Ecuador received a preparatory mission for the celebration of the FAO Regional Conference in Quito

February 28, 2022 - Ecuadorian government authorities held several working sessions with a delegation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which visited the country to prepare for the 37th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, which will take place in Quito, from March 28 to April 1.

Ecuador will host the FAO Regional Conference again after 73 years: the Regional Conference is the highest governing body of FAO in the region, and where the member countries establish the Organization's priorities for the next two years, review their results and analyze the main challenges of food and nutrition security.

The deputy secretary of the Conference, Jorge Meza, spoke with the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador, Pedro José Álava, who in his role as host presented the national preparatory steps to receive his counterparts from the 33 Member States of the FAO and their delegations in the city of Quito.

According to Meza, the Regional Conference will be an opportunity to adapt the FAO Strategic Framework to the conditions and needs of the region, to achieve better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

Minister Álava emphasized the country's commitment to work together to create governance mechanisms that enhance the capacities of the region, and to promote more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable food systems to turn the region into a example for the world.

The mission participated in the meeting of a Inter-institutional Committee made up of authorities from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador, to discuss the protocol and security measures that the host country will offer to the international during the Conference.

Other meetings were held with government technical officials on communication and promotion actions, as well as national and international guidelines on the application of biosafety protocols in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, to guarantee the safe participation of national and international guests.

The mission concluded with an informative session with the diplomatic corps of the member countries of the FAO and accredited observers before the Government of Ecuador, who analyzed the provisional timetable of the Conference and the process for the accreditation of the heads of each delegation and their delegates.

The 37th FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean

The FAO Regional Conference constitutes the main governance body of the Organization and brings together the ministers of Agriculture and senior officials of the 33 member countries of FAO in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as high-level representatives of civil society , academia, the private sector and other members of the United Nations system.

The first FAO Conference was held in Ecuador in 1949 and since then the countries have met every two years to guide FAO's technical cooperation based on their needs and priorities.

In 2022, the Conference will again represent an opportunity for the delegations of each country to analyze and provide recommendations on the region's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its socioeconomic consequences, and find opportunities for recovery from the challenges of hunger and poverty,  and a joint response to the transformation of agrifood systems.