Jacques Diouf

Jacques Diouf (1 August 1938 – 17 August 2019) was a Senegalese diplomat and the Director-General of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) from January 1994 to 31 December 2011. He died on 17 August 2019, 16 days after his 81st birthday.

Education
Born into a Serer family from the noble Diouf family, Diouf attended primary and secondary school in his native Saint-Louis, Senegal. He then traveled to France, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in agriculture from the Ecole nationale d'agriculture, Grignon-Paris Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon, a Master of Science in tropical agronomy from the Ecole nationale d'application d'agronomie tropicale, Nogent-Paris (France), Doctor of Philosophy in social sciences of the rural sector from the Faculté de droit et de sciences économiques, Panthéon – Sorbonne, Paris.

Career
Beginning in 1963 at the age of 25, Diouf was the Director of the European Office and the Agricultural Program of the Marketing Board (Paris/Dakar). Leaving that position in 1964, Diouf became the Director of the African Groundnut Council based in Nigeria from 1965 to 1971. From 1971 to 1977 Diouf was the executive secretary of the newly created West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) (now Africa Rice Center). Leaving WARDA in 1978, Diouf became the Secretary of State for Science and Technology of the government of Senegal under both Léopold Sédar Senghor and his successor Abdou Diouf until 1983. In that year he became a member of the National Assembly of Senegal and the Senegambian Confederation. In Senegal, he was Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Relations Committee. From 1985 to 1990, Diouf was the Secretary-General of the Central Bank for West African States, which is based in Dakar. Subsequently, he was Senegal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1991 to 1993.

On 8 November 1993, Diouf was elected Director-General of FAO and in January 1994 began his first six-year term. Diouf was re-elected twice. His last term began in January 2006 and ended in December 2011. His successor, José Graziano da Silva, was elected in June 2011 and took office on 1 January 2012.

Other functions
During his career, Diouf also held other positions of responsibility, including:


 * Representative of Africa to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, Washington, D.C. (USA)
 * Member of the Board of International Agricultural Centres: ICRAF, Nairobi (Kenya), ISNAR, The Hague (Netherlands), IITA, Lagos (Nigeria), as well as the International Institute of Scientific Research for African Development, Adiopodoumé (Côte d'Ivoire) and the International Foundation for Science, Stockholm (Sweden)
 * Member of the, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)
 * Member of the Advisory Committee on Medical Research and the Committee on Transfer of Technology. Member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Public Health Administration and Medical Research, World Health Organization, Geneva Switzerland)
 * Member of the, Washington, D.C. (USA)
 * Adviser to the International Conservation Financing Project of the World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C. (USA)
 * Member of the Board of the United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki (Finland)
 * Member of the executive board of the African Capacity Building Foundation, Harare Zimbabwe)
 * Chairman of the Board of the African Regional Centre for Technology (ARCT), Dakar Senegal), the Industrial Company for the Uses of Solar Energy, Dakar (Senegal) and the Board of the Foundation for Development of Science and Technology, Dakar (Senegal)

Honors and criticism
Diouf received multiple honors from governments around the world, including the Légion d'honneur in France as well as numerous governments across Africa and Latin America.

In May 2006, a British newspaper published the resignation letter of Louise Fresco, an Assistant Director General of FAO. In her letter, the widely respected Dr Fresco criticised Diouf's management style: "I am sad that you have isolated yourself so much from most senior managers. Combined with a lack of transparency in decision making, you have stimulated a culture of silence, rumors and even fear." Furthermore, she stated that "the Organisation has been unable to adapt to a new era", that "our contribution and reputation have declined steadily" and "its leadership has not proposed bold options to overcome this crisis".

In 2010, a so-called whistleblowing book was published on Amazon under a fictional name by a former staff member of FAO. It purported to describe the management methods and the state of the organization at the time of his departure. At the request of FAO officials attacked in the book, a legal action was initiated to protect the reputation of those concerned; the action was later dismissed on procedural grounds.

