Oluchi Chibuzor
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has called on its 177 member states to nominate candidates for the Fund’s next president.
The President is IFAD’s most senior position with responsibility for leading the organisation and chairing its Executive Board.
The President of IFAD serves a four-year term, which is renewable once.
The person to be appointed president is expected to assume office on April 1, 2021.
In a statement, IFAD which is a specialised United Nations agency and international financial institution focused on the alleviation of rural poverty and hunger, informed its member states of the nomination and appointment process.
According to the statement, nominations for president can only be made by IFAD member states and must be received by the Secretary of IFAD not later than November 23, 2020.
It added that: “The President will lead IFAD at a crucial time. The COVID-19 pandemic is predicted to leave more than 83 million people hungry by the end of the year, and raise the number of people living in poverty for the first time in decades.
“Increased investments in rural areas are not only needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of ending poverty and hunger, but also to help people recover from the impact of the pandemic, rebuild more sustainable food systems, and increase the resilience of small-scale farmers to shocks.
“Following the nomination process, the appointment of the next President will take place on February 17, 2021 during IFAD’s annual Governing Council meeting. The Governing Council is IFAD’s principle governing body with full decision-making powers,” the statement stated.
Past IFAD Presidents included: Abdelmuhsin M. Al-Sudeary, Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, appointed in 1977; Idriss Jazairy, People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, appointed in 1984; Fawzi Al-Sultan of State of Kuwait, appointed in 1993.
Others include, Lennart Båge of Kingdom of Sweden, appointed in 2001; Kanayo F. Nwanze, Federal Republic of Nigeria, appointed in 2009, and Gilbert F. Houngbo, appointed in 2017, and will complete his first term of office on 31 March 2021.
