Rome, 17 September 2020 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) today announced a call to its 177 Member States to nominate candidates for the Fund’s next President.
IFAD is a specialized United Nations agency and international financial institution focused on the alleviation of rural poverty and hunger.
The President is IFAD’s most senior position with responsibility for leading the organization and chairing its Executive Board. Nominations for President can only be made by IFAD Member States and must be received by the Secretary of IFAD no later than 23 November 2020.
The President will lead IFAD at a crucial time. The COVID-19 pandemic is predicted to leave more than 83 million people hungry by the end of the year, and raise the number of people living in poverty for the first time in decades. Increased investments in rural areas are not only needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of ending poverty and hunger, but also to help people recover from the impact of the pandemic, rebuild more sustainable food systems, and increase the resilience of small-scale farmers to shocks.
Following the nomination process, the appointment of the next President will take place on 17 February 2021 during IFAD’s annual Governing Council meeting. The Governing Council is IFAD’s principle governing body with full decision-making powers.
The President of IFAD serves a four-year term, renewable once. The newly appointed President will take office on 1 April 2021.
More information on nomination and appointment procedures can been found on the IFAD website at https://www.ifad.org/en/web/
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Note to editors:
Past IFAD Presidents:
- Abdelmuhsin M. Al-Sudeary (Kingdom of Saudia Arabia) – appointed in 1977.
- Idriss Jazairy (People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria) – appointed in 1984.
- Fawzi Al-Sultan (State of Kuwait) – appointed in 1993
- Lennart Båge, (Kingdom of Sweden) – appointed in 2001.
- Kanayo F. Nwanze, (Federal Republic of Nigeria) – appointed in 2009.
- Gilbert F. Houngbo – appointed in 2017, and will complete his first term of office on 31 March 2021.
Contact:
Antonia Paradela
Tel.: +34 605398109
IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided US$22.4 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached an estimated 512 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialized agency based in Rome – the United Nations food and agriculture hub.
Press release No.: IFAD/41/2020
