B.P. DUTIA (Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department): It is indeed a matter of great pleasure for me to introduce Agenda Item 12, the Plan of Action for People's Participation in Rural Development. As the Chairman has mentioned, the main document for this item is C 91/22 but I would like to add that this subject was also discussed at the informal meeting of the international non-governmental organizations which was held on 12 November, and their report is also circulated as Document C 91/INF/1, and paragraphs 15 to 25 of that report summarize the discussions on this subject at that meeting.
The Plan is a revised version of an earlier draft which was considered by the 99th Session of the Council in June earlier this year. Changes have been made to reflect the views expressed during the Council by Member Nations. We have also given more detailed information in the Plan that is now before you on FAO's activities in support of the Plan's objectives. This is contained in Section IV of document C 91/22.
The overall aim of the Plan is the achievement of sustainable rural development with equity. The active participation of rural people, including disadvantaged groups, acting through voluntary, self-reliant organizations of their own choice, is seen as one of the most primary means for sustainable rural development. Without such participation, rural development initiatives are unlikely to be sustained in the long run on rural inequities to be redressed.
In order to achieve rural development with equity through people's participation, the Plan that is presented for your consideration proposes that action be carried out in seven areas as listed in paragraph 14 of the document. These areas include the promotion of greater awareness of the role of people's participation; the creation of a favourable legal and policy framework; strengthening the internal capacities of rural people's organizations; decentralization of government decision-making; promotion of increased dialogue and technical collaboration between governments, development agencies, non-governmental organizations and people's organizations, the introduction of appropriate operational procedures and methods; and monitoring and evaluation of people's participation.
Actions proposed in each of these seven areas are outlined in Section III of the document. Each section begins with a summary description of the main issues and problems, which is then followed by specific recommendations. These recommendations are addressed to Member Governments and to the FAO: to Member Governments because they would have the primary responsibility for implementing the policies, programmes and activities advocated in the Plan; and to FAO because the Organization can and will need to play an important role in supporting the implementation of the Plan of Action. It is clearly recognized, as stated in paragraph 11 of the document, that the policies and programmes for the follow-up to the Plan of Action must fully recognize and respect the sovereignty of the Member Nations. The Plan envisages FAO acting as a catalyst and as an advocate to encourage and assist Member Governments and people's organizations in promoting participatory activities. In this context, FAO will use the traditional instruments of development intervention; that is, information gathering, analysis and dissemination, training, institution-building and exchange of experience, as well as policy advice.
Equally important is FAO's technical assistance, supported by extra-budgetary resources, to government programmes in support of the Plan of Action. This assistance would aim not only at promoting people's organizations as essential instruments for promoting participatory rural development actions, but also at introducing well-defined components for promoting people's participation in wider projects in the field of agriculture, fisheries and forestry. FAO's role in support of the various action areas of the Plan of Action is discussed in paragraphs 45 to 63 of the document, with reference to both Regular Programme-funded activities as well as field activities supported by extra-budgetary resources.
I would like to stress that people's participation is even more relevant today than it was a year ago when preparatory work on developing this Plan began. The difficulties faced by many governments in raising living standards of the poor, using traditional development approaches, have awakened new interest in using more decentralized and participatory methods to reach marginalized rural people. Similarly, growing disenchantment with the economic performance of state-led development models has also given new impetus to participatory approaches. In short, the policy environment for implementing the Plan of Action for People's Participation which is now before us has improved significantly.
Finally, I would like to point out that, although the recommendations of the Plan are addressed only to governments that wish to promote people's participation, the successful implementation of the Plan will crucially depend on the availability of external funds for development. The financial difficulties and severe resource constraints of many developing countries are likely to hinder progress in promoting a participatory development process. In this context, the international community can make a critically important contribution by providing external resources support to the implementation of the Plan.
Mr Chairman, we look forward to the consideration by delegates of the Plan of Action and its eventual adoption by the Conference.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): Thank you, Mr Dutia, for your introduction. Before I give the floor to the first speaker, I would like to express a view on this subject.
The Plan was discussed by Council in June, and there were interventions at that time from Member States. We now have a Plan which has been amended in accordance with the views expressed at the Council meeting in June.
My second point is that I would like to request speakers on the subject to focus on Item 14, because the Secretariat would like to know the points of view of member countries on the seven areas proposed, as it was a subject which raised particular interest at the Council meeting. I think that paragraph 11 explains that every country is sovereign in its decision-making and decision-taking.
I am simply voicing ideas which have occurred to me.
Jorgen Skovgaard NIELSEN (Denmark): I would like to thank Mr Dutia for his very comprehensive introduction to this item on our agenda.
While deploring the lost decade for rural development, Denmark fully concurs with the timely initiative of FAO to exercise a lead agency role by launching the Plan of Action on People's Participation.
There are good reasons to believe that the methodological experience gained in recent years by FAO, combined with a much stronger commitment to democracy - under national sovereignty, of course - allows for practical progress to be made.
One of the major roles to be assumed by FAO in the sphere of environmental policies is undoubtedly the management of natural resources by development of sustainable production systems. In this context, it is an indispensable prerequisite that people's participation is enhanced. It is not just a question of increasing awareness of environmental issues. It is also a matter of mobilizing experience of local people on farming systems that are ecologically more geared to local agro-ecological conditions, but whose potential is often neglected. Further, it is a question of diffusing risk aversion against even the smallest and economically sensible investment in inputs or implements and necessary borrowings for that purpose. It is generally recognized that extension services often have to be adapted for these reasons.
This is fundamentally a question of combining social and cultural sustainability with economic and ecological sustainability. It goes without saying that integration of women is a very dominant issue in this context.
However, social sustainability cannot be achieved if a network of institutions and private professional organizations and an appropriate management culture are absent. Poverty orientation and more equal access to property and means of production are also indispensable elements. This requires difficult choices between different political options, but hasn't the world reached political maturity to make these choices today, adapted of course to national history and traditions and sovereignty?
Finally, a few questions!
What kind of targets has FAO set for the Plan of Action, and at what time limit? What kind of methods will FAO use to reach these targets? How will FAO establish a network with other UN agencies and NGOs in order to achieve the targets in common? How does FAO organize the evaluation systems in order to inter alia report to the governing bodies on the performance of the Plan of Action and the cooperation with others? Does FAO feel that implementation of the Plan of Action is an upstream activity deserving reimbursement according to the new UNDP support cost successor system? And finally, what is the ultimate goal of FAO's activities in the sphere of People's Participation?
These are questions that FAO currently has to report on, if the credibility of the Plan of Action shall be retained in the longer run. Under these conditions, Denmark can participate in adoption of the Plan, although we do consider it somewhat complex and perhaps over-comprehensive - but we fully support the adoption of the Plan.
CHAIRMAN: We thank the distinguished representative from Denmark. The role of FAO will be that of a catalyst, and it will assist the member countries.
S. NAJMUS-SAQIB (Pakistan): This document is important for it emphasizes the need to recognize direct and fuller participation by the village people of the developing countries in the developmental activities that is supposed to benefit them.
As I pointed-out earlier during discussions on other subjects, only those plans and policies are viable and workable and have transformed aims and aspirations into real successful situations on the ground, so to say.
Direct, active, real and continuous participation of the people of the village in all policy formulation and in all decisions that are eventually going to affect their lives, and in the eventual implementation, is perhaps the bottom line of the whole exercise. This is both a challenge and a problem at the same time.
Another important question is: who constitutes the village people? The local bureaucracy, the local elite, the self-appointed local political leaders? - or, the local and simple people of the village in the developing countries?
The main issues then become: (1) What is to be done about the local power structures? (2) How directly and seriously have the village people been involved? (3) Have the village people been allowed to determine their own respective problems? (4) Have they been asked to find solutions for these problems? - or, is someone else telling them what their problems and the respective solutions are?
After this has been determined, only then can a structural framework be developed. In fact, these must form the inherent components of the said framework.
It may be added that after the village people have outlined their priorities, only then should the technical and financial inputs be made.
In Pakistan, successive governments, including the present one, have taken many initiatives in this respect. It has been realized that policies and programmes would have limited impact unless participation at the grass roots is ensured. A private sector organization, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) in Pakistan has perhaps been able to find the answers, and is the only set-up that can be quoted as a successful experiment in ensuring participation of the people of the village. In their set-ups, the local bureaucracy has a subsequent, supportive role - and comes in only after decisions have been made by the village people themselves. In the first place, the local people determine their own priority or priorities in a group situation, where all decisions are taken together and priorities determined.
Later, committees are formed from amongst themselves to formulate plans and to contribute initial finances. Subsequently, the organizers of the AKRSP where, again, the local people are in a majority, come forward with technical and further financial inputs.
It should be pointed out that this Programme is the most successful example of people's participation in a Plan of Action that affects people's own development. Village people have greatly benefited from this Programme. After successful operations in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, it is being carried forward into other areas. Perhaps this is the first time that effective participation of village people has been ensured at the rural scene. In the end, it may be said that this programme contains almost all the lines of action as given in paragraph 14 on page 4 of the document under review.
Mohd. Fadzil AKRAM (Malaysia): My delegation would like to congratulate and thank the Secretariat and Mr Dutia for preparing and introducing the Report.
With regard to document C 91/22 Malaysia wishes to endorse the proposed Plan of Action on People's Participation in Rural Development. Malaysia has always been supportive of FAO's attempts towards these goals. We agree that the primary responsibility for formulating and implementing the policies, programmes and activities advocated in the Plan of Action rests with the governments of individual countries. As far as Malaysia is concerned, some of the action areas proposed in the Plan are already being implemented in our country. We support the call for national policies for agricultural and rural development to encourage full and effective participation of rural people in decision making, implementation and evaluation of the process of rural development.
François ROHNER (Suisse): Je tiens également à remercier M. Dutia et son équipe pour le document qu'ils nous ont présenté.
