Sánchez uses Rome’s Nutrition Week to announce Luis Planas’s candidacy to lead the FAO

Eduardo González The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Tuesday in Rome the candidacy of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, for the position of Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and his support for the reappointment of fellow Spaniard Álvaro Lario as President of the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Spain is a “leading country in many areas, including food security,” Sánchez stated during his address at Nutrition Week in Rome, held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), after meeting with the heads of the three UN agencies related to this field and headquartered in the Italian capital: the FAO itself, IFAD, and the World Food Programme (WFP). “For that reason, what falls to us now, what is incumbent upon us, is to help others move forward, and we do so with humility, without forgetting where we come from,” he continued. “I simply want to look back, to speak of the three generations that separate my country from the post-war famine: that memory still lives among us, particularly among our elders, a generation that even today considers it a moral offense for someone to leave food on their plate,” he stated. Therefore, the Spanish Government is reinforcing its “commitment to global health and food security, to nutrition, as well as to humanitarian action” through “three very simple examples, but also very relevant for Spain,” he continued. “Firstly, by allocating €320 million over the last two years to food security and nutrition projects, especially in Palestine, Lebanon, Mali, Venezuela, and Haiti, together with the Red Cross and UNICEF; secondly, by hosting the WFP logistics center in the Canary Islands, on the island of Las Palmas, essential for all aid operations in West Africa and the Sahel; and finally, by co-leading, together with Brazil, the global alliance against hunger and poverty,” he explained. All of this, he asserted, is “therefore a demonstration of our commitment to multilateral action and to a renewed, effective, and inclusive multilateralism with the United Nations at its center.” “Spain, with its modest resources, has the strength of its actions and the leadership of its people, and that is why we have supported the renewal of the mandate of the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Álvaro Lario, who has done an excellent job facilitating countries' access to resources. That is also why we are presenting a strong candidate to lead this organization, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas,” he announced. “I am certain that both candidates represent the values of the vast majority of the countries present here in this room,” he added. The FAO, headquartered in Rome, is the United Nations agency that leads the international effort to end hunger. With 194 members (193 countries and the European Union), it works in more than 130 countries worldwide. Its current Director-General is Qu Dongyu of China, the ninth since the FAO's creation in 1945. He assumed the position on August 1, 2019, and was re-elected for a second four-year term on July 2, 2023. Spain is represented at the FAO through the Office of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at its Embassy in Italy. The current Deputy Permanent Representative is Fernando Miranda Sotillos. Meanwhile, Álvaro Lario, an expert in international development finance, has led IFAD since July 2022. Under his leadership, this agency became the first United Nations fund to enter the capital markets and obtain a credit rating, enabling it to expand its resource mobilization efforts to the private sector. “Hunger is a much cheaper weapon than missiles” “It seems unbelievable that humanity hasn’t won the battle against hunger once and for all,” Sánchez warned in his speech. “Today, more than 700 million human beings lack food security on the planet, and 2.8 million children die every year from causes related to malnutrition—more than five children every minute,” he denounced. “Science isn’t failing us; it offers solutions unimaginable just a few decades ago. Nor is the earth failing us, despite the mistreatment we subject it to: the world produces more than enough to feed its entire population,” he continued. “No, we are the ones who are failing, especially those of us determined to lead us to disaster, and there is no greater disaster than wars, especially when, as often happens, they advance hand in hand with hunger,” he asserted. “In fact, hunger is exactly that today, another weapon, a very cheap one, much cheaper than the missiles used in wars, and it is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law that continues to grow,” he denounced. “It is happening in many war zones, which we all have in our minds and hearts, certainly in Gaza, where some intend to win a war by subjecting its people to starvation,” he stated. “These are, incidentally, the same people who last week humiliated, abandoned, and mistreated the members of a flotilla that only intended to deliver humanitarian aid,” he recalled. “We see it with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which almost half of the maritime trade in nitrogen fertilizers passes,” he warned. “The result is a price increase of up to 50 percent for these products, which are vital for farmers around the world,” he added. “Up to 45 million people could suffer acute hunger as a direct consequence of this crisis, and another 55 million will see their situation drastically worsen: 100 million people condemned to live much worse lives, or simply not to live at all,” warned Pedro Sánchez. Meeting with companies In the afternoon, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met with senior executives from a dozen leading Spanish and Italian companies with alliances and joint projects in strategic sectors. According to sources at Moncloa Palace, the companies in attendance included Navantia, Fincantieri, Indra, Leonardo, Sapa, Sacyr, Webuild, Renfe, Ferrovie dello Stato, Abertis, Mundys, Multiverse Computing, Livelum, and Evja. During this meeting, the Prime Minister emphasized the “solid bilateral relationship” between Spain and Italy and encouraged the full development of the potential for business collaboration. He also stated that the joint projects they are developing demonstrate that, “when Spanish and Italian companies work together,” the results are “an example of what Europe urgently needs”: industrial ambition, technological leadership, and strategic vision. During his stay in Rome, the Prime Minister was not received by the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni. According to sources at Moncloa Palace who spoke to The Diplomat, the two sides tried to arrange a meeting “until the last minute,” but it was ultimately not possible due to “scheduling conflicts.” They have agreed to try again the next time their two leaders are in the same region. To date, the only bilateral meeting between Sánchez and Meloni took place in Rome in April 2023, during a European tour in preparation for Spain's Presidency of the Council of the EU, which it assumed on July 1 of that year. Audience with the Pope This Wednesday, Sánchez will be received in audience by Pope Leo XIV, who will make an apostolic journey to Spain next June. This meeting is the first between the Prime Minister and the Pope since the latter's election in 2015 and takes place within a context of good relations and "collaboration on various issues" between Spain and the Vatican, according to Moncloa Palace. Among other topics, they are expected to address issues of common interest such as peace, the fight against inequality, the protection of vulnerable migrants, and the impact of Artificial Intelligence on society. Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," on Monday, May 25, on the social doctrine of the Church "in the age of artificial intelligence," in which he warns, among other things, that "technology must not be concentrated in the hands of a few." He also rejects increased military spending as the "only answer" to an "uncertain future," defends the rights of migrants and the analysis of the "root causes" of migration, and calls for "an examination of conscience" within the Church on behalf of the "victims of abuse."

Related Content

European Parliament backs the Modernized Global Agreement EU-Mexico on the eve of the meeting between the King and Sheinbaum

Ten Years On: Brexit and the Irresponsibility of Bare Majorities

Sánchez conveys his “recognition and affection” to Starmer after his resignation and remembers the tenth anniversary of Brexit

PP and Vox celebrate De la Espriella's victory in Colombia, while the Government remains silent

The Elcano Institute will appoint José Juan Ruiz's successor as president in September