UN agency and European Union strengthen partnership in fighting hunger

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Commission (EC) today signed an agreement designed to create a closer strategic partnership in the fields of development and humanitarian aid by streamlining programmes and reducing costs in the battle to alleviate world hunger.

“I look forward to strengthened collaboration with the EU (European Union), an important member of FAO, as we face up to the urgent challenge of reducing chronic hunger and undernourishment that afflicts so many hundreds of millions in the world today,” FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said on signing the agreement in Brussels with Poul Nielson, EC Commissioner for Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.

Under the agreement, FAO will adhere to the Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement (FAFA), recently concluded between the EU and the UN, which seeks to lower transaction costs of joint projects, helping the institutions to make better use of their resources for development and humanitarian relief to benefit those in need.

By increasing the predictability of the rules to be applied for the EU, the FAO, other donors and the beneficiary country, FAFA will contribute to greater transparency, lower transaction costs and thereby to a greater impact of the operations on the ground.

“I see this agreement as a confirmation of our close collaboration,” Mr. Nielson said. “The agreement provides us with the tools to further increase the quality of our collaboration in the pursuit of our common goal: alleviating poverty in developing countries.”