From 17 to 18 February 2016, Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, Romain Schneider, was in Rome to attend the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Minister Schneider met with IFAD President, Kanayo F. Nwanze and figured as a panelist in the Governors roundtable on the theme of mobilising finance for smallholder agriculture. The Luxembourg Minister highlighted the importance of official development assistance (ODA), the indicator of international aid flow, as a vector for mutliplying private and national funding, including through inclusive finance.
With 70% of the disadvantaged living in rural areas and small farmers facing many challenges, there is a need for land, equipment and infrastructure, financial and technical resources, water and energy. According to Minister Schneider, it is only in taking a holistic approach and forming inclusive partnerships that these challenges may be faced, whilst ensuring social protection for the families of small farmers in developing countries.
Romain Schneider also used the visit to hold work meetings with Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) and José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Minister Schneider thanked the former for the cooperation that arose between the Grand Duchy and WFP through the emergency.lu project under the UN Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC). Developed with the support of Luxembourg, the 'ETC 2020' strategy provides the framework for enhanced collaboration in the event of future humanitarian crises.
The trip presented the opportunity to take stock of the humanitarian crisis in Syria, in preparation for the World Humanitarian Summit taking place on 23 and 24 May 2016 in Istanbul. The Minister outlined the new groundwork for strengthening the collaboration between the Grand Duchy and the two agencies to continue on the path towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) 1 and 2 of eradicating poverty and hunger, ensuring food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.
Photo by FAO (L-R: José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the FAO; Romain Schneider, Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action of Luxembourg)
