PWB Chapter 1: General Policy and Direction

119.     This programme covers the immediate Offices of the Director-General and the Deputy Director-General including the Cabinet and the Special Adviser to the Director-General dealing primarily with high-level relations with the host government. The team, led by the Director-General, attends to the core management of the Organization at the highest level.

120.     The programme, carried out by PBE, continued to assist in policy matters related to the Organization’s objectives, programme formulation and budget monitoring and control. Evaluation of the Organization’s activities is also carried out within this programme, but as a substantially independent activity in accordance with governing body guidance. The budget of the programme was adjusted to fund support to auto-evaluations, preparation of policy paper on the MDG’s (FAO and the challenge of the Millennium Development Goals: The road ahead) in collaboration with SAD and ES Department, and accelerated development and use of PIRES.

Programme Planning and Budgeting
121.     The biennium saw the steady evolution of the corporate programme planning, budget monitoring and implementation reporting services, as well as rapid response to preparation of the reform proposals in 2005. The main achievements are highlighted below.

• Results-based programming was extended to the non-technical programmes in preparing the Medium Term Plan (MTP) 2006-11 to facilitate continuous improvement in organizational service delivery and identify opportunities for efficiency savings over several biennia. The MTP process was supported by a new module in PIRES.
• Multiple biennial budget scenarios were prepared, including adjustments to the Programme of Work and Budget (PWB) 2004-05, four scenarios for the PWB 2006-07 and initiation of a fifth scenario at the approved budget level, as well as the Reform Proposals presented to the Conference.
• A discussion was initiated with the governing bodies on streamlining the overall programme and budget process and documentation through two papers prepared for the Joint Meetings of the Programme and Finance Committees and more focused summary and full PWB documents.
• The Capital Expenditure Facility, approved by Conference in 2003, and the Security Expenditure Facility, approved by Conference in 2005, were developed as means to strengthen the financial framework for planning and monitoring capital projects and to ensure the security and safety of staff and assets of the Organization.
• Performance of the support cost policy was analysed and reported annually to the Finance Committee. A proposal to update the policy for emergency assistance projects was approved by Council so as to fully recover the indirect variable costs of such projects.
• A new corporate policy on technical support services (TSS) reimbursement under the TCP programme was developed and implemented in 2005 whereby a simplified flat rate replaced a more complex points-based system and lowered the cost of TSS to TCP projects.
• A Web-based Management Information Reporting system was developed and released in joint effort with AF and TC Departments, providing managers with real-time reports and queries on human resource, financial and project information.
• PIRES – the Programme Planning, Implementation Reporting and Evaluation System – was largely completed. A new module on annual allotments streamlined and improved the transparency of this process. A new module on annual work planning included automated features for allotment adjustments within the fungibility rules, facilitating budget monitoring by budget holders. PIRES demonstrated its adaptability in supporting preparation of the unforeseen adjusted PWB in 2004 and the Reform Proposals in 2005.
• The MTP 2006-11, PIR 2002-03 and PWB 2006-07 documents were produced using new technology developed with GIC and GIL to streamline the related document production, translation and publishing workflows.
• Continued careful budgetary monitoring by PBE and allottees resulted in nearly full expenditure of the biennial appropriation.

Evaluation
122.     The measures being taken to further strengthen the independence, rigour and objectivity of evaluation were summarised in the 2005 Programme Evaluation Report to the Conference¹¹. Evaluations took a progressively more strategic focus and, in order to maintain independence of the evaluation function, major evaluations reported to the governing bodies were generally externally led. Auto-evaluation by managers with an external input was fully introduced for the technical programmes of the Organization in 2004 with support on methodology and quality assurance from the Evaluation Service.

123.     The evaluation of FAO’s decentralization begun in the previous biennium was completed, followed up and discussed at several sessions of the FAO Programme Committee during 2004-05. In response to requests of the Programme Committee, an Independent External Evaluation of the Technical Cooperation Programme was undertaken. For the first time, evaluations were undertaken on FAO’s cross-organizational strategies under the Strategic Framework on Communicating FAO’s Messages and Broadening Partnerships and Alliances. All of these evaluations were discussed in full by the Programme Committee and reported to the Conference through the Programme Evaluation Report 2004-05. The Programme Evaluation Report included for the first time a series of Evaluation Briefs for each evaluation reported, which were designed to be user-friendly concise summaries, including findings, recommendations, the senior management response and governing bodies’ conclusions on each evaluation.

124.     The Evaluation Service provided the Secretariat for the Inter-sessional Working Group of the Council in the preparatory work for the Independent External Evaluation (IEE) of FAO.

