On Friday, 29 November 2019, the Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism (FMM) held its second Resource Partner Consultation meeting of the year at FAO Headquarters in Rome. The consultation opened with Director-General Qu Dongyu giving the opening remarks, and stressing the importance of robust flexible funding mechanisms like FMM in enabling innovation, speed and cross-sectoral cooperation in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “We are learning together, contributing together and working together,” he said.

The Director-General thanked FMM’s pioneering resource partners - the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Flanders and Switzerland - and welcomed new partners France and Italy. He expressed optimism for the current partnership negotiations with Norway, and encouraged discussion on moving all collaborations to the next level. The Director-General also emphasized the importance of the FMM as it relates to the UN Reform’s call for more flexible, predictable and less-earmarked funding. “The dramatic imbalance between core and non-core resources is a trend that should be reversed to deliver on the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs,” he said.

On behalf of the Executive Committee, Ms. Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director- General (Climate Change and Natural Resources), articulated key improvements to the FMM's new phase including more streamlined governance of projects, a programmatic approach, robust resource allocation processes, improved programming and reporting, and vigorous marketing and visibility. 

These remarks were followed by presentations from various field staff, national representatives and technical experts on key FMM project results, new developments, successes and lessons learned. Focusing on human stories, updated data, and voices from the field, the presentations covered FMM priorities such as Leveraging Resources to Improve Livelihoods; Accelerating Youth Employment; Expanding Partnerships on Urban Food Agenda; Transforming Lives of Rural Women; Social Protection through Innovative Solutions; Land Restoration and the Promotion of Effective Climate Action; and SDG Measurement and The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) Report.

In response to the Director General’s statements and the presentations, H.E. Hans Hoogeveen, Ambassador and Permanent representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to FAO, commented that,“the projects show that we’re getting value for our money.” He also emphasised the need, “to team up to get results on the ground.” Additionally, Hoogoveen proposed to present these results to FAO's Governing Bodies. 

Madeleine Kauffman, the representative of Switzerland echoed these sentiments, saying that the FMM is a “holistic development solution,” that fosters integration. “We cannot allow ourselves to work in silos,” she affirmed.

H.E. Delphine Borione, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to FAO remarked on the importance of FMM in key priority areas for the country, such as climate resilience and women’s empowerment. “The collective gains for society would be huge if we could invest in women,” she said.

Mats Ǻberg, Senior Programme Manager, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), stated that one of the advantages of FMM is flexibility. “There is the need for FAO and the UN to move as quickly as the insects,” he said, referring to an earlier point made by the Director General on combatting the spread of global diseases that are notoriously difficult to control.

On the topic of expanding partnerships, Geert De Proost, the General Representative of the Government of Flanders in Italy, said that they wanted “to be an example for other sub-state entities.”

The presentations

• Results from the Forest and Farm Facility
• Youth employment - Uganda
• The Nadhali project
• Transforming lives- Dimitra project
• Linking Social Protection and Agriculture for Sustainable Livelihoods
• The Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism
• Programme 1: Evidence-based Policies and Global Instruments