EU and FAO Strategic Dialogue: Strengthening an already thriving collaboration

Ever since the European Union joined FAO as a Member Organization in 1991, the EU-FAO partnership has been driven by a shared vision of a better future for all in a world free from hunger and poverty. Today, the partnership covers nearly all areas of FAO’s mandate. The EU-FAO partnership is embedded in the Strategic Dialogue, a periodic and forward-looking exercise that aims to readjust EU-FAO joint priorities for the short and medium-term.  The last Strategic Dialogue was organized in 2017 and a new edition is taking place in 2021. Last February, five technical webinars took place touching upon topics of common interest and recent development within both organizations. In the month of May, the EU-FAO Strategic Dialogue process will be officially launched.

The 2021 edition of the EU-FAO Strategic Dialogue is an opportunity to recalibrate joint EU-FAO, short to medium-term priorities while strengthening the capacity of both organizations to bring timely, coherent, and effective responses to global challenges and policy development. This year's Strategic Dialogue has the overarching objective of jointly advancing the transformation of food systems towards sustainability. This will be done through five priority areas:

1. Food systems and One Health.

2. Climate change, biodiversity and natural resources.

3. Food crises, food security and resilient livelihoods.

4. Sustainable agri-food value chain investments and policies.

5. Food system transformation through digitalization.

High-level session

The high-level session of 6 May will formally launch the 2021 EU-FAO Strategic Dialogue. It will enable the European Commission and FAO key high-level officials, including FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides and European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojciechowski to exchange views on policy priorities and perspectives for collaboration with the joint aspiration to ensure that agri-food systems worldwide become green, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive.

Thematic sessions

The high-level session will be followed, throughout May, by five thematic sessions enabling both partners to dive deeper into the five selected priority areas. The thematic sessions will finalize in late May.

Wrap-up session

The Strategic Dialogue process will conclude with a wrap-up session at the end of May. This session will bring together the various elements discussed in the five thematic sessions in a coherent framework.