The UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), participated in the 45th session of the UN agency's International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Governing Council. The session took place virtually on the 16th of February 2022 and focused on the overarching theme “Leveraging innovations and finance for a climate resilient and inclusive recovery." H.E Omar Obaid Alshamsi UAE ambassador to The Republic of Italy, headed the UAE delegation, which included Yousef bin Hajar, Member of the Executive Board of IFAD and Deputy Director of International Financial Relations Department at MoF; and Moza Saeed Almatrooshi, Organisations, Institutions & Government Investments Section Head at MoF. IFAD supports small scale producers in addressing interlinked challenges, with a focus on the most marginalised, including rural women, youth, and indigenous peoples. In 2021, 130 million of the world's poorest people improved their income, food and nutrition security and their families' livelihoods, thanks to IFAD-supported projects and programmes. Despite huge challenges, IFAD reached the target of $3.5 billion programme of loans and grants in 2021. As the COVID crisis continued to severely impact lives and livelihoods, IFAD reached an estimated 4 million rural women and men with extraordinary support through IFAD's Rural Poor Stimulus Facility. This facility, created in 2020 in direct response to the COVID crisis, has so far disbursed almost US$56 million in 60 countries.The meeting sought to discuss issues related to IFAD's Results-based Programme of Work and Regular and Capital budgets for 2022; the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) results-based work programme and budget for 2022, and the Preview of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD's Results-based Work Programme and Budget for 2022. It also presented the two progress reports on Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and the implementation of the performance-based allocation system (PBAS). Furthermore, the 45th session hosted IFAD Talk series, which allowed participants to have thought-provoking informal discussions. The UAE contributes to IFAD's resources, as part of its endeavours to support the fund's objectives of international cooperation; strengthening development work for the poor regions of the world; combating poverty; and empowering women. This reiterates the country's commitment to its pioneering role to increase investments in rural areas, which has become a prerequisite, especially in light of what our world is witnessing today due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate change crisis.
