10 okt 2
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Onderdeel: Wageningen UR
Nummer: 071
De VN-organisatie voor voedsel en landbouw (FAO) en Wageningen
Universiteit en Researchcentrum gaan nauw samenwerken bij het
bevorderen en ondersteunen van onderwijs, onderzoek en technische en
institutionele capaciteit in ontwikkelingslanden. Daartoe hebben
directeur-generaal Jacques Diouf en Aalt Dijkhuizen voorzitter van de
Raad van Bestuur van Wageningen UR vandaag een overeenkomst getekend.
Beide partijen willen effectief bijdragen aan het behalen van de
Millenniumdoelen van de Verenigde Naties. Zij geven daarbij prioriteit
aan het internationale antwoord op de opdoemende voedselschaarste en
stijgende voedselprijzen, die ertoe leidt dat een snel stijgend en
vooral arm deel van de wereldbevolking lijdt onder voedselonzekerheid
en politieke instabiliteit.
Tekst persbericht FAO, zie ook
www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000936/index.html
New agreement FAO-Wageningen University and Research Centre
Mobilizing science for development
10 October 2008, Rome â The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
and Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR) today
signed an agreement to enhance their cooperation to promote and
support education, research and technical and institutional capacities
in developing countries.
The two parties agree to establish a strong and effective base for
collaboration and ensure maximum harmony and synergy towards their
common goal of strengthening capacities of developing countries to
effectively attain the Millennium Development Goals. Priority will be
given to cooperation in support of the international response to
evolving food scarcity and subsequent soaring food prices, which are
resulting in rapidly increasing numbers of food insecure poor people
and political instability, especially in the poorest countries.
âThe recent crisis in food prices has drawn renewed attention for the
importance of stimulating and enhancing worldwide food production.
Wageningen UR is proud to be a partner of FAO and to be able to
contribute to its policy programmes in this respect,â said Dr. Aalt
Dijkhuizen, Chairman of the Executive Board of Wageningen UR.
Specific areas of cooperation will include identification and
promotion of appropriate technologies to boost agricultural production
through sustainable use of natural resources and in the context of
climate change, institutional strengthening and capacity building for
education, research and technology, development of effective tools
aimed at assisting member States in the formulation and implementation
of international policies and legislation and joint organization of
seminars, workshops and expert consultations.
âThis new agreement with important Dutch knowledge and research
institutions may also lead to a more intensive policy dialogue between
the Netherlands and FAO on critical issues related to food and
agriculture and eventually to increased cooperation in concrete
actions in the fieldâ, said Dr. Jose Maria Sumpsi, FAO Assistant
Director-General, Technical Cooperation Department.
Under the terms of the FAO-Wageningen agreement, the two parties will
stimulate the exchange scientific staff and experts, and assign young
professionals/students in ongoing activities, as part of practical
internships or on-the-job training. In this regard, it may be recalled
that FAOâs Associate Professional Officers (APO) programme started in
1954 with five young agricultural engineers from Wageningen University
and that, since then, hundreds of young experts have followed,
resulting in very close linkages between experts on both sides.
The agreement was signed by FAO Director-General Dr. Jacques Diouf and
the Chairman of the Board of Wageningen UR, Dr. Aalt Dijkhuizen.
Meer over dit onderwerp
Persbericht FAO
Contact
Meer informatie
Simon Vink, Corporate Communicatie
0317 48 24 66
simon.vink@wur.nl