Error message

Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in drupal_settings_initialize() (line 802 of /backup/agenda/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc).

Self Report 2017

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

Expand All

1B
Act early

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to ensuring that key operational staff working in conflict-affected contexts are trained and competent in conflict-sensitivity best practice.
  • Capacity
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
  • FAO commits to operationalizing the guidance from the Committee on World Food Security's Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises (CFS-FFA) by strengthening conflict-sensitive programming and interventions by the Organization, and contributing to peacebuilding initiatives, as appropriate.
  • Operational
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
  • FAO commits to provide food security-related information to contribute to multidisciplinary analysis informing regular updates to the United Nations Security Council and political arms to the UN System on situations of concern.
  • Operational
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to act early upon potential conflict situations based on early warning findings and shared conflict analysis, in accordance with international law.
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
  • Commit to make successful conflict prevention visible by capturing, consolidating and sharing good practices and lessons learnt.
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    FAO's commitments to support early action are derived from the importance of (i) ensuring that food security-related information is part of multidisciplinary analyses, and linked with other early warning data; and (ii) changing organizational practices and programming by improving conflict-sensitivity capacities among staff.

  • Achievements at a glance

    FAO in partnership with WFP provided the first update to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on the food security situation on countries under UNSC monitoring in July 2016. These updates will be produced twice per year from now on. A Memorandum of Understanding with Interpeace has been under development since late 2016, reflecting an intent to (i) develop and deliver training modules on conflict sensitivity for FAO staff to facilitate the process of adopting a Corporate Framework on supporting sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030, and (ii) encourage the increasing conflict analytical capacity for key FAO country offices, to better inform conflict-sensitive programming by FAO and its partners. Additional HQ staff capacities on conflict analysis and sustaining peace are being reflected in the draft Medium Term Plan 2018-2021 (not yet approved).

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Frequency of food security reports to the UNSC; number of conflict sensitivity trainings organised/completed.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    A key challenge in working towards increasing conflict-sensitivity capacities during this initial reporting period has been exploring this area of work while simultaneously defining and developing a corporate framework for supporting sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    - Continued submission of biannual food security reports to the UNSC.
    - Finalisation and approval of FAO Corporate Framework for supporting sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030, and related operational guidance.
    - Development of training modules on conflict sensitivity for FAO staff with Interpeace and other partners, drawing on existing best practices.
    - Investment in staff capacities to support conflict analysis at country level to inform conflict-sensitive programming.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Food Security ☑ People-centred approach

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Commitment to Action: Transcending the humanitarian - development divide ☑ The Peace Promise

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

1C
Remain engaged and invest in stability

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits by mid-2017 to adopt a corporate policy, and related operational guidelines, on FAO's role, in line with its work and mandate, in contributing to conflict prevention, sustainable peace and stability as part of efforts by the wide UN system and community of practice.
  • Policy
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
  • FAO commits to increase the number of staff aware of, and trained in conflict analysis and conflict prevention related to policies and actions supporting food security and nutrition in governments, regional and international organizations by 2018.
  • Capacity
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to improve prevention and peaceful resolution capacities at the national, regional and international level improving the ability to work on multiple crises simultaneously.
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
  • Commit to sustain political leadership and engagement through all stages of a crisis to prevent the emergence or relapse into conflict.
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
  • Commit to address root causes of conflict and work to reduce fragility by investing in the development of inclusive, peaceful societies.
  • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    FAO's commitments towards remaining engaged and investing in stability are based on (i) an internal reflection that FAO needs to be more deliberate and consistent in its contributions to sustaining peace, and that the Corporate Framework will support this consistency as it is rooted in FAO’s mandate, informed by the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to underpin action across the Organization; and, (ii) an understanding that changing organizational practices and programming requires improving conflict-sensitivity capacities among staff.

  • Achievements at a glance

    FAO is drafting a Corporate Framework to support sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030 since mid-2016, and it is expected to be finalised by the second quarter of 2017, with subsequent development of operational guidelines. A Memorandum of Understanding with Interpeace has been under development since late 2016, reflecting an intent to (i) develop and deliver training modules on conflict sensitivity for FAO staff for the adoption of a corporate framework on supporting sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030, and (ii) build support in increasing conflict analytical capacity for key FAO country offices, to better inform conflict-sensitive programming by FAO and its partners. Additional HQ staff capacities on conflict analysis and sustaining peace are reflected in the draft Medium Term Plan 2018-2021 (not yet approved).