La participation populaire est un sujet qui a toujours été très cher à mon pays étant donné le système politique qui lui est propre. Nous avons aussi toujours attaché beaucoup d'importance à la question dans le cadre de notre coopération. Nous sommes heureux de voir la Conférence consacrer un point particulier de son ordre du-jour au sujet en question. Nous avons par conséquent examiné le document préparé par le Secrétariat avec beaucoup d'attention.
Quant à l'importance de la participation populaire en tant que droit de l'homme fondamental et élément indispensable en vue d'arriver à un développement socio-économique durable, le document contient un nombre de rappels et d'affirmations tout à fait pertinents. Je ne m'étendrai donc pas sur ce sujet.
Pour ce qui est du Plan proposé à proprement parler, nous appuyons ses grandes lignes de force. Il nous parait cependant encore bien académique et un peu bureaucratique dans sa formulation et trop souvent conçu de haut en bas dans son approche de la problématique ainsi que des mesures envisagées.
Une plus forte priorisation à mener par la FAO sera nécessaire, tenant compte des actions menées par d'autres bailleurs de fond bilatéraux et multilatéraux.
La FAO doit se concentrer, comme vous l'avez dit, Monsieur le Président, sur un rôle de conseiller, de catalyseur, de faciliteur de dialogue entre partenaires en présence: gouvernements et ONG, tout autant qu'entre ONG. Ces organisations non gouvernementales ont beaucoup à apprendre les unes des autres au niveau local mais aussi aux niveaux sous-régional, régional et même interrégional. Les ONG nationales et internationales possèdent une riche expérience en la matière. La FAO doit donc chercher à pleinement valoriser ces sources de savoir et d'expérience dans son travail.
Je ferai finalement remarquer que l'élaboration d'un Plan d'action aurait sans doute profité de commentaires des populations directement concernées ou de représentants de celles-ci.
Rappelons, dans ce contexte, que la Suisse s'était engagée à l'égard de la création, au sein de la FAO, d'un Comité des organisations paysannes, initiative qui avait pour but de les faire participer plus directement que cela ne leur est possible dans la situation actuelle aux activités de notre Organisation.
Pour ce qui est de l'organisation du travail au sein de l'institution, nous attachons beaucoup d'importance à ce que la mise en oeuvre du Plan se fasse en étroite collaboration entre tous les services concernés. Nous souhaitons donc voir la FAO poursuivre son action en faveur de la participation populaire - participation plus large et plus active - et nous invitons le Directeur général à faire rapport sur l'action menée par l'Organisation à la prochaine Conférence.
Hugh SMITH (United States of America): The United States delegation appreciates the comprehensive nature of the FAO Plan of Action on this important topic. The action areas are appropriate and the division of labour between governments and FAO are clearly articulated. With more attention to specifics of participation and the realistic requirements of the implementation involved, the Plan would be greatly strengthened.
We would suggest several modifications to the Plan. Within the introduction the Plan of Action should reflect a careful characterization of intended beneficiaries and also the social relations which influence the type and quality of participation. Without overtly recognizing elite domination of communities many people's organizations and even NGOs, the Plan fails to minimize important impediments to population participation. In the light of
declining government resources, the Plan places great faith and potential resources at the disposal of NGOs. However, a reminder is needed that NGOs are not an all-purpose panacea capable of replacing government-provided services. We would like to see the Plan differentiate types of participation, for example decision making, implementation, benefit distribution and evaluation.
With respect to the implementation of Section 4 of the Plan of Action, we believe this Section should be revised to include greater specificity. In June we suggested the Plan of Action should reflect prioritization for action, division of labour between multilateral, bilateral and national government agencies, identification of FAO sectoral focuses and greater attention to budgetary items. We had hoped for a realistic budget which would reflect the commitment of FAO and the expectation of other donors. We expressed particular concern about how to minimize external financing and dependency relationships, while maximizing mobilization of internal resources of organizations which foster population participation. Thus, we re-emphasize here that although the international community and external resources can play a catalytic and facilitative role, we believe that paragraph 64 of the Plan overstates the importance of external resources. It is quite clear that as indicated in the first two issues of the UNDP Human Development Report, for example, there is room for reallocation in government budgets and that, in fact, greater participation can itself lead to reallocation which better serves the interests of the population. In an area as critical to national sovereignty as this, governments should not be dependent on external resources and support.
Focus on international trade, external debt and the external flow of financial resources implies that developing countries' difficulties can be overcome solely by external factors or external assistance. In fact, improved domestic economic policies are a fundamental first step to achieving economic recovery and growth. Underlying every success story are strong reform efforts by developing countries themselves. The will and commitment for achieving the objectives of the Plan cannot be generated from outside. They must come from within.
My delegation believes FAO may need to begin to reward project designers and managers by encouraging participatory projects. Our experience of our own economic programmes shows there is great potential for achieving much of the Plan's agenda through more efficient and enhanced programmes and project design.
Finally, the United States shares the interests of FAO in sustainable rural development with equity. We support the laudable principle embodied in the Plan of Action and hope that this Plan can serve as a vehicle to harmonize the efforts of multilateral and bilateral donors. With greater definitional and implementation specificity, the Plan has the potential to be implemented as a donor model in the future.
Ms Charlotte SEYMOUR-SMITH (United Kingdom): The United Kingdom delegation welcomes the report which has been prepared for this Conference on the Plan of Action for People's Participation in Rural Development. We wish to thank Mr Dutia for his useful introduction to this agenda item.
We were given the opportunity to comment on an earlier version of this document at the Council meeting in June, and on that occasion my delegation expressed its satisfaction at the increased awareness within FAO of the need for fuller participation of local people in rural development.
The Government of the United Kingdom, in its bilateral aid programme, promotes poverty focused development strategies which benefit the most disadvantaged members of society. Increased people's participation is a key element in ensuring that poverty focused development actually reaches the population for whom it is intended. People's participation is also an important factor in good government, again, a priority in the United Kingdom aid programme.
The United Kingdom and other Council members, in commenting on this item at the June Council meeting, asked for further details from the Secretariat on the specific and workable mechanisms which will ensure that the laudable aims and aspirations of the Plan will actually be translated into reality at a local level. We note that the Secretariat has taken into account these comments in preparing the revised version of this document that is before us today, and which gives us more detail on FAO's role in support of the Plan of Action in paragraphs 45-63.
My delegation would like to stress that there are strong links between this topic of people's participation and that of women in development, which is to be discussed as a separate agenda item. These links could be brought out more clearly in the document before us now, which makes little mention, other than in passing, of the specific problems facing women in achieving effective participation.
Paragraph 64 of the document deals with the role of the international community in promoting people's participation through FAO's programmes, and calls for external resources in support of the implementation of the Plan of Action. Nevertheless, many members at the June Council meeting laid emphasis on the fact that more than a budgetary provision, people's participation should be seen as an attitude which should permeate development organizations.
The United Kingdom strongly supports the notion that rather than diverting resources from other areas of activity, people's participation should be conceived of as involving different and better ways of using resources and of carrying out development activities so as to reach those populations who are most in need of their benefits.
Mr Gũrsu OKURER (Turkey): I would like to join others in expressing our thanks to Mr Dutia for his, as usual, clear and concise introduction to the item under consideration.
We have studied the Conference document C 91/22 on the Plan of Action for People's Participation in Rural Development with due attention. We are aware that the Plan itself is the product of a lengthy process that has led to this comprehensive and analytical study and which has taken into account the views and recommendations of the relevant FAO bodies, as well as the orientations adopted by other intergovernmental organizations.
My delegation agrees with the basic premise that the "top-down" approach characteristic of traditional development strategies has largely failed to reach and benefit the rural poor. It is also true that due to lack of resources, deteriorating terms of trade and issues of mounting external debt repayments, all of which simply result in resource outflows, many developing countries view people's participation as an important alternative mechanism for promoting rural development.
In this context, the Plan of Action, whose overall aim is to ensure active participation of people in the achievement of sustainable rural development, establishes a suitable general framework for future activities and provides useful guidelines for interested governments to facilitate the process of people's participation as mentioned in the Council report.
Having said this, we would now like to present our general remarks on the strategy, action areas and implementation of the Plan.
First of all, my delegation endorses the view expressed by the Council that the Plan of Action should fully recognize and respect the sovereignty of Member Nations. In this respect, we note with satisfaction that this view is reflected in paragraph 11 of the Conference document.
The conditions specified in paragraph 12 for the promotion of people's participation is generally well defined. We would have liked, however, to see among the conditions cited the need for appropriate resource allocation, which would have complemented it in terms of a more balanced approach and also would have highlighted the importance of resource dimension to which several references were made elsewhere in the document, namely, paragraphs 43, 44 and 64. Since the concept of people's participation is evolved substantially on the basis of the requirements, among others, to overcome structural impediments and to reduce the cost to governments of providing development assistance, we deem it useful to look at the resource aspect of the issue among the conditions specified in order to make the Plan operational.
The proposed seven areas for action are generally suitably selected in order to achieve the goal of sustainable rural development with equity through people's participation.
We, in particular, endorse the proposals on promotion of greater awareness, creation of favourable legal and policy conditions for people's participation, and strengthening internal capacities of the rural people's organizations at local and national levels. We view the proposed actions in sections (a), (b) and (c), in particular, the paragraphs 16 to 20 and 22 to 28, as the top priority areas for action.
My delegation, in general, considers the proposals with regard to decentralization of government decision-making, promotion of increased dialogue and technical collaboration between governments, development agencies and people's organizations indicated in sections (d) and (e) from the perspective of the specific conditions of each country.
As for section (f) concerning the introduction of appropriate operational procedures and methods, proposals for action recommended to governments in paragraph 38 are in line with the preceding two sections, and we would
again like to refer to the differences of specific conditions in various countries. Paragraph 39 of this section deserves our endorsement.
