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IFAD GC43 - events

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About the event

The forty-third session, taking place on 11 and 12 February 2020, will focus on the overarching theme – Investing in sustainable food systems to end hunger by 2030. The theme highlights how IFAD's role and experience in supporting sustainable, inclusive, nutritious and efficient food systems uniquely place it in a position to contribute to SDG2.

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Documents & Member Statements

Documents & Member Statements

Supporting documents

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Statement by Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD, to the Opening of the Forty-third Session of the Governing Council

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Statement by the representative of Austria

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Statement by the representative of Bangladesh

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Statement by the representative of the Netherlands on behalf of Benelux

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Statement by the representative of Burkina Faso

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Statement by the representative of Canada

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Statement by the representative of China

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Statement by the representative of Cote d'Ivoire

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Statement by the representative of Cuba

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Statement by the representative of Egypt

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Statement by the representative of Ethiopia

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Statement by the representative of France

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Statement by the representative of Gabon

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Statement by the representative of Germany

Video: English
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Statement by the representative of Guinea

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Statement by the representative of India

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Statement by the representative of Indonesia

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Statement by the representative of Japan

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Statement by the representative of Kenya

Video: English
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Statement by the representative of Lesotho

Video: English
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Statement by the representative of Nicaragua

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Statement by the representative of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden)

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Statement by the representative of Pakistan

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Statement by the representative of Poland

Video: English
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Statement by the representative of Portugal

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Statement by the representative of Qatar

Video: English
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Statement by the representative of Rwanda

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Statement by the representative of Samoa

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Statement by the representative of Sierra Leone

Video: English
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Statement by the representative of South Africa

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Statement by the representative of Spain

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Statement by the representative of Sudan

Video: Arabic
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Statement by the representative of Syria

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Statement by the representative of Tanzania

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Statement by the representative of Togo

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Statement by the representative of Tunisia

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Statement by the representative of The United Kingdom

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Statement by the representative of The United States

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Statement by the representative of Venezuela

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Statement by the representative of Yemen

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Speakers

Opening of the Session
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Hans Hoogeveen

Ambassador/Permanent Representative, Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN organizations for food and agriculture
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Hans Hoogeveen

Ambassador/Permanent Representative, Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN organizations for food and agriculture
Hans Hoogeveen serves as Ambassador/Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the UN Rome-based food and agriculture organizations. Before that, he was the Director General for Agriculture and Nature Management at the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs.

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Inaugural ceremony
Chairperson of the Governing Council
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Chairperson of the Governing Council
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Qu Dongyu

Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
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Qu Dongyu

Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Qu Dongyu, who took office on 1 August 2019 as Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has spent his life working on how to make sure the world is fed. Before coming to FAO, Qu served as China’s Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, where one of his achievements was to promote inclusive and innovative development and make sure information and communication technologies (ICT) were available in rural areas.

H.E. Japhet Hasunga

Minister for Agriculture, United Republic of Tanzania
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H.E. Japhet Hasunga

Minister for Agriculture, United Republic of Tanzania
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Gilbert F. Houngbo

President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
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Gilbert F. Houngbo

President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Gilbert F. Houngbo became the sixth President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on 1 April 2017. Born and raised in rural Togo, Houngbo has spent more than 30 years working to improve the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people, with extensive experience in political affairs, international development, diplomacy and financial management.
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H.E. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta

President of the Republic of Mali
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H.E. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta

President of the Republic of Mali
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, or as he is often known, IBK, is a Malian politician who has been President of Mali since 2013. Previously he was Prime Minister of Mali from 1994 to 2000 and President of the National Assembly of Mali from 2002 to 2007. He founded a political party, Rally for Mali (RPM), in 2001. He was elected as President in the July–August 2013 presidential election and sworn in on 4 September 2013.
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Amir Mahmoud Abdulla

Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme
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Amir Mahmoud Abdulla

Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme
Amir Mahmoud Abdulla became the Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme in March 2009. Mr Abdulla is currently based in Rome and leads the implementation of the new corporate architecture aligning WFP’s strategy, programme structure, financial management, and planning, monitoring and reporting to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals at country level.
IFAD Talk: Working together to end hunger - Pursuing the accountability agenda
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Rodger Voorhies

President, Global Growth & Opportunity Division, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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Rodger Voorhies

President, Global Growth & Opportunity Division, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Rodger Voorhies is President of the Global Growth & Opportunity Division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He overseas the Agricultural Development, Financial Services for the Poor, Gender, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programmes within the foundation with approximately US$700 million in annual grant payout and programme related investments.

