Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to welcome you to FAO Headquarters in Rome and to this meeting of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research (ACFR) Working Party on Human Capacity Building.
I wish to congratulate you on your appointment by the Director-General to this Working Party. You have been selected, on the basis of your specialized knowledge, for the purpose of giving advice to the ACFR on this very important cross-cutting issue. Although your group is numerically small, consisting of only eight members, selection has been made to include the widest possible subject matter and geographical representation.
Over a relatively short period of time, new technologies and systems have revolutionized the way many organizations, institutions and stakeholders in the fisheries sector conduct their affairs and fulfil their mission. Correspondingly, a number of internationally agreed instruments and statements call for newer approaches in dealing with emerging issues related to the sustainable and environmentally friendly management and development of capture fisheries and aquaculture. Such approaches are emphasized, for example in the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, and other instruments elaborated within its framework, as well as the Plan of Implementation adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 in Johannesburg. This is particularly important because of the international character of fisheries, the nature of the activities and the resources, as well as their legal regime.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Colleagues,
There is an increasing demand for training and a need for focusing more directly on building human capacity within the fisheries sector. Such initiatives should be based on a mutual learning process so that information and knowledge may be shared more efficiently and effectively between all involved. Human capacity should also be built, not just for science but also to strengthen the skills of fisheries and aquaculture administrators and to encourage the participation of stakeholders in the governance process.
The FAO Fisheries Department is doing considerable work in this area, but recognizes that its efforts should be enhanced through the development and adoption of a more focused strategic approach to the issue of human capacity building. Such a step would benefit the work, not only of the Department, but of regional management and advisory bodies, governments, universities and research institutions, development assistance agencies and NGOs.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In developing such a strategic approach, due regard should be given to identifying and establishing partnerships with other agencies and organizations providing capacity building in fisheries. We also need to learn from capacity building initiatives undertaken within other sectors such as agriculture and forestry.
It is in this context that your task during the next four days should be placed. I trust that you will exchange experiences and views and provide strategic counsel for improving human capacity building in order to help secure a sustainable future for capture fisheries and aquaculture. The documents that have been prepared by the Secretariat are for guidance, and it is hoped that they will facilitate your work.
I am confident that you will also address the challenge before you in a cooperative manner and that your experienced counsel will be offered with a sense of pragmatism as well as vision. I hope that, in your discussions, you will focus particularly on the situation of developing countries due to the magnitude of the problems, the need to confront, and their deficit in terms of the resources required to implement effectively the provisions of many international fisheries instruments.
In concluding, Ladies and Gentlemen, Colleagues, I wish to reiterate that we value your opinions and will use your advice to guide our work in fisheries and aquaculture.
I wish you a highly productive and useful meeting and an enjoyable stay in Rome. Thank you.
