INTRODUCTION

ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSONS [1]

1.         The Conference elected Mauri Pekkarinen (Finland) as Chairperson of the Thirty-fifth (Special) Session of the Conference.

2.         The Conference elected the three Vice-Chairpersons of the Conference:

Guillermo Salazar (Panama)

El Zubair Bashir Taha (Sudan)

Lee Brudvig (United States of America)

 

APPOINTMENT OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE AND CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE [2]

3.         The the Conference elected the:

·         Seven Members of the General Committee

 

Brazil	France
Canada	Jordan
China	New Zealand
Ethiopia

 

·         Nine Members of the Credentials Committee:

 

Angola	Malaysia	Qatar
Estonia	Mexico	San Marino
Hungary	Oman	United States of America

 

TRIBUTE TO THE LATE MIRIAM MAKEBA [3]

4.         The Director-General delivered a brief message in memory of Miriam Makeba, celebrated singer and FAO Goodwill Ambassador, who died on 10 November 2008. One minute of silence was observed by the Conference followed by a short video tribute to Ms Makeba.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA [4]

5.         The Conference adopted its Agenda as given in Appendix A to this report.

ADOPTION OF THE TIMETABLE AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SESSION [5]

6.         The Conference adopted the arrangements and timetable as proposed by the General Committee.

Right of Reply

7.         The Conference confirmed the decision taken at its previous sessions to the effect that, when a Member wished to reply to criticisms of its Government's policy, it should preferably do so on the afternoon of the day on which such criticism had been voiced after all those wishing to participate in the discussion had had an opportunity to speak.

Verbatim Records

8.         As provided for in Rule XVIII-1 GRO, Verbatim Records were kept of all Conference Plenary meetings. The Conference endorsed the recommendation of the General Committee that statements could be inserted in the Verbatim Records when time did not permit them to be delivered, taking into consideration the conditions laid down by the General Committee.

Verification of Credentials [6]

9.         The credentials of delegations of 155 Members were found valid.

Intergovernmental Organizations and International
Non-Governmental Organizations [7]

10.       The Conference reviewed the list of intergovernmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations to which the Director-General had extended a provisional invitation to the Session, and confirmed the said provisional invitations.

Liberation Movement

11.       The Conference confirmed the invitation issued by the Director-General to the Palestine Liberation Organization.

STATEMENT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL [8]

12.       The Director-General delivered a statement to the Conference, which is given in Appendix D to this report.

 

FOLLOW-UP TO THE INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF FAO

CONSIDERATION OF THE REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON FOLLOW-UP TO THE INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF FAO IMMEDIATE PLAN OF ACTION [9]

13.       The Conference expressed its appreciation for the major work undertaken in a very short time, by the Conference Committee on Follow-up to the Independent External Evaluation of FAO (CoC-IEE), its Chair, Vice-Chairs, other officers and representatives of spokes-countries in Working Groups, as listed in Annex 5 to the Report of the CoC-IEE. The contributions and commitment of the Members, Director-General, management and the CoC-IEE secretariat had all been important in developing the Immediate Plan of Action, a path of Reform with Growth.        

14.       The Conference emphasised that implementation of the Immediate Plan of Action must take place in a world facing interlocking crises of higher food and energy prices, volatility in commodity markets and major instabilities in financial institutions. These crises were not only increasing hunger and poverty but were making it more difficult for the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The need for FAO’s input was greater than ever and FAO renewal more urgent. Full implementation of the Immediate Plan of Action would better position FAO to help boost agricultural production in a sustainable manner and strengthen agriculture’s overall contribution to development and livelihoods, contributing to enduring food availability for all.

15.       The first year of the Immediate Plan of Action, 2009 was a period in which both the implementation of the Plan must be urgently pursued and a number of actions would be required involving continued close collaboration between the Membership and management. The Conference looked forward to considering at its next session the new Strategic Framework, Medium-Term Plan and Programme of Work and Budget, the size and regional representation in the Membership of the Council, and the finalisation of administrative, human resource and organizational reforms. The definition of substantive priorities in a results-based framework was essential and many members indicated their priorities in this regard.

16.       The Conference also stressed the need for early contributions to the Trust Fund for Implementation of the Immediate Plan of Action in 2009 (paragraph 3 of Resolution 1/2008) and Members from a cross-section of Regions announced their intentions to contribute.

17.       Members further emphasised elements of the Immediate Plan of Action which they considered vital to making FAO a strengthened, efficient and effective Organization, playing its role within the multilateral system especially the Rome-based food agencies. A coherent architecture must be built to respond to needs in which all countries and institutions, including the non-governmental sectors played their part and where all countries benefited according to their needs. The role of a reformed FAO in this remained absolutely essential as the world responded to ever emerging challenges in a spirit of multilateralism and joint endeavour.