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The role of IFAD12 in the achievement of the SDGs
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Amie Fabureh

Minister of Agriculture, The Gambia
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Amie Fabureh

Minister of Agriculture, The Gambia
H. E. Amie Fabureh was appointed as the Minister for Agriculture on 27 March 2019. She has mainly served in different capacities across the country as a Horticulturist. From an extension worker under the IFAD-funded Jahaly Pacharr Rice Project from 1988 to 1994, she was Deputy Director and Director of the Horticulture Technical Services of the Department of Agriculture, from 2009 to 2019, to lead all the horticulture activities in The Gambia.
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Dominik Ziller

Director, Directorate-General for International Development Policy, BMZ
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Dominik Ziller

Director, Directorate-General for International Development Policy, BMZ
Dominik Ziller heads the Directorate-General for International Development Policy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). His responsibilities include the European Union's development cooperation, the United Nations, the World Bank Group, the regional development banks, the OECD, the development processes of the G7 and the G20, the World Trade Organization and the topics of financing for development and effectiveness/transparency.
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Agnes Matilda Kalibata

President, AGRA
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Agnes Matilda Kalibata

President, AGRA
Agnes Kalibata joined AGRA as its President in 2014. She holds a PhD in Entomology from the University of Massachusetts. Previously, she was Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources from 2008 to 2014, where she drove programs that moved her country to food security. Kalibata sits on various boards, councils and commissions. Dr. Kalibata has a distinguished record of accomplishment as an agricultural scientist, policy maker and thought leader. She received various awards for her work to drive Africa’s agricultural transformation through modern sciences and effective policy. She has been appointed as the Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit.
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Sherrie Silver

IFAD Youth Advocate
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Sherrie Silver

IFAD Youth Advocate
Sherrie Silver is an accomplished actress, dancer, choreographer and activist made world-famous by her work in Childish Gambino’s culturally seismic video “This Is America”. Born in Rwanda and educated in the UK, Silver recently won the 'Best Choreography' category at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. Silver is passionate about helping young people thrive and educating the world about African cultures through the dance, while giving back to African countries through her philanthropy. She has been mentioned by Forbes as "a new creative visionary" and by Bill Gates as one of Africa’s young innovators changing the continents present and future. Silver has always made philanthropy a key part of her work as a rising star of the dance world, holding dance workshops for African children, and even starting homes for at-risk youth in Lagos and Kigali.
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Lola García-Alix

Senior Advisor for Global Governance, IWGIA
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Lola García-Alix

Senior Advisor for Global Governance, IWGIA
Lola García-Alix has worked over 25 years for IWGIA, advocating for the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights on a global level. She is the team coordinator of IWGIA’s programme on global governance. With a special focus on international human rights instruments for the promotion and the protection of indigenous peoples rights, Lola follows the work of the UN Human Rights mechanisms and procedures relevant to indigenous peoples, including the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the UN Special Rapporteur and the UN Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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Sabrina Elba

Actress and Model
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Sabrina Elba

Actress and Model
Sabrina Elba is an actress, activist and model. Born in Canada, of Somali descent, she has been featured on the covers of Vogue, dujour and Harrods Magazine, reaching audiences worldwide. Sabrina debuted on British TV as a presenter for Good Morning Britain in August 2019 and was crowned Miss Vancouver in 2014. She is passionate about gender equality and supporting issues related to the empowerment of women and girls.
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Aksel Jakobsen

State Secretary, Norway
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Aksel Jakobsen

