International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

1. In the past year, has the governing body of your organization taken any decisions to advance sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and ensure that no one is left behind? If yes, please briefly mention these decisions taken by your governing body in 2024 and provide the respective symbols. (max 200 words)

IFAD’s Executive Board and Governing Council have continued to advance sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions in alignment with the 2030 Agenda. 

Key decisions in 2024 include: 

• Approval of five new country strategies (COSOPs), as well as loans and grants to enhance rural resilience and agricultural development.
• Adoption of IFAD’s 2025–2030 Private Sector Operational Strategy to support a progressively higher ambition in terms of the mobilization of private finance and positive impact on IFAD’s target group and in service of the SDGs and food system transformation.
• Strategic investments in digital solutions for financial inclusion in rural areas. 

• Throughout 2024, IFAD consulted its Member States on key priorities, commitments, and anticipated results for the the Thirteenth Replenishment of IFAD’s Resources, Investing in Rural Prosperity and Resilience for a Food-Secure Future, which outlines IFAD’s priorities for the period 2025-2027 and the need to invest in ambitious and lasting solutions to respond to the current crisis and build rural people’s resilience for a food-secure future for all.

   

2. During 2024, what actions have your entities taken to improve coordination among UN system entities across policy and normative activities as well as with ECOSOC subsidiary bodies with a view to increase impact and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda? Please provide any relevant links.  (max 200 words)

IFAD is both a UN specialized 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 (RBAs) – the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)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. Collaboration between RBAs is structured through a formal, tri-partite MoU. Highlightsof this collaboration in 2024 include:

• Joint production of the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, a joint publication between IFAD, FAO and WFP, as well as UNICEF and WHO.
• The RBAs actively engaged in and supported the development of a four-year (2024-2027) Multi-Year Programme of Work for the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), which develops and endorses policy recommendations and guidance on a wide range of food security and nutrition topics employing a multi-stakeholder approach.
• All three RBAs participate in the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), including through knowledge-sharing, development of joint messaging, and other activities
• IFAD and FAO partnered to inform capacity building and thought leadership through courses offered by the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability (EIIS). In 2024, they promoted RBA messaging on behavioural science to EIIS students.
• The RBAs also have strong collaboration at country level, leveraging UNSDCFs as planning mechanisms to engage wider UN Country Teams to coordinate towards Agrifood Systems Transformation.
• IFAD and FAO co-lead the 2019-2028 UN Decade of Family Farming and its implementation. In 2024, they co-organized the Global Family Farming Forum, to assess progress on the first five years of implementation of the Decade, and set the key priorities for the remaining five years of implementation.

Further, IFAD worked to strongly align with other UN system actors at the global and country levels, including through engagement of IFAD’s President and other Senior Leadership in the UN Chief Executives’ Board and its Sub-Committees, including the High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) and the High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM). Throughout 2024, IFAD co-chaired an HLCM Task Force on the use of Artificial Intelligence in the UN System resulting in a series of recommendations for the Chief Executives’ Board. 

Throughout 2024, IFAD also worked to coordinate with other UN Agencies in-country and ensured that all approved country strategies aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs) to ensure alignment of work with the broader UN system at country level. 

3. In the past year, has your organization organized any intergovernmentally mandated conferences, forums or events that contributed to the achievement of the SDGs, or has been in the process of planning and organizing any such mandated events to be held next year? 

4. In the past year, has your organization published or planned to publish any analytical work, guidance or reference materials, or toolkits to guide and support the implementation of SDGs at national, regional and global levels? Please select up to three to highlight, especially those that address interlinkages among the SDGs. 

 

5. The United Nations has defined six key transitions, or transformative entry points, that can have catalytic and multiplier effects across the SDGs and which have been guiding the UN development system work since the 2023 SDG Summit. In the past year, how has your organization contributed to these transformative actions and how various actors are being rallied behind them to mobilize further leadership and investment to bring progress to scale? Please provide any relevant links. (max 200 words under each transition)

1)Food systems

Throughout 2024, IFAD has continued work to eradicate poverty and hunger by investing in poor rural people, including through the approval of US$276 million in loans and grants, with all financing dedicated towards food systems. IFAD has also engaged through several international fora to inform discussions and build communities of support and engagement to accelerate investments in agrifood systems, including:

• In 2024, IFAD provided technical contributions to the deliberations of multi-stakeholder Committee on World Food Security, including by informing the body’s Multi-Year Work Plan.
• In 2024, IFAD advanced its work, together with the WB, around tracking financial flows to food systems transformation. In particular, and in preparation for the UNFSS+4, IFAD and the WB committed to deliver on three interconnected priorities over 2024-26: (i) Scale up access to the 3FS in response to country requests for analytical tools on financing to food systems; (ii) IFI collaborative in response to the UN SG calls to step up development financing for food systems, showcasing results at the FfD and FSS+4; and (iii) Showcase high impact initiatives bringing together government, IFIs and private sector finance and game-changing financial instruments to support food systems transforming providing opportunities for domestic agri-businesses.
• The G20: in 2024, IFAD supported the launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, contributing several examples to the Alliance’s policy basket.
• The G7: in 2024, IFAD supported and informed the work of the G7 including through the IFAD President’s participation in the G7 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting, and active engagement through the Food Security Working Group.
• IFAD houses, in collaboration with the AFD, the Agri-PDB Platform, a peer learning and exchange network of national-level Public Development Banks that work entirely in or have significant portfolios within agriculture. The Agri-PDB Platform held regular meetings throughout 2024. An initiative launched under the Finance in Common Initiative of Public Development Banks, during 2024 the platform was featured during a side event at the second FfD4 Preparatory Committee Meeting in order to inform deliberations of negotiators.
• In 2024, IFAD worked to support and inform deliberations and preparations in advance of the 2025 Fourth International Conference of Financing for Development (FfD4), by: engaging in the Conference’s first and second preparatory meetings to provide evidence behind the importance of financing agrifood systems, as well as key challenges (e.g. the need for dedicated, tailored risk mitigation instruments). 