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Progress made towards the finalization of a Corporate Framework; number of trainings organised/completed; MoU signed.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    A key challenge in working towards increasing conflict-sensitivity capacities during this initial reporting period has been exploring this area of work while simultaneously defining and developing a corporate framework for supporting sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    - Finalisation and approval of FAO Corporate Framework for supporting sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030 in the second quarter of 2017, and subsequent development of related operational guidance.
    - Development of training modules on conflict sensitivity for FAO staff with Interpeace, and other partners, drawing on existing best practices.
    - Investment in additional staff capacities to support conflict analysis at country level to inform conflict-sensitive programming.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑People-centred approach

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Commitment to Action: Transcending the humanitarian - development divide ☑ The Peace Promise

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑1B - Act early ☑ 4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

2B
Ensure full access to and protection of the humanitarian and medical missions

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to ensuring that all its humanitarian response activities have the aim of making people safer, preserving their dignity and reducing vulnerabilities by building the skills of staff according to their duties in areas such as conflict-sensitivity, protection, negotiations with parties, security and access, internal strategies and policies, and international humanitarian law and human rights law.
  • Capacity
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to ensure all populations in need receive rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance.
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
  • Commit to promote and enhance efforts to respect and protect medical personnel, transports and facilities, as well as humanitarian relief personnel and assets against attacks, threats or other violent acts.
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Under its relevant commitments towards ensuring access, FAO recognizes that a variety of skills among response staff must be built to facilitate and improve assistance to populations and to ensure that its humanitarian responses make people safer, preserve their dignity and reduce vulnerabilities.

  • Achievements at a glance

    A Memorandum of Understanding with Interpeace has been under development since late 2016, reflecting an intent to (i) develop and deliver training modules on conflict sensitivity for FAO staff to facilitate the process of adopting a a Corporate Framework on supporting sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030, and (ii) encourage the increasing conflict analytical capacity for key FAO country offices, to better inform conflict-sensitive programming by FAO and its partners. Additional HQ staff capacities on conflict analysis and sustaining peace are reflected in draft Medium Term Plan 2018-2021 (not yet approved).

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    A key challenge in working towards increasing conflict-sensitivity capacities during this initial reporting period has been exploring this area of work while simultaneously defining and developing a corporate framework for supporting sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    - Finalisation and approval of FAO Corporate Framework for supporting sustainable peace in the context of Agenda 2030 in the second quarter of 2017, and development of related operational guidance.
    - Development of training modules on conflict sensitivity for FAO staff with Interpeace, and other partners, drawing on existing best practices.
    - Investment in additional staff capacities to support conflict analysis at country level to inform conflict-sensitive programming.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Humanitarian principles

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Commitment to Action: Transcending the humanitarian - development divide ☑ The Peace Promise

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑1C - Remain engaged and invest in stability

2D
Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to developing and implementing approaches and strategies for the engagement of men and boys as part of the solution to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in crisis settings by 2018.
  • Operational
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
  • FAO commits to increasing staff training on inclusion of gender sensitive and protection measures in the design and delivery of programmes to contribute to preventing and mitigating gender-based violence.
  • Training
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to promote and enhance respect for international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and refugee law, where applicable.
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
  • Commit to speak out and systematically condemn serious violations of international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of international human rights law and to take concrete steps to ensure accountability of perpetrators when these acts amount to crimes under international law.
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
  • Implement a coordinated global approach to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in crisis contexts, including through the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies.
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
  • Fully comply with humanitarian policies, frameworks and legally binding documents related to gender equality, women's empowerment, and women's rights.
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    FAO recognises that gender equality and women's empowerment are essential elements for achieving food security and sustainable agriculture, to protect, restore and improve the livelihoods of men and women. FAO is continuously striving for gender equality, as such preventing and mitigating gender-based violence (GBV) forms part of this evolving area of work.

  • Achievements at a glance

    A Guide for FAO and Partners, and an accompanying brief, on Food and Security Interventions aimed at reducing Gender-based Violence, have been developed to better understand the links between FAO's work and GBV, and address GBV in food security and agriculture interventions. These guides, along with FAO’s Gender Policy and other gender guidelines for projects and programmes, promote the engagement of men and boys, as well as women and girls, in the development of strategies and implementation of food security and agriculture activities to reduce GBV.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    None to date, as concrete implementation will begin mid-2017 with the wide dissemination of the new guidance materials and the planning of capacity development activities.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Promote and disseminate GBV Guidance Note and Brief; deliver training in two selected pilot countries; and develop one case study on relevant best practice.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability', what would it be

    More human and financial resources dedicated to securing GBV expertise in humanitarian contexts are required.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Accountability to affected people ☑ Gender

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3D - Empower and protect women and girls

3A
Reduce and address displacement

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to a systemic corporate approach for inclusion of gender sensitive and youth inclusive measures in the design and delivery of programmes addressing forced displacement.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO commits to develop new partnerships, including with the private sector, to encourage innovative approaches to support the self-reliance of refugees and IDPs, through portable skills, viable employment opportunities, sustainable socio-economic entrepreneurship, and livelihood diversification.
  • Partnership
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO commits to developing a corporate operational framework to support solutions for displaced persons, including through provision of viable livelihood opportunities in places of origin, in transit and in host countries.
  • Policy
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO commits to strengthen its ability to identify and address the relevant drivers and triggers of forced displacement, as early as possible, through Early Warning for Early Action mechanisms, and take rapid action to prevent situations from becoming protracted.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO recognizes that forced displacement is both a humanitarian and development issue, and commits to work with global initiatives such as the Solutions Alliance, and aligns itself with its vision.
  • Policy
  • Leave No One Behind