State Secretary, Norway
Aksel Jakobsen is the State Secretary of International Development for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to taking up his current post, he worked as an advisor to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and he has previously acted as senior policy advisor to the Christian Democratic Party’s Parliamentary group and as political advisor to the former Minister of Health and the Minister of Labour. Aksel Jakobsen has a law degree from the University of Tromsø.
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Michael Sheldrick

Chief Policy and Government Relations Officer at Global Citizen
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Michael Sheldrick

Chief Policy and Government Relations Officer at Global Citizen
Michael Sheldrick is a Co-Founder and Chief Policy and Government Relations Officer at Global Citizen, where he oversees international advocacy campaigns in support of universal sanitation, climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, access to education, food security, gender equality and disease elimination and prevention. Michael oversees the policy and impact direction of the Global Citizen movement and has worked on campaigns in North America, Europe, India, South Africa and Australia. He has been instrumental in mobilising political and public support for the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki

Executive Secretary, NEPAD
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Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki

Executive Secretary, NEPAD
H.E. Mayaki of the Republic of Niger is the CEO of AUDA-NEPAD since 2009. He worked as a Professor of Public Administration in Niger and Venezuela. In 1996, he was appointed Minister of African Integration and Cooperation and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Niger. In 2000, he set up the Analysis Centre for Public Policy in Senegal and took some academic responsibilities. In 2004, he served as Executive Director of the Platform in support of Rural Development in West and Central Africa.
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Mr Eazi

Musician
Read Bio
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Mr Eazi

Musician
Mr Eazi was born Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, grew up in Lagos and later relocated to Kumasi, Ghana, where he studied mechanical engineering. The Afropop singer and star has had a number of global hits with artists including Kwesi Arthur, Diplo, Rita Ora, Wiz kid, Sarkodie, Lil Kesh, Burna Boy, and many more. His most recent release is ‘Life Is Eazi – Vol.2: Lagos to London.’ Mr Eazi has a strong passion for promoting the creative arts and youth entrepreneurship in Africa. He launched the emPawa Africa project, which is set to empower Africa’s young talent through entrepreneurship training, mentorship and financial support.
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Estrella Penunia

Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA)
Read Bio
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Estrella Penunia

Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA)
Ma. Estrella “Esther” Penunia is Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), a regional farmers organization (FO), currently with 20 national FOs in 16 Asian countries, with around 13 million family farmers as members. Esther spent more than three decades of professionally in the field of rural development, working in various capacities as community organizer, primary health care worker, participatory action researcher, trainer, gender advocate, consultant, campaigns coordinator, chief executive officer, board member and networker.
Interactive session 1: Rural development as a means of addressing conflict, promoting peace and building smallholders' resilience to climate shocks
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H. E. Alexander Teabo

Minister of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development, Kiribati
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H. E. Alexander Teabo

Minister of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development, Kiribati
Alexander Teabo is Minister of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development in Fiji. He served 12 years in Parliament, two terms in Opposition 2007 - 2015 and one term in Government 2016 – to date. Prior to this he was Minister of Education. As Minister of Environment “Lands and Agricultural Development he is keen to promote the three magic words of CLEAN, GREEN and BLUE where he often stress in his statement to the Nation to Clean the Environment to have a Green Land and Blue Ocean.
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Donal Brown

Associate Vice-President, Programme Management Department, IFAD
Read Bio
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Donal Brown

Associate Vice-President, Programme Management Department, IFAD
Donal Brown is Associate Vice-President, Programme Management Department, at IFAD. He is responsible for developing and managing the operations that IFAD supports through its loans and grants. He oversees the programme of work of the department, which is undertaken by five Regional Divisions and the Operational Policy and Results Division. Brown previously worked at the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) in a number of senior positions, lastly as the Africa Director, managing 550 staff across the continent. In 2014-2015, he led the UK’s task force to Sierra Leone in support of the government’s efforts to fight Ebola. Brown worked at DFID headquarters and in field offices in Africa, Asia and Latin America, covering all of DFID’s areas of interest.
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H. E. Said Hussein Iid

Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Federal Government of Somalia
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H. E. Said Hussein Iid

Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Federal Government of Somalia
H.E.Said Hussein Iid, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Federal Government of Somalia since April 2017. He holds an MBA in Management and Marketing from India and he is pursuing his PhD from University of Peace. Prior to his appointment as Minister, he was the Vice Chairman of Somali Federal Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of Puntland Chamber of Commerce for six years. He was also Vice Chairman of Board of Directors of East Africa University in Boosaaso Somalia for several years. During Tsunami disaster in 2004-2005, Minister Said worked for several international NGO’s as part of tsunami rescue operations.
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Mariam Wafa

Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Afghanistan
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Mariam Wafa

Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Afghanistan
Mariam Wafa is currently Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), where her primarily role is to provide strategic and analytic support to the Minister on MAIL policy and programmes and also manages the Minister’s donor relations. Since 2019, Wafa was also appointed as the Acting Program Director for the IFAD-funded CLAP and SNaPP2 programmes. Prior to this, Mariam served as the Senior Advisor to the Minister at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) between 2015 and 2017.
Interactive session 2: Creating jobs for rural youth - Opportunities in agribusiness
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Sherrie Silver

IFAD Youth Advocate
Read Bio
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Sherrie Silver

IFAD Youth Advocate
Sherrie Silver is an accomplished actress, dancer, choreographer and activist made world-famous by her work in Childish Gambino’s culturally seismic video “This Is America”. Born in Rwanda and educated in the UK, Silver recently won the 'Best Choreography' category at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. Silver is passionate about helping young people thrive and educating the world about African cultures through the dance, while giving back to African countries through her philanthropy. She has been mentioned by Forbes as "a new creative visionary" and by Bill Gates as one of Africa’s young innovators changing the continents present and future. Silver has always made philanthropy a key part of her work as a rising star of the dance world, holding dance workshops for African children, and even starting homes for at-risk youth in Lagos and Kigali.
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Elly Matende

Farmer, Kenya
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Elly Matende

Farmer, Kenya
Elly Matende works at his family-owned Holstein Farm. He is implementing modern technologies acquired through various training and educational tours through the IFAD-supported Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme (SDCP) in Kenya. He is a livestock entrepreneur and works on various segments of the dairy value chain from milk production to breeding and transport. He also partners with Kakamega young farmers organizations.
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Mr Eazi

Musician
Read Bio
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Mr Eazi

Musician
Mr Eazi was born Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, grew up in Lagos and later relocated to Kumasi, Ghana, where he studied mechanical engineering. The Afropop singer and star has had a number of global hits with artists including Kwesi Arthur, Diplo, Rita Ora, Wiz kid, Sarkodie, Lil Kesh, Burna Boy, and many more. His most recent release is ‘Life Is Eazi – Vol.2: Lagos to London.’ Mr Eazi has a strong passion for promoting the creative arts and youth entrepreneurship in Africa. He launched the emPawa Africa project, which is set to empower Africa’s young talent through entrepreneurship training, mentorship and financial support.
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Zeinorin Angkang

Entrepreneur, India
Read Bio
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Zeinorin Angkang

Entrepreneur, India
Zeinorin Angkang, a young tribal woman entrepreneur, known as the 'Chocolate Lady' from Ukhrul. She is the founder of Hill Wild - a community-based movement focusing on economic sustainability - which has successfully created artisan sausages and chocolates using exotic pumpkin seeds. By starting her own venture, Angkang has become self-sufficient and helped the community around her become independent.
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Mirna Ortiz

Community leader, Dominican Republic
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Mirna Ortiz

Community leader, Dominican Republic
Mirna Ortiz is a community leader and promoter of rural entrepreneurship amongst young people for inclusion in the pineapple value chain with support of the IFAD-funded project Rural Economic Development Project in the Central and Eastern Provinces (PRORURAL). She is the financial manager of the Association of Young Producers of Monte Plata Pineapple.
Interactive session 3: Disability, food security and rural development - how can innovation and technology help?
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Sophie Morgan - moderator

