CHAIRMAN: I open the second meeting of Commission III, continuing with Item 20, Other Financial and Administrative Questions, and we will deal with 20.3, The Regional Office for the Near East. The document before us is C 81/29.
S. JUMA (Assistant Director-General, Regional Representative for the Near East) (Original language Arabic): The Fifteenth Regional Conference for the Near East requested the Director-General to include an item on the Regional Office for the Near East in the Agenda of the 21st Session of the FA0 Conference. In response to this request, the Council at its 79th Session approved the inclusion of this item, and a document ( C 81/29) entitled "The Regional Office for the Near East (RNEA)" was prepared.
This document includes a brief reference to the background of this item as well as the full text of Resolution 20/79 adopted by the 20th Session of the Conference, on the same subject.
The document shows that the Director-General has implemented completely all the actions called for by the said Resolution, including the closure of the Regional Office in Cairo. The Programme of Work and Budget of RNEA was replanned to ensure maximum service to the countries of the Near East Region within the limits of the net resources available. This task was carried out through collaboration between the Assistant Director-General/Regional Representative for the Near East and Headquarters technical divisions and other units. The Programme Committee noted with satisfaction that the closure of the Cairo Regional Office had been completed with efficiency and in the minimum time. The Finance Committee noted the budgetary adjustments proposed and also expressed satisfaction.
The expenses for the closure of the Regional Office were completely covered by voluntary contributions from some countries of the Region, amounting to one million dollars.
The document briefly refers to the 1982/83 Programme of Work and Budget, which is submitted in full detail to the Conference in document C 81/3. It may be noted that activities will continue in various sectors of food production, arid zone and marginal area problems, animal production and health, marine and inland fisheries, forestry, desertification, human resources development and others, with a proposed net programme increase of US$ 410 000 as shown in paragraph 15 of the document before you. In addition, it is proposed to maintain the same number of regional professional staff to ensure efficiency of service as shown in paragraph 17 of the same document.
S. AL L0ZI (Jordan) (Original language Arabic): We have read document C 81/29 which was prepared by the Secretariat on the Regional Office for the Near East. We have also listened to the brief statement presented on the subject by the Regional Representative, Dr. Juma. This statement deserves to receive the close attention and interest of the countries of the Near East and I wish to make clear the point of view of Jordan in this connexion.
It also gives me great pleasure to thank the Director-General who has implemented the Resolution on the closure of the Near East office, adopted by the previous Conference in November 1979, calmly and without undue delay. I also wish to refer to the fact that the modified Programme and Budget of the Regional Office for the year 1981 was implemented in cooperation with the Regional Representative on the one hand and the professional and financial staff at the Headquarters and on the other hand under the supervision of the Director-General and with his support. Since the position of my government was and still is to support all the activities of the Regional Office by all the countries of the Region, yet from the practical point of view and as the interest of the Region requires that, we agree to maintain the present situation and conditions of the Office for 1982-83. The consultations which were conducted with a great number of the Arab and friendly countries within and without the Middle East Region seem to support this view. We hope that this Commission will likewise support this view and unanimously approve it,
M. SALAMEN (Syria) (Original language Arabic): It gives me great pleasure to take the floor on behalf of my country's delegation to speak on the subject of the Near East Regional Office as submitted in document C 81/29. Undoubtedly all member countries of our Organization agree with us that this subject is of considerable interest and particularly to the countries of the Region. This is why we have requested that it be added on the Agenda of our Conference. We have exhaustively considered the contents of this document and after having heard the statement of the Director of the Regional Office, Mr. Juma, we wish to put on record our great appreciation and satisfaction with the implementation of the Conference Resolution.
We likewise wish to express our gratitude and appreciation to the Director-General for his intensive efforts in implementing that Resolution. He has taken all the necessary measures considering the new situation to provide all services and requirements to all countries of the Region, without any delay this enabled the Office to pursue its activities in a satisfactory manner. All the governments concerned welcomed the steps taken by the Director-General, this in spite of the exceptional circumstances imposed on our Region which led to adoption of the above mentioned Resolution at the previous Conference. As the same conditions still prevail in the region and there are no changes in the position of the countries of the Region, the delegations concerned have studied the situation in the light of their own interests.
Therefore we wish the status quo to be maintained as proposed by the Director-General in paragraph 18 of document C 81/29 and of the Resolution 79/20. At the same time we agree with the Director-General's proposals for supporting the activities and the budget of the Regional Office. We are quite convinced that the Regional Office under the supervision of its Regional Director and the Director-General will take the necessary measures to guarantee the efficient operation of the office in the interests of all the countries of the Region.
M. DAWOOD (Egypt) (Original language Arabic): The delegation of the Arab Republic of Egypt wishes to thank the Director-General for the efforts and wisdom he has displayed in preparing this Report on the Regional Office for the Near East. We also wish to address our thanks to the Assistant-Director General, the Regional Representative, for the statement he has delivered a while ago.
