FAO, short for Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [fu ː d Rev. AEGR ɪ k ʌ lt ʃ ə ɔ ː gəna ɪ ze ɪ ʃ n ɔ v də j ʊ na ɪ t ɪ d ne ɪ ʃ ənz, English], United Nations Autonomous Food and Agriculture Organization.
According to Abbreviationfinder, the FAO is an autonomous specialized agency of the United Nations for food, agriculture, fisheries and forestry, founded in Quebec on October 16, 1945, of which (since June 2013) 194 states and the European Union belong as members (the Faroe Islands and Tokelau are associated Members); Headquarters: Rome (until 1951 Washington).
Organs: 1) the “conference” (full assembly of member states; one vote per member), which meets every two years, determines the guidelines for the activities of the FAO and decides on the work program and the two-year budget; 2) the “Council”, the executive body of the conference between sessions, the 49 members of which are rotated for three years; 3) the “Director General” elected by the conference for six years (re-election possible since 1977), who, under the supervision of the conference and the council, directs the work of the FAO. It reports to the secretariat, council committees and regional and liaison offices. The FAO has regional offices for the Middle East (seat: Cairo), Asia / Pacific (seat: Bangkok), Latin America / Caribbean (seat: Santiago de Chile), Africa (seat: Accra) and Europe / Central Asia (seat: Budapest), a liaison office for North America (seat: Washington, D. C.), liaison offices at the United Nations (seat: New York and Geneva) and at the EU (seat: Brussels). With more than 3,600 employees, the FAO is one of the largest UN specialized agencies.
Objectives: Raising the food and living standards of the peoples, improving the production and distribution of agricultural, forestry and fishing products, improving the living conditions of the rural population, expanding the global economy, freeing mankind from hunger.
Tasks: The tasks stipulated in the FAO’s “Regular Program” include the collection, analysis, evaluation and dissemination of information, preparation of reports and statistics, recommendations for measures in research, training and administration, programs for the conservation of natural resources, improvement of production, Marketing and distribution methods, development of global, regional and national strategies to increase food production v. a. in developing countries, promotion and recommendation of international guidelines on agreements for agricultural products. In addition, the implementation of development projects has increasingly emerged. As a general contractor, the FAO is in charge of the so-called “field programs”. The main clients are on the one hand UN organs, v. a. UNDP), but also individual countries as part of bilateral projects. The FAO is also responsible for approving food aid under the World Food Program.
The work of the FAO is financed by contributions from the member states, by financial contributions from the UNDP and by trust funds for certain projects.
The FAO issues numerous publications, operates an agricultural information center and publishes information in various databases.
World Food Program
World Food Program, English World Food Program [wə ː ld fu ː d prə ʊ Graem], abbreviation WFP.
The World Food Program was decided in 1961 by the FAO and the United Nations and began in 1963. It has several goals: On the one hand, hunger in emergency areas is to be directly combated through multilateral projects and humanitarian aid. In addition, it promotes long-term economic development and independent food security in developing countries.
The funds of the World Food Program are v. a. used for the development of rural areas, irrigation and drainage, afforestation, village renewal and the improvement of infrastructure as well as for health and education. The WFP also administers the International Emergency Food Reserve, created in 1975 to remedy emergencies. The World Food Program is mainly supported by voluntary contributions from UN member countries, as well as donations from companies and private individuals.
The WFP is considered to be the leading humanitarian organization in the fight against global hunger. According to its own information, it reached 97 million people in 88 countries in 2019. It is run by an Executive Board made up of 36 member states, headed by the Executive Director. In addition to its headquarters in Rome, Italy, the World Food Program has eight liaison offices, including one in Berlin, and over 70 country offices in various parts of the world. The majority of the approximately 15,000 employees work on site in the project countries.
In 2020 the World Food Program received the Nobel Peace Prize. The committee paid tribute to his commitment to fighting hunger and helping to improve peace conditions in conflict-ridden areas. In addition, the program is significantly involved in combating the abuse of hunger as a weapon of war.