FAO and ILO share a commitment to support people-centred, sustainable development and fair and inclusive globalization. Attention is given to improving, in a balanced, participatory and equitable way, the main assets of the poor - their human, social, natural, physical and financial resources. The primary goal of ILO is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. The primary goal of FAO is to contribute to the reduction and eventual elimination of hunger and rural poverty through the sustainable development of agriculture, rural areas and their natural resources.

A coordinated strategy is a critical option in order to complement and enhance the work currently being carried out by each organisation, respectively, on labour and agriculture and rural development and promote rural work.

ILO and FAO working together: a lasting collaboration

ILO and FAO have a long history of collaboration dating back to 1947. Based on a shared commitment to people-centred sustainable development, fair and inclusive globalization, FAO and ILO have joined forces to strengthen their impact on rural development and poverty reduction. Areas of joint action include the following:

• Decent Employment for the Rural Poor
• Child Labour in Agriculture
• Youth Employment
• Cooperatives and Producers' Organizations
• Small and Medium Enterprises
• Rural Workers
• Safety and Health
• Sustainable Livelihoods and Emergencies
• Sectoral issues in agriculture (crop production, fisheries and forestry)
• Labour statistics
• Areas of potential collaboration, such as migration, indigenous peoples, HIV/AIDS, land tenure, livestock and avian influenza.

The most recent Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and ILO, signed in September 2004, provides the institutional framework for increased cooperation between the two organizations. Action areas prioritised by the Memorandum are the follow-up to major global conferences, the promotion of fair and inclusive globalisation and the promotion of sustainable agriculture and rural development. This "Food, Agriculture and Decent Work" website has been designed to give visibility to the collaboration between the two organizations in this framework, and offers information regarding their joint activities, highlighting the linkages between employment, rural development and food security.

The FAO/ILO joint work undertaken in the framework of the MoU will be also presented in the coming months:

• to the International Labour Conference in June 2008, which will include a general discussion on the promotion of rural employment for poverty reduction based on an integrated approach.

• to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which in 2008-09 will focus on agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification, and Africa.