Release number IFAD/48/07

Lisbon – Thursday, 8 November 2007 - IFAD and the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) have today signed a cooperation agreement. This will consolidate their partnership and enable them to more effectively tap available resources to fight rural poverty, especially in CPLP Member States. The agreement was signed during the European Development Days in Lisbon by Lennart Båge, President of IFAD, and Ambassador Luís de Matos Monteiro da Fonseca, Executive Secretary of CPLP.

The agreement will enable IFAD and CPLP to use their own resources and the resources of their development partners more effectively in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste.

IFAD has invested about US$336 million in support of 27 progammes and projects worth a total of US$758 million in these countries. The organization is increasing its global programme of work by 10 per cent per year over the period 2007-2009, which will also boost its work in Portuguese-speaking countries.

The cooperation agreement will increase both parties’ impact at the country level and ensure stronger participation by poor rural people in development activities under national poverty reduction strategies.

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IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD develops and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 191 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, worth a total of US$6.6 billion. IFAD has invested US$3.1 billion, with cofinancing provided by partners including governments, project participants, multilateral and bilateral donors. These initiatives will help about 82 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.8 billion in 751 programmes and projects that have reached more than 310 million poor rural women and men. Governments and other financing sources in recipient countries, including project participants, contributed US$9.2 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors provided another US$7.2 billion in cofinancing.