Common objectives: EU and FAO discuss joint efforts for human development

FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol met with the Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), Martin Seychell, to discuss areas of work in human development for which collaboration will be key to achieving common objectives.

They agreed on the importance of land rights, access to services, employment and markets, and bridging the digital divide to achieve gender equality in rural areas, as well as leveraging national social protection systems to support small-scale rural producers in periods of crisis.

Building upon DG INTPA’s participation in the Virtual Symposium on Ending Child Labour earlier in the week, the two also discussed opportunities in education, employment and the empowerment of youth in rural areas.

FAO already works with the European Union on a number of issues concerning decent rural employment. These include the Clear Cotton Project, implemented with the International Labour Organization (ILO), which focuses on eliminating child labour in the cotton, textile and garment value chains; and the Joint Programme on Gender Transformative Approaches (GTA) for Food Security and Nutrition, implemented together with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which is fully aligned with the EU’s Gender Action Plan (GAP III) objective of achieving fully enjoy and exercise their equal economic, labour and social rights.

In combination, the European Union’s political leadership and FAO’s global expertise in working with rural women, children and youth, as well as in the formulation and analysis of agricultural policies, capacity development and agricultural statistics, provide a powerful basis for combined efforts in human development.