DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: The Director-General himself had wished very much, as in the past, to make an opening statement to Commission II, which has such important items on its agenda, in particular the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85. Owing, however, to commitments on the first full day of the Plenary he is obliged to remain there this morning, and he has therefore asked me to make a statement on his behalf.
I will not go into details of the format, presentation, programmes, and cost increases, and so forth, of the Programme of Work and Budget, but with your permission will ask Mr. Shah to make a statement after me on such matters.
On behalf of the Director-General, I would simply like to stress a few of the major policy considerations that have formed the basis of the preparation of the proposals which are now before you. The Director-General has voiced these considerations to the Programme and Finance Committees and to the Council, and these extremely important bodies have given their overwhelming support.
This is, of course, a Conference of all Member Nations, many of whom will be coming fresh to the subject. I think therefore that it is important again to stress the following policy considerations.
Firstly, I would like to say that the proposals are the fruit of a considerable period of study and reflection, beginning even before the first instructions for programme and budget preparation were given to Departments and Divisions about a year ago.
The whole budget strategy, policy thrust, programme balance, choice of priorities and calculations of allocations has been searchingly reviewed by the Director-General at every stage.
The review has not however been conducted in a vacuum. In every aspect, the Director-General has studied and tried to follow the recommendations of the technical statutory bodies, the last session of this Conference, the main Council Committees, the Council itself, the Regional Conferences, and the Programme and Finance Committees. It is therefore not surprising, though still gratifying, that once again the strategies, policies and programmes proposed have been unanimously endorsed by such bodies. We hope that they will be unanimously endorsed by you.
The budget side has also been rigorously reviewed. Many questions have been asked by the Finance Committee and by experts from individual member governments. These have been investigated in depth and answered. Both the methodology and the calculations have been subjected to in-depth examination, with the objective of achieving utmost restraint.
It is of course very difficult to look ahead and feel confident about financial and currency developments over a two-year period. Member governments find it difficult even over a period of one year.
Insofar as current indicators are any guide, I feel that we are possibly running risks, as regards the complicated equation of currency and costs. In this connection, the decision concerning the currency rate to be applied to calculations of the budget level will be particulary difficult.
For the moment, all I will say on the question of costs is that the Director-General has resisted all pressures to increase the provision proposed in the documents, although it is very likely, for example, that following decisions of the International Civil Service Commission and/or the General Assembly, there will be expenditures on personnel services not provided for in our present estimates, which we will have to cover during the course of the biennium in one way or another.
So far I have been talking about all costs, i.e., the inflation affecting the salaries of all professional staff, all general service staff, and goods and services. The Director-General has, however, paid very special attention to the question of administrative and support costs. As you will see, he has cut these to the extent that some concern has been expressed in the Programme and Finance Committees and in the Council lest this process should already have gone too far and the technical work of the Organization be deprived of necessary essential administrative support. We will bear this advice in mind, but we are also seeking on a careful and systematic basis to use the opportunities offered by data processing and other electronic equipment to increase our output with the same or fewer staff.
At this point, I would like to stress that FAO has an almost unique record with regard to reducing the number of Headquarters staff and the proportion of the cost of established posts to total expenditure, consistently over the last seven years. Not only were 323 approved posts cancelled by the Director-General in 1976, but the process of reduction has continued ever since every biennium. There are another 41 posts proposed for elimination in the next biennium. This is so, notwithstanding the fact that the Programme, both regular and field, has continued to increase. One dollar spent on the Regular Programme now generates or supports $22 of investment or technical assistance in the field at the country level. This is an unparallelled rate of return, 1 to 22, on the Regular Programme.
Small wonder, therefore, that the Council has once again recognized the productivity and efficiency of the Organization.
It is as a result of this productivity and efficiency that we have been able to propose an increase of about 3.6 percent in the technical and economic programmes, while reducing the overall programme growth to almost zero.
Within this 3.6 percent increase in technical and economic programmes, the choice of programme priorities was not easy. It never is, but it was even harder this time, since every programme has its supporters for more resources. The reasoning for the choices is set out in detail in the document.
It may well be that some member countries will feel that more resources should be provided to some of the priorities than to others, or that new ones should be added. The scope for doing this within a virtually zero-growth budget is, of course, extremely limited, even if general agreement could be reached on what are the alternatives.
The Director-General will, however, try to maintain flexibility during the biennium, as circumstances change in programme feasibilities and financial opportunities. He will also continue to make every effort to broaden and increase the flow of extra-budgetary funds for multilateral and bilateral development and financial institutions for approved special action programmes and trust fund activities.
Finally, I come to the question of the budget level. As the Director-General has made clear, he could have found justification for a much higher budget level, but he has had to balance this against the harsh realities of the economic and financial situation of most member countries.
The economic conditions of the Third World are, or course, really harsh. At the same time, in the richer countries there is the rather unaccustomed phenomenon of a comparatively enormous number of unemployed, while at the same time governments are taking rigorous measures to curb expenditures and government establishments.
Whatever one's feelings might be about justice and equity on a national or international basis, it would obviously be unrealistic and unrewarding to ignore this situation, especially when it is so obvious from other reports before you that, through lamentable acts of will or sheer helplessness, many governments already have great difficulty meeting their constitutional obligations to pay their contributions in full and on time.
The Director-General has therefore done his utmost, as I have shown, to achieve a reasonable increase in technical and economic programmes, while keeping the overall burden for all Member Nations to virtually zero growth.
I am glad to say that not only did the Council overwhelmingly support his conclusions on the budget level, but also recommended that the Conference should unanimously endorse his Programme and Budget proposals.
The Director-General of course very strongly shares the feelings of the Council. It is not unusual by any means for a few Member Nations to vote against or abstain on the budget. In some cases it would seem it is almost a habit!
Yet, on this occasion, it would be a sad discouragement to the Director-General's efforts to meet the problems of all Member Nations and to reconcile considerations of need and cost in an acceptable way, if the Conference were unable to reach a unanimous decision.
If, on the other hand, the Conference were able to approve the proposals unanimously, it would be a great encouragement to all those who wish the United Nations system to show the highest standards of responsibility and realism as well as idealism, and to all those making efforts to improve international understanding and cooperation, especially in the field of food and agriculture.
I have spoken mainly about the Programme of Work and Budget. There are of course other important items on the Agenda, including the Reviews of the Regular and Field Programmes. The two Reviews are not only important in themselves but also, in the light of your comments on them, to the improved formulation and execution of future programmes. As to the other items, the Director-General or his representatives will be making separate introductions to you in due course. I will not spend more time on them now except to say that the Director-General will be closely following your views and comments.
Now, I would thank you for your attention and ask you kindly to give the floor to Mr Shah, the Director of Programme, Budget and Evaluation to introduce some further detailed aspects of the Programme of Work and Budget.
V.J. SHAH (Director, Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation): The Deputy Director-General, having given you the policy introduction of the Programme of Work and Budget and Medium-Term Objectives, my task should be relátively simple in trying to assist the Commission in attending to the documents which are before you and in drawing your attention to those aspects of the proposals which might most meet the Commission's deliberations.
You, yourself, Mr Chairman, have drawn attention to the main documents on this item, so I do not need to repeat them.
Let me start with the main document, which is C 83/3, the thick blue document, the Director-General's Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85. A run through this document might assist the Commission. The most important part of the document in terms of policy focus is of course the Director-General's introduction. It hardly needs any comment from me, but the Commission may find it useful if I draw its attention to the part of the Director-General's introduction which deals with the strategies and priorities for 1984-85 and in particular programme priorities which he has included in his proposals. Priorities, as the Conference well knows, differ within a timespan, they differ depending on the resource parameters that you are talking about. They defer in terms of means of action that is envisaged to implement those priorities. But a clear indication of the priorities for the next biennium is of course the net additional resources which are proposed to be consecrated to specific areas of activity. Here the programme priorities of the Director-General come out clearly in terms of research and technology development, follow-up to the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, action programmes dealing with natural resources, crops and livestock, economic and social programmes aimed to strengthen food security, fisheries, forestry and an overall priority to the continent of Africa.