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to a new approach to addressing forced displacement that not only meets immediate humanitarian needs but reduces vulnerability and improves the resilience, self-reliance and protection of refugees and IDPs. Commit to implementing this new approach through coherent international, regional and national efforts that recognize both the humanitarian and development challenges of displacement. Commit to take the necessary political, policy, legal and financial steps required to address these challenges for the specific context.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Commit to promote and support safe, dignified and durable solutions for internally displaced persons and refugees. Commit to do so in a coherent and measurable manner through international, regional and national programs and by taking the necessary policy, legal and financial steps required for the specific contexts and in order to work towards a target of 50 percent reduction in internal displacement by 2030.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Acknowledge the global public good provided by countries and communities which are hosting large numbers of refugees. Commit to providing communities with large numbers of displaced population or receiving large numbers of returnees with the necessary political, policy and financial, support to address the humanitarian and socio-economic impact. To this end, commit to strengthen multilateral financing instruments. Commit to foster host communities' self-reliance and resilience, as part of the comprehensive and integrated approach outlined in core commitment 1.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Commit to collectively work towards a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees to safeguard the rights of refugees, while also effectively and predictably supporting States affected by such movements.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Commit to actively work to uphold the institution of asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. Commit to support further accession to and strengthened implementation of national, regional and international laws and policy frameworks that ensure and improve the protection of refugees and IDPs, such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol or the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala convention) or the Guiding Principles on internal displacement.
  • Leave No One Behind

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Between 2008 and 2014, 184 million people were displaced by natural disasters. In 2015 over 65 million people were forcibly displaced by conflicts, for 17 years on average. This unprecedented displacement and its protracted nature calls for actions that address its root causes, while seeking sustainable and durable solutions. FAO is committed to promote peaceful and inclusive societies as well as more sustainable responses to bridge the humanitarian and development divide and harness the development potential of host and displaced populations, particularly of women and youth.

  • Achievements at a glance

    FAO provided technical inputs to the UN Secretary General's Report “In Safety and Dignity: Addressing large Movements of Refugees and Migrants” and to the UN General Assembly “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants”. FAO also developed and piloted its Early Warning Early Action System to monitor risks and act early to prevent or mitigate dynamics which could lead to crises and displacement. In the field, FAO and partners implemented more than 90 projects to support displaced and host populations in 2016. FAO supported the adoption of preventive and preparatory measures and took rapid action to address the most pressing needs of those affected, particularly in terms of food security and rehabilitation of agricultural livelihoods. Interventions also enhanced individuals’ capacities, particularly women and youth, to better cope with shocks and overcome the displacement-induced vulnerabilities that prevented them from seizing development opportunities.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    FAO adopts a dynamic and participatory M&E approach in the context of a revised strategic framework, to keep track on proposed outcome and outputs, related indicators and targets. A dash-board approach is used to illustrate if delivery at outcome and output level is on track, ahead of schedule or delayed. Progress in achieving targets is measured on a 6-monthly and annual basis. Appropriate and inclusive channels for feedback are available to affected communities through each phase of the project cycle, including monitoring, to enable populations affected by displacement to play an active role in processes that affect them.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    1.In crisis-contexts, access to beneficiaries might be hindered by wide-spread violence.
    2. Protracted fragility can constrain the development of durable solutions for displaced.
    3.In some situations, humanitarian support might be perceived as unequally distributed to the benefits of the displaced and fuel tensions with local communities.
    4.The comprehensiveness, quality and reliability of data on displacement is not always adequate to inform preventive, preparatory and responsive measures.
    5.Despite the availability of early warning analysis, early action is often hindered by lack of funding or willingness to act when there is a degree of uncertainty of the outcome.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    FAO will continue to provide support to the forcibly displaced and their hosts in the most affected regions and to pilot the EWEA system, gathering evidence and lessons learned from its practical application. In 2017, EWEA will be made available to other high risk countries. FAO remains engaged to implement the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants contributing to the process leading to the adoption of the Global Compacts on Refugees and on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration. A corporate evidence generation plan will inform research on rural out-migration trends, its determinants and consequences, including in protracted crises situations.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Reduce and address displacement', what would it be

    Most drivers of violence, resulting in displacement and protracted situations are structural developmental, economic and political. Substantial improvements only come about by addressing the root causes. Monitoring/acting early with the first signs of a deteriorating situation can mitigate the impact of crises.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Accountability to affected people ☑ Food Security ☑ IDPs ☑ Refugees

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Commitment to Action: Transcending the humanitarian - development divide ☑ Global Partnership for Preparedness

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4B - Anticipate, do not wait, for crises ☑ 4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