2)Energy access and affordability

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3)Digital connectivity

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4)Education

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5)Jobs and social protection

• IFAD co-leads, together with ILO and CARE the Decent Work for Equitable food Systems Coalition, launched in 2021 during the UNFSS with the aim at fostering equitable livelihoods. In 2024, the Coalition took an active part in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS52), which took place on 23 November at the FAO premises in Rome. The discussion focused on “Promoting Decent Work in Agriculture and Food Systems”. The session highlighted the importance of agriculture and food systems in creating decent and productive jobs, as well as the importance of harnessing this potential to achieve the SDGs and to contribute to the realization of the right to adequate food.

6)Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution

• IFAD and FAO co-led the Global Environment Facility’s USD 260 million Food Systems Integrated Programme, which launched in 2024 and supports food system transformation in 32 countries with an emphasis on resilience, nature-positive practices, and climate mitigation.

6.  Please provide strategies (policies, guidance, plan) and/or collective actions taken to implement the 2024 Ministerial Declaration of the Economic and Social Council and the high-level political forum on sustainable development convened under the auspices of the Council. Please note any challenges foreseen and provide any relevant links.  (max 200 words) 

• In the 2024 Ministerial Declaration, Member States reaffirmed their commitment to ending hunger, malnutrition, and poverty particularly rural poverty, which lies at the heart of IFAD’s mandate. As the only specialized UN agency and international financial institution focused exclusively on rural development, IFAD supports Member States in translating these global commitments into concrete results on the ground. Through its investments, technical assistance and partnerships, IFAD works to overcome hunger and poverty by empowering rural people, particularly small-scale producers, women, and youth.

• The delivery of the Thirteenth Replenishment of IFAD’s resources (IFAD13) is key to fulfill the commitments of the 2024 Ministerial Declaration. For IFAD 13 Member States have committed an unprecedented over US$1.4 billion in support of a three-year programme of work (2025-2027) that  prioritizes three core areas: (1) private sector engagement to unlock rural investment and market access; (2) climate change adaptation to build resilience; and (3) enhanced support to fragile contexts to sustain rural communities. In addition, IFAD also plays a global leadership role in ensuring that gender, youth, social inclusion, and nutrition are central to its impact. By strengthening its engagement with women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and persons with disabilities—and partnering with civil society, farmers’ organizations, and Indigenous Peoples—IFAD ensures poor rural people are not only supported in overcoming poverty, but also empowered to drive positive change. 

7. What collective efforts is your entity undertaking to support countries in accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in the areas of Goal 3 (Good health and well-being), Goal 5 (Gender equality), Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth), Goal 14 (Life below water) and Goal 17 (Partnerships), which will go under in-depth review at the HLPF in 2025? Please note any achievements, challenges and gaps and provide any relevant links. (max 200 words) 

Throughout 2024, IFAD delivered the last year of investments for its 12^th replenishment cycle and set the policy framework and commitments for the Fund’s 13^th replenishment cycle. 

SDG 5 (gender equality): IFAD has committed to ensuring that 35% of projects under each replenishment cycle are gender transformative at design. In 2024, through its replenishment consultation, IFAD agreed to a results indicator aiming to have its investments contribute to the following result: 61 million people in households with improved women’s empowerment. IFAD’s Independent Office of Evaluation also conducted a Thematic evaluation on IFAD’s support to gender equality and women’s empowerment, covering investments between 2012 – 2023. The evaluation concluded that, while IFAD has established good practices and achieved results in promoting the economic empowerment of women and men, areas of continued challenge/for improvement included: the need to include an assessment of support to fairer distribution of workload and benefits between rural women and men; the need to reinforce efforts to address the root causes of gender inequality and leverage GEWE results through non-lending activities; and the need to develop metrics for GEWE goals and ensure adequate human resources are in place to advance its GEWE priorities.

SDG 8: During IFAD13, IFAD implemented the final year of its Rural Youth Action Plan, including its Agribusiness Hubs, which aim to support youth entrepreneurship and improve youth employment. To date, implemented in nine countries in Africa, the Programme has so far supported the creation of over 32 000 decent jobs for rural youth, equipping them with the necessary skills and resources to actively participate in local labour markets and economies. As a result, youth employment rates have increased, benefiting their communities, revitalizing rural economies, and creating sustainable pathways out of poverty for countless rural people.

SDG 17: In 2024, the RBA Senior Consultative Group (SCG) met on 19 January, hosted by IFAD, to provide strategic oversight on the implementation of the updated global tripartite Memorandum of Understanding. The meeting advanced joint priorities such as the SD3C programme, the Global Network Against Food Crises, and follow-up to the Joint Evaluation of RBA Collaboration. The SCG also supported coordinated RBA engagement in global policy fora, including preparations for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), where the agencies collectively advocated for increased investment in agrifood systems. Through these high-level engagements, the RBAs reinforced their shared commitment to delivering coherent, system-wide contributions to the 2030 Agenda.

If your organization has been part of any initiatives or multi-stakeholder partnerships in the past year that support these goals, please copy the below table to fill out for each initiative/partnership.