Want to meet the new Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations? Yeah. Can’t say I’m really excited to but . . . His name is José Graziano da Silva and he’ll be holding a press conference which will be webcast tomorrow.
The Brazilian agronomist and economist will discuss urgent food security issues and answer journalists’ questions on related themes.
Who: José Graziano da Silva, incoming FAO Director-General
What: First press conference as Director-General
When: Tuesday, 3 January 2012 at 12:00h
Where: FAO Headquarters, Iran Room (Building B), Rome, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla (Métro Circo Massimo)
The event will also be webcast live at: www.fao.org/webcast/
Post Update: I tried to watch the webcast but my browsers all said they were missing a plugin so I couldn’t. However, here’s an excerpt of the press release they just sent out and links to audio files from the press conference.
Two days after taking over, FAO’s new Director-General José Graziano da Silva told his inaugural press conference that the total elimination of hunger and undernourishment from the world will be his top priority.
“Ending hunger requires the commitment of everyone: neither FAO nor any other agency or government will win this war alone”, said Graziano da Silva, adding that he wanted to work “in the most transparent and democratic way” with member countries, United Nations agencies the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders.
“We need to rebuild trust between the Secretariat and Member States to move forward, and I plan to do so by promoting a transparent and constructive relationship with Member States and FAO Governing Bodies”, he said.
1. Statement to the media
Duration: 10min52sec
2. Questions and answers Session English and Spanish
Duration: 46min18sec