Due to the spread of the covid-19 coronavirus in Italy, the leadership of the Rome based UN Agencies (RBA) decided to transfer their employees to a special mode of operation. As of 13 March 2020 the physical presence of FAO, WFP and IFAD personnel at workplaces is almost completely banned.

The minimum required number of employees to maintain the technical functionality of buildings has been determined. The remaining employees are temporarily transferred to the “work from home” mode.

In this difficult environment, the leadership of the RBA appealed to the permanent representations of the Member States with a request to comply with the general quarantine regime prescribed by the Italian authorities and to minimize visits to the buildings of the FAO, WFP and IFAD.

In turn, the Permanent Mission of Russia adopted a set of measures and recommendations for its employees and members of their families, instructing, in particular, the restriction of physical contacts with representatives of the corresponding organizations and Italian citizens, as well as the maximum use of non-contact forms of communication (online conferences and conference calls, emails, etc.).

We expect that the above mentioned decisions will be temporary.