The Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) has partnered with the Southern Voice and the European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), to organise a Open Consultation Forum for the IFAD running candidates on 27th of June 2022 at 14:00 – 16:00 CEST, ahead of the Special Session of the Governing Council for the appointment of the President of IFAD (07/07/2022).
The overall aim of the Consultation Forum was to bring increased transparency and accountability to the selection process of future IFAD leadership, taking on board representatives from IFAD member states, Civil Society Organisations, farmers’ organisations, indigenous groups’ organisations, academia, and development cooperation practitioners, from both the Global North and South with geographical and gender balance.
The event was organised in a hybrid format, in Rome, at IAI premises and aimed to involve the 4 running candidates for the position of President of IFAD in a moderated panel, followed by a Q&A session with a selection of key stakeholders and experts.
The panel and the Q&A session was followed by a public survey that launched through Slido (#IFAD), during which selected experts and participants had the chance to make a question or comment to the candidates.
Ahead of the Special Session of the Governing Council for the appointment of the IFAD President, the participating candidates who engaged in the panel discussion were:
Alvaro Lario, official candidate of the Kingdom of Spain;
Khaled A. Mahadi, official candidate of the State of Kuwait;
Shobhana Kumar Pattanayak, official candidate of the Republic of India)
On the 7th of July 2022, IFAD appointed Alvaro Lario, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Associate Vice-President for financial operations, as its President.
Keynote speakers
Estrella Penunia: Secretary General, Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA)
Gerda Verburg: Coordinator, Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement
Event moderator: Rumbi Chakamba, Associate Editor, Devex
Working language: English
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