In section (g) on monitoring and evaluation of people's participation, we are of the opinion that the proposed action foreseen in paragraph 41, (ii) needs further clarification. We endorse the remainder of that paragraph, as well as paragraph 42.
On Part IV of the document, my delegation is pleased to give its approval to paragraphs 43 and 44, which in general deal with the implementation of the Plan and paragraph 64, which covers the role of the international community.
We also note with satisfaction FAO's role in support of the Plan as mentioned in paragraphs 45 through 63. In this respect, we would like to underline the importance attached by FAO to people's participation in Tropical Forestry Action Plans, in fisheries development and management schemes and in the proposed International Cooperative Programme Framework for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development.
My delegation is similarly pleased to note FAO's continued willingness to closely collaborate and coordinate the activities with other relevant UN agencies, including the Rome-based food and agriculture organizations on the implementation of the Plan.
In conclusion, the delegation of Turkey fully approves the basic approach towards promoting rural development with the participation and for the benefit of rural people of both genders on equal terms as an essential basis for the Plan of Action.
Mrs Marasee SURAKUL (Thailand): This agenda item and document C 91/22 cover a broad range of issues. My delegation would like to inform the Commission that we appreciate the importance that the FAO has given to rural development, particularly to the issue of people's participation and the development of rural communities. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is well aware that the lack of peoples' participation not only often results in lack of continuity in pursuits of development activities, but also leads to subsequent problems of income distribution, of an unbalanced growth of the agricultural sector and lack of sustainability in natural resources utilization.
In promoting people's participation, Thailand has already taken initiatives suggested by the seven Action Plan areas identified by FAO, which are: (1) promotion of greater public awareness of the role of people's participation and people's organizations in agricultural and rural development; (2) creation of favourable legal and policy framework for people's participation; (3) strengthening internal capacities of the rural people's organizations at local and national levels; (4) decentralization of government decision-making; (5) promotion of increased dialogue and technical collaboration between government development agencies and people's organizations; (6) introduction of new operational procedures and methods to facilitate wider participation; and (7) monitoring and evaluation of people's participation.
On each of the above Thailand has already taken initiatives in setting up planning and budgeting procedures. Budget has been allocated to the provincial and sub-provincial levels to finance development activities at the local levels, which are generated by their own initiatives as well as monitoring and evaluation of impacts.
It is generally acknowledged, nevertheless, that in implementing these Action Plans the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives still lack clarity of approach and would thus like to seek the assistance of FAO in the following two aspects: (1) clarification of strategies in adopting sustainable agriculture in two distinct modes of agricultural production i.e. on a subsistence production and on a commercial basis; (2) formulation of a suitable form of people's participation that would allow for active involvement of NGOs in the development, as well as the conservation of natural resources use.
Carlos BASCO (Argentina): La delegación de Argentina, señor Presidente, apoya el Plan de Acción sobre participación popular en el desarrollo rural y considera que este Plan de Acción implica recomendaciones de política que brindan un marco adecuado a las iniciativas que la Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca de la Argentina está llevando a cabo en materia de desarrollo rural: crecimiento con equidad, descentralización institucional y producción de un desarrollo participativo para apoyar las actividades a nivel de la comunidad, las cooperativas rurales y las iniciativas de los agricultores.
En efecto, los Programas de Crédito y Apoyo Técnico para pequeños productores del Noreste y el Programa de Apoyo a pequeños productores del Noroeste, Estrategia de Proyectos Locales, que coordina esta Secretaria con los Gobiernos provinciales del Norte Argentino, encuadran precisamente en esos lineamientos de politica. En este sentido se coindice plenamente con la afirmación que se establece en el Plan de Acción sobre participación popular en el desarrollo rural, acerca de que "es posible, mediante programas y actividades basados en la participación, movilizar conocimientos y recursos locales para un desarrollo autónomo, reduciendo al mismo tiempo el costo que la asistencia para el desarrollo tiene para los gobiernos.
También resulta pertinente la relación con el Plan de Acción de FAO para la Integración de la Mujer en el Desarrollo, que esta Secretaria ha comenzado a ejecutar en el marco de dicho programa de desarrollo y también con el desarrollo rural sostenible, entendido en sentido amplio como un mejor ordenamiento del medio ambiente, la educación comunitaria y técnica, la erradicación de la pobreza y el desarrollo de nuevas fuentes de energia renovable.
Por último, la promoción de la cooperación técnica horizontal entre países en desarrollo y el papel facilitador que puede jugar la FAO en ese sentido, es otro punto a destacar en este tema. Esta Secretaria de Estado ha respondido favorablemente a una primera convocatoria de FAO para participar en la Red Regional de Instituciones de Desarrollo Rural y en la Red Regional de Apoyo a la Mujer Rural de América Latina y el Caribe, en la reciente Conferencia de Cochabamba y El Salvador, restando únicamente la formalización de dicha participación.
Mirza Tasadduq BEG (Bangladesh): Promotion of participatory development is vital for achieving the objective of growth with equity which was emphasized in the Second U.N. Conference on LDCs. The critical need for people's participation in agriculture and rural development at the grass-roots level has been recognized in recent years in the developing world. FAO has also undertaken a number of participatory programmes.
My delegation has read with great interest the revised Plan of Action for People's Participation that the FAO Secretariat has prepared. We also believe, as has been mentioned in the document, that the primary responsibility for formulating and implementing participatory development policies and approaches rest with the governments of the individual member countries. Considerable progress has been already achieved in many developing countries in developing and strengthening the self-help capabilities of rural people's organizations. In this connection my delegation is happy to mention that Bangladesh, where more than 80 percent of the population live in the rural areas has successfully initiated a number of important policies with regard to the participatory development approach. Our Fourth Five-Year Development Plan has ensured active participation of local people in the decision making process regarding planning and implementation of development programmes. Recognizing that NGOs can and do play a catalytic role in promoting participatory development, the government has worked out a collaborative framework under which the NGOs can function as partners in progress and development.
The Plan of Action for People's Participation contained in the document under discussion incorporates key elements that are essential for attaining the ultimate objective of growth with equity. My delegation endorses the plan and hopes that FAO would continue to assist the member countries particularly the LDCs in enhancing people's participation in all aspects of the development process.
Ahmed Khalil GARTAA (Libya) (Original language Arabic): Might I be permitted to inform you on the extent of people's participation in my country in the decision-making process concerning the agricultural sector hoping it will be useful to this Commission.
In my country, the Libyan Arab Jamahirya, agriculture is run by people's committees starting with the committee on Agrarian Reform and Land Development at the level of the smallest administrative unit "Al Mahallah" the people's committee at the township and municipality level up to the General People's Committee on Agrarian Reform and Land Development at the country level. The latter has a secretariat, which is equivalent to the Ministry of Agriculture in the traditional systems of government. At the top of the General People's Committee on Agrarian Reform and Land Development, there is a secretary who chairs its meetings and is the equivalent of the Minister in other countries. The Committee is composed of Agrarian Reform secretaries in municipalities, heads of companies in the agricultural sector and representatives of trade unions in the field of agriculture, poultry and animal husbandry. The Committee also includes representatives of agricultural cooperatives and faculties, heads of institutions such as the Water Institution and Agricultural Research Centre. Agronomists, agricultural technicians and veterinary doctors are also represented through their trade unions.
The same structure of the General People's Committee is reflected in the people's committee's structures at the lower level.
These committees at the various levels are empowered to discuss all agricultural issues and take the necessary decisions to promote agriculture. They are also entirely responsible for laying down agricultural policies. The committees constitute an integrated entity from the base to the top.
Now, as you can see from what I mentioned above, people's participation extends throughout the system from the local and the municipal levels to the central level.
Jung-Il KANG (Korea, Republic of): The Korean delegation confirms that the participation by the people in the institutions and systems which govern their lives is a basic human right and a necessity for achieving an effective rural development.
As a matter of fact, Korea has had an experience with people's participation in rural development for more than two decades since it has launched the Saemaul Movement, in other words "New Village Construction Movement". We are in a position to fully understand that overcoming the "top-down" approach of rural development is the major point to achieve a vital rural society as well as sustainable agriculture.
We welcome the proposals of action for people's participation. In addition to the help of international organizations such as FAO, Korea is always willing to share its experience in the area of rural people's participation.
We believe that FAO's action of monitoring and evaluating people's participation as part of its regular World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) has played an important role in encouraging its Member Governments to implement the proposed plan of action.
We are all aware that the principles of people's participation have been implemented in many FAO field activities such as the Regional Integrated Pest Management and the Tropical Forests Action Plan.
My delegation expects FAO, with the help of member countries, continues to assess the practical procedures implemented by the member countries.
M. Benmakhlouf MOHAMED (Maroc) : La délégation marocaine a étudié avec intérêt le document préparé par la FAO et félicite le secrétariat pour le travail accompli et pour l'intérêt qu'elle porte à une participation populaire effective à un développement rural durable dans l'équité.
Mon pays s'est engagé dans cette voie au lendemain de son indépendance, en 1956. Il avait pris des dispositions juridiques et financières visant à promouvoir la participation populaire dans le développement rural à travers des organisations représentatives.
La délégation du Maroc, tout en adhérant au plan d'action sur la participation populaire dans le développement rural proposé par la FAO, souhaite attirer l'attention sur certaines conditions de mise en oeuvre de ce plan:
La mise en oeuvre d'un tel plan est une oeuvre de longue haleine, nécessitant au départ la définition d'objectifs clairs, l'élaboration d'une stratégie d'intervention à long terme et l'estimation des ressources financières nécessaires.
