Quadripartite Renews One Health Memorandum of Understanding

The World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance the One Health approach. This agreement, referred to as the Quadripartite, establishes a collaborative framework to address health challenges that exist at the interface of humans, animals, plants, and the environment.

The renewed agreement is set to remain in force until November 28, 2030. By renewing this legal and operational framework, the four organizations aim to leverage their individual mandates and comparative advantages to reduce global health risks and promote sustainable health outcomes worldwide.

Core Objectives of the One Health Approach

The One Health approach is based on the recognition of the inherent interconnectedness and interdependence of the health of humans, animals, plants, ecosystems, and the broader environment. The Quadripartite organizations are committed to coordinated, multisectoral action to manage current and emerging health threats that cross these boundaries.

The renewed MoU reinforces cooperation across several key priority areas essential for global public health and ecological stability:

• Strengthening health systems.
• Prevention, preparedness, and response to epidemics and pandemics.
• Control of neglected and endemic diseases.
• Addressing antimicrobial resistance.
• Ensuring food safety.
• Systematically integrating environmental considerations into One Health policies and actions.

Operational Framework and Guiding Principles

The collaboration is guided by a set of core principles designed to ensure that the implementation of the One Health approach is comprehensive and fair. These principles include cooperation, shared responsibility, inclusiveness, equity, and gender equality.

Under this framework, the Quadripartite will work to advance evidence-based policies. This includes providing coordinated support to partners and countries to accelerate the adoption and implementation of One Health strategies on a global scale.

Through the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on One Health, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) reaffirm their shared commitment to advancing the implementation of the One Health approach.

Joint statement on the renewed Quadripartite Memorandum of Understanding

Global Health Implications

The focus on multisectoral action reflects the complexity of modern health threats, where diseases can move between animal populations and humans or be influenced by changes in the ecosystem. By integrating environmental considerations and animal health into human health policies, the Quadripartite seeks a more holistic method of disease prevention.

The commitment to antimicrobial resistance and food safety highlights the ongoing struggle to manage pathogens that affect both livestock and humans, as well as the need for secure food chains to prevent zoonotic transmissions.

Through this collective determination, the FAO, UNEP, WHO, and WOAH intend to create a more resilient global health infrastructure capable of responding to pandemics and endemic diseases through a unified, cross-disciplinary strategy until the agreement expires in 2030.