3D
Empower and protect women and girls

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to build on and strengthen women's knowledge and capacities to meaningfully involve them in the design, monitoring and delivery of targeted projects, programmes and policy support to better meet the needs of women and girls in humanitarian action.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO commits to provide increased numbers of womens groups with capacity development support to facilitate rural womens access to services, knowledge and economic opportunities by 2018.
  • Capacity
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO commits to empowering women and their organizations, promoting equal rights and participation for women and men, girls and boys, and addressing gender inequalities, by following the guidance laid out in the Committee on World Food Security's Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises (CFS-FFA).
  • Capacity
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO commits to identifying and analyzing, through the use of sex and age disaggregated data, the different vulnerabilities and challenges women and men of all ages face, and scale up evidence-based gender-responsive programming in order to generate a long-term impact on livelihoods and resilience.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO commits to implement the findings and recommendations of the IASC Gender Policy Review.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO commits to increase deployment of women facilitators and field staff to improve outreach to women, e.g. through training women as community vaccinators, animal health workers, extension officers, facilitators, and through strategic local partnerships with women's organizations.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • FAO commits to prioritize supporting organizations and activities that advance women's access to nutritious food and their access to and control over land and other productive resources; strengthening rural women's organizations and networks; increasing women's participation and leadership in rural institutions; incorporating knowledge of agriculture into programmes and projects; and ensuring the development of technologies and services that reduce women's work burden.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Empower Women and Girls as change agents and leaders, including by increasing support for local women's groups to participate meaningfully in humanitarian action.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the Outcome documents of their review conferences for all women and adolescent girls in crisis settings.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Ensure that humanitarian programming is gender responsive.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Fully comply with humanitarian policies, frameworks and legally binding documents related to gender equality, women's empowerment, and women's rights.
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Gender equality is central to FAO's mandate to achieve food security for all and reduce rural poverty, which requires sustained efforts to empower and protect women and girls. FAO is committed to strengthen and monitor efforts made to support this transformation.

  • Achievements at a glance

    FAO recruited a gender statistics officer to improve methodologies to collect and analyse sex and age disaggregated data with the aim of scaling-up evidence based gender-responsive programming; released a gender-responsive disaster risk reduction guide for policy makers and practitioners to support gender-responsive policies and action plans for DRR in the agriculture sector; released a Guidance Note to support efforts made under the Committee on Food Security Framework for Action to address gender equality and assess linkages with food security, nutrition and sustainable peace building, making women and girls as agents of change; and produced a GBV Guidance and Brief. Continued active promotion of FAO’s Gender Policy is needed to mainstream gender, or where the gender gap is too wide, to undertake specific activities targeting women.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Limited financial and human resources to better support country requests in new emerging areas of work (protection and GBV).

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Focus on capacity development to enhance country and staff capacities to better address gender issues; wide dissemination of new resources and tools; support gender-responsive policy-making and planning to respond to and prevent crises and disasters, and build sustainable peace; strengthening gender work in humanitarian action with increased attention and resources to L3 emergencies; and further developing tools to collect sex-disaggregated data on vulnerability and resilience measurement.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Gender ☑ Social protection

4A
Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to build and strengthen strategic partnerships with governments, local actors and well as UN partners to enhance their capacity to effectively address prevention and response to crises, including through shock-responsive social protection systems.
  • Partnership
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to ensuring that local capacities are reinforced and not replaced, and accordingly that greater roles and responsibilities are entrusted to local organizations and local actors in resilience programming, design, implementation and monitoring.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to identifying and supporting transformative approaches in humanitarian situations that encourage meaningful participation by women and girls in local action and decision-making, e.g. through farmer field schools and other community-based participatory approaches.
  • Policy
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to reassessing its corporate mechanisms for partnership and financial engagement with NGOs, by introducing new administrative mechanisms and supporting the Charter for Change.
  • Financial
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to scaling up its work on the role of social protection in fragile contexts, as well as engagement in social protection work, through operational research on cash and livelihoods work in over 15 countries by the end of 2017.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to strengthen capacities in the agricultural sectors of countries and communities to benefit from social protection and risk transfer pools.
  • Capacity
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to support agriculture-based livelihoods in conflict situations, helping people who decide to stay on their land to be productive, contributing to food security and resilience outcomes.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to support men and women in over 45 countries with improved application of integrated and/or sector-specific standards, technologies and practices for resilience measurement, vulnerability reduction, risk prevention, and preparedness with a particular focus on countries recurrently exposed to natural hazards and protracted crisis situations, and in line with principles of the Committee on World Food Security's Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises (CFS-FFA).
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to support the strengthening of early warning related to agriculture, food security and nutrition to inform the design of shock-responsive social protection systems.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to translate into operational terms the goal of cash-based delivery of assistance as preferred method, where the context allows.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Commit to reinforce national and local leadership and capacities in managing disaster and climate-related risks through strengthened preparedness and predictable response and recovery arrangements.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Commit to increase investment in building community resilience as a critical first line of response, with the full and effective participation of women.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Commit to ensure regional and global humanitarian assistance for natural disasters complements national and local efforts.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Under the framework of the WHS and the Grand Bargain, FAO made relevant commitments in order to enhance resilience capacities at all levels of the vulnerable population. FAO aimed to scale-up its work on social protection in fragile contexts to strengthen national systems - based on a risk-informed shock-responsive approach - and use them for the delivery of additional aid in times of need, as well as to build resilient livelihoods. Cash-based interventions have shown to be an essential tool to achieve FAO's mandate, strengthen FAO and partner operational capacities and foster innovation.

