At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, visited Slovenia. In the field of bee diplomacy, the president highlighted the possibility of including FAO in the partnership project of the ITF Enhancing Human Security (ITF), the Beekeeping Academy of Slovenia of the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia and the Organization of Amputees UDAS Republike Srbske, as well as the possibility of expanding this project to other regions. In this connection, the director of the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Prof. Andrej Simončič PhD and director of the ITF MSc Tomaž Lovrenčič, presented on Tuesday, February 13, 2024 the good practices of Slovenian institutes and the joint project “Beekeeping as a tool for empowerment mine victims from BiH”, which should be expanded to Lebanon and Ukraine. The project’s goals coincide with FAO’s commitment to sustainable agriculture and highlight the transformative potential of honey production for mine victims, and beekeeping itself not only provides an additional source of income or household income, but also has a healing potential and builds resilience in war-affected communities. The Director-General of FAO expressed his satisfaction and support for such projects, which are based on the transfer of expertise with the aim of achieving long-term results and which include vulnerable social groups. The discussion went in the direction how this initiative can bring about positive change around the world.
The main donor of the project “Beekeeping as a tool for empowermrnt mine victims from BiH” is Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.