As regards means of action, the Technical Cooperation Programme is proposed again to have a priority focus in terms of additional resources on the very basic argument that the Technical Cooperation Programme is part and parcel of the economic and technical and social programmes of the Organization. While it is a separate budgetary chapter the action it encompasses cannot be separated from the substantive activities of the Organization. Priorities to investment, to decentralization and to economic and technical cooperation among developing countries continue to receive priority. Thus the Director-General's proposals result in the overall package which has just been described by the Deputy Director-General.
This document is the result of recommendations which the Conference itself made at its last Session. You will recall that the Conference requested the Council to consider how the document could be further improved by incorporating the medium and long-term strategies of the Organization into the same document as the proposed Programme of Work and Budget instead of having a separate document on medium-term objectives as hitherto. The Council considered this matter at its Eighty-second Session in November 1982 and it is following the decisions of the Council that the preparation of this document was begun. We trust that the incorporation of the medium and long-term goals and strategies will enable the Conference to view FAO's programmes for the next biennium in the medium and longer-term context. In addition, as also desired and decided by the Council, other changes were introduced into the programme budget itself. Here I refer to the programme budget part of the document which gives the major programmes of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, etc. This programme budget section has been streamlined, through consolidation of tabular information in a new synoptic table which provides clearer indication of programme changes, including at the sub-programme level. Thus if you take any programme - let us take Programme 2.1.1. on natural resources — you begin with a table which shows the sub-programmes, the approved budget base for 1982-83, the programme change proposed in resources, whether an addition or a reduction, the 1984-85 budget in dollar figures, the work years and the extra budgetary funds, all by sub-programme, to enable the Conference to examine each stage and the nature of each proposal.
Throughout the document the rate of exchange used is 1190 lire to the US dollar. This is of course completely unrealistic if one takes the rate of exchange not only of today but of recent months. But we have kept to this rate of exchange in order to permit a complete comparison with the budget approved for 1982-1983, which, as you will recall, was at the rate of 1 190 lire to the US dollar.
The document contains a new chapter on the programme framework. In the English text it begins on page 17 of the document. But, as I hasten to reassure my superiors, some of the changes are more for convenience than in order to make revolution, and in fact this chapter of the programme framework we trust will facilitate the work of the Conference in that it brings together in one place everything we could think of that the Conference would wish to examine. For example, the chapter gives a description of the relation of the Regular Programme to the Field Programme, because while it is the proposed Programme of Work for the Regular Programme that you will be approving, it cannot be considered in isolation, given the intimate links between Regular Programme and Field Programme activities.
There is then an analysis of the proposed budget in terms of programme changes by budgetary chapter. In the English text of the document these changes are shown clearly enough in Figures 1 and 2 on pages 27 and 29 of the document.
May I point out here, Sir, that Figure 1 has been the subject of a corrigendum, C 83/3 - Corr. 1,- purely because of a typing misprint which occurred in the document itself.
The chapter then goes on to give details, every detail requested by the Programme and Finance Committees and the Council, of changes in posts by grade, by department or regional office, by location, changes in objects of expenditure and then an explanation of the cost increases beginning at page 34 of the document in the English text.
The section on cost increases was elaborated in specific response to the queries and requests of the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee examined proposed cost increases in the Summary Programme of Work and Budget at its spring session this year and at that time it requested that more information be given about each element of the cost increases and the basis on which the projections were made. We have therefore given this information, which was examined in full by the Finance Committee at its autumn session and which received its blessing both as regards the methodology and the content of the proposals.
The chapter then goes on to give the implications of the currency factor, to which the Deputy Director-General referred in his own statement, a comparison of the budget proposed for the next biennium with that approved for the present biennium, and a forecast of miscellaneous income for the next biennium, which leads to the draft resolution which your Commission will consider, Sir, for eventual adoption by the Conference in Plenary.
This draft resolution, which appears on page 45 of the document, of course contains appropriation figures at the rate of 1 190 lire to the dollar, and these figures will have to be adjusted in the light of the decision the Conference takes as to the rate of exchange that it will adopt for the next biennium's budget.
The main section of the document then is the programme budget. May I invite attention to the table of Summary of Estimates by Chapter and Major Programme, which appears on page 48, and the table of Programme Structure. This is a new table, but we think it might be helpful because we get so used to talking about programmes and sub-programmes that it is not always easy for somebody less familiar with the document to bear in mind what the total programme structure of the Organization consists of.
In the programme budget the narratives by programme have a further refinement. We explain under a section on changes in resources several different kinds of changes. First, we explain what are the net additional funds or the reduced funds proposed for a particular programme or sub-programme. Then there is an indication of shifts between sub-programmes, and finally shifts within sub-programmes, because any priority change as regards the work of this Organization does not necessarily need additional resources but can also be carried out by shifting resources between and within sub-programmes. All these were reviewed in great depth and supported by the Programme and Finance Committees.
There are three annexes. Annex I deals with the programmes by region. I shall here stress that the funds proposed for the regional offices are not synonymous with the programmes and the funds proposed by region.
In accordance with past practice the programme of the Organization is an integrated programme of units wherever they are located. Thus for the Technical and Economic Programmes, chapter 2 of the budget combines the programmes and the resources proposed for headquarters and regional offices. However, Member Nations are, of course, interested in always knowing what is the focus of the activities of the Organization as it affects each region, and here this focus is shown in the Annex, where I would request that the Commission bear in mind that of the Regular Programme resources there are certain activities which have to be viewed in their global context. There are others, whether financed at headquarters or in the regional offices, which have a regional focus. Then, finally, there are extra budgetary funds which again can and have to be seen in their regional context.
If we, therefore, look at table B, on page 212 of the English text, you have a breakdown of the total Regular Programme resources of 451. 6 million, broken down by global and regional subdivisions, and also broken down by headquarters, regional officers, and country offices. Then in a separate column you have the estimated extra-budgetary funds, also by region, which enables one to see what is the total impact of all funds, Regular Programme and extra-budgetary, by regions.
Annex II, Mr Chairman, gives the same kind of information which has always been given in this document, of the estimates by each organizational unit, and by object of expenditure, for 1982/1983, and 1984/1985. You also have an indication of the cost increases of the posts, the new posts, all the abolished posts, and the organizational charts.
Annex III, finally gives summary tables on salary and post adjustment schedules on established posts under old funds, and a comparative budget table by objects of expenditure, as it is utilized in the UN system.
Mr Chairman, compared to Programme of Work and Budget documents of other major organizations in the system, we find that this document is perhaps more terse, more compact, but a deliberate objective on our part, in response to the wishes of the Conference itself. The document gives every bit of information which has been requested, and we believe has a wealth of detail which covers both programme substance and financial information.
I hope, Mr Chairman, I have not abused the instructions of the Director-General, and your own patience in giving me the floor.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much, Mr Shah, for your very detailed explanations.
I believe new members should be in a position to make comments and further requests and queries on your introduction, even though, as you say, you have tried everything possible to satisfy originally stated demands.
Before we open the discussions, I should like to talk about the Drafting Committee. We have now concluded the necessary consultations, and I wish to propose to the Commission that the Drafting Committee stands as follows: Chairman, Mr Brewster of Barbados. Members for the Africa region, Sierra Leone and Tunisia. For the Asia region, Pakistan and Malaysia. For the Near East region, Cyprus and Lebanon. For Latin America, Peru and Mexico. For North America, Canada. Southwest Pacific, Australia, and for Europe, Sweden and Bulgaria.
If there are no objections to this proposal we will take it that the Drafting Committee has been accepted as it stands.
While we are at this point I should indicate that we might expect that the first meeting of the Drafting Committee would probably be by Friday afternoon, but that depends on what I am going to say next. This morning we are going to make brief general statements on the entire Programme of Work and Budget, and we would hope that this would go on this morning and, perhaps, part of the afternoon, after which, for the remaining time until Thursday morning, we should then be focusing on the respective chapters of the document on the Programme of Work and Budget. But I should hasten to point out that between now and Thursday morning we do not have a lot of time for everybody to speak for as long as they want, and that means that those who would like to express things in mathematical terms, we have 17 meetings for this Commission to discuss six items, and we have 156 delegations here, and that means for the entire period of work of this Commission every delegation has 20 minutes, and if you eat up your 20 minutes too early, you might not have time to discuss, or make any more interventions. So I would like to make you aware that when we make interventions on this very first item, which is very important, please be very brief but to the point. Do not leave out anything that is important, but do not be too long.
