The four international agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), have signed a groundbreaking agreement to strengthen cooperation to sustainably balance and optimize the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment.
On 17 March 2022, the heads of the four organizations – QU Dongyu, the Director-General of FAO, Monique Eloit, the Director-General of OIE, Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of UNEP, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of WHO -signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for joint One Health works, by which UNEP joined the former Tripartite (FAO, OIE and WHO) as an equal partner to form a new Quadripartite Collaboration for One Health.
The new Quadripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) provides a legal and formal framework for the four organizations to tackle the challenges at the human, animal, plant and ecosystem interface using a more integrated and coordinated approach. This framework will also contribute to reinforce national and regional health systems and services.
