United Nations agencies
United Nations agencies banner

United Nations agencies
United Nations agencies
Rome-based Agencies working to achieve long-term sustainable development
IFAD is both a specialized United Nations agency and an international financial institution (IFI). The Fund is systemically partnering with other United Nations development system agencies, in particular with the UN Rome-based agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) – with whom we share a common vision of ending hunger and promoting food security through sustainable agriculture towards the delivery of the 2030 Agenda.
In the context of the overall UN Reform agenda, the repositioning of the United Nations development system to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, collaboration among the UN Rome-based agencies is a strategic priority for all the three organizations at local, reginal and global levels. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitute the greatest opportunity ever presented for collaboration, and SDG 2 to end hunger is at the heart of their mandates.
Improving food security, today and in the future
To advance SDG 2, IFAD, FAO and WFP provide financial and technical support to the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), which has a unique role as an inclusive, multi-stakeholder platform for inter-governmental deliberations on food security and nutrition.
The three agencies are working together to leverage their mutual comparative advantages and operations to achieve long-term sustainable development in ways that transform people’s lives and improves their food security, today and in the future.
A new emphasis is being placed on collaboration at the country level. Country teams from the three agencies are joining forces with other UN agencies on the elaboration of United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs) that better reflect and align with the 2030 Agenda and collectively contribute to the delivery of development results based on common country analysis, programming and investments.
Learn more about how the three agencies are working together.
IFAD has formalised relations with other UN programmes and funds such as the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and UN Women.
"One thing is to work side by side, another thing is to work hand in hand."
Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD
Spotlight
Related news
Related news
Hunger numbers stubbornly high for three consecutive years as global crises deepen: UN report
Around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published today by five United Nations specialized agencies.
UN Rome-based Agencies and COP Presidencies mobilise for climate action and finance in fragile contexts ahead of COP29
WFP, FAO, IFAD, and the COP28 and COP29 presidencies have today called for an urgent scaling up of climate action and financing for adapted and resilient agrifood systems in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
IFAD and WFP work together to combat hunger in fragile contexts
IFAD and WFP have today launched an action plan to work together in fragile contexts — countries simultaneously affected by economic shocks, and extreme weather, in combination with little or no institutional and government capacity to help people cope. The UN agencies seek to leverage the strengths and expertise of each organization to enhance resilience in fragile environments and improve food security for those who need it most.
Related publications
Related publications
Guidelines for measuring gender transformative change in the context of food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture
In the framework of the EU-RBA Joint Programme on Gender Transformative Approaches for Food Security and Nutrition, these Guidelines aim at enhancing the capacity of research and development partners to design, implement, monitor and evaluate gender transformative interventions.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023
Urbanization, agrifood systems transformation and healthy diets across the rural–urban continuum.
Panorama of Food and Nutritional Security in Latin America and the Caribbean 2020
This report examines the impact of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on the analysis of territorial inequalities and calls on countries to focus their investments and policies on lagging territories.
Related videos
Related videos



RBA contacts
Contact us
For more information, please contact [email protected]