Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues,
Executive Director and members of the Leadership Group,
Dear friends:

I am very much honored to be elected President of the Executive Board of WFP for 2021 in representation of List C -the Latin American and Caribbean group of countries – and I would like to thank all the Board members for their support to my nomination to chair the Executive Board in 2021.

Of course, I would like to also thank the outgoing President of the Executive Board, His Excellency Dr. Ulrich Seidenberger from Germany and to commend his outstanding leadership while chairing the Board and the Bureau in 2020, a year that will all can agree was particularly challenging.  Excellency, I thank you for your dedication and integrity but above all, for your vision and contributions to the work of the Executive Board, in particular your legacy on administrative issues of the Board.  I intend to do my utmost best to follow the path that you have paved.

As the 2021 President, I hope to support the Board in its guidance to WFP in order to ensure that the organization is able to continue delivering on its dual mandate.

We need to continue recognizing WFP efforts in providing assistance in humanitarian crisis, particularly in conflict affected countries, which by the way are sadly lasting longer.  However, 2020 and now 2021 have put more pressure on the organization due to the current COVID-19 crisis, which has exacerbated, among other, extreme poverty and poverty in many parts of the world, causing food and nutritional insecurity.   I don´t only believe the WFP has a crucial role to play in its resolution but I also believe that we, as members of the Executive Board,  have the responsibility to decide on how best WFP tackles this challenges.

Those challenges have made an impact on WFP. This organization has evolved into a broader nutritional support organization by providing assistance to combat food and nutrition insecurity, all this, in close partnerships with governments and the private sector.  I think we should encourage more this approach.

Excellency Seidenberger has already highlighted two important elements that I will make sure closely follow up upon 2021: first, the elaboration and adoption of a people policy, alongside a sound budget to implement it, conducive to not only change the workplace culture, but to transform it into a more efficient management and leadership needed to reinforce core values, principals and standards across the organization and to strengthen its structures so as to deliver the expected results bearing in mind its growth, needs and resources.

Second, this year will also be the year of the Food Systems Summit and I know all Member States will keep on being very much committed to engage in the unique preparatory process for a successful and meaningful summit, a summit that we all expect to help realize the sustainable development goals.  The three Rome based UN agencies have their respective role and contribution to make and I will make sure the WFP´s vision is well embedded into the expected outcomes from this summit.

2021 is also going to be an important year in the design and building of the strategies that the organization will implement in the coming five years.  I will spare no efforts in facilitating the dialogue and consultations among the Member States and across WFP in order to elaborate the best possible strategic plan for the organization, a strategic plan that will fully contribute to the ending of hunger and malnutrition and the objectives of the Decade of Action and the achievement of the sustainable development goals.

In concluding let me please reiterate that I am deeply honored to be able to serve WFP and its membership in the capacity of President of the Executive Board for 2021 and I look forward to working with each and everyone of you and with the Executive Director and his team.

We will now start with our deliberations.