  • Achievements at a glance

    FAO has conducted in-depth resilience analyses in 10 countries, particularly in the context of protracted crisis. FAO’s holistic approach to resilience and social protection incorporates gender-based violence guidance, Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools, and Dimitra Clubs in order to strengthen women’s participation, leadership and resilience-building in rural areas. Moreover, on prevention and early action, capacities have continued with the pilot of the Early Warning Early Action system to monitor livelihood threats in collaboration with national authorities and trigger relevant actions before the crisis becomes an emergency. At country-level, FAO is working with the Ministries of Agriculture in 6 Sub-Saharan African countries to reinforce the links between social protection, agriculture and food and nutrition security policies. FAO has continued its support to cash capacity development and programming and impact analysis on cash interventions.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Progress will be assessed on the adoption of national scale-up approaches and policies to link social protection, agriculture and resilience.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    There are limitations on human and financial resources for country-level support concerning gender-sensitive approaches and women's leadership, which affects the potential impact of available tools and strategies. Moreover, there are constraints on capacity development for social protection and agricultural policies at a technical level.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    FAO will continue investing in risk-informed shock-responsive social protection systems. Capacity building events and assessments to support governments in policy-making and to reinforce the agricultural productivity-resilience linkages. FAO will continue promoting transformative approaches and good practices with the roll-out of the Gender-based Violence Guidance. In regards to cash coordination, joint work will be undertaken between FAO and WFP (as co-leads of the Global Food Security Cluster- gFSC) in the Cash and Market Working Group (CMWG),as well as the contribution to webinars conducted by the gFSC Cash and CMWG.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems', what would it be

    A stronger evidence-base is required to better support policy and decision-making processes. Further investments are needed for protecting livelihoods through social protection measures, strengthening risk monitoring and mitigative action in order to reinforce resilience and reduce the need for external assistance.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Cash ☑ Gender ☑ Social protection

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3D - Empower and protect women and girls

4B
Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

Joint Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Together with WHO and OIE, FAO commits to combatting emerging pandemic threats of animal origin and high impact animal diseases by adopting more effective health risk management strategies, as part of integrated and multisectoral approaches (e.g. One Health).


  • Policy
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
Partners: WHO, World Organisation for Animal Health
  • FAO commits, by the end of 2016, in partnership with the Rome-based UN Agencies and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), to agree on joint steps, within defined timelines, to ensure early collective action related to future El Nino and La Nina events, resource partners, and early investment in preparedness and resilience initiatives.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
Partners: WFP, IFAD, OCHA

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks that impact food and agriculture through enhanced support to 30 countries in the coherent implementation of relevant global frameworks on disaster risk reduction, climate change and sustainable development by mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into agricultural policies that are inclusive, gender-sensitive and people-centred.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to contribute to the achievement of collective outcomes like the A2R Initiative of the UNSG, the Global Preparedness Partnership, the Rome-based UN Agencies initiative for resilience, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) One Billion Coalition for Resilience to strengthen the resilience of 1 billion people by 2025.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to enhancing coordination and improved investment programming for risk reduction and crisis management in at least 15 countries by the end of 2017.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to improve the understanding, anticipation and preparedness for climate and food chain related risks, disasters and crises by investing in data, analysis and information and early warning systems like the Information for Nutrition Food Security and Resilience for Decision Making (INFORMED), the Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS), the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES), and LOCUSTWATCH, and developing evidence-based decision-making processes that result in risk reduction and early action. An innovative Early Warning Early Action system will be rolled out in 30 disaster-or crisis-prone countries over the next five years.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to improving data and evidence building through resilience and vulnerability mapping, measurement and analysis to better inform policy and investment decisions, and to make this information open and accessible, particularly through multi-partner mechanisms such as the Global Food Security Cluster.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to increasing the number of joint risk and threat monitoring mechanisms and systems supported by the Organization and partners to enhance delivery of early warnings related to agriculture, food security and nutrition, which may mitigate instability and conflict - e.g. on climate change, food price volatility, food insecurity, and food chain crises - and to making this information publicly available and to shape humanitarian and development responses.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to institutionalize a mechanism to monitor damages and losses caused by disasters and crises to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries to better inform policy decision-making.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • Commit to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks through the coherent implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as other relevant strategies and programs of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to improve the understanding, anticipation and preparedness for disaster and climate-related risks by investing in data, analysis and early warning, and developing evidence-based decision-making processes that result in early action.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Despite a notable increase in the incidence of disasters and crises worldwide and their strong effect on agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture there is limited data available and no clear understanding about the economic impact of such events on the sector. Natural disasters occur nearly five times as often as 40 years ago, with increasing cost to local economies, livelihoods and lives. FAO made commitments in recognition of its role in increasing information availability and management for improved, more cost-efficient and anticipatory preparedness, response and programming.