I would also like to indicate that document C 83/INF/17 provides additional background on agricultural research. Also that Part One of the Review of the Regular Programme, which is in document C 83/8 gives information on activities during the biennium, and that is useful in looking at the proposals for the next biennium.
At this stage, I think that members are about ready to intervene.
U. SESSI (Italie): Pour briser la glace, permettez au pays hôte de commencer les débats sur cette question.
Permettez-moi, avant tout, au nom de ma délégation, de vous exprimer mes félicitations les plus chaleureuses, Monsieur le Président, pour votre élection à la présidence de ce Comité, félicitations que je voudrais étendre aux membres du Bureau et au Rapporteur.
Ma délégation voudrait avant tout remercier le Directeur général adjoint et M. le Directeur du Bureau du programme du budget et de l'évaluation pour la présentation du projet de programme de travail et budget pour le biennum 1984-1985. Elle accueille avec satisfaction le clair engagement de poursuivre l'oeuvre déjà entamée d'amélioration, d'efficience et de meilleur fonctionnement de la FAO.
Une fois approuvé par la Conférence générale, le budget représente le cadre financier pour toutes les activités de la FAO durant les deux prochaines années et fixe les limites des dépenses au Directeur général.Pour ces raisons,l'examen du budget constitue sans doute la tache la plus importante pour notre Comité.
Cette année,on nous propose un projet de budget qui prévoit un total global de dépenses de 451,6 raillions de dollars à couvrir par des recettes accessoires pour 26,6 raillions de dollars et par les contributions des Etats membres pour 425 millions de dollars.Ce projet a déjà été examiné parle Comité des programmes et le Comité du budget en avril, et par le Conseil à sa session de juin de l'année en cours.Tous ces organes ont exprimé descommentaires et des recommandations valables à ce sujet.
Sur cette base, le Secrétariat de la FAO a établi le document CL 83/3 que nous avons sous les yeux pour lequel nous exprimons nos remerciements, étant donné la forme claire et exhaustive dans laquelle il a été dressé, bien qu'il subsiste encore dans certaines parties l'exigence d'ultérieures améliorations pour éliminer toute possibilité d'équivoque ou de malentendu.Pour citer seulement un exemple, on nous déclare au paragraphe 3.9 de la page 33 du texte français la suppression de 41 postes sans faire mention du nombre de postes nouveaux, demandés dans d'autres parties du budget, que l'on doit retrouver dans les tableaux, sinon á la fin du budget.
Pour ce qui concerne maintenant le budget dans son aspectglobal, je voudrais louer le Directeur général pour avoir fait précéder le document en question par une introduction qui expose son approche philosophique générale au problème de l'activité de la FAO dans le prochain biennum.Acepropos,jevoudrais confirmer l'attachement de mon pays aux activités de la FAO et au rôle que la FAO joue dans la lutte contre la faim dans le monde et pour résoudre les problèmes d'autosuffisance alimentaire des pays en voie de développement.Un exemple récent de cet attachement est le programme qui vient d'être lancé pour le développement rural et les activités agricoles dans le Sahel qui sera financé par le Gouvernement italien et réalisé conjointement par l'Italie et la FAO.
En même temps, le contexte économique international très difficile,reconnu par le Directeur général dans son introduction au budget, demande une gestion très attentive des ressources confiées à la FAO par les Etats Membres.Une chose n'exclut pas l'autre le dynamisme de l'action et le réalisme dans la gestion du budget pourraient et devraient marcher ensemble.
Je voudrais maintenant, avec votre permission, faire quelques observations d'ordre général surle budget,enmeréservant de revenir sur des points particuliers au moment où ils seront abordés lors de la discussion dans les prochains jours.
Nous avons noté avec intérêt et satisfaction l'effort fait par le Directeur général pour limiter la croissance réelle des dépenses à un taux de 0,5 pour cent pour le prochain biennum.Cela démontre la sensibilité de l'Organisation aux difficiles moments que vit l'économie mondiale et sa capacité de s'adapter, dans la poursuite de ses tâches fondamentales pour le développement du tiers monde, à un cadre économique très instable et très différent de celui que l'on avait il y a quelques années.
Nous avons aussi remarqué l'effort pour une meilleure efficacité structurelle de la FAO, que l'on se propose d'obtenir, d'une part par la réduction d'un certain nombre de postes, ce qui réduit sensiblement le pourcentage des crédits budgétaires alloués aux dépenses de personnel, et d'autre part, par une réorientation des programmes et des priorités qui se traduit aussi par une restructuration interne des bureaux et par une plus grande importance donnée au Programme d'assistance technique.
A côté de cesphénomènes politiques, il faut citer des aspects qui laissent subsister quelques perplexités.Lepremier, c'est la croissance globale en termes nominaux du budget, qui montre uneaugmentationpar rapport au budget précédent de -23 pour cent.De lalecture du document,il n'est pas facile d'identifier la partie de cette augmentation due à la prévision pour la biennalisation des coûts, et la partie due aux prévisions pour inflation.Je crois que dans la poursuite de nos travaux,nous aurons besoin d'ultérieures informations de la part du Secrétariat.
En ce qui concerne en particulier les prévisions de l'inflation, je dois rappeler que les lignes directrices depolitique économique tracées par le Gouvernement italien, et qui sont maintenant à l'examen du Parlement,prévoient une série de mesures qui visent à réduire le taux d'inflation en Italie à 10 pour cent en 1984.Je ne sais pas si cette donnée a été prise en compte dans l'établissement du projet de budget.
Le deuxième facteur d'incertitude dans le projet de budget, c'est le taux de change lire-dollar E.-U. Nous avons noté les informations fournies dans les documents et nous attendons des informations mises à jour,mais il va sans dire que le taux de change qui sera adopté aura une influence capitale sur l'enveloppe globale du budget, car le choix d'un taux de change trop bas aurait pour conséquence de ramener la croissance réelle du budget à un niveau bien supérieur â celui qui est prévu maintenant.
A ce propos,je voudrais rappeler les lourdes conséquences pour les contributions des Etats membres de l'appréciation du dollar sur la majorité des monnaies,que ce soit des pays en voie de développement ou des pays industrialisés.Je pourrais citer l'exemple de mon pays, mais je crois que ce problème est ressenti par d'autres délégations qui ont vu, en raison de l'effet cumulatif de l'augmentation du budget dans sa totalité, de la modification des barèmes de contributions et de la hausse du dollar, leurs contributions au budget de la FAO pour le prochain biennum augmentées, selon les hypothèses proposées dansle document C 83/3,d'une manière substantielle par rapport au budget précédent.
C’est pourquoi nous attendons du débat qui se déroulera dans ce comité des résultats clairs, équitables et réalistes qui puissent consentir en .même temps à la FAO de continuer son oeuvre indispensable pour le progrès des pays en voie de développement, et aux pays membres de participer à cette oeuvre avec des efforts financiers harmonisés et compatibles avec leur situation interne et la situation économique internationale.
M. BENNIS (Maroc) : La délégation marocaine tient tout d'abord, M. le Président, à vous adresser ses chaleureuses félicitations pour votre élection à la présidence de la Deuxième Commission, dont l'importance évidente découle en particulier de sa responsabilité en tant qu'organe de la Conférence appelé à examiner les moyens mis à la disposition de la FAO pour lui permettre de remplir convenablement sa mission.
Le Maroc, en sa qualité de membre du Conseil, a eu, lors de la 84ème session de cette instance, l'occasion de formuler son sentiment sur le programme de travail et budget au titre du biennium prochain. Ma délégation ne se lassera pas d'exprimer sa pleine satisfaction et de renouveler devant la Conférence son approbation sur les lignes directrices du Programme de travail, et son appui aux prévisions budgétaires proposées pour les deux années â venir.
Les raisons qui incitent ma délégation à accueillir favorablement le programme de travail et le budget qui nous sont présentés sont multiples et touchent à la fois à la forme et au fond.
