European and African Heads of State attend IFAD annual meeting to speak for poor rural people

Rome, 11 February 2010 – The Presidents of the Italian Republic and of the United Republic of Tanzania – Giorgio Napolitano and Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete – will address the opening of the annual meeting of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on 17 February.

Held at IFAD’s Rome headquarters for the first time, the two-day meeting of the Governing Council will draw representatives of IFAD’s 165 Member States. The Governing Council is the highest decision-making body of the UN’s rural poverty agency.

A major highlight of this year’s meeting, the 33rd session, is a plenary panel on the afternoon of the first day, From summit resolutions to farmers' fields: climate change, food security and smallholder agriculture.

In addition to President Kikwete, panellists will include: Sir Gordon Conway, Professor of International Development at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College of London; Haydee Castillo, Coordinator of the Women’s Forum for Central American Integration; Dr Nahed Taher, CEO of Gulf One Investment Bank; Ajay Vashee, President of the International Federation of Agriculture Producers; and Kevin Cleaver, Associate Vice-President of IFAD. The panel will be moderated by CNN anchor Jim Clancy.

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• 11 February: European and African Heads of State attend IFAD annual meeting to speak for poor rural people
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