Qatar has participated in the meetings of the 42nd session of the governing council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, Italy.
The Qatari delegation was chaired by Qatar’s ambassador to Italy and its representative at UN agencies in Rome, Abdulaziz bin Ahmed al-Malki al-Jehni.
The IFAD board of governors meets annually to develop and decide on the policies, programmes and mechanisms adopted by IFAD to reduce poverty, hunger and undernourishment in many of the world's poorest and most underdeveloped countries.
Qatar, a member of the executive board of the fund, contributes significantly to its activities and to supporting its financial resources.
Al-Jehni gave Qatar's speech in the opening sessions, and discussed the unjust blockade imposed on Qatar and its repercussions on food security. 
He called on meeting the aspirations and hopes of poor people who have long suffered from poverty and food insecurity. He pointed out to the radical changes that have taken place in the world in recent decades, saying they increased the interdependence of nations due to globalisation. 
He highlighted that the problems facing the international community intertwined, resulting in a need for a new vision that can face challenges more effectively and help balance security and development. 
He said that collective security will never be achieved as long as poverty is increasing across the world. “The displacement of people from poor countries represents one of the challenges that the international community must strengthen cooperation in.” 
Al-Jehni said that the successful and fruitful partnership between Qatar and IFAD has been embodied over the years in numerous initiatives, humanitarian contributions and development projects implemented by the fund in many of the poorest, least developed and developed countries.
He stressed that Qatar is working intensively and continuously with IFAD in order to help it achieve its noble goals in eradicating hunger and managing natural resources in a sustainable manner, pointing to Qatar's contribution to the mobilization of the fund's financial resources, as well as technical contributions to the work, plans and activities of the fund.
On the other hand, he touched in his speech on the blockade imposed on Qatar since June 2017 and the efforts of the blockade countries to disrupt the state's development plans, saying the blockade countries promoted false allegations and claims exposed by events, facts and history, and they continued such allegations and campaign against Qatar without looking for a plan to get out from their predicament. The countries of the blockade have nothing new to offer, and they know very well that Qatar has nothing to do with what they promoted, he said.
He added that the countries of the blockade have expanded and harnessed all their resources, administrations and organs to hurt Qatar and try to impose guardianship over its sovereignty. “Qatar has further pursued development and distinguished relations with major countries and other friendly countries, and such relations are now better than they were before the unjust blockade.” 
He stressed that the blockade countries have again failed to appreciate the will of the Qatari people, who united behind their wise political leadership of the country in confronting this crisis, which was created by the blockade countries that continued to spread slander and misleading information to affect our economy and growth rates. They failed to disrupt our development plans in various fields, he added.
The ambassador said what the blockade countries are doing in the region constitute a serious threat to food security and poses serious risks to agricultural development, livestock and the trade of foodstuffs and agricultural food commodities among the countries of the region, which their consequences not yet known, adding that the blockade countries' illegal measures were not limited to this, but also harmed values, customs and interests, and they are still refusing to reach a solution in the framework of equitable mutual respect.
He called on the IFAD to put into its current programs and policies the dangers posed by the unjust blockade imposed on the State of Qatar and on the global food security, saying this arbitrary blockade has countless consequences.

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