26 September 2019, New York - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their partnership towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The agreement renews a long-standing formal collaboration between the two UN agencies and was signed today in New York by FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly.

The MoU outlines a plan to undertake concerted and coordinated programmes to further the agencies' common objective of supporting countries to achieve 2030 Agenda.

"This marks the beginning of a new era in our long-standing relationship between FAO and UNDP as we build stronger ties in our work to assist countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals," FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said.

"We welcome this new chapter in our partnership with FAO and we look forward to exploring ways through which we can work together to assist the most vulnerable people around the world to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the areas of agriculture, food security, nutrition, and livelihoods," said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

The revitalized partnership is within the broader context of reforming the UN development system, as mandated by the UN General Assembly in May last year, which aims to reposition the system as a trusted, reliable, cohesive, accountable and effective partner that Member States can invest in and rely on towards 2030.

The priority areas for the strategic collaboration with UNDP include sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, eradicating poverty, improving food security and addressing climate change.

The agencies have also committed to exploring ways to support countries to develop sustainable food systems, and to continue ongoing initiatives on forests, adaptation planning and the One Planet Network.