Rome, 22 June 2011 – The European Commission (EC), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) will sign a new Strategic Framework of Cooperation to better harmonize and coordinate their efforts to support Food Security and Nutrition in the Fight against Hunger.

The signing ceremony will take place at the FAO premises (IRAN ROOM, Building B) on Monday 27th June at 13H with the participation of the 27 EU Permanent Representatives, the Membership and High Level Representatives of the United Nations Agencies in Rome

The Statement of Intent will be signed by EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva and by the Heads of the FAO, IFAD and WFP, Jacques Diouf, Kanayo F. Nwanze and Josette Sheeran respectively.

The five signatories will be available for short interviews following the signing ceremony.

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Media Alert No: IFAD/08/2011

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$12.9 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering more than 370 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the United Nation’s food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 166 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).