united

Theunitednationswastablishedintwenty-forthOctober1945by51countriescommittedto

pres,nearlyevery

nationintheworldbelongstotheun;membershiptotalsonehundredninetyonecountries.

Whenastatewantstobecomeamemberoftheunitednations,itmustagreetoacceptthe

obligationsoftheuncharter,aninternationaltreatythattsoutbasicprinciplesofinternational

relations,accordingtothecharter,theunhasfourpurpos;tomaintaininternationalpeaceand

curity;todevelopfriendlyrelationamongnations;tocooperateinsolvinginternational

problemsandinpromotingrespectforhumanrights;andtobeacentreforharmonizingthe

actionsofnations

TheFoodandAgricultureOrganizationoftheUnitedNationswasfoundedin1945witha

mandatetorailevelsofnutritionandstandardsofliving,toimproveagriculturalproductivity,

andtobettertheconditionofruralpopulations.

Today,FAOisoneofthelargestspecializedagenciesintheUnitedNationssystemandthelead

agencyforagriculture,forestry,rgovernmental

organization,FAOhas187membercountriesplusonememberorganization,theEuropean

Community.

Sinceitsinception,FAOhasworkedtoalleviatepovertyandhungerbypromotingagricultural

development,improvednutritionandthepursuitoffoodcurity---definedastheaccessofall

peopleatalltimestothefoodtheyneedforanactiveandhealthylife.

FoodproductionhasincreadatanunprecedentedratesinceFAOwasfoundedin1945,

outpacingthedoublingoftheworld’heearly1960s,the

proportionofhungrypeopleinthedevelopingworldhasbeenreducedfrommorethan50percent

ethegains,however,morethan790millionpeopleinthe

developingworld-----morethanthetotalpopulationofNorthAmericaandWesternEurope

combined----stillgohungry.

AspecificpriorityoftheOrganizationincouragingsustainableagricultureandrural

development,alongtermstrategyforincreasingfoodproductionandfoodcuritywhile

istomeettheneedsofbothprentand

futuregenerationsbypromotingdevelopmentthatdoesnotdegradetheenvironment.

FAOisgovernedbytheConferenceofmembernations,whichmeetverytwoyearstoreview

theworkcarriedoutbytheOrganizationandapproveaProgramofWorkandBudgetforthenext

biennium.

TheConferenceelectsaCouncilof49MemberNationstoactasaninter-imgoverningbody.

Membersrvethree—year,ferencealsoelectstheDirector–Generalto

rentDirector—General,sDiouf,ofSenegal,beganasix-year

terminJanuary1994andwasre-electedtoacondtermofsixyears,whichbeganinJanuary

2000.

FAOiscompodofeightdepartments:AdministrationandFinance,Agriculture,Economic

andSocial,Fisheries,Forestry,GeneralAffairsandInformation,SustainableDevelopmentand

TechnicalCooperation.

FAOemploysmorethan3700staffmembers–1500professionaland2200generalrvice

staff—andmaintainsfiveregionaloffices,fivesubregionaloffices,fiveliaisonofficesandover

78countryoffices,inadditiontoitsheadquartersinRoma.