Ce plan d'action ne pourra être exécuté pleinement qu'avec l'adhésion des populations elles-mêmes; ce qui suppose d'une part la prise de conscience des populations rurales sur le rôle qu'elles sont appelées à jouer dans le processus de développement et des responsabilités qui en découlent, et d'autre part la volonté de ces dernières à s'organiser dans des institutions autonomes qui les représenteraient auprès des instances gouvernementales et des organismes de développement. Une action soutenue de formation et d'information à la base des populations rurales et de leur sensibilisation devra être engagée.
L'objectif de consolidation des capacités internes des organisations populaires rurales en matière d'autofinancement et d'autogestion ne pourra être atteint que par des actions à long terme de formation des gestionnaires de ces organisations et d'appui pour la consolidation des ressources financières propres à ces organisations.
Ceci nécessite, à notre avis, dans une première phase, une aide financière de l'Etat en vue de promouvoir d'abord la constitution de ces organisations et ensuite de leur permettre d'avoir une assise financière suffisante pour continuer leurs activités par leurs propres moyens financiers.
Pour atteindre ces objectifs il faudra que l'Etat, selon les moyens, mobilise des moyens financiers et engage des programmes de sensibilisation, de formation et d'encadrement technique à long terme.
L'appui technique et financier de la FAO et d'autres organismes concernés aux pays en voie de développement soucieux de favoriser la participation populaire du développement rural est souhaitable pour la réussite de ce plan.
Takakata OKAMOTO (Japan): We would like to express our appreciation to Mr Dutia for his introduction of this item.
WCARRD in 1979 affirmed that participation by people in the institutions and systems which govern their lives is a basic human right. Chapters III and IV of the document proposed action areas and implementation of the Plan of Action. Japan understands that the overall aim of the Plan is to ensure active participation of the people in the achievement of sustainable rural development.
My delegation believes that people's participation should be a prerequisite for any aspect of agricultural, forestry and fishery development and better living conditions in a rural society. In this regard, my delegation supports a Programme of Action.
Japan is also of the view that coordination between FAO and other developmental agencies is important. In this regard, Japan is pleased to see the part at paragraphs 33 and 34. Japan must stress that we are fully supportive of paragraph 11. It is obvious that the primary responsibility for implementing the policies and programmes advocated in the Plan of Action rests with individual member countries. Nevertheless, we are pleased to state that Japan has assisted, through bilateral frameworks, etc., in the encouragement and facilitation of people's participation, particularly with grass-root cooperation through the NGOs, in rural development.
C. Sivasothy POOLOKASINGHAM (Sri Lanka): The document that is under review today - the Plan of Action for People's Participation in Rural Development - may rightly be considered as the central thread running through the entire fabric of FAO. This document correctly reflects the FAO involvement in this subject. It has both the conceptual background based on sound practical field experience as well as projection for the future, which is presented in the form of an Action Plan.
No Action Plan can be one-sided. As a matter of fact, this plan has encompassed all agencies, the donors, recipients, governments, NGOs, etc. The important factor in this connection is that people must be convinced and should be ready to accept this concept.
My delegation is happy to note that this document reflects all these salient points.
We are greatly encouraged to observe the FAO taking a positive line in implementing one of the principal recommendations of the WCARRD, which was affirmed by all the Member Nations. The Plan of Action as presented in this document has seven points. This Plan has percolated down to the field level of the respective governments, as well as in the FAO system, in identifying specific areas of activities.
To implement a people's participation programme, there should be one cardinal factor, that is the recognition and the commitment of the country on investing in the most important asset, the people. In Sri Lanka this has been acknowledged by our Government. It is stated that people are the best asset. They should be partners in development. They should also be the designers and the implementors as well as evaluators of their own programmes.
The Plan of Action, as set out in this document, is appropriate in the present context of some of the governments, like Sri Lanka, exploring ways and means of reducing the high administrative cost of development by cutting down the cadres of personnel as part of the structural adjustment policy.
We have realized that the most cost-effective way of development is to organize the people as effective recipients. The power that is in them is dormant. It should be waken up and activated, and they should be made effective partners in development.
A participatory approach has proved to be very effective. In Sri Lanka, we have designed several projects such as Participatory Forestry, Small Farmer Development Project, Irrigation Rehabilitation and the establishment of Farmer Organizations on the lines envisaged in this document.
One word of caution based on the Sri Lankan experience: my country has been implementing the Small Farmer Development Programme, based on the principle of people's participation, for quite some time. I am happy to say that the group of small farmers who were not even cared for earlier have now realized and recognized their strength. They have organized themselves into a power to be reckoned with. These groups are now surging forward in sustainable programmes which are largely income-generating activities. These groups have developed into Village Boards where small groups of people within themselves have taken over functions such as health and nutrition, housing and welfare, infrastructure development, education, etc. These groups have federated themselves upwards and are having representatives in the local level administrative structures.
Before we developed ourselves into this position, we encountered difficulties. When the poorest, the neglected, not cared for, unrecognized groups were identified by us, trained, and the power of the people and their self-reliance was restored to them, there was opposition, firstly by their own areas; and thereafter by other forces, both political and economic. The newly-formed groups were not a welcome sight in their eyes. It is understandable that, when the existing power cells faced threat and opposition in their own domain, they tended to do whatever is possible to crush the poor people being organized as a power group.
We overcame this situation by convincing them by a process of awareness and by educating them. Through this process, we were able to repel their fears and integrate them with the other groups so much so that some of the economic and trading activities were shared by these groups.
This opposition is bound to come up at any level. I am happy that the FAO has correctly identified this aspect, the fear that is now lurking in the structures of this programme. In this document it has been specifically stated that the follow-up to the Plan of Action must fully recognize and respect the sovereignty of Member Nations.
The approach of the FAO is clear and transparent. It is only a facilitator who is deeply committed to this programme. The Member Nations are, of course, free to select the most appropriate methodology in implementing this programme based on their own priorities.
My delegation would like to add one word on the involvement of non-governmental organizations. It is increasingly clear that the Member Nations cannot continue to shoulder the administrative cost of providing these services. The NGOs can, of course, come forward to relieve the governments of this burden, but it should be the responsibility of the governments concerned to select the NGO which, according to its wisdom, is the most suitable. It has been our experience that the locally-funded NGO has been more sympathetic and understandable in implementing people's participation programmes.
It is our view that we should place emphasis on training and skill development in organizing these groups of people to be self-reliant. The experience of our country can be made available to be shared by others in this regard, and the FAO could be the most effective intermediary for this purpose. Awareness at all levels, commitment at all levels and training at appropriate levels should be the basis for the Plan of Action for people's participation.
My delegation wishes to thank the Netherlands Government for their generous support in the implementation of this programme in our country.
Sra. Mayra IVANKOVICH ANZOLA (Panamá): En primer lugar, permítame agradecer al Dr. Dutia por su clara introducción al tema en examen, el Plan de Acción sobre participación popular en el desarrollo rural. La delegación de Panamá desea hacer algunas observaciones, debido a la importancia que para nuestro Gobierno tiene la participación popular como mecanismo de promoción del desarrollo rural. Compartimos el concepto de que la participación popular debe comportar una intervención activa de la población rural y, sobre todo, de las clases marginales, como una respuesta concreta a sus necesidades. De allí, el vinculo conceptual y operacional entre la participación popular y las organizaciones populares y cooperativas.
En este contexto, la delegación de Panamá agradece a la FAO las acciones de apoyo al desarrollo de las cooperativas agrícolas en Panamá. En el último lustro, la FAO ha preparado varios estudios que han contribuido a precisar el papel importante que estas organizaciones desempeñan en el desarrollo rural, favoreciendo a los pequeños agricultores, incluyendo a las mujeres del campo. Sabemos ahora que, en efecto, la mayoría de los asociados de cooperativas agrícolas son pequeños agricultores y que las cooperativas tienen un papel importante en la producción de los alimentos básicos del país.
De gran importancia ha sido la asistencia relacionada con el mejoramiento de las estadísticas sobre cooperativas. En especial, Panamá agradece el apoyo recibido de la FAO en la realización de un censo cooperativo, que ha sido un insumo fundamental en la planificación y monitoreo del desarrollo cooperativo. Un dato que emerge del censo cooperativo y que anotamos con satisfacción es que en el cooperativismo nacional y rural de Panamá, el aumento relativo a mujeres socias es mayor que el de los hombres.
Recientemente, Panamá solicitó apoyo técnico de la FAO para formular un programa de fomento a la organización campesina, en un empeño por incorporar un alto porcentaje (cerca del 80 por ciento) de los pequeños productores.
El año pasado, en ocasión de una convención latinoamericana sobre el crédito cooperativo celebrada en Panamá, los directores de departamentos o institutos cooperativos de cinco gobiernos latinoamericanos firmaron un acuerdo para promover la estructuración de un mecanismo que promueve el intercambio de experiencias entre los países. Exhortamos a la FAO a que intensifique el apoyo al programa de cooperativas en la región, incluyendo la posibilidad de promover la cooperación técnica entre los países de la región, en el marco de cooperación técnica entre países en desarrollo, a través de algún mecanismo como el que acabamos de mencionar.
Para finalizar, deseamos apoyar los conceptos contenidos en los párrafos 1 al 14 del documento, incluyendo las acciones que se propone realizar la Organización en el próximo bienio.
Inge GERREMO (Sweden): The objectives of the FAO activities in the field of people's participation are in close accordance with the main objectives of Swedish development assistance.
The work in the field of people's participation carried out so far by FAO and other multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental organizations, as well as efforts by governments of developing countries, have resulted in increasing awareness about the importance of participation for sustainable and environmentally sound development of agriculture. The work in this field during the 1980s has also produced new methods, techniques and procedures for operationalization of people's participation at the local level. Most of the efforts and experiences with popular participation to date have been made in small-scale and/or NGO settings.
