UN food
body praises poverty reduction success at conference
(22-11-2007)
ROME,
Italy — The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United
Nations praised Viet Nam for its success in poverty reduction at the 34th
Session of the FAO Conference, which runs until Saturday.
The FAO said it also
highly appreciated Viet Nam’s active contribution to the development of the
organisation. Viet Nam has just completed its term as president of the 33rd
Session of the conference.
The organisation applauded
the successful implementation of several FAO projects, especially projects in
poverty reduction.
Based on Viet Nam’s
success so far, the FAO, despite its current difficulties in calling for
financial contributions from members, still decided to fund aid for the country
for technology transfer and bird flu prevention.
The head of the Vietnamese
delegation to the conference, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development Nguyen Viet Thang, said the FAO’s contribution to addressing
global agriculture and food issues was enormous and important.
He said he hoped the
organisation would continue to reform itself in order to operate at an even
higher level of effectiveness.
Referring to the
organisation’s operation plan for the 2008-09 Session, the deputy minister
said the Vietnamese Government would fully support the general agreement reached
by the group of developing countries (G77). The agreement calls for ensuring an
increase in the FAO’s budget, to ensure the organisation can continue its work
in developing countries.
At the opening of the 34th
Session, the Director-General of the FAO, Jacques Diouf, presented the
achievements of the previous session, including the organisation’s efforts to
communicate to the world community that agriculture was still the most important
industry in the 21st century.
He also mentioned the
challenges the world would face in coming years, including budget deficits,
population blowouts, pollution of the environment, rising poverty and a rapid
decrease in natural resources.
The Conference also mapped
out action plans for the next session. — VNS