18.       The Conference thus adopted the following Resolution:

 

RESOLUTION 1/2008

Adoption of the Immediate Plan of Action (IPA) for FAO Renewal (2009-11)

THE CONFERENCE:

Reaffirming FAO’s unique global mandate for food and agriculture and the Membership’s continued commitment to achieving the World Food Summit objectives and the Millennium Development Goals; reaffirming the contribution FAO must make to this and in addressing hunger and poverty reduction, the expansion of agriculture and food production, high food prices, climate change, and the expected impact of the recent financial crisis on the investment in agriculture, as well as the challenges and opportunities of bioenergy.

Reaffirming in this context the necessity of FAO “Reform with Growth”.

Welcoming the report of the Conference Committee on Follow-up to the Independent External Evaluation of FAO (CoC-IEE), including the Immediate Plan of Action (IPA), which provides a firm and realistic basis for FAO to significantly enhance its global relevance, efficiency and effectiveness in the service of all its Members.

Recognising the active participation of all Members and the unfailing support of the Director-General and management in the process, and stressing the need for the same spirit of partnership to prevail in the implementation and completion of the reform:

1)         DECIDES to approve, for implementation, the Immediate Plan of Action for FAO Renewal (2009-11), including its annex, which forms in its entirety an integral part of this Resolution, which is given in Appendix E.

2)         DECIDES that amendments to the Basic Texts should be developed, for approval at its 36^th session in 2009, to give effect to the provisions of the Immediate Plan of Action, and having noted the report of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters at its 83^rd Session (September 2008), further decides that pending such amendments to the Basic Texts:

a)   the Technical Committees of the Council will report to the Conference on global policy and regulatory matters and to the Council on programme and budgetary matters; and

b)   the Strategic Framework, Medium Term Plan and Programme of Work and Budget 2010-11 will be developed as specified in the Immediate Plan of Action, with no requirement for a Summary Programme of Work and Budget.

3)         DECIDES that implementation of the Immediate Plan of Action in 2009 requires funding by extra-budgetary contributions, and that its funding for 2010-2011 will be treated under the Programme of Work and Budget. In this connection, URGES all Member Countries to contribute extra-budgetary resources of a provisional amount of US$ 21.8 million for 2009 to a special Trust Fund established for this purpose. For transparency, the Trust Fund accounts will be publicly available and oversight will be provided by the Council supported by the Finance Committee.

4)         DECIDES to establish a time-bound Conference Committee (CoC-IEE) for the duration of 2009 under Article VI of the FAO Constitution for continued follow-up to the Independent External Evaluation of FAO, completing outstanding work within the Immediate Plan of Action. It will finalise its report on suggested Basic Text amendments in June 2009[10] and complete its final report by September 2009 for presentation to the Conference in November 2009.

5)         This Committee will be open to full participation by all Members of the Organization. It will strive for transparency and unity in its work and will collectively decide its final recommendations to the Conference, arriving at its decisions to the maximum extent possible through consensus.The Conference Committee will undertake its work with the direct support of Working Groups and advice from the Council, Programme Committee, Finance Committee and Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters as appropriate, without prejudice to the reporting of these Committees to the Council and their statutory functions. FAO management is expected to proactively support the Conference Committee and fully participate in its meetings and those of its Working Groups, providing timely documents for consideration.

a)   The functions of the Committee, without prejudice to the statutory functions of the Council and its standing committees, will be:

i)        to recommend to the Conference in 2009:

(1)    the new Strategic Framework, Medium Term Plan 2010-13 and the Programme of Work and Budget 2010-11 proposed by management on the new integrated results-based framework;

(2)    any changes found desirable in the size and regional representation in the Membership of the Council;

(3)    further reforms of systems, culture change and organizational restructuring, including:

(a)    Dynamic follow-up to the reports of the Root and Branch Review by management, including early actions,

(b)    Initiation and review of the report of the study for an Organizational Risk Assessment and Management Framework,

(c)    Plans for increased effectiveness of the decentralized offices,

(d)    Detailed proposals for strengthened Human Resource management.

ii)       to recommend to the Conference in 2009 necessary changes in the Basic Texts as provided for in the Immediate Plan of Action, providing policy oversight and guidance of the process of revision of the Basic Texts. This work will be carried out on the basis of the recommendations of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters, which will be provided directly to the Committee, and will be reviewed by the Council as appropriate.

iii)     to analyse the concept of “Reform with Growth” and submit proposals to the 2009 Conference.

b)   The Conference Committee:

i)        will establish three Working Groups to prepare inputs for its consideration on:

(1)    the Strategic Framework, Medium Term Plan 2010-13 and the Programme of Work and Budget 2010-11,

(2)    proposed amendments to the Basic Texts and any changes found desirable in the size and regional representation in the Membership of the Council, and

