WFF Youth Initiative launches 40 new National Youth Chapters

The World Food Forum (WFF)’s Global Youth Action Initiative (Youth Initiative) marked a major milestone with the launch of 40 new National Youth Chapters,  taking the total count to 62 worldwide. The event took place on 14 October during the 2025 WFF flagship event at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This expansion strengthens youth engagement and collaboration at the local level, empowering young people across all regions to drive agrifood systems transformation.

The event opened with remarks from Kazuki Kitaoka, Director of the Office of Youth and Women at FAO, who highlighted the remarkable growth of the WFF Youth Initiative over the past five years and emphasized its commitment to translating global dialogue into tangible, community-level action.

Local community impact remains at the heart of the Chapters’ mission, empowering young people to co-create context-specific, locally driven solutions for agrifood systems transformation.

New Chapters were launched across:

Africa

Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, celebrated the new chapters in Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar Mauritius, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan and Zambia.

Asia and Pacific

Ken Shimizu, FAO Representative for Bhutan and Nepal, introduced chapters in Australia, Brunei, China, Fiji, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Europe and Central Asia

Viorel Gutu, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia, inaugurated new chapters in France, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Maya Takagi from FAO's Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, introduced new chapters in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala and Honduras.

Near East and North Africa

His Excellency Saleh Al-Rumaihi, Head of Technical Office, Food Security Department at the Ministry of Municipality, from the Government of Qatar announced new chapters in Iraq, Jordan, Libya and Morocco.

North America

Jocelyn Brown Hall, Director of the FAO Liaison Office for North America, introduced the first chapter in the North America region, the Provincial Youth Chapter in Ontario (Canada).

These Chapters join a global community of young people driving agrifood systems transformation. In collaboration with FAO’s Decentralized Offices, governments and local institutions, each Chapter serves as a bridge to localize global goals and translate them into concrete action.

Join a WFF National Youth Chapter in your country.