Press Release No. IFAD 12/01

Rome, March 27, 2001 - The President of IFAD, Mr. Fawzi Hamad Al Sultan, a national of Kuwait was conferred the decoration of ''Grande Ufficiale dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana'' by the Ambassador of Italy to the United Nations Agencies in Rome, H.E. Raffaele Berlenghi on behalf of the President of the Republic of Italy, H.E. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The Ambassador announced that the award is in recognition of Mr Al Sultan’s successful endeavours to improve the lives of the rural poor during his eight years as President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Mr Al Sultan has served as President of IFAD for two four-year terms which end on 31 March 2001. His tenure has been marked by a major upward swing in the global war on poverty.

Born in 1944 and educated at the American University of Beirut, he gained his Masters from Yale in Connecticut. After a career in banking, he served as an Executive Director at the World Bank before being elected President of IFAD in 1993. He is the author of definitive books and papers, prominent among them A Middle East View of South East Asia Markets, The Financial Development in Kuwait and Averting Financial Crisis – Kuwait.

---

IFAD is a specialised agency of the United Nations with the specific mandate of combating hunger and poverty in the most disadvantaged regions of the world. Since 1978 IFAD has financed 578 projects in 114 countries, allocating almost US$ 7 billion in the form of loans and grants. Through these projects, about 250 million rural people have had a chance to move out of poverty.

IFAD makes the greater part of its resources available to low-income countries on very favourable terms, with up to 40 years for repayment and including a grace period of up to ten years and a service charge of 0.75% per year.