En effet, nous nous réjouissons tout d'abord du soin avec lequel le document C 83/3 a été élaboré et voudrions féliciter le Directeur général d'avoir conçu cette nouvelle présentation claire et transparente, qui a facilité amplement notre travail d'appréciation sur la nature et les moyens d'action que l'Organisation se propose de mettre en oeuvre pour l'exercice prochain.
Concernant le fond, nous relevons de prime abord que le Programme de travail trouve logiquement ses fondements dans l'analyse objective et réaliste de la situation mondiale de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture faite par le Directeur général. Les options retenues dans les orientations de l'action de la FAO en faveur des pays en développement emportent notre plein agrément parce qu'elles répondent aux besoins des pays qui demeurent encore et malheureusement plongés dans le marasme. Les priorités et les stratégies préconisées par le Directeur général dans leur ensemble et l'impulsion nouvelle accordée en particulier par le Programme technique et économique sont de nature à apporter une contribution utile au processus de développement économique et social, entrepris Dar les pays du tiers monde.
Mais l'action de la FAO restera vraiment insuffisante si les nations du monde, toutes les nations du monde, ne prennent conscience de la solidarité de leur destin et n'instaurent un nouvel ordre économique assis sur plus d'équité et moins de profit. Les aspirations légitimes des pays en voie de développement devraient être prises en considération avec plus de célérité par le monde industrialisé. Il est d'ailleurs heureux de constater que l'une des contributions louables de la FAO dans la recherche de cette voie réside dans la nouvelle approche de la sécurité alimentaire mondiale, élaborée avec beaucoup de grandeur d'esprit et de pertinence par le Directeur général, qui a notamment souligné que le développement constitue l'une des conditions essentielles et déterminantes de la lutte contre la faim et la malnutrition.
La délégation du Maroc partage entièrement les vues de la FAO sur la priorité à accorder aux projets qui s'insèrent dans le cadre global des développements nationaux économiques et sociaux. Ha délégation se félicite des efforts que l'Organisation entend entreprendre au sein du Programme de coopération technique pour le développement intégré.
Par ailleurs, conscients que nous sommes du rôle de la recherche et de la technologie dans l'amélioration de la qualité et de la quantité alimentaire ainsi que de la production agricole, nous enregistrons avec satisfaction et encourageons vivement les actions accrues de la FAO dans ce secteur. Les moyens financiers nécessaires à la réalisation de ces objectifs auraient bien pu paraître nettement insuffisants si le Directeur général tenant compte de la conjoncture économique internationale n'avait assorti la vigueur qui caractérise ses prévisions budgétaires d'une répartition judicieuse et réaliste entre les différentes rubriques.
Ainsi, la réduction des coûts administratifs, d'un côté,et la progression des programmes techniques et économiques,d'autre part, constituent-elles des mesures habiles à mettre à l'actif du Directeur général toujours soucieux de l'efficacité de la FAO.
Parmi les continents qui aspirent au bénéfice de cette efficacité, celui de l'Afrique, entouré d'une attention particulière que nous voulons encourager fortement, croit à l'action de la FAO et espère pouvoir compter sur son soutien de plus en plus marqué pour l'aider à franchir plus rapidement les étapes du développement.
Si nous appuyons le Programme de travail et budget qui nous est présenté, et si nous félicitons le Directeur général pour la clairvoyance et le sens de l'efficacité qui en ressort, nous formulons cependant le souhait que, dès à présent, l'avenir ne soit pas grevé par la tendance générale de la croissance quasiment nulle du budget en discussion. Il est vrai que la croissance de 0,5 pour cent qui nous est proposée demeure symbolique parce qu'elle traduit plus un signe qu'une valeur réelle, et marque surtout une tendance par rapport à la croissance zéro.
Nous voudrions y voir la volonté d'aller de l'avant de notre Organisation. En définitive, nous gardons l'espoir en la FAO et en son avenir et nous assurons son Directeur général de notre confiance qui se traduit aujourd'hui par notre soutien et par notre appel à la Conférence en vue d'adopter la recommandation du Conseil et d'approuver le Programme de travail et budget qui lui est présenté.
J.SAULT (Australia): We would like to thank Mr West and Mr Shah for their very useful opening statements which have set the scene for our debate. I think I can be very brief and not use up too many of my twenty minutes in making a general statement on this item because I have already had the advantage of going through the proposals in very considerable detail in the Finance Committee, I will confine my remarks to a few broad observations.
First, the Director-Cenerai has faced a very difficult task in attempting to balance the needs of the membership of the Organization, particularly the needs of the developing countries which are, of course, enormous, and in taking due account of the very difficult financial environment which prevails throughout the world. We believe that he has struck a reasonable balance. He has been able to constrain the growth of the budget while at the same time being able to propose real increases in the technical and economic programmes of the Organization. Also, there has been an improvement, in our view, in the documentation for the proposals. We welcome the approach that has been followed in the documentation before us, which enables member governments to consider and assess the Programme proposals more conveniently and effectively.
As I have mentioned, we have been through the cost calculations in considerable detail in the Finance Committee and we are satisfied that they have been carried out in a detailed and thoroughly professional fashion and that they are based on reasonable assumptions. We can also endorse the main programme strategies and priorities that the Director-General has put forward.
One very significant item that remains is, of course, the choice of the exchange rate and we now await the proposals and suggestions that might be put before us on this item.
LI HYOK CHOL (Democratic People's Republic of Korea): The world is well aware of the seriousness of the food problem, particularly in the low-income food-deficit countries. Because of the shortage of food the peaceful, prosperous and harmonious development of the world has been severely affected. There has been much talk about North-South cooperation for co-survival, co-prosperity. However, so-called co survival and co-prosperity are too far from being realistic. The world is being threatened with tragedy by the enormous amount of nuclear weapons; and again, world peace is jeopardised by the political weapon of food.
In this situation FAO, under the guidance of the Director-General, has been doing highly encouraging work for the solution of the food problem. FAO has played a really important role in assisting the developing countries to increase food production. Expectations for FAO are very great in the developing world. Particularly in the current adverse international economic situation, the need for expanded FAO assistance is really great. We sincerely hope that FAO can be sufficiently solid and effective to provide due response to the needs.
After carefully considering the current international economic situation and the duties of FAO, the Director-General proposed the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85 and Medium-Term Objectives. My delegation is of the view that with the limited resources available, the Programme of Work and Budget covers the interests of all Member States. Economic and technical programmes including the TCP have been largely increased.
We also think that strategies and the choice of programme priorities have been correctly taken. The delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea congratulates the Director-General and the Secretariat on their work in producing the present Programme of Work and Budget and Medium-Term Objectives which my delegation fully supports. We maintain that the Programme of Work and Budget in its present presentation and level must be approved by the Conference.
F. BREWSTER (Barbados): I too would like to express our appreciation to Mr West, Deputy Director-General and Mr Shah for giving us a very lucid preview of document C 83/3. By way of general remarks my delegation wishes to say that it is pleased with the efforts of the Director-General in presenting a budget with almost zero growth. This has been a very difficult task and would be so for any international organization. However, it is significant that while containing and reducing administrative growth, he has still found it feasible to increase the level of technical and economic services to member countries.
My delegation has already commended in the Council on the new format of the document under consideration and I need only say that we are very pleased that FAO has responded effectively to the Conference by devising and producing this new type of documentation.
As regards the programmes outlined for the biennium, my delegation wishes to support the priorities and strategies which have been identified by the Director-General. We feel that developing countries will benefit tremendously from the programmes in research, rural development and fisheries development. We also endorse the special priority which the Director-General has accorded to Africa. My delegation considers the Technical Cooperation Programme and the decentralization initiatives will bring deeper meaning to the work of FAO.
Finally, my delegation thinks that the level of the budget is the best that could have been provided in the current circumstances and, as such, we wish to express our full support for it.
C.VIDALI CARBAJAL (Mexico): Antes que nada, felicitar a usted por su elección, y al Sr.West y al Sr. Shah por la presentación tan util del tema, que realmente nos facilitará mucho los trabajos.