125.     Support also continued for project and emergency programme evaluations, including participation by the Evaluation Service in some of these missions. New arrangements are being introduced for the evaluation of work from extrabudgetary funding and the trend towards more programmatic evaluation continued.

126.     The impacts of evaluations, although difficult to gauge, have demonstrably shown a growing influence in the decision-making of management and the governing bodies, for example in the decentralization strategy being pursued by the Organization, the changes made in the TCP programme and the introduction of medium-term country priority frameworks.

Table 1.2.1: Evaluation Work (selected indicators)

127.     Through the Office of the Inspector General (AUD), the programme has responsibility for internal audit and inspection, which includes monitoring and evaluating the adequacy and effectiveness of the Organization's system of internal controls, enterprise risk management, financial management and use of assets. It is also responsible for investigating misconduct and fraud. AUD continued to provide the Director-General and the functions and programmes audited with analyses, recommendations, counsel and information concerning the activities reviewed. In addition, it placed emphasis on identifying possible means of improving the efficiency and economy of operations and the effective use of resources while promoting control at reasonable cost. The budget of the programme also covered the fees of the external auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, with whom AUD liaises and coordinates to ensure complementarity and avoid duplication of work.

128.     AUD consists of three groups: Special Assignments and Investigations; Decentralized Activities and Headquarters Activities. The Special Assignments and Investigations group was responsible for detecting and investigating cases of fraud, waste of resources, abuse of authority, misconduct and other malfeasance worldwide, and for assessing potential areas of fraud by analysing the corporate control system, as well as tender panel operations at headquarters. The Decentralized Activities group, which included auditors out-posted to each of the four major regional offices and a management unit at headquarters, carried out audits in the regional, subregional and liaison offices, representations, selected projects in the regions, and of elements of decentralized activities at headquarters. The Headquarters Activities group conducted comprehensive audits covering the Administration and Finance Department and technical departments, and played an important role in advising units at headquarters on audit-related issues.

129.     Secretariat functions were provided to the Audit Committee, which advised and provided assurance to the Director-General that the internal audit, inspection and investigation functions at FAO are operating efficiently and effectively. The Audit Committee, which consists of five internal and two external members under the chairmanship of the Deputy Director-General, took an active interest in the work of AUD, reviewing selected reports and recommendations in depth and providing advice on audit planning, operations and reporting.

130.     The work of the programme is planned on a biennial basis following risk assessment methodology, combined with AUD’s cumulative institutional knowledge of the Organization. In this way AUD adds maximum value for its FAO clients, while providing reasonable assurance to the Audit Committee on how well FAO is managing its strategic, operational, stakeholder and financial risks.

Table 1.2.2: Internal Audit and Investigation Reports and Services

131.     Audits and investigations were conducted on a wide range of activities in the field and at headquarters (see Table 1.2.2). Recommendations were made to improve aspects of financial management, budgeting and procurement, establish and enhance certain policies and guidelines in the human resources, IT and security areas, improve accountability, and strengthen and enforce internal controls. Of particular significance in the biennium was the substantive role AUD played in the Organization’s liaison with the Independent Inquiry Committee into the Oil for Food Programme; audit work carried out on FAO’s Tsunami project and the desert locust emergency; and the National Special Programme for Food Security (NSPFS) in Nigeria. AUD’s Annual Reports, addressed to the Director-General and presented to the Finance Committee¹², provide greater detail on audit activities.

132.     Follow-up and audit resolution continued to receive particular attention during 2004-05, with substantial improvement in implementation rates of the recommendation. Sixty-eight percent of the recommendations issued during the biennium were implemented before the end of the biennium, as compared to 34% at the end of the previous biennium.

133.     In line with its constitutional mandate, the Legal Office (LEG) ensures that FAO activities are carried out on a sound constitutional and legal basis, consistent with the Basic Texts and the status of FAO as an intergovernmental organization of the UN system. It provides legal services required for the management of the Organization, at national and international level.  

134.     Legal advice was provided to the Director-General, to the technical and administrative departments and to governing bodies of the Organization. The Legal Office serviced the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters (CCLM). It also provided legal services to the World Food Programme (WFP) Secretariat and its Executive Board.

135.     Many of the activities were related to international legal affairs, including:

• Negotiation and follow-up of international legal agreements at the global and regional levels, as well as provision of legal assistance in their implementation.
• Relations with host governments regarding headquarters, FAO Representations and regional and subregional offices.
• Relations with governments and international institutions, including drafting of bilateral agreements, Notes Verbales and other related instruments.
• Performance of the Director-General’s depositary functions regarding a number of international treaties.
• Representation of FAO in judicial proceedings and settlements of disputes and, in particular, handling of cases before the International Labour Organization (ILO) Administrative Tribunal.
• Legal aspects of personnel servicing.

