New York, 24 September 2014 – In a world where increasing urbanization, rising populations, and expanding agricultural land use are encroaching on ecosystems and impacting on biodiversity, two United Nations agencies have come together to work for a more sustainable future. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that builds on the two agencies’ past collaborations and adds four priority work areas. “Partnerships of this kind are essential if we are to meet the challenges and demands of our changing environment and social landscape,” said Achim Steiner,...

2 July 2014, Rome - FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva met today with Hilal Elver,  the newly appointed Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food of the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) and agreed to work together on their complementary mandates. As 2014 marks ten years since the adoption of the “Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security,” Graziano da Silva and Elver discussed progress made so far in implementing the guidelines as well as the challenges that...

20 June 2014, Rome - Civil society, private sector and academia representatives met today at FAO headquarters in Rome with government representatives from the Organization’s member states to discuss the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), which will be jointly organized by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) in November 2014. The informal meeting was initiated by FAO following a request by member countries to involve non-state actors in the ICN2 process.  “Nutrition must be addressed in a holistic approach by all stakeholders as it remains an urgent challenge. Over 840 million people in the world still suffer from undernourishment,...

June 12, 2014, Rome – FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, today metActionAid International Chief Executive Director, Adriano Campolina, to discuss potential areas of cooperation, including the promotion of family farming and the development of sustainable agriculture. Campolina welcomed what he described as the FAO Director-General’s innovative approach of opening to non-governmental actors and welcomedFAO’s Strategy for Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations. “We do not conceive food security without progress in strengthening civil society,” Campolina said, speaking after his meeting with Graziano da Silva.. “For us, the opening of the Director General towards cooperation with civil society is essential,”...

23 May 2014, Rome – FAO and the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC) are stepping up their cooperation to try and put those who produce food at the centre of the global debate on food and agriculture. In an exchange of letters that happened today, FAO recognized IPC's important role as a global platform for small-scale food producers, rural workers’ associations, grassroots and community-based organizations and social movements that brings together over 800 organizations and 300 million small-scale food producers. FAO believes that the new partnership will boost food security and nutrition at the global and regional level by allowing the...