Hemos visto con gran interés el documento C 83/3 que trata del Programa del Presupuesto de la FAO para 1984/85, y los Objetivos a Plazo Medio que merece el apoyo, en general, de nuestra delegación. El documento de referencia presenta con gran detalle los programas que absorberán la mayor parte de los esfuerzos y de los recursos de nuestra Organización en el proximo bienio. Destacamos el hecho de que los programas técnicos y económicos se incrementen en un 3.6 por ciento, que en nuestro concepto apenas es suficiente para que la FAO pueda cubrir las necesidades de asistencia que tienen los Gobiernos Miembros, que son más altas cada día.
Apreciamos la dedicación del Director General para conciliar una difícil situación económica planteada por un gran número de países donadores desarrollados que, esgrimiendo la tesis de un crecimiento cero en los presupuestos de los organismos internacionales,hicieron todo lo posible por constreñir a la FAO a sus designios económicos, llevando a la Organización a realizar algunos sacrificios que, en otras circunstancias, serían innecesarios y que pueden llegar a afectar su efectividad.
La realidad es que a pesar de esa reducción se han podido aumentar en términos reales los crecimientos de algunos programas para los países en desarrollo y llegar a un crecimiento simbólico del 0.5 por ciento sobre el presupuesto del bienio anterior. Este esfuerzo de racionalidad merece el encomio de nuestra Comisión y de la 22a Conferencia de la FAO.
Asimismo debe de haber un pronunciamiento decidido para que las políticas generales de restricción presupuestaria no se vuelvan permanentes, no tomen carta de naturalización; hay otros programas en el sector alimentario a los que se les ha autorizado recientemente un aumento sustancial presupuestario impulsado básicamente por los países donadores, lo cual nos indica que ya se realiza un cambio en la funesta política de crecimiento cero preconizado hasta hace poco.
Si bien consideramos con gran preocupación la problemática que presenta actualmente la situación alimentaria africana, y apoyamos los esfuerzos de la FAO para atenderla, queremos llamar la atención al hecho de que en otras partes del mundo se están generando problemas que también requieren acción conjunta de la Comunidad Internacional,por tanto,sin reducir la atención sobre los problemas africanos se deben buscar soluciones que permitan canalizar mayores recursos para atender estos problemas y no arguyendo cambios en las. prioridades, ni reducir la asistencia en otras áreas del mundo.
Por otra parte, es muy importante que los enfoques de la asistencia multilateral y también,por qué no,de la bilateral,se encuadren en soluciones de desarrollo general de los países del tercer mundo. La solución delproblema alimentario no es solamente agrícola o pesquero, debe incluir otros conceptos de desarrollo como laeducación, la salubridad, las comunicaciones, los transportes, etc. que tienden a enfocarse integralmente.
Es precisamente sobre esto que debería meditar y actuar coordinadamente la Comunidad Internacional,
Particularizando nuestros comentarios, queremos señalar que en general los aumentos de los costos propuestos en el presupuesto nos parecen conservadores. Pensamos que la actual situación inflacionaria en el país sede y en muchos otros donde opera la FAO hará que estas estimaciones se prueben insuficientes a pesar del optimismo del distinguido delegado del país sede.
Esperamos que,comoen elpasado,estos errores de estimación nosean graves,pero veríamos con preocupación,y lo quisiera mencionar,la posibilidad de modificar las propuestas para los incrementos de los costos.
Hemos visto en el curso de los debates celebrados en el año que algunos países desarrollados ban venido insistiendo en aplicar mayores controles que permitan una mejor evaluación de las actividades de nuestra Organización, Nuestra delegación está de acuerdo en que se conozcan mejor los resultados de los trabajos de la FAO, lo cual nos permitirá dirigir mejor su rumbo en el futuro; pero debemos ser cuidadosos de que los controles, la evaluación, los estudios analíticos no lleguen a frenar la propia capacidad de la FAO para realizar sus programas y que se gasten demasiados recursos para hacerlo, porque al final tendríamos una Organización muy bien controlada y evaluada administrativamente con poca capacidad operativa a nivel tecnico. Hay que tener cuidado entonces de los controles excesivos y buscar el justa medio. Además sabemos por la dependencia comiín de inspección que In FAO es ejemplar en materia de estos controles dentro del sistema de las Naciones Unidas.
En relación a los programas de cooperación técnica queremos destacar, a nombre de los países latinoamericanos y del Caribe, cuyo grupo representamos en la actualidad, y del de nuestra delegación, que consideramos a estos programas de relevante importancia para los países en vías de desarrollo porque permiten un auxilio ágil y eficaz a los gobiernos que solicitan ayuda de la FAO.
Nos preocupa las observaciones de unos pocos países desarrollados en el sentido de que hay que revisar e imponer controles a los programas de cooperación tecnica que, en nuestra opinión, burocratiza-rían un excelente instrumento de apoyo que tiene la FAO a su disposición; es precisamente el tipo de programa cuyo presupuesto debe incrementarse ante la necesidad creciente de los países del Tercer Mundo que han visto reducirse la ayuda multilateral con la crisis por la que se ha hecho atravesar al PNUD,
Nos preguntamos entonces que propósitos se persiguen ahora o qué propósitos persiguen los mismos países que pusieron en crisis al PNUD, ¿es que acaso ahora se está pensando poner en crisis al Programa de Cooperación Técnica de la FAO y de minimizar, finalmente, la ayuda multilateral? Estas son preguntas que nos deberían responder quienes proponen dicha reducción.
Nuestra delegación, y también el Grupo Latinoamericano y del Caribe, vuelven a insistir en la bondad, utilidad y eficacia de las oficinas nacionales de la FAO que permiten realizar una actividad más dinámica a los países en vías de desarrollo puesto que establecen unos vínculos de colaboración efectiva con las autoridades locales. Las oficinas regionales, por su parte, tienen una muy importante función coordinadora que reduce los tramos de control y adecúa la FAO a las necesidades de un mundo en expansión y rápido movimiento. En la medida en que el mundo en desarrollo acude a esquemas de regionalización y se plantean soluciones regionales o subregionales a sus problemas comunes este tipo de oficinas se vuelve cada día más util siempre y cuando se les dote de una mayor autonomía y capacidad decisoria. En America Latina la Oficina Regional ha probado ser particularmente util, así como las reuniones regionales que sirven para obtener un intercambio más amplio de experiencia y coordinación de posiciones sobre temas de común interés.
Nuestra delegación apoya específicamente programas como el Fomento a la Investigación y Tecnología, las actividades complementarias de la Conferencia Mundial de Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural, fundamentalmente en el Programa 2.1.5. Desarrollo Rural; otros Programas que merecen todo nuestro apoyo son el 2.1.1. Recursos Naturales; el 2.1.2 Cultivos, especialmente las labores relativas a los sistemas agrícolas y los de fronteras agrícolas; los programas de participación de la mujer en los mecanismos de mercadeo rural también merecen nuestra alta consideración. Las políticas de precios agrícolas son relevantes para movilizar la producción y vemos con agrado que la FAO le ha dedicado mayores recursos a su análisis; el sistema de información y alerta, ligado al concepto de seguridad alimentaria, es otro programa que vemos reforzado y que consideramos de utilidad estratégica.
En materia pesquera la FAO ha venido desarrollando una labor ejemplar y que con las orientaciones del 15° período de sesiones del COFI y las que emanen de la próxima Conferencia de Pesca harán de este Programa uno de los más dinámicos dentro de la Organización.
En materia forestal la labor de la FAO se orienta a ligar esta actividad al desarrollo rural integral, lo cual aprobamos; asimismo las consideraciones ecologistas son relevantes; y asimismo apoyamos la creación de la nueva División de Investigación y Desarrollo de Tecnología resultante de la fusión de unidades dispersas lograda con unos ingresos adicionales a los que reciben, que esperamos sirva para canalizar los resultados de la investigación en los países en desarrollo.
Finalmente, manifestamos nuestra aprobación al Programa de Labores y Presupuesto para 1984/85 por el Director General contenido en el documento C 83/3 y el proyecto de Resolución que se propone en la página 46 del citado documento.
Nos reservamos, señor Presidente, volver a comentarios particulares cuando sea pertinente.
