Astana, Kazakhstan – 29 May 2025 – On the margins of the Astana International Forum, H.E. Ambassador Berik Aryn, Director General of the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), met with H.E. Mr. QU Dongyu, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to reaffirm their shared commitment to advancing food security, sustainable agriculture, and closer collaboration across OIC Member States and beyond.
The meeting builds on the Letter of Intent signed in Astana in July 2024 on the sidelines of the 16th UN-OIC Coordination Meeting hosted by the IOFS, which laid the foundation for joint initiatives in some common Member States. Since then, IOFS and FAO have engaged in fruitful cooperation through technical workshops, regional consultations, and the co-organizing of the Global Food Security Summit in Abu Dhabi in November 2024 with the expectation of a similar engagement at its 2nd edition to be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 21-23 October 2025.
Ambassador Aryn expressed his appreciation for FAO’s continued support and emphasized the importance of coordinated efforts to tackle food insecurity, climate change, and rural vulnerability. He underscored IOFS’s commitment to knowledge-sharing, emergency response, and agricultural innovation, and welcomed FAO’s strategic engagement going forward.
This strategic dialogue reaffirmed the strength of the IOFS–FAO partnership and its vital role in addressing the interconnected challenges of hunger, environmental degradation, and displacement across the OIC region. In the given context, the FAO Director General invited his counterpart to be an active part of the World Food Forum to be held next October in Rome through, for instance, organizing a suitable side event on matters under IOFS purview towards advancing the agendas of food security and agricultural development in the OIC geography.
