The UAE participates in the Fund’s Board of Governors meeting "dispatch" In Rome

Rome, February 13 / WAM / The UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance, participated in the meeting of the forty-ninth session of the Board of Governors of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which was held during the period from 10 to 12 February this year, at the Fund’s headquarters in Rome, Italy.

The Ministry of Finance was represented at the meeting – whose agenda included discussing ten items – Her Excellency Maryam Mohammed Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for the Government Financial Management Sector at the Ministry of Finance, and Yousef Bin Hajar, Member of the Executive Board of the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The first day witnessed leaders’ dialogues on the role of international financial institutions in mobilizing financing to support local rural communities, and water security as a basis for resilience and enhancing food security.

The second day’s work focused on issues of governance and partnerships, as agenda items related to the Fund’s budgets were discussed.

The annual roundtable meeting of governors was held to discuss strategic priorities and shape the future direction of the Fund, within the framework of the session’s main theme, “From Farm to Market: Investing in Young Entrepreneurs.”

The third day concluded with the launch of the consultation body for the fourteenth replenishment of the Fund’s resources, as a platform for exchanging governors’ visions on strategic work priorities and completing the discussions that took place during the session.

The Council began its work by electing the Bureau of the Board of Governors, and discussing the IFAD Thirteenth Replenishment Report, the IFAD’s results-based work program, the regular and capital budgets for 2026, and budget projections for the years 2027 and 2028.

In her speech at the roundtable, Her Excellency Maryam Mohammed Al Amiri stressed that the UAE views investment in rural populations as a fundamental pillar for achieving global food security and a pillar of economic and social stability, in light of the increasing challenges associated with climate change and growing pressures on food systems, stressing the importance of directing resources towards building rural communities that are more resilient and sustainable in the long term, by supporting climate-smart agriculture and sustainable management of water resources.

Her Excellency pointed out that mobilizing innovative financing and strengthening partnerships with the private sector, sovereign funds, and development banks are essential elements for enhancing the development impact of available resources, stressing that innovation, technology, and digital transformation, in addition to strengthening South-South cooperation and tripartite cooperation, represent key paths to achieving tangible and sustainable results that reflect positively on the lives of rural people, expressing the UAE’s aspiration to work with all partners for the success of the Fourteenth Renewal and achieving a comprehensive rural transformation. And sustainable.

The Executive Council of IFAD recommended adopting the loan and grants program for the year 2026 with a total amount of 1.633 billion US dollars, which includes a lending program worth 1.609 billion dollars and grants worth 20.6 million dollars, with the possibility of adjusting this level during the year 2026 according to the available resources. The recommendations also included following up on the office’s work program and indicative plan for the period 2027-2028, and considering the progress reports related to the initiative for poor countries. debt burden, the performance-based resource allocation system, the mechanism for obtaining borrowed resources, and the implementation of the Fund’s exit policy.

The UAE is one of the founding members of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, as it joined its membership pursuant to Federal Decree No. (9) of 1979, and its cumulative contribution since its founding amounted to about $66.18 million (243 million dirhams), representing 0.56% of the Fund’s total resources amounting to $11.77 billion.

The state contributed to all thirteen previous replenishments of the Fund’s resources in support of improving the livelihoods of rural residents, the most recent of which was the contribution to the thirteenth replenishment for the period 2025-2027 with a value of $3 million.

The areas of strategic cooperation between the UAE and IFAD focus on enhancing the sustainability of agricultural production and food security by strengthening partnerships and expanding cooperation with relevant national authorities, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, and the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development.

Cooperation also includes capacity building and developing national competencies by benefiting from the Fund’s training and loan programs, based on the Partnership Framework Agreement signed in March 2015, in addition to innovation and green financing by employing the Fund’s solutions and expertise to confront the challenges of climate change, food and water security, and disaster risks, through aid and sustainable green financing.

This session also comes at the beginning of the International Year of Women Farmers, which was declared in recognition of the pivotal role that women play in agricultural food systems around the world, as women constitute more than half of the participants in the Fund’s projects, while more than 60% of its active project portfolio takes into account the needs of youth, reaching more than 12 million young people globally.

The IFAD Fund continues to work to mobilize resources and make them available on favorable terms to finance projects to improve food production systems and livelihoods for the poorest groups in developing countries, develop agricultural sectors and manage natural resources and rural areas, in a way that enhances food security and sustainable economic growth, within the framework of strategic partnerships that deepen institutional cooperation, align programs with the priorities of member states in food security and sustainability, and enhance development impact through innovative financing and capacity building.

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