Appel à l’action, le Conseil des gouverneurs marque les avancées de FIDA13

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Excellencies,

Distinguished representatives,

Thank you all for attending this session. And in particular, my thanks to the distinguished Governors from [Angola and] France for your formidable commitment.

And my heartfelt appreciation to all our Member States for your resounding vote of confidence in IFAD.

Your approval of the report and resolution, and the pledges you are making to support our planned investments for 2025-2027 will enable more than 100 million poor rural people to improve their lives themselves.

This new programme of work is tailored to today’s pressing challenges – but also to the opportunities of tomorrow.

The challenges we know. Accelerating climate change is already doing profound damage to food security and livelihoods. This is triggering conflicts with nature and between people, as they compete for scarce resources such as land and water.

And too often, the result is poverty and hunger – and eventually forced migration if people can no longer feed themselves and their families.

But at the same time, we are seeing new opportunities. Emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence could transform rural livelihoods and food systems if implemented in an inclusive way. Improved connectivity and the spread of digital technologies make it easier for rural people to get their products to markets than ever before. And we are increasingly seeing that rural people’s own innovations – based on their unique knowledge of farming and local landscapes - are offering solutions to adapting to climate change.

There are real grounds for hope. IFAD13 builds on this hope and these opportunities to lay a foundation for a food secure future for all.

We know that every US$1 dollar invested in resilience saves up to US$10 dollars in emergency aid in the future.

Let us remind ourselves that rural people and small-scale farmers produce up to 70 per cent of the food consumed in low- and middle-income countries. Investing in them improves food security, helping to maintain a state of wellbeing that is not just physiological but social and political. Investing in them is fundamental for creating shared prosperity and resilience in the world’s most remote and vulnerable communities. These are the communities in which IFAD works.

The target of US$2 billion for IFAD-13 provides the platform for IFAD and its partners to mount a US$10 billion investment programme during our next three-year cycle.

Through your support for IFAD, you, our Member States, are investing in small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs to build livelihoods for themselves and their communities for generations to come.

We have only six years left to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The urgency is clear. Only through rapid and responsible rural transformation can we hope to meet the first and second goals, to end extreme poverty and hunger in all its forms.

I would like to thank all of you who have stepped up today, and over the past months. Thanks to your unwavering support, we have received pledges from more than 66 countries for a total of US$1.34 billion to date

This is a record-breaking step forward on our path to IFAD’s biggest replenishment ever. I am confident that even more countries will pledge in the coming months and I encourage continued ambition in doing so. I also welcome the Members who have already indicated they are exploring top-ups and additional forms of contributions, whether for climate or Concessional Partner Loans.

Together we have built significant momentum – momentum that continues to underscore IFAD’s relevance and importance as a powerful assembler of development finance.

We continue to work energetically to increase cofinancing from other partners; to mobilize greater climate finance; and to secure increased investment from impact investors and the private sector. This means every dollar we receive from our Members goes even further.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Contributing to IFAD’s replenishment is truly one of the most efficient and effective ways of investing in poor rural people. Your investment here will grow jobs, opportunities and resilience. It is also vital in the battle against food insecurity, climate change and biodiversity loss.

So, on behalf of more than 100 million of the world’s poorest people, I thank you for investing in IFAD13, and giving them the tools they need to build better lives.

Thank you.