F.H. JAWHAR HAYAT (Kuwait) (original language Arabie): I would like to express our appreciation to Mr West and Mr Shah for their presentation. We were expecting such work from Mr West and Mr Shah because they have always proved to be our right hand in other sessions, I would also like to express, on behalf of my delegation, our support to the programmes which are well elaborated in this document. We would like also to express our appreciation of the efforts to reduce the cost wherever it was possible. Our delegation would like particularly to point to the pattern set up by the Director-General who cancelled four posts in his office and we would like to warn against other reductions that might occur in other programme activities.
My delegation also supports the strategies and priorities set up by the Director-General in the elaboration of the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85, I would also like to congratulate the Director-General and his assistants for the efforts made in order to elaborate this Programme of Work and Budget. We would recognize here that the Director-General has chosen the right strategies and priorities that meet the needs of the Member States and that he established a balance when he chose the programme activities.
We would particularly like to express our appreciation of the efforts of the Director-General in order to harmonize his idea with the needs of the programmes in developing .countries and also his recognition of the difficulties the member countries face in order to meet their external financial commitments. In this respect we would like to commend the consolidation of the economic and the technical programmes of the Organization; these programmes which will enable it to increase the growth rate for the period 1984-1985 by 3.6 percent only in spite of the little increase in the general programme activities. This could only be achieved through austerity measures and reduction of administrative services mentioned above.
I once more express my support to the efforts made by the Director-General in order to improve the efficiency of the Organization and at the same time his efforts to implement the programmes so that they meet the needs of the member states and their legitimate aspirations.
According to what I have said I would like to recommend, and I hope that this programme will receive the support of the General Conference as it has always been the basis of the work of the Organization which helps to develop the international society.
H. FADHLI NAJEB (Iraq) (original language Arabic): My congratulations go to the Secretariat for the excellent document they have prepared and for the excellent presentation of the document.
This document has come about as a result of great efforts made by the Programme and Finance Committees and we wish to take this opportunity to express our great appreciation to the Chairman and members of these two Committees. We would also like to thank Mr West and Mr Shah for the excellent and clear presentation of the subject which we are discussing.
The Council of the Organization - and we are honoured to be members of this Council - at its session which preceded the convening of this Conference, approved the Programme of Work and Budget and appealed to the Conference to approve the Programme of Work and Budget.
We would like to take this opportunity to express to the Director-General our deep appreciation and gratitude for the presentation of the Programme of Work and Budget for the coming biennium after taking into account the international economic situation on the one hand and the deteriorating situation of food and agriculture in the developing countries on the other hand. The result was a practical document that showed all the influences and introduced an excellent Programme of Work and Budget. The growth rate of this Budget is only 0.5 percent which is about zero growth compared to the preceding Budget. However that has not affected the programmes of the Organization and its development programmes but came about through reduction in administrative costs.
After listening to the excellent statement made yesterday by the Former Chancellor Mr Kreisky we hope that this statement will find its echo in the countries concerned and that this response will be to approve budgets and programmes of work, other than the ones we have in this budget, in the coming years.
Finally, we hope that this Commission and the Conference will approve the recommendation of the Council and approve the Programme of Work and Budget as it is presented in the document.
XIANG ZHONGYANG (China) (original language Chinese): I would like to say that the Chinese delegation under your Chairmanship, Sir, will cooperate with the other delegations to make its contribution to the success of our Commission.
I would now like to make a few general comments on the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium. With regard to the level of the Budget the Chinese delegation has already pointed out at the Eighty-fourth session of the Council that the growth rate of 0.5 percent is inadequate to reinforce the work of the Organization and meet the needs of the developing countries. However, bearing in mind the economic situation of the world at present we feel that this is a realistic rate. Therefore we greatly appreciate the efforts of the Director-General towards this end and we hope that the present Session of the Conference will arrive at a concensus on the level of the Budget.
The four main objectives proposed by the Director-General that is to say, promotion of food production, improvement of world food security, the impact on the field, and also the reinforcement of economic and technical cooperation between the developing countries meet with our approval. We feel that the four main objectives represent a coherent whole, even though multi-disciplinary measures will have to be adopted to solve the problem of agricultural development. The promotion of food production in particular in the low-income food-deficit countries is nevertheless the main objective of the Organization for the biennium. All activities aiming at stimulating food production in developing countries, in particular the field activities, should be given priority in allocating supplementary resources.
We appreciate the efforts adopted by the Director-General to allocate important resources to the economic and technical programmes, and even when the increase of the programme represents only 0.5 percent the resources set aside for technical economic activities have increased by 3.6 percent, and this represents continuity in the policy of the Organization adopted since 1976.
We feel that the choice of priorities, including the increase of 3.6 percent for technical cooperation, is appropiate and balanced.
We also suppport the priority granted to the African region in the programme for the next biennium.
We hope that once the priorities are adopted the Secretariat will implement the programme on the basis of past results with great efficiency so that the developing countries can benefit therefrom.
We are happy to note that the development of research and technology has been granted top priority in the Programme for the next biennium. We feel that the promotion of transfer of technology as well as transfer of resources constitutes an important component of the future activities of the Organization.
Economic and technical cooperation between developing countries is given much space in the sector of agriculture and food and we would fully support the fact that FAO has included this as one of the main objectives of the Programme for the next biennium. In the course of the last few years FAO has done a great deal along these lines, in particular in appealing to the capacities of the developing countries themselves for the implementation of the projects. When the Summary Programme of Work and Budget for 1983-84 was discussed at the Eighty-third session of the Council the Council also reaffirmed this new orientation.
Even though there are certain signs of economic revival in some of the developed countries since 1983 within the overall framework of world recession, the unfavourable effects of this recession on the economics of the developing countries cannot be cancelled out very quickly. The developing countries will therefore have to face in the next years a very serious challenge in developing agriculture. The developed countries will have to help the developing countries to attenuate this unfavourable impact of economic recession.
In introducing his Programme of Work and Budget the Director-General has stressed the interdependency of world economy. He is quite right to say that if the developed countries were to assist and encourage developing countries, then these latter countries could act as a motor for a while for economic growth in the northern countries. It is true that the developing countries have to rely in the long run on their own resources to take up this challenge. However, economic and technical assistance from the outside is also essential. This is a point of view which is generally accepted by the international community.
We are happy to note that in the present unfavourable international economic situation many developing countries have constantly readjusted and redefined the policy of development. They have relied on their own efforts and they have been able to absorb outside resources and introduce new techniques. Accordingly they have obtained optimum economic results in taking advantage of help from outside. For several years China has received help from outside and we are willing to make good use of the good experience of other countries.
Finally, I would like to reiterate the support of the Chinese delegation for the objectives, strategies and priorities proposed in the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium. As to the various programmes and sub-programmes, we shall comment later on in the course of the discussion.
A. EL SARKY (Egypt) (original language Arabic): I would like at the outset to associate myself with the previous delegates who have congratulated you on your election as Chairman of this Commission. I would like also to congratulate the Vice-Chairman and the members of the Drafting Committee. By the same token I would like to express my satisfaction after having heard Mr West's and Mr Shah's declarations.
My delegation read this whole document very carefully, especially the Director-General's introduction to the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85. I reserve the right to speak more specifically on the different items of the Regular Programme of Work and Budget in forthcoming meetings.
We would like to congratulate the Director-General upon the presentation of this document which is very harmonious and realistic, despite the unfavorable economic circumstances prevailing in the world. I think we cannot but approve the different strategies and priorities, especially since they have been prepared on the basis of recommendations given by different international organizations and the FAO governing bodies and since they are intended to fulfill development requirements in low-income and least developed countries within limited financial resources.
My delegation has noticed the Director-General's measures aiming at scrapping low-priority programmes reducing administrative costs and back-stopping expenses as well as eliminating certain posts. This is illustrated by the cuts he introduced in his own office of $400 000, which were pumped in high-priority technical and economic programmes thereby increasing the efficiency of field programmes to achieve a substantial increase in agricultural production, food security as well as fostering technical cooperation among developing countries.
My delegation would like to support the trend taken by the Director-General to allocate additional resources to those programmes and sub-programmes that deserve higher priority, especially developing agricultural research and technology.