New political conjunctures from the beginning of the 1990s, established through the spread of democracy in Europe and Latin America and repercussions in Africa and Asia, have contributed to a revival of people's participation on the agenda of development agencies and governments in developing countries. The increased attention given to environmental issues within the international community has created awareness of people's participation as a necessary prerequisite for solving environmental problems and attaining a sustainable use of the environment.
The mentioned factors, particularly the firmer commitment to democracy by many governments and the methodological development achieved in the field of People's participation, seem to constitute a favourable basis for the launching of the Plan of Action for People's Participation in Rural Development. Since People's participation constitutes a long-term process it is important to continue, deepen and spread already initiated efforts. This argument, together with the factors mentioned, constitute, we believe, sufficient basis for recommending Swedish support to the present plan.
One specific suggestion could be made, regarding paragraph 27(iv), p. 8, "Establish self-control mechanisms, audit services and modes of financing which strengthen self-reliance capacity of people's organizations". To this paragraph, or separately, should be added considerations on mechanisms or procedures for: accountability (economic and otherwise) of leadership functions and of periodical circulation of leaders.
It would be a considerable step forward if this Conference could adopt the presented Plan of Action, not only for agriculture development and production per se. but also for people's well-being and for democracy in general.
Let us, however, remember that people's participation is primarily an attitude towards development and definitely not a scientific exercise.
It is important that we as government officials are fully aware of the positive potentials of people's participation in development.
Governments shall provide a framework within which these forces can act. Too keen an interest in the details of how to promote people's participation could however be counterproductive.
The case of agricultural cooperatives might in many developing countries be the most striking example of how good intentions can sometimes be destroyed by too intensive government involvement.
Francis MBEWE (Zambia): There is great improvement in the present document, having translated the prescriptive ideas into a Plan of Action which is contained in the document presented to Council. The document provides a basis for individual Member Nations to compare their present status vis-à-vis people's participation against what is contained in the Plan of Action and subsequently determine the areas requiring attention.
As already noted the whole concept of people's participation is a complex one. In our view it is embedded not only in the realization by the people of their felt needs and subsequently acting together to achieve those needs, but equally in their realization that their efforts today, in whichever direction, have substantial bearing on what the future generations will inherit in terms of the structures of both the government and the economy. We have found this aspect central to the whole concept of people's participation. Unfortunately in many developing countries people have been made to be less independent of government regarding their very existence. The majority of our people perceive the role of government as more than that of a facilitator - they see it as a doer as well. This has been cemented by the style of implementation of development projects, particularly in Africa, which glosses over the real needs of the people.
We therefore note with satisfaction that the Plan of Action for effective people's participation has zeroed down to sensitizing those privileged to decide the fate of the silent majority who in their ignorance see government employees - politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats - as their saviours rather than their servants. It is important that those involved in initiating development efforts be sensitized to the fact that successful project implementation and self-sustenance thereafter are crucially dependent on full participation of the people perceived to be the recipients of the development effort.
In this regard turning the policy makers, bureaucrats and technocrats into agents of "people's participation" will in the long run be the major sources of success in the implementation of the Action Plan elaborated in document C 91/22. We will therefore be looking forward to FAO participation in areas of action regarding promotion of greater awareness of the role of people's participation in development, strengthening internal capacities of people's organization and decentralization of decision-making particularly as it relates to the project cycle.
In the absence of a budget item associated with possible involvement in the Plan, it is essential that FAO provide Member States with the necessary guidelines on how Member States can call upon FAO to play its role in one or more of the seven areas of action proposed in the document. We hope that Mr Dutia can shed some light on this process.
My delegation endorses the Plan of Action and recommends its adoption by the Conference.
E. CHENGU (Zimbabwe): First of all, I would like to commend the FAO Secretariat for the clear and precise introduction and for its committed, persistent and passionate interest in the subject of rural development and poverty alleviation which Zimbabwe itself places very high on its policy priorities.
Zimbabwe has been implementing participatory programmes with the assistance of NGOs and donor organizations. Rural farmers have formed grass-roots groups for borrowing credit under the group-lending schemes. Cooperatives have been formed in the Land Resettlement Programmes. Self-help groups have been formed with the assistance of NGOs and other local development agencies. However, it is becoming increasingly clear on analysing the results of Zimbabwe's experience that for participatory groups to succeed they must be self-initiated by farmers who clearly understand the goals and objectives of participation as well as the risks involved and, of course, the benefits to be reaped at the end.
Cooperatives and groups should not be regarded merely as channels of political mobilization of rural people, but more importantly they should be seen as means of empowering people, marshalling human and natural resources as well as providing tangible economic benefits to the participants.
Zimbabwe considers that the need for people's participation as a mechanism for promoting rural development is now of paramount importance, especially in view of the winds of change blowing across the whole world, with the likelihood that there will be a reduction of aid in-flows to Africa for rural development purposes as more aid is redirected to other regions such as Eastern Europe. The weak African economies will find it difficult to fund poverty alleviation programmes, as they have to battle first against problems of mounting external debt, dwindling of foreign currency resources, growing unemployment and zero economic growth as well as the need to implement structural adjustment programmes which require that there be cuts in government spending. In the likely event that many governments will turn to people's participation as a mechanism for rural development, and when the Plan of Action has to be implemented by Member Governments, guidance and assistance will be required by development agencies such as the FAO which has the expertise and capacity to coordinate and facilitate the exchange of information and experience among Member Nations.
We therefore hope that FAO itself will be strengthened with financial resources and also that budgetary priority will be given by FAO and other donor agencies to this important item of poverty alleviation to enable FAO to act as a catalyst and to assist those Member Nations wishing to implement participatory rural development.
Zimbabwe has carefully considered the Plan of Action for People's Participation and agrees with the Ninety-ninth Council Session and the FAO Secretariat that the Plan constitutes a suitable framework for future action and provides useful guidelines for interested governments. Moreover it respects the sovereignty-of Member Nations and therefore should be endorsed and adopted by the Twenty-sixth Session of the FAO Conference.
LI ZHENG-DONG (China) (Original language Chinese): We have studied the document very carefully. In general terms, we take the view that this Plan of Action for People's Participation and Rural Development is acceptable as amended. The seven areas covered are extremely full. As far as the activities proposed are concerned, we should remember that both for governments concerned and the FAO there are some difficulties which are far from negligible as far as implementation goes. Accordingly, we suggest that the actions proposed should be divided up according to their priority. We believe that is the only way to safeguard their implementation.
Specific situations vary from country to country. Therefore, one does not want to go into too great detail as far as the advice for individual governments is concerned. It should be for the government to draw up an action plan according to the conditions which apply there. Implementing this Plan requires not only stable long-term policies, but enough money. That is why the international community and governments must devote their particular efforts to social, economic, environmental and human resource terms, both international and national.
We would like the Secretariat to tell us more about the follow-up to the Plan of Action, and the system for periodic review.
Olav LINDSTAD (Norway): The Norwegian delegation finds document C 91/22 very interesting and instructive. The conclusion of our brief remark is that people's participation should be both a means as well as an aim in agricultural development.
My delegation certainly appreciates a number of statements made in the document, such as in paragraph 23, regarding proposals for action on the government side. I quote: "establish a legal framework which provides a basis for free association of rural people in organizations of their choice". People's participation, in our opinion, must be the major element in both formulation and implementation of a strategy for agricultural development.
During recent years there has been an increased drive for privatization also regarding activities in rural areas. My delegation welcomes efforts in this direction in the hope that the private sector inter alia will be able to operate business-wise more flexibly and efficiently than parastatals and government-dominated cooperatives. But we do not believe that privatization is the solution to all problems in rural areas. No doubt, the farmers will need to work together even in the future, in a variety of formal and informal groups and organizations.
Governments and donor communities all over the world do support farmer and rural development organizations for several reasons. This sounds good, but we know that there are hidden thorns in the roses.
Firstly, when talking about financial support, too much money might easily reduce or even kill the self-help spirit in an NGO. The document gives a justified warning on this point in paragraph 27 at the top of page 9. As a consequence there should not be much talk of extraordinary funds or budgets, but more about the-need for a constructive and cautious encouragement by the Government and a lot of patience among all those involved in such activity.
I mentioned government encouragement, and that takes me to my second comment. In many countries the Government has to a large extent used organizations, e.g., cooperatives, as development tools. Often a cooperative is given tasks by the Government, supported by foreign aid, that are on the sideline or even outside the real object of the organization. This might in the short run benefit the local community, but it might easily give the members the feeling that the organization is a government agency and not an undertaking belonging to and run by themselves.
My delegation strongly endorses the statement made in paragraph 8 laying particular emphasis on growth with equity and people's participation. This is essential to any rural development effort, but it is certainly not an easy endeavour.
Sra. Ana María NAVARRO ARRUE (Cuba): Permítame, a nombre de mi delegación, felicitarlo a usted en su calidad de Presidente de esta importante Comisión y, a su vez, extiendo mi agredecimiento al Sr. Dutia por la valiosa presentación de este documento. Es cierto, come él bien lo decia, que a este Plan de Acción, que se nos presenta en este 26o periodo de sesiones de la Conferencia, se le han introducido los cambios que nuestras proprias delegaciones plantearon durante el 98o periodo de sesiones del Consejo de la FAO, entre ellas Cuba y se le han añadido, además, informaciones valiosas en aras de enriquecer el mismo, lo que acogemos, señor Presidente, con gran beneplácito.
Mi delegación apoya este Plan de Acción sobre la participación popular porque cree fehacientemente en la fuerza que ejercen las masas populares en el desarrollo de cualquier país. Estamos conscientes de su fuerza en el diseño de modelos donde la voluntad de la mayoría sugiere las transformaciones necesarias en bien de la comunidad y la sociedad en general.
Me es grato expresarle que en mi país no hubiera sido posible el logro de las transformaciones que cualitativamente hemos realizado en el orden económico, político, social, sin la unión voluntaria de la voluntad política gubernamental con la voluntad política popular.