Egypt, as you know, has hosted the Regional Office ever since its establishment in 1948 and I believe that Egypt has never relinquished its commitments or responsabilities towards this Regional Office throughout all of 37 years. Now the circumstances prevailing in the Region have led to the adoption of a Resolution for closing down the Office, for reasons that we will not mention here. We nevertheless wish to express the desire of our Government to continue to host this Regional Office and we wish to express the preparedness of our Government to continue its support to all the activities of the Regional Office and activities undertaken in the various areas. In addition, being aware of the prevailing conditions in the area and the changes that have taken place and are taking place daily, the delegation of my country is fully prepared to support the proposal of the Director-General as contained in paragraph 18 of document C 81/29 which provides for maintaining the status quo and present arrangements for that Office, for the next two years, 1982-83.
My Government hopes that, in the meantime, all the factors that have led to the present situation will end and that this Office will resume its activities from its historical site in an atmosphere of friendly and brotherly relations among the members of this Regional office who have participated in and benefitted from its services, in the whole Region.
A.M. SALEH (Iraq) (Original language Arabic): Mr. Chairman, you undoubtedly recall that two years ago at the last Conference the question of the continuing activities of the Regional Office in Cairo and the various obstacles that prevented the countries of the Region from dealing with that Office from its previous site was discussed. Efforts were undertaken to make sure that this Office would be more efficient or would continue at its previous efficiency; this is the reason why we adopted the agreement reached at the previous conference. A great number of the member countries fulfilled their commitments and obligations for the closing down of the Office and expressed their appreciation for all the efforts undertaken by the Organization under the supervision of the Director-General and hope that this efficiency will continue since conditions have not changed in our Region. In spite of the fact that we are not convinced that this Regional Office should be established outside that Region, yet until the next Conference we agree that this Office should continue to operate from where it is and that the Director-General will do whatever is convenient for re-opening this Office in one of the countries of the Region in future, with the exception of Egypt.
A. KAMOUN (Tunisie) (language originale arabe): Au cours de la vingtième session de la Conférence de l'Organisation, il y a deux ans, les pays arabes membres de la région du Proche-Orient se sont mis d'accord sur l'adoption d'une résolution spéciale concernant le bureau régional du Caire. Cette résolution, qui a été soumise à la Conférence, a été approuvée à l'unanimité. Et la Conférence a demandé au Directeur général d'entreprendre sa mise en oeuvre immédiate.
Monsieur le Directeur général a répondu à cette demande et a pris toutes les dispositions nécessaires» comme cela apparaît dans le document préparé par le Secrétariat général - document qui fait l'objet du débat de cette Commission.
Un grand nombre de délégations ont pris la parole en Commission II, lors du débat sur le programme de travail et de budget. Ils ont parlé des bureaux régionaux et la plupart des délégués étaient d'accord sur le fait que les bureaux régionaux ont un rôle vital et important à jouer dans le cadre de la politique de décentralisation adoptée par l'Organisation.
A partir de là, nous estimons que le maintien du bureau régional pour le Proche-Orient est absolument indispensable dans l'intérêt des pays que ce bureau dessert. Les délégations de ces pays auraient souhaité qu'il soit possible que le bureau reprenne ses activités à partir d'un pays de la région et non à l'extérieur de la région. Cependant, parallèlement, les circonstances, qui ont rendu nécessaire l'adoption d'une résolution de fermeture du bureau, demeurent. C'est pourquoi le maintien des dispositions actuelles, relatives à la manière dont ce bureau a conclu ses activités, est considéré comme la meilleure solution pour les deux années à venir.
DIRECTOR-GENERAL (Original language Arabic): It gives me great pleasure to express my thanks to the delegations of the Near East region who have taken the floor on the subject. Likewise I wish to thank them for all the appreciation and the credit given for the efforts we have undertaken to maintain the effectiveness and efficiency of the Regional Office, in spite of the exceptional circumstances which have affected the Near East region and led to the adoption of Resolution 20/79 at the Twentieth Session of the Conference.
On this occasion I cannot but also express my appreciation of the efforts made by my assistant, the Regional Representative for the Near East, as well as all the other staff of the Regional Office, who have contributed to a considerable degree, to our successfully accomplishing the work entrusted to us for the Region.
We are proud of the confidence you have placed in us and we shall always endeavour to do our very best to respond to your requirements and make such arrangements as would guarantee the efficiency and continuity of the services to the countries of the Region.
CHAIRMAN :We have listed other financial and administrative questions for the afternoon. I understand the discussion is concluded and there is no more delegation wishing to speak on the subject. This afternoon session stands concluded.
The meeting rose at 15.30 hours
La séance est levée à 15 h 30
Se levanta la sesión a las 15.30 horas
