29 April 2013
FAO Council Approves Partnership Strategies and Names 2015 International Year of Soils
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At its meeting in Rome, Italy, the governing Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) approved strategies related to strengthening FAO partnerships with civil society organizations and with the private sector.

FAO26 April 2013: At its meeting in Rome, Italy, the governing Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) approved strategies related to strengthening FAO partnerships with civil society organizations and with the private sector.

These strategies are particularly important in the context of the FAO’s approach to decentralization, and they aim to leverage the FAO in-country efforts. The strategies will focus on collaboration related to policy dialogue, normative work, technical and field programmes, advocacy and communication, joint use and mobilization of research, and knowledge sharing, both at the global and decentralized levels.

The Council also agreed to a revised Strategic Framework for the FAO focusing on objectives related to: the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition; improved sustainable provision of goods and services from agriculture, forestry and fisheries; reduced rural poverty; more inclusive agricultural and food systems; and increased resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises.

FAO member countries also used the meeting to endorse 2015 as the International Year of Soils, as a platform to raise awareness on sustainable soil management for food security and adaptation to climate change.

During the week’s bilateral meetings with FAO member countries, Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva recognized Nicaragua’s efforts in the fight against hunger with a decrease in undernourishment from 55 per cent to 20 per cent between 1990 and 2010, thereby achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halve the proportion of people suffering from hunger. The Director-General also announced that Nicaragua will be a pilot country for delivering on the contribution to the eradication of hunger under the new FAO Strategic Framework.

The Director-General also praised the efforts of Brazil to end hunger, with the country highlighting the success of its Zero Hunger program, as well as its partnerships with the private sector and civil society. The Director-General discussed Brazil’s increased contribution to the FAO, as well as cooperation between Brazil and Africa in a high-level meeting to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 30 June – 1 July 2013. [FAO Governing Council Press Release] [International Year of Soils 2015] [FAO Press Release on Nicaragua] [FAO Press Release on Brazil]

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