In previous meetings my delegation has underscored the importance of increasing FAO's efficiency and activities in the field of agricultural research and technology. We are happy to see that before us we have the Director-General's proposal to combine the various research units into a new research and technology department, and this serves to highlight that the Organization is prepared to cooperate with other organizations involved in research.
We are happy to see that the African continent is given priority in the programmes of the Organization, given the importance and weight of the Technical Cooperation Programme, which has helped many countries, to find solutions to their problems.
My delegation would like to support the new trend followed by the Director-General to increase resources allocated to that programme from 12 percent to 13.5 percent of the total budget base.
My delegation has also noted that the different activities undertaken by the new investment centre, are extremely important since they pave the way to increase development projects, and we hope that its activities will continue to grow, and that this centre will be given the resources it requires, in order to fulfill its role adequately.
We must also pay tribute to the decentralization policy followed by the Director-General, as well as the role of FAO Regional Representatives, who offer timely assistance. Given the new dimensions of economic and technical cooperation amongst developing countries, my delegation would like to invite the Director-General to pursue all these activities, and to draw upon the capacities and potential of developing countries the carrying out of their projects, and to give them high priority in the framework of the Organization's programmed activities. We commend FAO's efforts in training and hope that it will develop more attention to training institutions in developing countries. We noted when we looked at the regular budget before that there has been a very modest increase in this budget, compared to the budget of the last biennium. So we appreciate even more the efforts made by the Director-General, in order to achieve this even symbolic growth, and his attempts to lighten the financial burdens on Member States in the light of present international economic difficulties.
W. ADERO (Kenya): First I wish to join other delegations who have spoken before me in congratulating you on your election to the Chairmanship of this Commission. I also wish to thank both Mr West and Mr Shah for the very clear introduction they have given us on the Programme of Work and Budget, which is the subject which we are discussing now.
Kenya has been honored to serve in the FAO Council. We, therefore, have had a chance to discuss the Programme of Work and Budget at Council meetings, and due to this I shall make my intervention very brief.
My delegation supports the Programme of Work and Budget, and are very much in agreement with priority areas, as outlined by the Director-General. As regards the budget level, our view has been that, and we still hold that same view, that FAO would have been in a much better position to carry out its programmes with a slightly bigger budget. However, due to the difficult economic conditions being experienced by member countries, we accept the budget level as it is. We note with appreciation, that although the budget level remains about the same as it was during the last biennium, the expenditure on technical and economic programmes will rise by not less than 3.6 percent, and this will enable the Organization to respond more effectively to urgent situations in Member States, and especially the poorest ones. We very much welcome this. We also note that this has been made possible by reducing administrative costs, that now stand at only 58 percent of the total budget, as compared to that of 77 percent about ten years ago. This goes a long way in showing that the Director-General and the Secretariat are doing a lot in putting FAO resources in areas where they are required most.
In conclusion, I want to state once again that we support the budget, and we hope that it will be carried by consensus.
M. KHORAYCH (Liban) (langue originale arabe): Je voudrais tout d'abord vous féliciter, Monsieur le Président, à l 'occasion de votre élection à la présidence de cette Commission. Nous sommes persuadés que vous dirigerez nos débats avec la plus grande compétence. Mes remerciements t'adressent aussi à MM. West et Shah pour les excellents exposés que nous avons entendus.
Ma délégation voudrait également remercier le Directeur général et ses collaborateurs qui ont élaboré ce Programme de travail et budget; les priorités ont été bien définies en dépit de la croissance de 0,5 pour cent du budget. Ce Programme de travail et budget est la preuve de l'effort fourni car les ressources ont été allouées au mieux et c'est la raison pour laquelle ma délégation voudrait apporter son appui total au Programme de travail et budget; nous espérons que les autres délégations feront de même.Nous voulons espérer que le concept de la croissance zéro ne constituera pas un précédent à suivre dans l'avenir car il est nécessaire d'augmenter les activités en matière de production agricole et d'alimentation si nous voulons que la FAO s'acquitte de sa tâche, à savoir : l'élimination de la faim et de la malnutrition dans le monde.
K. M. EJAZUL HUQ (Bangladesh): Allow me, first, to congratulate you on your election to the Chairmanship of this very important Commission. I would also like to extend our appreciation to Mr West and Mr Shah for their lucid presentation of the subject.
I shall be very brief, in order to save on our 20 minutes for later interventions. As a member of the Council, the Bangladesh delegation at the Eighty-fourth session has discussed the Programme of Work and Budget in detail, and expressed its full support to the Programme of Work and Budget and the Medium-Term Objectives.
The Programme of Work and Budget is a key tool for guiding FAO in accomplishing its objectives in the service of mankind, particularly through its efforts to eliminate hunger and malnutrition.
As incidence of hunger and malnutrition continue unabated, it would seem legitimate to expect expansion of FAO's activities involving enhancement in budgetary outlay. On the contrary we perceive budgetary deceleration. In real fact, however, this deceleration represents a reorientation of priorities. This reorientation displays the Director-General's wisdom and appreciation of the reality of global economic situation which advocates restraint. At once this reorientation in Programme priority savings really augments technical activities whir . preserves FAO's productive impetus. This briefly stated consideration of reality impels us to reiterate the full support of the Bangladesh delegation to the Programme of Work and Budget, as well as the Medium-Term Objectives, for the next Biennium.
E. J. STONYER (New Zealand): Firstly, can we add our congratulations to the other delegates, on your appointment as Chairman of this very important Commission. The New Zealand delegation would like to join other delegates in their praise for the work of the Programme and Finance Committees, and to the executive staff, which has obviously so well serviced these Committees.
Document C 83/3 has a much improved format, and goes a long way towards meeting the difficulties many others experience in trying to evaluate the work of FAO.
At the Twenty-first session of the Conference, many delegations, including that of our own, expressed the thought that the prevailing economic climate meant that constraints would have to be exercised in the rate of real budget growth. It is very pleasing to see the responsible approach taken by the Director-General and his staff, and the very real efforts that have been made to curtail expenditure and maintain operational programmes.
New Zealand, along with many other countries of FAO, has been seeking budgetary reform aimed at providing for the more efficient use of funds. Within our own economies we have had to limit budgetary growth.
We have attempted to reorder our priorities, and eliminate any wastage. I think this type of approach that many of us have adopted in our domestic backyard is very important too to the United Nations agencies such as FAO. We would not support as a nation any diminution of effort in the food and agricultural area. In the same vein we would not support the limiting of effective operational programmes to maintain surplus administration, or projects which are no longer cost-effective.
We still have some difficulty in making quantitative judgements from the papers provided to the Conference. This is rather a small point, and it has already been mentioned by the delegate from Mexico, that we cannot perhaps do too much in this line, but the philosophy and analytical interpretation provides an excellent background in the papers that we have put before us. We identify the problems which face the Organization and, indeed, all aid agencies, in the more effective application of funds invested in country development. Despite this fact, and the presentation of statistical information, it is still difficult for the observer to judge real performance. The tenor of the documentation reflects the uncertain economic situation that prevails throughout the world. It illustrates the effect this has both in the developing countries and more specifically the impact that a reduction in funding has on the programmes of FAO. It is apparent from the text of the reports that this situation has been accommodated by a range of modifications to the current Programme. It would have been desirable, perhaps, to make available the criteria on which these changes were made, and the way in which priorities for funds application are established. It does seem that in this important area priorities should be debated as widely as possible, so that the principles on which the Organization stands may be seen to be applied and endorsed in this open forum.
A similar atmosphere of uncertainty surrounds the effectiveness of some of the field operations. It is pleasing to see that serious attempts are being made to evaluate performance. However, it does seem that the internal audit system could suffer from a degree of subjectivity which could raise questions of credibility. The introduction of limited external evaluation is to be commended, but there is no way in which these two independent activities can be related. The point is made, for instance, in one report, that no attempt should be made to correlate the two types of evaluation as they are both made from a different mix of projects. The credibility of major internal assessment operations I think could be enhanced if they were reinforced with comparable results achieved through an independent audit. What are the criteria Co be used to hold the project which lacks commitment or competence in the counterpart organization? To what extent is human need and social benefit assessed in weighing the merits of sustaining faltering performance? It seems that this forum could address itself to some of these philosophical questions so that the executives would have more guidance in making the kinds of decisions which they have to make. In taking hard decisions they will know they are working within an improved and agreed philosophical framework.
