The outgoing director general of the FAO Qu Dongyu, the first Chinese to occupy this position, was re-elected on Sunday at the head of this United Nations agency based in Rome which fights against hunger in the world.
The only candidate to succeed him, Qu Dongyu was re-elected for four years at the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Agency with 168 votes out of 182 votes cast, in a secret ballot vote of the organization’s ministerial conference, which is held every two years, the FAO said in a statement.
His new term runs from August 1 to July 31, 2027.
Qu Dongyu, 59, was vice-minister of agriculture before taking over as head of the UN agency in 2019. His election in the first round was seen at the time as a mark of Chinese interest in the food issues and for positions of responsibility in international bodies.
This biologist specializing in plants and genetics, doctor of the agricultural university of Wageningen in the Netherlands, considered one of the best European universities on the subject, had succeeded in 2019 to the Brazilian José Graziano da Silva, who had himself even served two terms.
FAO Directors-General can be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms.
07/02/2023 15:54:43 – Rome (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
