26 June 2012: At the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), José Graziano da Silva (Brazil) was elected Director-General, succeeding Jacques Diouf (Senegal).

Since 2006, Graziano da Silva has been the FAO Assistant Director General and the Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean. Formerly, he acted as Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister of Food Security and Fight Against Hunger, and led the implementation of the “Zero Hunger” programme. Graziano da Silva will be the FAO’s eighth Director-General, and his term will run from 1 January 2012-31 July 2015. FAO member countries will vote on the FAO operating budget for 2012-2013 at the Conference of the FAO. [FAO Press Release]