GRÓ explores cooperation with FAO, WFP and IFAD

From left: Nína Björk Jónsdóttir, Director General of GRÓ; Dr. Manuel Barange, Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division at FAO; Ambassador Guðmundur Árnason, Permanent Representative of Iceland to the Rome-based organisations; and Sólrún Svandal, Senior Advisor on Ocean Affairs at the MFA.

The GRÓ Centre had various meetings in the first week of December to explore possible avenues of cooperation with the three Rome based UN Agencies: the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (the FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Together, the three Rome-based agencies work to combat hunger and poverty by promoting sustainable food systems, resilient livelihoods and gender equality — aims that closely align with the capacity-building and development focus of the GRÓ Training Programmes.

The Director General of GRÓ, Nína Björk Jónsdóttir, Ambassador Guðmundur Árnason, Permanent Representative of Iceland to the Rome based organisations, and Sólrún Svandal, Senior advisor on Ocean Affairs at the MFA, met with different representatives at FAO, including the Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, ADG Dr. Manuel Barange, and Dr. Lifeng Li, Director of the Land and Water Division, as well as representatives of the Rural transformation and Gender Equality Division, Deputy Director, Dr. Lauren Philipps. At the World Food Progamme and IFAD they met with several staff representatives, including Elizabeth Burges-Sims, Head, Policy and Strategic Partnerships Engagement, Gender, Protection and Inclusion and Lead Technical Advisor for Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment at WFP, and Loise Maina, Lead Technical Specialist on Gender and Social Inclusion at IFAD.