The President of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, has been
confirmed as one of the keynote speakers during the Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
Solutions Forum on 30 – 31 August 2021.
Mr. Shahid is amongst a host of high-level delegates to feature in the opening session.
Notable are the Prime Minister of Fiji, Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, who will speak as the
meeting’s co-host, the Administrator of UNDP, Achim Steiner; Chair of AOSIS, Dr. Walton
Webson; Secretary General of ITU, Houlin Zhao and QU Dongyu, Director-General of the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
A preliminary programme is available here.
The Forum convened virtually by FAO and Fiji, in partnership with the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU), is the first of its type. It creates a space for the high-level
officials and participants to discuss, share, promote and encourage home-grown digital
innovations and imported solutions in the agriculture, food and nutrition sectors to respond
to the challenges posed by COVID-19.
The ultimate goal is to accelerate the achievement of the agriculture; food and nutrition
related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the S.A.M.O.A Pathway priorities in SIDS.
Mr. Shahid, who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, was elected
President of the 76th session of the General Assembly in New York in June this year from the
Asia-Pacific States group. Mr. Shahid is well aware about the challenges faced by SIDS, which
are now compounded by COVID-19.
“While the pandemic has threatened to reverse decades of development gains and
impeded the decade of action for the [SDGs], it has also given us a unique opportunity to
reset the clock – to build back better, build back stronger and build back greener and bluer,”
he said in his vision statement.
“Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time: across-cutting and all-encompassing
game changer and threat multiplier.
Mr. Shahid began his professional career as a Foreign Service officer in 1983 and rose
through the ranks rapidly. In 2005, Mr. Shahid was appointed Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs and, in 2007, Minister for Foreign Affairs for the first time. His illustrious
parliamentary career spanned 25 years, during which time he participated in, and oversaw,
major legislative progress and reform. He was a Member of Parliament for five consecutive
terms, from 1994 to 2018.

Mr. Shahid holds a master’s degree in International Relations from The Fletcher School of
Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and completed his undergraduate degree in Political
Science and Government at the University of Canberra. He is an accomplished poet and has
a keen interest in astronomy. A sportsman from a young age, he enjoys badminton, cricket
and football. Born in Malé in May 1962, Mr. Shahid is married to Aishath Suiza. They have a
daughter and two sons.
To register for the forum please click here
Click on this link for preliminary programme
Caption:
The President of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid. Photo:
Foreign Ministry of Maldives.
———————————————————————————————————————————-
About FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is an intergovernmental
organization that works in over 130 countries to help eliminate hunger and poverty.
For more information about FAO and its programmes visit: www.fao.org