Strengthening FAO's strategic partnership with the UN Development System

During the month of November, the FAO Liaison Office to the United Nations attended the first of a series of coordination meetings with UN entities. These meetings are meant to strengthen FAO's strategic partnership with the UN Sustainable Development Group, improving coordination and supporting delivery on the ground. On 24 November, Ms. Marcela Villarreal, Director of the newly created FAO Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division, and an FAO team consisting of HQ and FAO New York members held an introductory meeting with Mr Robert Piper, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the United Nations Development Coordination Office (DCO). Discussions focused on opportunities of expanding collaboration in the context of UN Development System work and repositioning.

Ms Marcella Villareal informed Piper about the function and role of FAO's new Division and recent developments in preparing a new FAO Strategic Framework which will be presented in 2021. She underlined that the new Strategic Framework will place the 2030 Agenda at the center of all FAO work. The FAO Director also informed DCO colleagues on FAO’s latest engagements in the UNDS reform process and reiterated the firm commitment and contributions to support the Secretary-General's ambition to a strengthened UN system.

Discussions also touched upon how the COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on agriculture, food security, nutrition and food systems at large and the necessity to step up joint initiatives, advocacy, outreach and communication and work closer on data integration, sharing information at different levels to strengthen linkages between FAO’s policy products and datahubs as well as providing support to UN country teams in fighting hunger and malnutrition.