Open Consultation Forum 2022 with running candidates for the President of IFAD

The Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) partnered with the Southern Voice and the European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), to organise a Public Consultation Forum with IFAD running candidates. The overall aim of the event was to bring transparency and accountability to the selection processes of IFAD leadership, by encouraging candidates' dialogue with representatives of the civil society and major stakeholders from both the Global North and South.

Ahead of the Special Session of the Governing Council for the appointment of the IFAD President, the participating candidates (Alvaro Lario, official candidate of the Kingdom of Spain; Khaled A. Mahadi, official candidate of the State of Kuwait; and Shobhana Kumar Pattanayak, official candidate of the Republic of India) engaged in a panel discussion moderated by Rumbi Chakamba (Devex), following keynote speeches by Esther Penunia (Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development) and Gerda Verburg (Scaling Up Nutrition Movement). Representatives from civil society, farmers, indigenous groups’ organizations, academia and development practitioners had also the opportunity to ask questions to the candidates in a two round Q&A Session.
On the 7th of July 2022, IFAD appointed Alvaro Lario, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Associate Vice-President for financial operations, as its President.