Ha sido la participación popular en diversas tareas la que ha permitido en el país un movimiento ascendente hacia el desarrollo, protagonizando estas diversas organizaciones campesinas de mujeres, de jóvenes, etcétera, a su vez, uno de los ejemplos y pasajes más ilustrativos dentro de nuestro proceso de cambio.
La delegación de Cuba, señor Presidente, reitera, por tanto, su apoyo a este documento y cree oportuno expresar que este Plan de Acción debe contemplar como protagonistas a los amplios sectores de población que tienen que ver con el desarrollo rural de nuestros países; a saber: las organizaciones campesinas, las cooperativas, las asociaciones de mujeres y trajadores rurales; por lo que sería acertado, además de contar con los instrumentos propios de la FAO y que están expresados en este documento, se tuviera en cuenta otros instrumentos jurídicos, tales como la Convención Na 87 y 141, así como la Recomendación Na 149 de la OIT, que se refiere a la libre asociación y a la participación sindical de los trabajadores
rurales que, a su vez, tienen en muchos países un peso específico en el desarrollo nacional.
En este sentido señalamos, señor Presidente, que la Conferencia Mundial sobre Desarrollo Rural y Reforma Agraria así lo reconoció en su Capítulo III A.
Finalmente le expreso, señor Presidente, a nombre de mi delegación nuestro reconocimiento a la FAO por la decisión de retomar este tema de tanta importancia para nuestros países.
Puede la FAO, sin duda alguna, contar con la decidida ayuda de Cuba para su implementación. Esperamos que esta Conferencia apruebe este importante instrumento de valiosa ayuda para el fomento del desarrollo rural sostenible.
Ms Ljiljana VELASEVIC (Yugoslavia): First of all I would like to point out the importance of putting this issue on the Agenda of the General Conference. We are aware that the success of development projects in any field, including rural and agricultural ones, crucially depends on the interest and participation of people who are to enjoy the fruits of this development.
The proposed Plan of Action on People's Participation was elaborated so as to encompass numerous issues of the development process in countries at different levels of social and economic development and with different cultural heritages, which is why the basic characteristic of the Plan is its generality.
Yugoslavia is fully aware of the need to include as large groups as possible of village population in rural development. Since we agree with the view expressed in the Plan of Action that the larger-scale participation of rural inhabitants in the development process crucially depends on their being in a position to create, freely and voluntarily, adequate organizational forms, the Law on Cooperatives was adopted in 1990. This law reaffirms cooperative ownership in Yugoslavia and provides a legal basis for free and voluntary organizing, with a view to achieving independently defined profit and non-profit goals.
This and other laws and regulations have removed legal obstacles in Yugoslavia to the free and voluntary organizing of rural and other populations and their active and self-initiated participation in development processes.
Finally, I would like to draw attention to some ambiguities in the Plan as we see them. First of all, they concern the manner in which this mechanism is to function. How will it be translated into operational activities? Or more specifically, in what way should assistance be organized and extended to cooperatives or other rural organizations in their business and other activities, for example, networks of extension services, technological modernization, management, training, etc. FAO expert assistance would be indispensable here. Furthermore, the Plan Of Action does not clearly specify the position of some groups of people who live in rural areas but are not agricultural producers, as well as people who engage in agriculture on a part-time basis.
Many questions have been raised by a lot of delegations - I mention only Pakistan, Denmark and the United Kingdom. I will not repeat all of them, but I support them. We are looking forward to hearing the answer from the Secretariat. I would also like to support the United States' comment concerning the difference between the types of participation.
Finally, I wish to underline the indubitable importance of the Plan of Action. For developing countries it can be an incentive for development, and for the developed countries a useful mechanism for research and for the promotion of rural life. Lastly, I would suggest that, in spite of some ambiguities, my delegation support this Plan.
Mme. Evelyne SENGSUWAN (France): J'aimerais, en premier lieu, remercier le Secrétariat pour la présentation du Plan d'action pour la participation populaire.
Il s'agit d'un sujet complexe, connu généralement sous le thème du "développement participatif". La contribution de la FAO permettra d'approfondir la réflexion qui est également menée dans d'autres instances internationales.
L'objectif d'une stratégie fondée sur la dimension humaine du développement suppose une évolution du rôle de l'Etat tant dans l'activité économique que politique à travers la reconnaissance de la société civile comme acteur et bénéficiaire du développement.
Dans cette perspective, les politiques de coopération doivent changer. La mobilisation, au Sud comme au Nord, des acteurs de développement, à travers notamment la coopération non gouvernementale, doit être encouragée.
Bien évidemment, cette forme de coopération doit se faire dans le respect de l'identité et de la souveraineté des partenaires.
Le plan d'action de la FAO s'inscrit pleinement dans cette problématique et définit des orientations générales pour promouvoir l'organisation du monde rural à travers la constitution ou le renforcement des communautés rurales.
Mais l'organisation du monde rural se heurte à des difficultés d'ordre politique, économique, social ou technique. La FAO situe son action au niveau de ces différents points de blocage. Cependant, les mesures envisagées sont présentées dans des termes généraux. Elle aurait intérêt à définir des priorités afin de renforcer l'efficacité de son action. Ainsi par exemple, la grande diversité des groupements locaux devrait inciter la FAO à préciser la nature des structures qu'elle envisage de soutenir.
La mise en place de programmes et projets de développement fondés sur une approche participative, est aussi une priorité de la coopération française en matière de développement rural. Elle réoriente ses interventions en adoptant une démarche plus globale que les approches purement techniques suivies précédemment. Elle met en place des politiques agricoles de rénovation des dispositifs institutionnels, de participation et d'organisation des ruraux à la gestion du développement. Aussi, en Afrique subsaharienne, par exemple, l'accent est mis sur des actions favorisant l'émergence d'organisations professionnelles de paysans pouvant assurer la prise en charge totale ou partielle de fonctions actuellement dévolues à
l'Etat dans le domaine de l'approvisionnement, la commercialisation, l'épargne, le crédit ou la vulgarisation technique.
Parmi ces interventions, je citerai les projets fondés sur l'approche de gestion de terroir. L'objectif est de promouvoir la responsabilisation des populations dans la gestion de leur environnement. Cette démarche se matérialise par l'établissement de plans de gestion des terroirs villageois définissant de façon concertée les différentes utilisations des terres (pastorale, agricole, forestière) et les aménagements nécessaires pour la lutte contre l'érosion, le maintien de la fertilité des sols, la rationalisation de l'exploitation des boisements et des pâturages existants et l'intégration de l'arbre dans les systèmes de culture.
Je signalerai également la participation de la France avec d'autres donateurs au programme "l'arbre, la forêt et l'homme" mis en oeuvre par la FAO.
En conclusion, la France apporte son soutien au plan d'action et souhaite qu'une évaluation de sa mise en oeuvre puisse être faite à la prochaine Conférence. Enfin, je souhaite que la FAO coordonne son action avec les partenaires multilatéraux et bilatéraux.
Sra. Concha Marina RAMIREZ DE LOPEZ (Honduras): Agradecemos al Dr. Dutia por la presentación clara e interesante del documento. La delegación de mi país apoya el Plan de Acción, nota y agradece el aporte que FAO ha hecho para apoyar el desarrollo de las cooperativas agrícolas y, de manera especifica, el habernos ayudado a formular un Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Cooperativo, resultante de un proyecto del Programa de Cooperación Técnica. Este documento es, desde 1989, un punto de referencia en el área de las cooperativas agrícolas, que en nuestro país son importantes.
También queremos destacar los programas de promoción de la mujer, que han dado frutos notables, y hacemos notar que el proceso se inició en el contexto de las cooperativas de reforma agraria. Amplios sectores de mujeres hondurenas están agrupadas en cooperativas para mejorar sus ingresos familiares.
Permítame informarle, señor Presidente, que entre el 25 y el 29 de noviembre del presente año, Honduras será la sede de la Conferencia Regional "Mujer y Cooperativismo", respaldada también por la FAO. En la misma participarán representantes de Honduras, Guatemala, Belice, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá, República Dominicana y Puerto Rico. Los objetivos son definir y adoptar, a partir del conocimiento de la situación de la mujer a nivel del país y región, una estrategia de integración de la mujer al desarrollo económico y social por la vía de la cooperativa, así como ampliar los espacios de participación de la mujer en los movimientos cooperativos de los países de la región.
También se pretende conocer y divulgar una investigación de base sobre la realidad de la mujer en la región, con énfasis en la cooperativista, ya sea integrada o potencialmente integrable al cooperativismo.
Al reconocer una mayor presencia de FAO en los últimos años en el tema de cooperativas, la exhortamos a que mantega e intensifique su atención en este campo, dentro del contexto de implementación del Plan de Promoción de la Participación Popular en el Desarrollo.
Morad Ali ARDESHIRI (Iran, Islamic Republic of): On behalf of my delegation I would like to thank the FAO Secretariat for the preparation of document C 91/92, and also thank Mr Dutia for his clear introduction to this item.
My delegation has examined this document with high interest, and would like to point out some matters in this regard.
Regarding people's participation in sustainable agriculture and rural development, some essential key points should be taken into consideration, and also should receive high priority in the envisaged Plan of Action as follows.
The core strategy and main policy in relation to the Rural People's Participation Plan in Agriculture and Rural Development first should be considered within the Comprehensive Integrated Social and Economical Plan at national level in developing countries, and then should be planned through the Regional Integrated Agriculture and Natural Resources Development Plan, in order to be successful.
In connection with people's participation in rural development, in many developing countries there are some cultural and traditional procedures at local and village level. Therefore, the existing cultural and traditional procedure is essential for the success of participatory approaches to rural development, and should be considered through the rural organizations mentioned in the document before us.
In order to achieve the successful implementation of the people's participation plan, the rural people's requirements should be assessed, classified and prioritized on the basis of ecological, social and economical issues.
