Press Release

Partnership is key to addressing global poverty crisis, say OPEC Fund and IFAD

107/2005 October 1, 2005 Doha, Qatar
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On the eve of the Doha consultation on the replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) resources, the crucial importance of IFAD’s partnership with the OPEC Fund for International Development has been underlined.

The alliance between the two organizations, which started almost 30 years ago in response to the world food crisis that was devastating many developing countries, is even more relevant today as the international community steps up efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In a joint publication highlighting the partnership between the OPEC Fund and IFAD, the heads of the two organizations said that, today, the world again faces a crisis that calls for effective and flexible collaboration.

“Poverty is still the single greatest threat to security and sustainable development,” said OPEC Fund Director-General Suleiman J. Al-Herbish and IFAD President Lennart Båge. “By combining resources, skills and experience, we generate synergies that make the most of our efforts to help rural poor people.”

The partnership between IFAD and the OPEC Fund also contributes to MDG 8 to develop a global partnership for development.

IFAD was created in response to a world food crisis of the mid 1970s. OPEC nations provided the will and a substantial share of the resources to establish IFAD, in partnership with the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Other developing countries also contributed.

The OPEC Fund was established in the same period to support the social and economic advancement of low-income countries and to signal the solidarity of OPEC member countries, themselves developing nations, with other countries in the developing world.

Since then, the two partners have co-financed 58 projects in over 30 countries, and more joint initiatives are in the pipeline. The OPEC Fund is the largest co-financier of IFAD-sponsored programmes and projects after the World Bank.

In Guatemala, a project co-financed by IFAD and the OPEC Fund is helping farmers increase food production and raise incomes by using new farming technologies and tools, adopting post-harvest storage methods and introducing small-scale irrigation.