  • Achievements at a glance

    FAO developed a damage and loss assessment methodology and produced two case studies to assess the impact of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines (2012) and Ethiopia’s 2011 drought using this methodology. FAO-promoted food security/vulnerability mapping (e.g. Integrated Food Security Phased Classification (IPC) has been regularly utilized to inform humanitarian responses and resilience programming in over 30 countries particularly in the Sahel, Horn of Africa and Southern Africa. FAO has facilitated and provided technical and financial support to Member Countries’ line agencies towards the development of sectoral DRR/M plans. FAO continued to develop and pilot (Paraguay, Kenya and Madagascar) its Early Warning-Early Action System (EWEA) which translates forecasts and early warnings into anticipatory action. Together with OCHA, FAO has been leading an inter-agency initiative to develop Standard Operating Procedures for monitoring and early action for El Nino events.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Progress for FAO commitment on damage and losses is tracked based on a combination of quantifiable targets and a set of strategic goals. On DRR and climate related risk commitments, progress is tracked based on co-benefits for policy-making processes and resilience of rural livelihoods, such as integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction frameworks. Part of the EWEA work in 2017 will be to devise a M&E methodology specifically calibrated to derive the cost benefit of the input-based early actions. In other words, to deliver a quantitative estimate of the cost effectiveness of acting early.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    - Alignment with strategic priorities, particularly at the highest political level is critical.
    - Clear understanding by governments of the nexus between disaster risks, climate change adaptation and sustainable development is considered as a gap.
    - Data availability and data collection constraints in member countries; coordination with relevant partners, in particular related to the establishment and standardization of a general damage and loss methodology; ensuring consistency with international monitoring principles and processes.
    - Often early action is hindered by lack of funding or willingness to act when there is a degree of uncertainty of the outcome.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Complete, publish and disseminate the second report on Impact of Disasters on Agriculture; finalize the first round of data collection and establish a damage and loss from disasters database; undertake a third case study on the damage and loss assessment methodology. Mainstream Disaster Risk Reduction linked to Climate Change Adaptation into the national sectoral plans, policies and strategies.

    EWEA will be made available to other 30 high risk countries, both to FAO and national government, covering a wider range of risks in addition to climatic risks. FAO continues to pilot the EWEA system gathering evidence and lessons learned.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Disaster Risk Reduction ☑ Food Security

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Global Partnership for Preparedness

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

4C
Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to adopt a new model of working, based on a coordinated analysis of vulnerability as well as other tools and processes such as multi-year planning that enable humanitarian-development collaboration to meet humanitarian needs, and reduce people's risk and vulnerability and increase resilience at national levels.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to continue working with national and regional bodies in over 40 countries in developing capacities for food security and nutrition information analysis and resilience measurement, e.g. under the joint European Union-FAO country driven information on Food Security, Nutrition and Resilience for Decision Making programme.
  • Capacity
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to effectively link financial contributions to ensure multi-year humanitarian planning and programming through its corporate Country Programming Framework to cover the full risk management cycle, with an explicit prioritization of prevention and resilience building, and to incorporate exit strategies linked to more involvement of development and other planning and programming.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO commits to engaging in joint vulnerability and needs assessments that are articulated around a resilience framework and strategic collective outcomes.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
  • FAO recommits to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security. The right to food and the human rights-based approach are part of the corporate commitments of FAO under its 2010-2019 strategic framework, and are substantively interrelated with other cross-cutting issues in the various areas of work of FAO, such as governance, gender and nutrition.
  • Advocacy
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    FAO commits to the New Way of Working to ensure that all parts of the UN system, based on comparative advantage, work together towards jointly defined collective outcomes, over the short, medium, and long-term, and set out clear roles and responsibilities around delivering against those outcomes. FAO believes that engaging in joint vulnerability and needs assessments with national governments and UN partners, will help to work in a more coordinated and transparent way. FAO supports governments and other stakeholders to build an enabling environment for the progressive realization of the right to adequate food.