136.     During the biennium attention was given, in particular, to:

• Servicing the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures, including legal aspects of phytosanitary standards and related intellectual property protection, and preparation of the first meeting of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures and of the first Conference of the Parties of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). The international registration of a certification mark under the IPPC resulted in an increase of legal opinions and legal documents.
• Servicing the Codex Alimentarius Commission, with particular emphasis on amendments to its Statutes, membership of Regional Economic Integration Organizations (REIOs), as well as other related legal matters, and participation in the Codex Committee on General Principles.
• Follow-up on the legal aspects of the conservation and sustainable utilisation of genetic resources for food and agriculture, including work concerning the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, the preparation of a Material Transfer Agreement, the further development of the international network of seed banks, and the negotiation of an agreement for the establishment of the Global Crop Diversity Trust to support the work of the Treaty.
• Assistance in the negotiation and adoption of the Agreement between FAO and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the amendment to the Agreement for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region.
• Legal assistance regarding the constituent agreements and operation of FAO regional fisheries management bodies, such as the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC), the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA), the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC), the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).
• Participation of the European Community in bodies and agreements established under the Constitution of FAO.

137.     Legal services were provided on interdepartmental issues, in particular the right to food, and LEG continued to assist more than 15 internal committees as well as various interdepartmental working groups (NGO/CSO, Strategic Framework, Biotechnology, etc.) and the Panel of Eminent Experts on Ethics in Food and Agriculture. Indicators of activity are shown in the Table 1.2.3 (see also Programme 3.1.3).

Table 1.2.3: Office of the Legal Counsel and General Legal Affairs Service (selected indicators)

138.     OCD responsibility under this programme is to ensure effective coordination between headquarters and decentralized offices as well as among decentralized offices to promote unity of purpose and synergy between all FAO units – irrespective of location. Other OCD activities are reported under Major Programme 3.4 and Programme 3.5.3.

139.     During 2004-05 achievements of this programme included:

• Formulation and monitoring of implementation support to the Organization’s decentralization policy, contributing substantially to the response and follow-up of the Independent Evaluation of FAO’s Decentralization, and responses to External Auditor and Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) reports.
• Coordination of the operational and programme functions of FAO Representatives with units in the Technical Cooperation Department (TC) and of their Regular Programme functions with technical departments, including: the gradual introduction of national medium-term priority frameworks (NMTPFs); contributions of FAORs in major emergency undertakings such as FAO’s response to the Tsunami, Desert Locust operations and avian influenza; and reflection of decentralization policy in field programme procedures.
• Policy matters regarding UN system developments at country level, issues of country presence, authorities, and relationships, and contributions to the Triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system and United Nations Development Group (UNDG) working groups proceedings.
• General oversight of decentralized offices, including the provision of overall guidance and the gradual strengthening of programming, reporting and monitoring systems and procedures applicable to decentralized offices, including updating and making electronically available the Handbook for FAO Representatives; issuing 182 Management letters; and publishing 4 OCD bulletins.
• Formulating guidelines for the improvement of conducting of Regional Conferences and follow-up monitoring and reporting.
• The management of the Small-Scale Facility (SSF) which allowed FAORs to respond to urgent short-term needs through the use of local consultants.

Inter-agency coordination
140.     The Unit for Strategic Policy Advice on the UN System (SADN) continued to provide policy advice on inter-agency coordination matters both to ODG and to departments/units involved in UN system-wide coordination/cooperation arrangements. It prepared the participation of the Director-General at meetings of the United Nations System's Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), which groups the Executive Heads of UN system organizations, including WTO and the Bretton Woods institutions.

141.     The Unit continued to represent the Organization at meetings of the High-level Committee on Programmes (HLCP), the main preparatory body of CEB. Since the UNDG, which supports country-level coordination, increasingly addressed policy issues, SADN monitored UNDG meetings in close cooperation with the Technical Cooperation Department to ensure coherent FAO positions. Inputs were also provided to the Administration and Finance Department for preparation and representation of the Organization at meetings of the High-level Committee on Management (HLCM).