In some respects, such as the activities of natural resources conservation programmes in general and soil and water conservation programmes in particular, the nature of work implies that the required incentives, such as conservation incentives, should be considered in the Plan of Action in order to be successful.
Rural people's participation, as well as rural people's employment in the field of sustainable agriculture and rural development, should be planned on the basis of potential production capacity of natural resources and population supporting capacity at regional and local level.
Finally, we believe that the Plan of Action for People's Participation in Rural Development should emphasize FAO's activities rather than the NGO's or any other organization.
Srta. Martha VASQUEZ (México): En primer lugar, queríamos felicitar al Sr. Dutia por la breve y explicativa presentación del documento C 91/22. La delegación mexicana desearla considerar algunos puntos.
El Plan de Acción presentado en el 99o período de sesiones del Consejo de la FAO y ajustado de acuerdo a las opiniones vertidas tiene como finalidad el asegurar la participación activa de la población en el logro de un desarrollo rural sostenible. El Plan reconoce que la decisión y la responsabilidad a nivel normativo de la formulación y aplicación de políticas y enfoques de desarrollo participativo corresponden a los Gobiernos de los distintos Estados Miembros.
Los siete ámbitos en los que el Plan propone adoptar medidas constituyen ejes para generar la participación popular como mecanismos de promoción del desarrollo rural, tal y como se menciona en el párrafo 14 del documento C 91/22.
Para el caso de México, la limitada disponibilidad de recursos por parte del Gobierno Federal para impulsar programas de desarrollo al campo y su gradual retiro de esferas económicas en las que cumplía funciones de fomento a la producción y regulación del mercado para algunos productos agropecuarios, ha planteado la necesidad de redefinir el papel de las instituciones gubernamentales agropecuarias y de fomento rural, profundizando la participación de los campesinos a través de sus organizaciones, trasladando áreas que tradicionalmente eran de dominio gubernamental a la autogestión de los productores.
Entre las políticas de participación popular en el campo que el Gobierno de México ha impulsado, destaca desde 1989 la celebración de Convenios de Concertación Social entre productores e instituciones, como un mecanismo de enlace para articular las decisiones de los distintos sectores involucrados en el desarrollo rural. Los Convenios han constituido un instrumento que define los compromisos de cada parte para el uso y disposición de los recursos destinados al fomento y a la promoción del desarrollo rural. Los diversos convenios hasta ahora establecidos responden a proyectos campesinos, surgidos de las propias organizaciones, y tienen entre sus objetivos su fortalecimiento, así como la constitución de unidades económicas multiactivas y autogestivas. Así, se han celebrado convenios de apoyo a la producción primaria y agroindustrial, de infraestructura básica, comercialización, servicios de apoyo, organización y capacitación, que han estimulado a la vez la producción campesina y la capacidad institucional de las dependencias gubernamentales.
Otra vertiente de participación de las organizaciones de productores en el fomento de actividades productivas del medio rural, es el establecimiento de asociaciones en participación con el sector privado, que propicie la generación de proyectos productivos, en los que los productores del sector social aportan la tierra y la mano de obra, y el capital privado aporta la inversión necesaria para impulsarlos.
No obstante las acciones emprendidas en materia de promoción de la participación popular en el desarrollo rural, los recursos financieros han sido limitados, lo cual hace imprescindible el establecimiento de un mecanismo de concertación que haga llegar a las comunidades rurales de manera más expedita los apoyos que los organismos no gubernamentales nacionales e internacionales otorgan.
Finalmente, cabe señalar que las organizaciones de productores y los Comités Mixtos Participativos por "sistema-producto" son las instancias y los foros, respectivamente, en los cuales se pueden promover los apoyos de
la FAO, tales como el Programa de Asesoría sobre el Diseño y la aplicación de estrategias a largo plazo para la transformación gradual de cooperativas iniciadas por el Gobierno en organizaciones autónomas, que administren sus miembros y sean autofinanciables.
Vishnu BHAGWAN (India): Allow me on behalf of my delegation to thank the Secretariat for a comprehensive document containing constructive ideas on Plan of Action for People's Participation. I also thank Mr Dutia for a clear and concise introduction, as usual. We are pleased to note that the document has been devised in accordance with the viewpoints expressed by the delegations in the meeting of the Council.
The necessity of seeking cooperation and people's involvement and participation in the implementation of development programmes which particularly focus on the poor, the weaker sections and the disadvantaged groups, is now universally recognized. It is also recognized that government agencies have sufficient reach or large proportion of leakage, which make it imperative that non-governmental organizations should be called upon to make their contribution for attainment of these objectives.
In India the importance of people's participation in planning and development has been recognized from the very beginning. Our constitution enshrines the principle of democratic decentralization Panchayati Raj as one of the directive principles of state policy. In the rural sector the community development and extension programme has been an important component of our plan for rural upliftment. Voluntary organizations have been increasingly engaging themselves in rural development programmes, particularly in the programmes for the rural poor. Voluntary efforts cover a wide spectrum, including literacy, education, health, environment, wasteland development, appropriate technology, non-conventional energy and sanitation, etc. Programmes of creating awareness among the rural poor, more specifically among women and disadvantaged sections of the society have been undertaken by them. Voluntary action has thus served to arouse the self confidence of people and generating awareness about their rights and obligations and thus to build up the human resources of the country. We are fully conscious of the effectiveness of bottom-up approach to planning and suitable modifications are also being introduced in a systematic way.
My delegation agrees with the conditions identified for operationalizing the promotion of people's participation in paragraph 12 and the proposals regarding the action areas to achieve the goal of sustainable rural development with equity through people's participation in para 14. We are pleased to note the specific proposals for action by the national governments and the FAO on each issue in Part 3 of the document. The international community has an important role to play in the implementation of these proposals by providing external resources. Necessary adjustments in the area of international trade, external debt and flow of financial resources can also help in generating the will and commitment to self help and participation.
In conclusion my delegation endorses the proposals in this regard.
Oscar MAS HERRERA (Costa Rica): Gracias señor Presidente. En primer lugar, un cordial saludo a Ud. en calidad de Presidente de esta importante Comisión. También damos las gracias al Dr. Dutia por su introducción relativa al tema éste de la participación popular que fue tan esclarecedor. A este respecto, la representación de Costa Rica desea hacer notar que la FAO ha brindado asistencia técnica en el área de las cooperativas rurales juveniles y en el área de actualización de cifras sobre las cooperativas agrícolas.
De manera explícita deseamos felicitar a la FAO por el trabajo que ha iniciado sobre actualización de las estadísticas cooperativas mediante acuerdo con la Oficina Regional de la Alianza Cooperativa Internacional (ACI), que tiene su sede en Costa Rica. Este acuerdo contempla el mejoramiento de las estadísticas sobre cooperativas, que se está llevando a cabo en toda nuestra zona. Vale decir en Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala y Panamá, lo mismo que en el Ecuador y México.
Las primeras estimaciones sobre estos estudios, para el caso costarricense, indican que las cooperativas caficultoras, integradas mayoritariamente por pequeños productores, controlan el 39 por ciento de las exportaciones de café que tradicionalmente han sido la principal fuente de divisas de nuestro país. Por otro lado, los socios de cooperativas constituyen el 39,3 por ciento de la población económicamente activa. El hecho de poder contar con cifras que nos permitan hacer estos análisis, es importante por lo menos para nuestro país.
Como resultado de estas acciones de la FAO, es de esperar - sé que durante el próximo bienio - se cuente con información actualizada y confiable sobre las cooperativas agrícolas, que son organizaciones que juegan un papel importante de vitalización de la participación de los pequeños productores en el desarrollo rural. Por todo lo anterior, señor Presidente, instamos a que la FAO expanda sus acciones en apoyo del desarrollo de las cooperativas agrícolas en la región centroamericana.
Sra. Olga Clemencia FERNANDEZ (Colombia): Gracias señor Presidente. Me complace participar en este tema bajo su presidencia. Queremos darle las gracias al Dr. Dutia por su clara y concisa explicación sobre este documento. Los representantes de Colombia apoyamos todo propósito de la FAO dirigido a modificar la injusta y absurda situación reinante en la gran mayoría de los países en desarrollo, según la cual, los beneficios del desarrollo rural se limitan a los grandes terratenientes y nunca llegan hasta los pequeños agricultores, quienes son los verdaderos forjadores del trabajo del campo, consagrados, indefensos, abandonados a su subsistencia de privaciones.
Estamos de acuerdo en que hay que buscar otros enfoques de desarrollo alternativos, y la directa participación popular bien orientada, siempre con pleno respeto de la soberanía de los gobiernos, es uno de los mecanismos idóneos para lograr estos fines. El párrafo 5 del documento C 91/22 señala con acierto que existe un vínculo conceptual y operacional entre participación popular y las organizaciones voluntarias autónomas y democráticas, como son las cooperativas. Notamos con satisfacción que, con recursos del Programa Regular, la FAO ha comisionado diversos estudios sobre el cooperativismo agrícola en Colombia, que arrojan datos sobre el rol de estas cooperativas en la agricultura y el desarrollo rural del país.
Con aportes del Gobierno de Holanda, la FAO ejecuta un proyecto de participación de las cooperativas rurales en el mejoramiento de la calidad de la educación que se imparte en los institutos agrícolas del país. En todos estos aportes de la FAO participan organizaciones no gubernamentales.
Exhortamos a que la FAO identifique, aún más, un apoyo técnico para el fortalecimiento de las cooperativas y asociaciones similares en nuestro país, como medio práctico y concreto de lograr la participación popular en el desarrollo rural.
