Lebanon assumes presidency of FAO Near East Group for 2026

The Lebanese Republic has assumed the presidency of the Near East Regional Group at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for 2026, during the group’s regular meeting held on Wednesday, February 4, in the King Faisal Hall at the organization’s headquarters in Rome.

Part of the meeting was dedicated to the handover ceremony, during which the presidency was officially transferred from the delegation of the State of Kuwait to the delegation of the Lebanese Republic. The Republic of Iraq was also selected as vice president of the group.

The ceremony included speeches by the FAO Director-General, the Independent Chairperson of the FAO Council, the Permanent Representative of Kuwait in his capacity as the outgoing president of the group, as well as a statement by the Lebanese Republic as the new president of the Near East Group.

In her address, Ambassador Carla Jazzar expressed her “thanks and appreciation to the brotherly State of Kuwait for its responsible and effective performance during its previous presidency, particularly amid the sensitive regional and international challenges witnessed by the region over the past two years.”

She stressed “Lebanon’s commitment to continuing to work in a spirit of consensus and cooperation, strengthening the unity of the group, and following up on priority files—foremost among them issues related to institutional reforms within the organization—in a manner that takes into account the interests of Near East countries and their developmental and food-security specificities.”