In conclusion, just one other point. For New Zealand's part our main area of interest obviously is in the Pacific. It is difficult within the information provided to extract information which is specific to that region. Despite any of these very minor shortcomings, my delegation is very pleased with the progress that has been made, and we would give our general support to the strategy which has been put forward, and to the work programme and the priorities that have been established.
N. K. BASNYAT (Nepal): First of all, I would also like to thank you on being elected to the high post of the Chairman of this important Commission, and I also would like to thank Mr West and Mr Shah for their task of representation of the whole work. I would like to thank the Director-General and his staff for the preparation of the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85.
Nepal's delegation, or Nepal in particular, has been benefiting from FAO's efforts and we are very happy, and my delegation would like to express our gratitude to the Directors and others for the priority given to Asia and the Pacific region, and particularly any Asian countries.
My delegation will be putting our views in discussions, so without taking much time I would just like to thank you again for being elected to the high post of this important Commission.
Sra. Dra. D. SANCHEZ (Colombia): La delegación de Colombia reitera su más pleno apoyo al Programa de Labores y Presupuesto para 1984/85. Considera nuestra delegación que este importante documento contiene notables mejoras en su presentación y corresponde a las prioridades definidas de los Organos Rectores, así como a una seria y adecuada evaluación de la situación de la alimentación y la agricultura en el mundo.
La delegación de Colombia piensa que se deben destacar los esfuerzos realizados por el Director General para presentar un Programa de Labores y Presupuesto equilibrado que representa el mínimo posible. Apoyamos esta propuesta en el sentido de que, en los bienios futuros, la FAO deberá contar con todos los recursos necesarios para llevar a cabo sus importantes labores. Afortunadamente, el Director General actuó con criterio realista y pragmático logrando hacer reducciones en los sectores administrativos para dedicar más recursos a los programas técnicos y económicos.
La delegación de Colombia opina que tan acertada actitud de la FAO y la posición transaccional de los representantes de gobiernos que seguimos apoyando más amplios recursos para la FAO, deberán merecer la aprobación unánime de esta Conferencia.
Nuestra delegación piensa que no es posible seguir aceptando que se acentué la tendencia real y progresiva contra la asistencia multilateral. Esta Organización se ocupa de los campos que más interesan hoy a los países en desarrollo, y debe contar con medios y recursos suficientes para cumplir adecuadamente sus funciones. Lamentamos que la forzosa reducción a que fue sometido este Programa de Labores y Presupuesto haya impedido el reforzamiento de las Oficinas Regionales y la apertura de nuevas oficinas de representantes en los países.
La delegación de Colombia confirma su apoyo a la política de descentralización. Consideramos que los problemas, los campesinos y los elementos primarios de la. agricultura están en el campo, en regiones de países en desarrollo. Es allá donde se hace más necesaria la acción de la FAO, en forma directa y en permanente contacto con las tierras y los agricultores.
Apoyamos con énfasis, en particular, el Programa de Cooperación Técnica. Ese Programa ha venido confirmando su validez de instrumento ágil, eficaz y positivo con un efecto multiplicador generalmente reconocido y apreciado.
Para concluir, nuestra delegación apoya plenamente el Programa de Labores y Presupuesto para 1984/85. Esperamos que en los bienios futuros, los países desarrollados no insistan en su funesta política de crecimiento cero que nosotros rechazamos.
P. GOSSELIN (Canada): Monsieur le Président, je voudrais joindre mes félicitations à celles qui vous ont été adressées par mes collègues pour votre élection à la présidence. La délégation canadienne a eu l'avantage de participer aux travaux du Comité financier où nous avons eu l'occasion d'examiner le détail de ce budget et de présenter nos commentaires. Il s'ensuit qu'aujourd'hui nos commentaires seront d'ordre général et très brefs; nous réaliserons ainsi une économie sur les 20 minutes de parole qui nous sont allouées et nous réserverons le temps économisé à des commentaires plus détaillés ultérieurement.
La délégation canadienne se félicite des efforts importants qui ont été faits lors de la préparation du budget en vue de répondre aux inquiétudes exprimées tant par le Canada que par d'autres Etats Membres lors de la Conférence de 1981, en vue de mettre un frein aux dépenses budgétaires. Nous savons que la tâche du Directeur général s'avérait particulièrement difficile, car il ne pouvait répondre aux exigences de tous les Etats Membres. Nous croyons néanmoins qu'il a bien pu répondre aux besoins les plus importants.
Le Canada continue à préconiser le principe d'une croissance réelle zéro à travers le système des Nations Unies, mais il sait adapter ce principe avec souplesse lorsqu'il y a eu un effort sérieux pour répondre aux plus hautes priorités et rechercher le maximum d'économies.
Dans ce contexte, nous avons constaté avec satisfaction que le Secrétariat en formulant son Programme a su mettre l'accent sur les programmes techniques et économiques aux dépens des aspects administratifs de ce programme. Aussi tenons-nous à affirmer notre appui à la priorité qui est donnée aux pays moins nantis et surtout aux pays africains.
Nous avons aussi noté dans les documents la suppression d'une quarantaine de postes. Nous nous réjouissons de cet effort économique mais nous croyons qu'il aurait été utile de joindre un tableau ou une description indiquant la provenance et le remaniement de ces postes à l'intérieur du programme.
Ma délégation souhaite également féliciter le Secrétariat d'avoir préparé un document clair et complet qui rend l'analyse du budget beaucoup plus facile. Comme nous l'avons indiqué antérieurement à maintes reprises, nous continuons à nous inquiéter de la croissance continue du Programme de coopération technique. Notre inquiétude tient d'une part à notre adhésion au principe de financement central par l'entremise du PNUD et d'autre part, de l'utilisation de fonds du Programme régulier pour son financement. Bien que le programme spécifique soit conçu en vue de répondre à des urgences ou bien pour financer des projets, il semble qu'il soit difficile à la FAO d'épuiser les fonds alloués à ce projet dans un seul biennium. Nous aurons peut-être à intervenir sur ce sujet lors de l'examen du chapitre de ce budget. Néanmoins, comme nous l'avons indiqué lors du dernier Conseil, ma délégation appuie les choix de priorité qui sont exposés dans ce document et nous pouvons endosser les propositions budgétaires qui nous sont présentées.
N.V.K. WERAGODA (Sri Lanka): I found the introductory remarks by the Deputy Director-General and by the Director of the Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation extremely useful in understanding this item which no doubt is the most important item on our Agenda. I wish to commend them on the clarity of its presentation, the tabular and graphical presentation in the document which makes the understanding of this subject very much easier. We endorse the strategies and priorities adopted by the Director-General for the forthcoming biennium in formulating his proposals. We realize the stand taken by the Director-General in preparing a modest budget level because of the existing difficulties facing both developed and developing countries, the shift of resources from less priority areas to more important areas of activity such as the technical and research fields, is a step in the right direction because the FAO primarily has these duties to perform; and we wish to commend him on this.
Let me state, however, that it is our hope -that in curtailing administrative and support services this is sustained within reasonable limits, as it endangers the efficiency and the functioning of the entire Organization.
In conclusion, my delegation wishes to state that we fully support the Programme of Work and Budget proposals by the Director-General for 1984-85 together with the proposed budget level.
CHAIRMAN: Before we adjourn I should like to indicate that we have had 18 speakers this morning. All of them have supported the Programme of Work and Budget. However, concern has been expressed on the calculation of the budget increase and I hope the Secretariat will attend to that at the end.
Concern was also expressed on the modalities for judging the effectiveness of programmes and I hope this will be attended to by the Secretariat.
On the whole, however, appreciation was expressed for the effort of the Organization to exercise budgetary constraint and at the same time the 0.5 percent growth was greatly deplored. However, the Technical Cooperation Programme and the decentralization programme were largely supported. We look forward to further support in the afternoon.
The meeting rose at 12.30 hours
La séance est levée à 12h 30
Se levanta la sesión a las 12.30 horas
