This is an interesting discussion surrounding the post-2023 millets celebration. To be extremely honest, I see this with mixed feelings. The UN Observances (Years, Months, Weeks, Days - even "Decades" exist), are adopted through a lengthy process, and it has to be proposed by a member state. https://www.un.org/en/observances/ While they can be powerful advocacy tools, they of course require resources to manage them. The resources have to come from extra-budgetary source, meaning regular UN contributions are not allowed to be used for the activities. We will need a strong country (or two or more) commitments to make this happen. I definitely do not want to put a damper on this thread, but I just wanted to inform you that all the UN observances come with a price, and having a week of celebration translates to perhaps half a year of work for us, believe it or not. For us to organize an International year, it is at least 2 years of work. The cost of having these observances should be carefully vetted vis a vis its impact.
From FAO perspective, we hope to generate interest this year to set up a global network on millets in the coming years.
best Makiko Taguchi Agricultural Officer Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP)<http://www.fao.org/agriculture/plant-production-and-protection/en/#_blank> Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy Email: makiko.taguchi@fao.org Web: www.fao.org<http://www.fao.org/> [cid:image003.png@01D9818D.5E0A5E90]
