering poor rural women and men in developing countries to achieve higher incomes and improved food security.

During the course of 2010, IFAD expanded its investment portfolio and activities in all the regions where it works.

The organisation also boosted resources mobilized through co-financing by about 140 per cent over 2009.

Together with IFAD's own financing for programmes and projects, the funds committed reached 2.4 billion dollars, about 80 per cent more than the total for 2009.

Delegates would also discuss IFAD's flagship Rural Poverty Report 2011, released in December.

GREATER SUPPORT

The report calls for greater support in training for poor rural people – particularly the young – by reversing the longstanding neglect of educational opportunities that are relevant in rural areas.

The Rural Poverty Report is the culmination of several years of work by IFAD staff and outside partners.

It spotlights the fact that global poverty remains a massive and predominantly rural phenomenon.

About 70 per cent of the developing world's 1.4 billion extremely poor people live in rural areas.

NAN/Margaret/ Elewedalu