This week, FAO Council approved and adopted two important FAO partnerships strategies: FAO Strategy for Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations and FAO Strategy for Partnerships with the Private Sector.

The approval of these revised strategies will allow FAO, especially at field level, to better establish partnerships with civil society and private sector stakeholders in its different activities as outlined in the Country Programming Frameworks (CPFs). 

Implementation and Tools

Both strategies identify six main areas of collaboration and two main levels of interaction (global level and decentralized level) and will be accompanied a by a number of important tools for FAO staff to use. 

The FAO Strategy for Partnerships with the Private Sector will be complemented by:

• a set of Principles and Guidelines for FAO cooperation with the private sector (currently under revision),
• an Action Plan at decentralized level and
• thorough due diligence screening review of potential partners;
• a monitoring and evaluation system to measure outcome and impact of collaborations.

The FAO Strategy for Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations will be accompanied by:

• a Handbook outlining selection criteria for identifying and choosing potential CSO partners;
• Guidelines on ensuring balanced representation of CSO participants in FAO events;
• Guidelines for involving the Civil Society in the Country Programming Framework;
• Guidelines for ensuring participation of civil society in the FAO Regional Conferences;
• A set of indicators for monitoring and evaluating ongoing collaboration; and
• A web portal for CSOs to interact and directly exchange knowledge.

With this accompanying material, FAO staff will have the necessary tools to be able to identify and engage with key stakeholders, facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogues, and foster collaboration between FAO, member states, civil society and private sector in their pursuit of the eradication of hunger.