News

On 14 December in Rome, Lithuania’s Ambassador to Italy Petras Zapolskas presented credentials to Jacques Diouf, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. After the ceremony, the Ambassador had a conversation with the Director-General and thanked him for the support that the organization had provided to Lithuania since the country joined this organization. The Ambassador also proposed the assistance of the Lithuanian experts in implementing the objectives of the organization.

The Director-General acquainted the Ambassador with the current reform of the organization, which aims to build the organizational capacity to respond rapidly and effectively to the needs of member countries and to solve new problems.

“As a participant in the organization’s activities, Lithuania expects that the main objective of the FAO reform is efficiency, and Lithuania is ready to contribute its experience in order to achieve this objective,” the Ambassador said.

FAO (established in 1945) is one of the largest specialized United Nations agencies. 192 countries of the world participate in FAO activities.

FAO’s mission is to make sure that people in the world have access to food, which is currently becoming a more pressing problem, to improve the living standard of people, to enhance the alimentary production and agricultural productivity and distribution, to better the lives of rural populations and to contribute to the growth of the world economy, as well as to defeat hunger, which is the problem faced by humanity. The organization helps developing countries and countries in transition to modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices. FAO lends its experience to member countries in devising agricultural policy, drafting effective legislation and creating national strategies to achieve rural development and hunger alleviation goals. The organization also shares its knowledge when implementing projects. Lithuania has participated in the activities of the organization since 1991. Since then FAO has allocated about 15 million Litas to 24 projects that are jointly implemented in Lithuania in the sectors of agriculture and food, rural development, health and environmental protection.