Rome, 14 February 2017. In light of the developments of the election process and after careful consideration, the Government of the Dominican Republic decided to join forces with Togo in the last round of the elections and support its candidate.

Your support and encouragements have been a source of immense pride and energy. The months leading to the election for President of IFAD have been extremely rewarding and intense. I have met some incredible people who have opened my eyes and my heart, and who have reminded me of how much commitment exists around the world to sustainable development.

I wish to express my most sincere thanks to my dear friends, colleagues, rural leaders of the world, to my family, to the President of the Dominican Republic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister and staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and to all the Ambassadors of the Dominican Republic around the world, and to all those who have endorsed my candidacy for your guidance, your support and your encouragements.

Thank you.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. 

February 11, 2017. Agriculture Minister Ángel Estévez will travel to Rome to support the candidacy of the Dominican Josefina Stubbs to the Presidency of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The choice of the new president will be held next Tuesday, February 14 in Rome, Italy.

Estévez indicated that Mrs. Stubbs has great possibilities of being chosen for the position and that Dominican authorities have worked for her election. In several national and international meetings, Dominican officials and diplomats have won the support of more than 38 countries with the right to vote to support the candidacy.

Mrs. Josefina Stubbs is currently the vice president of the institution. She has over 30 years of experience in the global development sector, working for 16 years for the non-governmental organization Oxfam International, where she was Regional Director for Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. She also worked at the World Bank before joining To IFAD in 2008.

In the Dominican Republic, she has been financing rural aid projects for more than 25 years, contributing to poverty reduction.

IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN), whose purpose is to provide funds and mobilize additional resources to promote the economic progress of the rural poor, mainly by improving agricultural productivity.

The agency was established in 1977 and since its inception has financed projects worldwide, especially for food production in developing countries.

- Published by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic