Cristina Rapone is a rural employment and migration specialist working at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Cristina joined FAO in 2011, where she has been leading analytical and technical work on rural migration and its links to agriculture and rural development. Cristina coordinated and led the development of the FAO Migration Framework, outing the vision, mission and areas of work of FAO on migration. In her current responsibilities, she is actively involved in policy, advocacy and capacity development work at global and country levels, as well as analytical work on the drivers and impacts of rural migration. Cristina coordinated the first Atlas on rural migration in sub-Saharan Africa and contributed to the FAO flagship publication on the State of Food and Agriculture 2018 focused on migration, agriculture and rural development. Before joining the Organization, Cristina worked in non-governmental organizations and at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Outside FAO, she runs a social business start-up to create decent jobs for youth refugees living in Rome. Cristina holds two Master degrees, one from the Institute of Development Studies and one from Sapienza University of Rome.
