01 July 2023, Rome: The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, had a bilateral meeting with Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies of Singapore, who also delivered the traditional McDougall Memorial Lecture at the 43rd Session of the FAO Conference taking place this week.
The Director-General thanked the Senior Minister for accepting the invitation to deliver the Lecture on the topic of integrated water management at the Opening Session of the FAO Ministerial Conference, in line with the topic of this session.
The Director-General provided a brief history of the founding of the Organization, and recalled Frank Lidgett McDougall who was one of the founding fathers and after whom the “McDougall Memorial Lecture” was established.
The Senior Minister appreciated the opportunity to deliver the lecture on such a timely and important topic, and the pair emphasized the importance of addressing current global challenges such as food security, malnutrition and water management.
