As the initiator of World Bee Day, Slovenia maintains a leading role in promoting international activities in this field. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food has decided to organise, together with the Ministry of European and Foreign Affairs and FAO, the largest international event for the seventh commemoration of World Bee Day.

"Bee engaged with youth" is the theme for this year’s World Bee Day celebrated within FAO. Bees and other pollinators play a vital role in increasing agricultural yields, contributing to biodiversity and other ecosystem services. They also provide a tangible support to the livelihoods of rural communities and indigenous peoples, which leads to a steadier food security framework. Since beekeeping can be done with locally available material and limited resources, it also offers decent working opportunities and income generation to people in extreme poverty, including women, young people and even disabled citizens.

The international forum will bring together representatives from governments and international organisations, experts, business and civil society to give a fresh impetus to the international cooperation in the fields of beekeeping and pollination to achieve sustainable development goals, in particular food security, ecosystem restoration, the empowerment of vulnerable social groups and international stability and peace. It will provide a platform to review the needs and share experience from beekeeping and pollination development projects around the globe. The forum will provide an opportunity for in-depth dialogue and reflection. It will produce recommendations for future cooperation and measures. While global in its scope and outreach, the geographical focus of this year's edition will be on Africa. The aim of the organisers is to make the forum a biennial event held in Slovenia.

A conference will be held on the first day of the forum on 22 May 2024, consisting of two panel discussions on policies and good practices in the field of pollination and beekeeping as drivers of sustainable development. This will be followed by four breakout sessions where recommendations for further international actions will be formed. A study visit with a presentation of good practices in Slovenia will be organised on the second day of the forum. The participants will visit the Ljubljana Marshes Landscape Park and the Slovenian Beekeepers' Association.

Further information on the international forum is available at the website of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.