Qu Dongyu of China was elected Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Qu Dongyu, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture of China was elected Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on Sunday the 23rd of June.

Qu Dongyu received a total of 108 votes out of 191 cast, constituting a majority in the first round, followed by France's Catherine Geslain-Laneelle with 71 votes and Georgia's Davit Kirvalidze with 12 votes

The election took place during the 41st session of the FAO Conference (22-29 June 2019), the highest governing body of the Organization. 

Qu Dongyu will be FAO's ninth Director-General since the Organization was founded on October 16, 1945.

The term of the new Director-General, who will succeed Brazil’s José Graziano da Silva, will start on 1 August 2019 and run to 31 July 2023.

FAO Directors-General

Since the establishment of FAO in 1945, there have been eight Directors-General:

  • Sir John Boyd Orr, United Kingdom, 1945-1948 
  • Norris E. Dodd, United States, 1948-1954 
  • Philip Vincent Cardon, United States, 1954-1956 
  • Binay Ranjan Sen, India, 1956-1967 
  • Addeke Hendrik Boerma, Netherlands, 1968-1975 
  • Edouard Saouma, Lebanon, 1976-1993 
  • Jacques Diouf, Senegal, 1994-2011 
  • José Graziano da Silva, Brazil, 2011-2019

Before joining China's agriculture ministry, Qu worked at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science. He has also been in charge of China's agri-business work with countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America. 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Key Sustainability Dates for 2024

Two books you should buy if you are engaged in the SDGs

Incoming UN President of the General Assembly's vision - Peace, Prosperity, Progress, And Sustainability