  • Achievements at a glance

    FAO has been actively involved in various joint vulnerability and needs assessments conducted worldwide. FAO participates in the work stream on harmonizing needs assessments to ensure a coordinated analysis of vulnerability and other tools. FAO is supporting, with OCHA and NRC (through the IASC Task Team on Humanitarian Financing), a study on the analysis of multi-year funding and its implications for humanitarian organizations. Over 30 countries were supported in developing their own capacities on food security and resilience analysis. Particularly relevant have been the related partnership efforts with regional bodies such as IGAD, CILSS, SADC and SICA. Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Nepal are in process of recognizing the right to food (RtF). Colombia’s Peace Agreement includes the RtF as a key element and there are specific commitments to develop policies and an institutions to ensure the realization and guarantee of the RtF.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    FAO analyses all the joint assessments in which it has participated in order to understand the main achievements of the various partnerships. The Right to Adequate Food work is part of FAO’s strategic framework; its monitoring framework is results oriented and the indicators include qualifiers that allow measurement of incremental advances in food security and nutrition policy processes.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    One of the greatest challenges is to reach a compromise among all actors involved, so that each can have part of their own priorities reflected in the work to be conducted jointly. This requires a developed sense of diplomacy among stakeholders and a clear commitment to first of all serving the population in need of support. Another challenge is to ensure that the accountability of the affected population is part of these joint efforts. On the right to food: Demand driven support to policy processes require flexibility and patience of all the stakeholders, including resource partners.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    The main step for advancing implementation in 2017 will be to strengthen the existing partnerships and to build additional links with other relevant key actors.This step can be achieved through good practices of communication and coordination as well as the sharing and dissemination of information. Finally contributing to the Grand Bargain and its commitment N.5 (improve joint and impartial needs assessments) will also be a good practice in order to fulfill FAO's WHS related commitment. Continue providing support and expand implementation of the Right to Food Voluntary Guidelines.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides', what would it be

    Build on what countries and stakeholders have achieved.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Food Security

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑New Way of Working ☑ Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑2B - Ensure full access to and protection of the humanitarian and medical missions

5A
Invest in local capacities

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to strengthening the mechanisms for coordination at country level and globally to maximize policy coherence and a common theory of change across pooled funds and advocate for sustained capitalization of pooled funds.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    The FAO and WFP co-led global Food Security Cluster (gFSC) works in close partnership with more than 60 NGOs, donors, other clusters and academia. Given the diverse expertise and innovative capacity of its partners, the gFSC has clear comparative advantages and strong catalytic potential at both global and country levels to translate commitments into action. Particularly, potential is noted in the Grand Bargain Workstreams related to localisation, impartial and joint needs assessments and enhanced engagement between humanitarian and development actors.

  • Achievements at a glance

    The gFSC and international NGO Welthungerhilfe started a joint video project in 2016 with support from the German Federal Foreign Office. The video will highlight the importance of partnering in humanitarian crises with local governments and other stakeholders, how local partners can get involved in Food Security Clusters in countries and collaborate in different humanitarian crises and responses. The video will be available soon and will be used as a tool to raise awareness, create dialogue (especially to identify capacity building needs) and strengthen participation of local actors in country clusters.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    The gFSC will focus on some concrete deliverables, such as: (i) collect good practices and share lessons learned on local partnership; (ii) apply the gFSC/Welthungerhilfe video project as a tool and advocate the engagement of local actors more proactively; (iii) map who is doing what with the NGO partners to tap into their strengths, and (iv) pilot innovative approaches to engage local partners at country level.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Reaching the most vulnerable for proper needs assessment always presents various challenges related to access, security, infrastructure and willingness of stakeholders; to the extent possible partners should try to collaborate to mitigate these challenges.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Localisation has been included in the gFSC Strategic Plan 2017-19 under Result 4. Under that focus area, gFSC will continue serving as a hub for partners, including local partners and mainstream localization into its core business and provide guidance in collaboration with IASC and others, who are already involved for example in the development of a baseline or localisation marker. gFSC will also analyse how engagement of local actors could be optimized by reviewing different country coordination models.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Invest in local capacities', what would it be

    Translating these commitments into concrete actions requires pragmatism and collaboration. Investment in coordination mechanisms, like the gFSC, at the country and global levels will ensure a more holistic and more coherent approach to meeting the commitments.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Food Security

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems ☑ 4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

5B
Invest according to risk

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to expanding its work, together with its partners in the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, on forecast-based financing and risk financing with members of the SPIAC-B on developing shock-responsive social protection mechanisms.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks through the coherent implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as other relevant strategies and programs of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to invest in risk management, preparedness and crisis prevention capacity to build the resilience of vulnerable and affected people.
  • Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    FAO's relevant commitments under this transformation reinforces its existing corporate mandate and its strategic objective, as it relates to building resilience of livelihoods to threats and shocks. Investing in risk mitigation measures – both long term (DRR) and disaster specific short term (Early Warning Early Action systems) is part of this approach, aimed at limiting the effects of disasters on communities and enabling them to become more resilient over time.

