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A. Twentieth McDougall memorial lecture
B. Message from his holiness Pope John Paul
II
C. Presentation of the B.R. Sen awards for
1996 and 1997
D. Presentation of the A.H. Boerma award for
1996-97
E. Presentation of the Edouard Saouma award
for 1996-97
F. In
memoriam
A. Twentieth McDougall memorial lecture
1. The Twentieth in the series of lectures at regular Conference sessions in memory of Frank Lidgett McDougall, a founding father of the Organization, was delivered by El Hadj Omar Bongo, President of the Republic of Gabon.
B. Message from his holiness Pope John Paul II
2. On 8 November, the second day of the Conference, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State of the Holy See, delivered a message to the Conference participants on behalf of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. He voiced the Pope's strong support for multilateral cooperation in the search for international social justice, and the importance of all individuals in alleviating world hunger.
C. Presentation of the B.R. Sen awards for 1996 and 1997
3. The awards, honouring the name of the late B.R. Sen, Director-General of FAO from 1956 to 1967, are conferred annually. Each year, the award is presented to the field officer who has made the most outstanding contribution to the country or countries to which he or she has been assigned.
4. The 1996 award was conferred to Mr. Hon Tat Tang, a national of Malaysia, in recognition of his major contribution to the work of the South Pacific Forestry Development Programme in Fiji. Under his leadership the South Pacific Forestry Development Programme had provided an effective and interactive forum that had elevated the forests and trees sector into regional prominence. Mr. Tang was unable to come to Rome to receive the award, and it was collected on his behalf by Mr. Sofara Aveau, Director of Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries and Meteorology, Samoa.
5. The award for 1997 was conferred on Mr. Les Clark, a national of New Zealand, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to fisheries policy and planning in Namibia. During the past five years as Special Adviser to the Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources in Namibia, Mr. Clark had designed, documented and assisted in the implementation of a policy of fishing rights and quotas which had made a substantial contribution to the restructuring and strengthening of the Ministry of Fisheries.
D. Presentation of the A.H. Boerma award for 1996-97
6. The A.H. Boerma Award is presented biennially to a journalist or journalists whose work has helped to focus attention on important aspects of food problems, and has stimulated interest in, and support for, measures leading to their solution.
7. The award for 1996-97 was shared by the Association of Food and Agriculture Journalists (AFAJ) of Kenya, for its strong commitment to the coverage of food, agricultural and environmental issues with particular reference to the water hyacinth weed multi-media campaign; and to the Inter Press Service (IPS), a Third World news agency based in Rome, for its significant contribution over the past thirty years to covering sustainable agriculture and rural development issues in more than one hundred countries, thereby filling the information gap between developed and developing countries.
E. Presentation of the Edouard Saouma award for 1996-97
8. The Edouard Saouma Award is conferred biennially on a national or regional institution which has implemented with particular efficiency a project funded by the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP).
9. The Award for 1996-97 was shared by two national institutions, one from the People's Republic of Bangladesh, and the other from the Islamic Republic of Iran, for their outstanding contributions to the implementation of TCP-funded projects. The Award was received by the representatives of these two institutions.
10. The Department of Fisheries of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of Bangladesh, represented by Mr. Liaquat Ali, had developed a "Trickle-Down" Extension System, that was successful in disseminating an improved, appropriate, pond-fish culture technology throughout the country under a TCP project. The concerned FAO technical unit for the project was the Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service (FIRI) of the Fishery Resources Division.
11. The Technical Infrastructure Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Islamic Republic of Iran, represented by Mr. Darab Malekghasemi, had effectively contributed to improving the water management situation in the country under a TCP project. The concerned FAO technical unit for the project was the Water Resources Development and Management Service (AGLW) of the Land and Water Development Division.
12. Both projects succeeded exceptionally well due to the dedication, enthusiasm and drive of the national staff, and the commitment by their technical counterparts in FAO both in the field and at Headquarters. In their acceptance speeches, the representatives of the two national institutions briefed the Conference on the achievements and catalytic effects generated by the TCP-funded projects and thanked the Organization for the valuable assistance it had provided.
13. The Conference observed one minute of silence in memory of those staff members who had died in the service of the Organization since the Conference had last met. The names of the deceased staff members were read aloud and are contained in the Verbatim Records of the Conference.
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