These are the links to these most relevant documents:
 * When FAO scores only 27 points in Transparency...
 * Independent Evaluation of the Food and Agriculture Organisation
 * Andrew Mitchel DFID's Head about FAO's performance

Interfaith activities
In 2009, Diouf took part in a special synod for Africa organized by the Catholic Church in Rome, even though he was a Muslim. The synod discussed several pastoral issues that are not directly related to religion, and which involve cooperation between the Catholic Church and the United Nations, such as food security, the status of African health care, and attempts to solve conflicts and achieve peace on the continent.

Foreign honours

 * Order of the Star of Africa (Liberia) - ribbon bar.png Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Africa (Liberia, 1977)
 * Legion Honneur Officier ribbon.svg Officer of the Legion of Honour (France, 1978)
 * Palmes academiques Officier ribbon.svg Officer of the Order of Academic Palms (France, 1979)
 * Ordre de la Valeur (Cameroun) GO 2nd type ribbon.svg Grand Officer of the Order of Valour (Cameroon, 1995)
 * Order of Merit - Commander (Central African Republic).png Commander of the Order of Merit (Central African Republic, 1995)
 * Cote d'Ivoire Ordre national Commandeur ribbon.svg Commander of the National Order of the Ivory Coast (Ivory Coast, 1995)
 * LTU Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas - Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (Lithuania, 1996)
 * Orden del Mérito Agrario, Pesquero y Alimentario ribbon.png Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Spain, 1996)
 * Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay - ribbon bar.gif Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (Uruguay, 1996)
 * Ordre de l'Etoile d'Anjouan Commandeur ribbon.svg Commander of the Order of the Star of Anjouan (Comoros, 1997)
 * ARG Order of May - Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of May (Argentina, 1998)
 * Order of Solidarity (Cuba) - ribbon bar.png Order of Solidarity (Cuba, 1998)
 * Order of the Grand Star of Djibouti - ribbon bar.gif Order of the Grand Star of Djibouti (Djibouti, 1998)
 * Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svg Commander of the Legion of Honour (France, 1998)
 * Honorary Order of the Yellow Star (Suriname) - ribbon bar.gif Grand Cordon of the Honorary Order of the Yellow Star (Suriname, 1998)
 * VEN Orden Henri Pittier.png 1st Class the Order of Henri Pittier (Venezuela, 1998)
 * Order of the Dragon Plant - 1st Class (Cabo Verde).png 1st Class the Order of the Dragon Plant (Cape Verde, 2000)
 * Order of the Two Niles (Sudan) - ribbon bar.gif 1st Class of the Order of the Two Niles (Sudan, 2000)
 * Order of the Quetzal - Grand Cross (Guatemala) - ribbon bar.png Grand Cross of the Order of the Quetzal (Guatemala, 2001)
 * Ordem Nacional das Colinas do Boé.png National Order of Merit, Cooperation and Development (Guinea-Bissau, 2001)
 * MCO Order of Saint-Charles - Commander BAR.svg Commander of the Order of Saint-Charles (Monaco, 12 October 2002)
 * GEO Golden Fleece Order BAR.svg Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia, 2003)
 * MRT Commander Order of National Merit.png Commander of the National Order of Merit (Mauritania, 2003)
 * Order of the White Elephant - 1st Class (Thailand) ribbon.svg Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Elephant (Thailand, 2003)
 * PAN Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa - Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa (Panama, 2004)
 * PHI Order of the Golden Heart var2 Grand Cross BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of the Golden Heart (Philippines, 2004)
 * JOR Order of Independence GC.svg Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence (Jordan, 2005)
 * MDG National Order - Commander BAR.png Commander of the National Order of Madagascar (Madagascar, 2005)
 * Mali Ordre national du Mali Commandeur ribbon.svg Commander of the National Order of Mali (Mali, 2005)
 * BRA - Order of the Southern Cross - Grand Cross BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross (Brazil, 2006)
 * OPMM-gc.svg Grand Cross of the Order pro merito Melitensi (Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 2006)
 * HUN Order of Merit of the Hungarian Rep (civil) 3class BAR.svg Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (Hungary, 2007)
 * JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR.svg Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan, 29 April 2012)