Astana, 19 November 2024 - The Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) hosted a meeting today at its headquarters in Astana, welcoming a high-level delegation from the Republic of Estonia. The delegation was led by Ms. Tiina Intelmann, Special Envoy for Multilateralism and Mediation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, and included H.E. Jaap Ora, Ambassador of Estonia to Kazakhstan, and Ms. Triinu Pits, Deputy Head of Mission at the Estonian Embassy.
The IOFS team, led by its Director General, H.E. Ambassador Berik Aryn, and supported by Prof. Dr. Zulfiqar Ali, Director of the Programs Department, and Dr. Ismail Abdelhamid, Director of the Projects Department, engaged in fruitful discussions with the Estonian delegation. The meeting aimed to explore opportunities for collaboration in tackling global food security challenges and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
During the discussions, both sides emphasized the importance of fostering strong bilateral relations to address food security concerns in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The meeting highlighted Estonia’s advanced expertise in areas such as agroforestry, climate-resilient agriculture, traceability systems, and modern farming technologies. These capabilities were identified as instrumental in supporting IOFS initiatives across its 41 member states.
H.E. Ambassador Berik Aryn underscored IOFS’s commitment to enhancing food security, sustainable agriculture, and socio-economic development through a range of strategic programs, including the Afghanistan Food Security Program, the Africa Food Security Initiative, and the Gene Bank Development project. Estonia’s contributions in innovation and capacity-building were seen as valuable additions to these efforts, particularly in addressing challenges such as biodiversity preservation, climate adaptation, and agricultural productivity.
Both sides expressed a shared vision of strengthening multilateral engagement and aligning their efforts with global food security priorities. They reaffirmed their commitment to establishing a mechanism for communication and dialogue to identify and implement joint initiatives, ensuring practical and impactful collaboration to address shared challenges and contribute meaningfully to global food security.