  • Achievements at a glance

    FAO worked closely with its partner the Red Cross Climate Centre and the German Red Cross in advancing the Forecast Based Financing (FbF) concept globally. Through participation in the FbF Global Dialogue Platform, experiences and ideas were shared and the basis was set for future close collaboration both at global and also at field level through joint or collaborative pilots. The first of such pilots was in January 2017 in the Pacific sub-region. In addition to this, in Vietnam FAO worked with the German Red Cross to design a community based Forecast based Financing project, to be implemented in 2017.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    FAO will continue to actively take part in the FbF Dialogue platform, both globally and at regional level. In addition to this, FAO will work closely with the Red Cross partners on joint country level pilot programmes (e.g. in Philippines in second half of 2017) as well as on global initiatives such as the Inter Agency Standard Operating Procedures on El Nino/La Nina.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Innovation

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4B - Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

5D
Finance outcomes, not fragmentation: shift from funding to financing

Joint Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to, together with OCHA, UNDP, the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office and the Multilateral Development Banks, including the World Bank, towards an integrated framework for funding in and for protracted crisis that supports a drive towards greater alignment across humanitarian, development, peace and human rights actors, and captures various sources of financing.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity
Partners: OCHA, UNDP-MPTF Office, Multilateral Development Banks, including the World Bank

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO commits to promote flexible and un-earmarked funding mechanisms to better strengthen coherence of interventions and adjust to the evolution of needs.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity
  • FAO commits to removing the internal institutional barriers between humanitarian and development finance, both at headquarters and at country level, in order to mobilize the right mix of humanitarian and development finance to end needs.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to enable coherent financing that avoids fragmentation by supporting collective outcomes over multiple years, supporting those with demonstrated comparative advantage to deliver in context.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
  • Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to broaden and adapt the global instruments and approaches to meet urgent needs, reduce risk and vulnerability and increase resilience, without adverse impact on humanitarian principles and overall action (as also proposed in Round Table on "Changing Lives").
  • Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    FAO acknowledged the importance of working towards an integrated framework for funding protracted crisis that supports greater alignment across humanitarian, development, peace and human rights actors and captures various sources of financing.

  • Achievements at a glance

    FAO and UNDP wrote a joint paper on humanitarian financing in protracted crisis which is being used as the basis for the on-going discussions (Copenhagen conference on humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus, 2017). Dedicated efforts were deployed over 2016 with the aim of increasing the number of donors directly contributing to FAO's Special Fund for Emergencies and Rehabilitation activities (SFERA-un-earmarked pooled fund) and promoting the newly established Early Action window which was presented to the FAO Governing Bodies. Finally, a dedicated publication was produced to demonstrate the added value of un-earmarked contributions from Belgium to SFERA.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    At global level, advocacy for SFERA contributions will be amplified with selected donors. Specific credit will be attributed to donors making un-earmarked contribution in the SFERA reports submitted to FAO governing bodies on a yearly basis. At country level, the development of multi-year resilience strategies will also be further promoted and dialogue with donors will be pursued to mobilise un-earmarked resources in support of resilience country programme.

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑New Way of Working ☑ Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑5E - Diversify the resource base and increase cost-efficiency

5E
Diversify the resource base and increase cost-efficiency

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • FAO is committed to implementing the commitments under the Grand Bargain, particularly on improving transparency through its participation in International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
  • Commit to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
  • Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    In April 2016, FAO became a signatory to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). FAO has committed to start reporting its development expenditures by April 2017. This resulted from an increasing need for transparency to Member States and donors, and to contribute to a global initiative that would enable funders and implementing partners to identify current activities, gaps, and potential synergies and partnerships.

  • Achievements at a glance

    In December 2016, FAO secured project funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support organizations in reporting their aid projects related to Agriculture, and Food and Nutrition Security by creating tools, sharing reporting experiences, and updating international classification. Since then, FAO has formed an inter-departmental task team; consulted with the IATI secretariat on reporting requirements and plans; and advanced significantly in creating a database to publish to IATI standards, field projects/activities operationally active as of 31 December 2016. This database will meet the IATI reporting requirements, and be published according to IATI standards by 30 April 2017.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    The FAO IATI Task Team established a workplan and deadlines to meet the April 2017 publication requirements for IATI. Tasks are currently on track, governance and clearance processes agreed upon, and communication strategies under development to meet the target deadline.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Most of the challenges had to deal with understanding the IATI standards, agreeing on the scope of the initial phase of publication, and in applying statistical classifications. These challenges were addressed by consulting with IATI and statistical experts, respectively. More significant challenges exist in automating and increasing the frequency of FAO publication of its development expenditures and activities.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    FAO plans to report its aid project to IATI, for the first time ever, in April 2017. At that time the internal FAO IATI task team will also submit an internal proposal that will support ongoing quarterly reporting to IATI of FAO aid projects. In 2017, FAO will submit a formal proposal to the OECD to expand and update its classifications to facilitate AID reporting to both the OECD and IATI. Over the next two years, FAO will also build an Agriculture Investment Vocabulary/Multi-lingual thesauri, to include relevant classifications, in order to facilitate organizations in compiling and reporting ...

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Diversify the resource base and increase cost-efficiency', what would it be

    Accurate publication of current and forward-looking development or aid expenditure activities to IATI is essential for identifying international resource flows, gaps and synergies, particularly in the context of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 and the Grand Bargain.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑People-centred approach

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Grand Bargain