Objective:
FAO aims to provide food security in the world through organizing efforts
for food and agriculture.
Date of Establishment:
16 October 1945
Headquarters:
Rome, Italy
Director General:
Mr. Qu Dongyu (People’s Republic of China)
Member States
: FAO has 194 member states. Türkiye has been a member of FAO since 6 April
1948 and her relations with FAO have developed stronger in recent years.
Background
The idea of establishing an organization to follow food and agricultural
issues worldwide has emerged at the end of the 19th century. In
this regard, International Institute of Agriculture was established in 1905
after an international conference gathered in Rome. The aforementioned
institute was compelled to cease its activities during WWII. Shortly
thereafter FAO was established and assumed the Institute’s duties.
FAO was founded at the first FAO Conference held in Canada on 16 October
1945 with the objective of providing food security in the world through
organizing efforts for food and agriculture. The Headquarters of FAO was
moved from Washington to Rome in 1951.
FAO activities are conducted through the Conference, Council and
Committees. The highest decision-making body of FAO is the Conference,
which is held biennially with high-level participation from all member
states. During the Conference, member states review the global developments
in the fields of food and agriculture and approve of the calendar of events
and budget of FAO for the next two years. The Conference is also tasked
with electing a Director General every four years to govern and represent
FAO.
The general administrative affairs of FAO are governed by the Council which
has 49 members. The Council members are elected by the Conference for a
period of three years. The Council gathers two times a year to make the
necessary preparations for the Conference meetings. Türkiye was elected to
be represented in the Council in 2013.
The decisions taken at the Conference are put into practice through the
Council. The work of the Council is conducted through the Committees. There
are eight Committees operating under the purview of FAO Council: Programme
Committee, Finance Committee, Committee on Constitutional and Legal
Matters, Committee on Commodity Problems, Committee on Fisheries, Committee
on Agriculture, Committee on Forestry and Committee on World Food Security.
FAO activities comprise of agriculture, consumer protection, fisheries,
forestry, natural resources, technical cooperation, economic and social
affairs. FAO has 134 Country Offices, 5 Regional Offices and 10
Sub-Regional Offices to carry out its fieldwork. FAO activities are funded
by the contributions of the member states as well as other funds
established on a project-oriented basis.
Türkiye-FAO Relations
Türkiye has been a member of FAO since 6 April 1948 and her relations with
FAO have strengthened in recent years. Türkiye makes financial contributions
to FAO.
FAO Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia, which was inaugurated in 2007 in
Ankara, is of importance to Türkiye. The FAO Sub-Regional Office operates
under the purview of the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in
Budapest.
In addition to the opening of the Sub-Regional Office, FAO-Türkiye
Partnership Programme (FTPP) has also been put into effect in 2007. FTPP
and the Sub-Regional Office focus on agricultural projects and programmes
for Central Asian countries, and constitute important milestones in the
relations between Türkiye and FAO.
In the first term of FTPP (2011-2015), Türkiye made 10 million USD
contribution to the Programme, and this contribution was utilized for 29
projects. Another 10 million USD was pledged to the Programme by Türkiye
within the framework of FTPP-II (2016-2020).
Türkiye aims to maintain active engagement in the Organization’s programmes.
Türkiye attends in the meetings of the FAO decision-making bodies as well as
Committee and meetings of European Regional Group of which Türkiye is a
member. The work at the FAO Headquarters are followed by the Turkish
Embassy in Rome.