Policy advice on UN system issues of relevance to FAO
142.     During 2004-05 there was an increase in demand for monitoring, analysing and advising on a rapidly evolving UN reform process. SADN provided information and analyses of UN reform proposals and decisions, including policy implications and policy options for FAO and its own change agenda. This included periodic reports and preparation of the principal input on UN reform at field level to the FAO policy paper on the MDGs entitled FAO and the challenge of the Millennium Development Goals: The road ahead. Work also focused on honing FAO initiatives, e.g. Anti-Hunger Programme and the International Alliance Against Hunger (IAAH), among others, within the overall UN context (see Table 1.3.1).

143.     An integral part of UN and FAO reform was a perceived need to deepen and broaden FAO cooperation with other UN system entities in order to amplify impact, reduce fragmentation and ensure greater effectiveness of FAO and UN system activities. In this regard, SADN responded to increased demand for advice on cooperation opportunities and arrangements in terms of FAO policy, as well as best cooperative practice and modalities.

144.     Coordinated responses were provided to external requests for FAO contributions on a wide range of issues including the annual reports of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Table 1.3.1: Policy Advice on Inter-agency Coordination and UN System Issues

UN system documentation and meetings
145.     The programme also continued to provide corporate servicing on FAO representation at external UN system meetings, aiming to ensure optimal use of travel funds and a coordinated approach to representation (see table Table 1.3.2). SADN continued to screen and distribute UN system documents of relevance to the Organization so that concerned units could situate their work within the broader context of the UN system.

Table 1.3.2: UN Documentation Meetings Requests

146.     This programme provided the budget for "Contributions to jointly funded inter-agency mechanisms” including the JIU, the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), the ILO Administrative Tribunal, the HLCP and HLCM. It also included provisions for FAO’s cost share of the UN Department of Safety and Security (UN-DSS, formerly Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator, UNSECOORD), and the Malicious Acts Insurance Policy (MAIP), which was budgeted at US$ 6.3 million for the two items. However, as foreseen and previously reported to the governing bodies, expenditure was significantly lower, at US$ 3.3 million, due to an adjustment to the apportionment of the FAO cost-share of UN-DSS and MAIP covering Regular Programme and extrabudgetary activities, and the slower than anticipated implementation of the expanded UN-DSS programme in the biennium. This enabled a budgetary transfer of nearly US$ 2.3 million to partially offset the higher costs of field security, as reported in Major Programme 3.4.

Office of World Food Summit Follow-up (SADDW)
147.     SADDW promoted and monitored, in collaboration with FAO departments and Rome-based agencies, the IAAH at national and global levels. In collaboration with various FAO units, it prepared documentation and communications for World Food Day observances and brochures and special communications were shared with countries’ officials and organizations, requesting their consideration to establish National Alliances. During the biennium, 14 National Alliances were established and there was expressed interest from another 16 countries.

148.     This programme covers the Liaison Offices with the United Nations (LONY in New York and LOGE in Geneva); with North America (LOWA in Washington, DC); with the European Union and Belgium (LOBR in Brussels); and with Japan (LOJA in Yokohama). LONY and LOGE assisted decision-making at FAO headquarters by: following developments in the UN system and representing the Organization at intergovernmental and inter-agency meetings in their respective cities; assisting in the liaison with intergovernmental, non-governmental and private institutions; supporting public information and public relations activities, including requests for information; and providing briefings for visiting FAO officers. LOWA, LOBR and LOJA continued to assist FAO headquarters in formulating and implementing policies and maintaining communications and cooperation with the governments and local organizations in their respective cities. Selected examples of the Liaison Offices’ achievements during 2004-05 are provided below.

• LOGE maintained its focus on multilateral trade negotiations on agriculture at WTO, helping to ensure that developing countries were well informed and equal partners in the process. LOGE also deepened cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the context of the Integrated Framework Initiative and capacity-building in developing countries.
• LONY worked closely with delegations and the UN system during the deliberations of the 59th and 60th Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the 2004 and 2005 sessions of ECOSOC and other key committees. A result of FAO’s active and visible presence throughout the 2005 World Summit process was a reaffirmation by world leaders of the importance of rural and agricultural development.
• LOWA liaised with food-related organizations, universities and government agencies and the private sector in both Canada and the USA on the issue of avian influenza and is working on an expanded cooperation agreement with USDA, which would take advantage of the full range of FAO expertise.
• LOBR contributed to improve cooperation with the Belgian authorities, the European Commission and Parliament, and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) Secretariat; a strategic partnership agreement was signed with the European Commission.
• LOJA increased public awareness of FAO's work on Tsunami relief, avian influenza, desert locust control, and the Mindanao Agricultural Reconstruction Project as post-conflict resolution, and activated TeleFood campaigns with NGOs.