FAO and Sweden further intensify their fruitful partnership to achieve global food and nutrition security

The annual consultation meeting between the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and FAO took place on Wednesday, 30 May, at FAO Headquarters in Rome. FAO recognized the valuable support provided by Sida and other Swedish partners to the FAO Programme of Work, particularly to the core funding, the unearmarked contributions to the FAO Multipartner Programme Support Mechanism (FMM), the provision of expertise through seconded officers and Swedish Associate Professional Officers, and the funding of humanitarian and other global, regional, and country-level programmes.

FAO’s Resource Mobilization Division led the discussion on the FAO-Sida strategic priorities, the ongoing progress of projects, programmes and activities, and possible new areas of collaboration. Other divisions of FAO provided updates on various fields of partnership, including emergency and rehabilitation, forest and farm facility, SDG statistics, environmental mainstreaming, and FAO’s new cost recovery policy.

This year’s annual meeting also included the participation of the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fishery, and the Tunisian National Institute of Gran Crops - two national implementation partners - and the FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa, to share the progress of a project aimed at water efficiency, productivity and sustainability, funded by Sida, which greatly contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the region.

A new Framework Agreement was signed between FAO and Sida last November, to foster a better collaboration for the achievement of global food and nutrition security, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The agreement defines the modalities of collaboration between the two entities for contributions to the FAO Programme of Work, and for human resources contributions, as well as development and emergency and rehabilitation projects and programmes.

Sweden also recently developed its new strategy for cooperation with FAO for 2018-2021, which highlights the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, the Paris Agreement, sustainable agricultural production, FAO’s normative role, gender equality, and an integrated United Nations as guiding principles. Recognizing the strong alignment between the aforementioned Swedish strategy and FAO’s strategic priorities, FAO and Sida discussed how Sweden will support FAO’s Programme of Work, as well as its latest reforms to improve governance, transparency, management and efficiency.