Disability advocate
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Sophie Morgan - moderator

Disability advocate
Sophie is an award-winning disability advocate and social entrepreneur who was paralysed when she was 18 years old. Determined to channel her adversity into opportunity, she sees her challenges as a unique chance for creativity and has become the ultimate agent for change. She is now one of the only Television Presenters with a disability in the world. She can be found on all Live para sport events as well as on hard hitting current affairs programs such as Dispatches and Unreported World. She is also a board member for Ofcom, the UK government- approved regulatory broadcast authority.
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Ambrose Murangira

Disability Inclusion Advisor
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Ambrose Murangira

Disability Inclusion Advisor
Ambrose Murangira works as Disability Inclusion Advisor at the Light for the World, Uganda. He became Deaf at age of 10 due to mumps. Murangira has dedicated his work towards an inclusive society through lobbying and capacity building of mainstream organizations and companies to become inclusive. Previously, he was Executive Director of the Uganda National Association of the Deaf where he spearheaded inclusive economic empowerment of persons with disabilities. He is also one of the co-authors of Tearfund’s Footsteps magazine. Ambrose holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and Social Administration and a Masters in Social Sector Planning and Management from Makerere University, Uganda.
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Virak Kheng

Senior Program Manager, Light for the World
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Virak Kheng

Senior Program Manager, Light for the World
Virak Kheng is a Cambodian national disability and development specialist. He is Senior Program Manager at Light for the World based in Cambodia. Kheng has a background in community development and facilitating community advocacy through working with many local and international development organizations, such as ActionAid International Cambodia, Habitat for Humanity and Care International. Recently, his work is supporting the Royal Government of Cambodia to develop inclusive policies to promote disability inclusive development.
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Satu Santala

Director General of the Department for Development Policy
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Satu Santala

Director General of the Department for Development Policy
Satu Santala is the Director General of the Department for Development Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Finland. Previously she was Executive Director for Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden at the World Bank. Santala started her career at the Finnish Red Cross in Ethiopia and then moved to the Department for Development Cooperation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in 1994. Prior to that, Santala was Deputy Director General and Director at the Department for Development Policy when she followed replenishment consultations for the African Development Fund, Asian Development Fund and IFAD. She served on the Board of Directors of the Nordic Development Fund and chaired it from 2011-2012. She was a Governor for NORSAD and chaired this group from 2011-2012. She was Co-Chair of the Tanzania Development Partners Group.

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Yetnebersh Nigussie

Manager, GLAD Network
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Yetnebersh Nigussie

Manager, GLAD Network
Ethiopian lawyer Yetnebersh Nigussie, is Light for the World's Senior Inclusion Advisor and incoming manager of the GLAD Network. She is an advocate for the rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRDP). She graduated from Addis Ababa University as one of the first three female blind law students in Ethiopia. Prior to working at Light for the World, she co-founded the Ethiopian Centre for Disability and Development (ECDD), with its overall strategy to make mainstream services such as education, health or livelihood inclusive to persons with disabilities.
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Signmark

Musician
Read Bio
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Signmark

Musician
Signmark (a.k.a. Marko Vuoriheimo) was born deaf into a world where music is for the hearing. He pursued his childhood dream and became the first deaf in the world to get a record deal. Signmark's career in music started with translating Christmas carols to sign language so the whole family could sing together. After watching music videos on MTV, Signmark decided that one day his own videos would be on TV too. He fell for hip-hop and rap music, both because of the beat and the possibility to talk about important issues through the music.
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event-photos
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GC43 Video
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Videos

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Welcoming statement by Mr Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD
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H.E. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, President of the Republic of Mali
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Rodger Voorhies: Working together to end hunger - Pursuing the accountability agenda
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Idris and Sabrina Elba: Taking action and championing IFAD and zero hunger
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Connecting lives: immerse yourself in the virtual reality of life
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GC 2020 - Synopsis of the Farmers' Forum
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Media contact

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Jessica Thomas

[email protected]
+39 3921605992
+39 0654592215