298. The Council noted that the Programme and Finance Committees had reviewed a proposed outline for the document to be presented to the Conference. It agreed that it should be called “Review of FAO Field Programmes, 1972–73”, that its scope should be limited to extra-budgetary activities, and that attention should be given to adverse as well as to favourable factors affecting the formulation, appraisal, implementation, evaluation and follow-up of field projects and to the lessons learnt for the future.
299. The Council agreed that any central theme running through field activities and the links between these and the Regular Programme should not be lost in too much descriptive detail, that the document should highlight some of the basic policy and development issues concerning field programmes, and that it should give adequate attention to the financial aspects of field programmes.
300. The Council agreed that the maximum possible coverage should be given to the activities of the Evaluation Service, that the document should provide information on global, interregional, regional and other group country projects and that the least developed countries should be given special attention.
301. The Council also recalled that two full days would be given to the discussion of this subject in Commission II of the Conference.2
302. The Council noted that it had already agreed with the view of the Programme Committee that this document should concentrate on broad strategies and policies and FAO's objectives for agricultural development, in the context of both Regular Programme and extra-budgetary activities and that the paper should complement the Programme of Work and Budget by concentrating on issues such as the development situation, future trends, strategies and policy options, the prospects of extra-budgetary resources, broad programme implications for FAO etc. The Council agreed that the document should be concise and that it should not duplicate the materials on medium-term outlook which would be included in the sub-programme narratives in the final draft Programme of Work and Budget, 1974–75.
303. The Council noted that the document had been informally distributed at its present session and that it would be discussed in detail at the next sessions of the Programme and Finance Committees, Council and Conference.
304. The Council decided that its Sixty-First Session would be convened in Rome from 5 to 9 November 1973. 4
1 CL 60/3 and CL 60/PV/15
2 See para. 155 above.
3 CL 60/PV/15.
4 See para. 150 above.