(3)    reform of systems, culture change and organizational restructuring;

ii)       may further establish additional time-bound working groups as required; and

iii)     will appoint a Bureau consisting of the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Conference Committee, one representative of Member countries per region and the Chairs and
Vice-Chairs of the Working Groups, participating as speaking observers. The Bureau
will address exclusively administrative and organizational matters.

c)   The Conference Committee modalities: the Working Groups will be made up of a Chair and Vice-Chair (or two Co-Chairs) appointed by the Conference Committee and will be open to all Members to fully participate with speaking rights. A maximum of three Member country representatives per region will be designated as spokespersons for their regions in each of the Working Groups. Meetings of the Bureau will be open to non-speaking observers from the FAO Membership as a whole. The work of the Conference Committee will be conducted in all languages of the Organization. Sessions of the Conference Committee, its Working Groups or Bureau will not be held in parallel with each other or in parallel with other major meetings of the Rome-based UN agencies, thus allowing the fullest participation of Members. The Chair of the Conference Committee and its Bureau and the Chairs of the Working Groups will ensure that aide-mémoires are available to the Members following each session.

6)         DECIDES to appoint as officers of the Conference Committee (CoC-IEE): Prof. Mohammed Saeid Noori-Naeini as Chair and Ms Agnes van Ardenne-van der Hoeven and Mr Wilfred Joseph Ngirwa as Vice-Chairs of the Committee.

7)         DECIDES that the Council will monitor the overall progress of follow-up in implementation of the Immediate Plan of Action and report to the Conference at its 36^th Session in 2009 and its 37^th Session in 2011. It will receive regular quarterly progress implementation reports from management for its consideration and advice. The Council will be supported in its monitoring during 2009 by the Conference Committee. It will also receive inputs from the Programme Committee, the Finance Committee and the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters in their respective areas of mandate, which may flexibly convene additional sessions as required.

(Adopted on 19 November 2008)

Statement by Representative of FAO Staff Bodies

19.       The General-Secretary of the Union of General Service Staff (UGSS) spoke on behalf of the three Staff Representative Bodies focusing her attention on FAO reform and the change process. She indicated that staff were committed and supported change, and stressed the need for sufficient time and resources for implementation.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE MATTERS

FOLLOW-UP TO THE HIGH LEVEL CONFERENCE ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY: FAO CONTRIBUTION TO THE PREPARATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION [11]

20.       The Conference recalled the establishment of the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Global Food Security Crisis, under the leadership of the UN Secretary-General and with the FAO Director-General as Vice-Chair. It welcomed the significant contribution of FAO to the work of the HLTF and the preparation of the Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA).

21.       The Conference took note of the central role played by FAO in facilitating the implementation of the CFA particularly with respect to achieving goals related to increasing small farmers’ food production. It noted the need to balance reform, technical support, resource mobilization and political advocacy in the way forward.

22.       The Conference underlined that, owing to the food crisis, the number of undernourished people had risen to 923 million. Although food prices were no longer soaring, the food situation remained fragile. The Conference therefore recommended that the food crisis continue to receive the highest attention of the international community. The Conference welcomed the proposal made by the Director-General in his statement to establish a High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security (HLPE) and requested the Secretariat to prepare terms of reference, in consultation with Member Nations, for the HLPE with a view to its establishment in 2009. It also requested the Secretariat to provide relevant information and prepare any required studies for review and discussion with the membership on the other proposals contained in the Director General’s statement, including a possible summit on food security in 2009.

23.       With respect to the follow-up of the High-Level Conference held in June at FAO headquarters, the Conference expressed concern that only 10 percent of the USD 22 billion announced at that time had been committed. While the Conference appreciated FAO’s usage of USD 103 million as catalytic funding to prepare the ground for broader and more comprehensive programmes at country level, it urged the international donor community to rapidly come forward with more substantial funding in order to address the structural problems facing agriculture in developing countries.

BUDGETARY MATTERS [12]

24.       The Conference recalled its decision in 2007 to defer the replenishment of the Special Reserve Account and revisit the matter at its 2008 Session.

25.       The Conference took note of the balance in the Special Reserve Account of USD 30 million as at 30 September 2008 and of the Finance Committee’s recommendation that proposals for replenishment of reserves be developed in the context of the Programme of Work and Budget for the 2010-11 biennium and future biennia.

26.       The Conference concurred with this approach and took note that proposals for replenishment of the Special Reserve Account would be submitted to the 2009 Conference through the Programme of Work and Budget 2010-11.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL MATTERS

27.       There were no constitutional and legal matters.

DATE AND PLACE OF THE THIRTY-SIXTH CONFERENCE SESSION

28.       The Conference decided that its Thirty-sixth Session should be held in Rome from
14 to 21 November 2009.