This page contains the archive of all SARD-related news items published for the year 2004, with the most recent at the top. Useful links are given at the end of each item and documentary resources are listed in the right sidebar.

For news from SARD-Mountain for 2004, go to: http://www.fao.org/sard/en/sardm/news/1285/index.html

March 2004

International Forum on Parnership for Sustainable Development, 4-6 March 2004, Rome, Italy. The International Forum on Partnership for Sustainable Development was convened at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy from 4 to 6 March 2004. It was organized by the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory, in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA).

The purpose of this Forum was to enhance the contribution of partnerships towards:

the implementation of sustainable development goals and objectives, particularly those related to the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and other agreements related to sustainable development;

the development of models of technology transfer and use of innovative financial mechanism.

The Forum discussions provided an important opportunity to identify the essential elements of partnerships for sustainable development and the lessons learned from experience to date, focusing on the following five questions:

1. Is there anything unique about the WSSD partnerships on agriculture, rural development, desertification and land?
2. What have been the major challenges facing these partnerships?
3. Have there been any defining moments that have been critical to progress in the initiatives and what lessons can be drawn from this experience?
4. What do partnerships need in order to form and operate effectively and to be successful in achieving their objectives?
5. How can we assess the results and impacts of partnerships, during the implementation process, individually and jointly?

SARD partnerships were especially discussed by one of the breakout groups that worked on agriculture, rural development and diversification. Among others a main outcome was a better understanding of key elements of good partnership when face with differential power relations.

International Rice Conference, 2 February 2004, Rome, Italy

There are many other SARD projects and programmes in FAO. Some examples include the following:

Honduras: People's participation brings food security

Community nutrition and food-based approach

Rice in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Asia and the Pacific

International rice conference meets in Rome, Rome, 12 February 2004

Towards sustainable fish farming, Beijing, 22 April 2002

Sustainable forest management is gaining ground in Asia-Pacific, Bangkok, 19 April 2004

Land tenure

Energy and

Bioenergy

Desertification

Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands

These projects and programmes have been clustered around three thematic thrusts and the chapter 14 programme areas within the SARD paper presented at COAG in April 2005. For a complete list please visit Table 2 of COAG papers