Conocemos que en algunos Estados de la región las cooperativas campesinas han avanzado más que en otros. Sugerimos que la FAO estructure un programa de cooperación técnica entre países en vía de desarrollo (CTPD), en el área técnica del desarrollo de cooperativas agrícolas. Con fondos del programa regular, preparó un estudio sobre el cooperativismo del país, que forma parte de la serie de estudios por país que se infunden a través del Comité mundial para la promoción de la asistencia del desarrollo cooperativo (COPAC), cuya sede se encuentra en la FAO; con fondos del Programa Regular comisionó a una ONG el análisis del rol que juegan las cooperativas agrícolas en el desarrollo del país, incluyendo el tipo del agricultor - pequeño, mediano o grande - que integran las cooperativas agrícolas, detectando que, en efecto, la mayoría son pequeños agricultores.
Con aportes del Gobierno de Holanda, a través de fondos de fidecomiso, está implementando un proyecto piloto en el cual, a través de una cooperativa, se canaliza la participación de la comunidad en la solución del problema de institutos de formación de técnicos agrícolas.
La FAO ha iniciado la preparación de estudios nacionales en la región sobre servicios de auditorías a cooperativas con el objetivo de fortalecer las cooperativas agrícolas. Un ejemplo de estos casos es Colombia.
La FAO ha comisionado a la Organización de las Cooperativas de América (OCA), órgano representativo del cooperativismo latinoamericano, con sede en Bogotá, para que emprenda una tarea de actualización de datos sobre cooperativas agrícolas que permita conocer, con mayor precisión, el rol que ellas mismas juegan en el desarrollo rural. Esta actividad subregional incluye a Colombia, Bolivia, Perú, Venezuela, Brazil y otros países.
Art WRIGHT (Canada) : Canada welcomes the opportunity to comment on this agenda item, and also to thank Mr Dutia and the Secretariat for the preparation and introduction of document C 91/22.
Canada fully agrees on the importance of direct and active participation of local community groups in the conception, the design and the implementation of programmes and projects which affect them. There is ample evidence from a great number of countries that effective rural development occurs when local populations are fully involved in making decisions aimed at increasing the development of their own skills, increasing the agricultural or economic production of their areas, and improving the social conditions in which they live. Such participation provides a very needed sense of ownership over development programmes, and this in turn helps to guarantee the maintenance of facilities and continuous support of programmes once the initial official project activity has been completed.
Local community groups of private citizens often have a very detailed and intimate appreciation of what will work in their local context. By drawing on such knowledge, a national government can generate local support for development activities which contribute to the long-term sustainability of their development initiatives. Canada has long supported the initiatives of locally-based community organizations because we see their activities as complementary to those of governments. It is, of course, governments who retain the responsibility for setting national development priorities and establishing the framework within which such organizations function.
Given the extensive needs of rural communities, there would seem to be ample scope for the involvement of national and local governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, to use their individual and unique skills in a complementary fashion.
The major challenges of rural development: are complex and obviously require the cooperation of all who have skills, knowledge and energy to contribute. The participatory approach outlined in this Plan of Action deserves attention and support. Canada therefore endorses the principles of the FAO People's Participation Programme, and the sensible and practical areas for action that have been identified under seven headings in the document.
It seems to us that both government and private participation is needed jointly. Effective collaboration produces a two-way learning process which is beneficial to government and also to people in the rural areas. Community-based organizations can be particularly effective when they are permitted to be most creative and innovative in devising solutions appropriate to their particular needs. In this regard, government contributes to their effective participation in the development process by focusing on ways in which to facilitate the functioning of public participation. When we examine the question of external support for such organizations, we believe this can contribute a useful supplement to the efforts of such public participation groups, to strengthen their development activities and ensure that they have a long-term beneficial impact. This in turn can help to relieve the pressure which governments often experience on their own very stretched budgets.
In our view, there are three essential ingredients for such successful partnerships between the public and the private sector. There must in the first place be a sense of common cause or objectives. Secondly, there must be trust between the participants. Thirdly, there must be very effective two-way communication. It seems to us that FAO People's Participation Programmes can help to define that common cause and can indeed contribute to the very special attention that is needed to ensure there is mutual trust and effective communication between all of the concerned parties.
Participatory development should be a normal part, we believe, of FAO programming, and therefore we believe this programme and the philosophy it incorporates should be part of the mainstream of the Organization's activities and hence contained in its Regular Budget.
We also would support the comments made by the United States and the United Kingdom delegations which refer to the importance of such public participation not being solely dependent on external sources of financing and support. At the last Council Session when this issue was discussed, several nations mentioned that the document on People's Participation
presented at that stage needed further strengthening. Our delegation respects the views of these countries, and we believe that the Secretariat has indeed responded to their concerns.
In closing, let me say that people's participation groups should, in our view, be seen as partners with government in development. The introduction of people's participation reflects an evolving role for the FAO. It is very much part of the Organization's relationship with governments and Member States, and indeed it may enhance that relationship and be the effectiveness of development programmes.
The Canadian delegation therefore fully supports the adoption of the commended Plan of Action and urges its endorsement by this Conference.
P. Natigor SIAGIAN (Indonesia): My delegation expresses its appreciation to Dr Dutia for his clear introductory remarks. Yesterday, when my delegation made its intervention on the issue of progress reports on WCAARD, we also touched on people's participation issues. The inclusion of this important agenda item once again demonstrates that FAO has not forgotten, and will never forget, that people - meaning farmers, women, and youth farmers -will always be the central focus of our global developmental efforts. For that reason, may I express the thanks of our delegation to the Secretariat for having prepared this concept of strategy of the Plan of Action as well documented in document C 91/22. More than seventy percent of our 183 million people live in rural areas, and therefore we are fully aware that the successful implementation of the Indonesian National Development Programme will almost also mostly depend on the full involvement and participation of our rural communities including women and rural youth.
We wish to reiterate the view that rural poverty alleviation can be achieved only with the voluntary and active participation of the rural peoples themselves, and for this purpose our long-term development strategy emphasizes the policy to encourage more active participation of the rural community in the rural areas so as to stimulate the agricultural development activities in the rural sector.
Indonesia has always been very supportive of any international multilateral cooperative undertakings which tend to assist the enhancement of rural communities' participation in the national development programmes. We agree that the bottom-up participatory approach will be most helpful in enhancing the self-initiative developmental actions of our rural poor. In this regard I am pleased to inform you that my Government is currently taking the necessary action to ensure the most active participation of the rural community by enhancement of the farmers' group involvement in all the activities of the village. Within the limitation of its facilities, the Government is currently making an effort to strengthen the economic capabilities of village cooperative units. The role of the village cooperative units is essential not only in maintaining their self-sufficiency on rice, but more than that it is really to strengthen the economic base of the farmer and the rural community in Indonesia.
With regard to the FAO's role in the People's Participation Programme, I am happy to note the programme, and initiatives of FAO in assisting the fisherfolk, forestry extension and community forest development. The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, in cooperation with the private sector,
universities and research centres, as well as the NGOs, have taken the necessary steps to enhance their cooperative undertakings toward the successful implementation of the developmental activities in the field of forestry. In an effort to achieve sustainable rural development and environmental protection, the very positive participation of farmers' groups, rural communities, and private sectors is also noted. More and more voluntary group actions in the agricultural field is now in force in many parts of our country.
With regard to the proposed concept of the strategy of the Plan of Action mentioned in the document, my delegation notes the various proposals, especially those recommended for government action.
We are aware that we need to strengthen the capability of the administrators in creating more favourable conditions for people's participation. While noting that the Plan of Action provides a broad framework for undertaking programmes and activities, we are of the view that the basis of its implementation should be existing experiences. We have the belief that examples of activities already implemented in some countries can help the action proposed to be better defined and easier to implement.
Although it has been stated in paragraph 11 of the document, my delegation wishes to reiterate that the principle of non-interference in national policy methods should be taken into account in formulating the language of the proposals for action. I would note especially here paragraphs 23 (i) and (iv), paragraph 24 (i) and paragraph 36 (ii). Necessary action should be taken so that there will be no misinterpretation of the implementation of those paragraphs in the future. We welcome the cooperation of FAO in this regard.
The participatory approach in this Plan is very effective, and we are therefore pleased to consider this Plan of Action. We believe that the Secretariat has accommodated our views, which we have expressed during the previous Council meetings.
We do hope that this intervention regarding the issues will be seen by the Conference as our serious political will toward the speedy implementation of FAO's important Plan of Action.
P.A.D. TER WEEL (Netherlands): I would like to thank Mr Dutia for his short, but very clear, introduction. It is a great pleasure that finally today we are able to discuss the Plan of Action for People's Participation in Rural Villages. It has taken a long time. People's participation is such a basic prerequisite for rural development that a clear strategy embraced by FAO as a whole has been badly missed all these years. It was obvious two years ago in this Meeting that full priority was given to the Plan of Action for Women in Development. We will be discussing that Plan later tonight or perhaps tomorrow and we can learn some useful lessons from it.
The Netherlands government last year - in its Policy Paper on Development Cooperation for the Nineties - puts the focus on People, Poverty and Human Development.
After the decade of the 1980s, during which people and their societies were asked to adjust themselves to the so-called exogenous facts of economic life, the nineties start with an emphasis on human development: development for, of and by people. People first.
The Netherlands government therefore - as the Head of our delegation during the opening session has stated - very much welcomes FAO's Action Programme on People's Participation and sees it as a logical consequence of the UNDP 1990 and 1991 Reports on Human Development.
Too long we believed that the expansion of physical infrastructure and provision of material inputs would automatically lead to more well-being for the vast majority of the poor amongst the rural population. Too often we as governments have decided what should be done without seriously consulting and listening to men and women farmers, landless men and women, labourers and their own local organizations.
During the eighties, as part of an answer to the 1979 World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Development, the Netherlands has been a consequent supporter of one of those small programmes of FAO - and as a donor we have be en badly missing other donors' contributions called the People's Participation Programme, which is being implemented in some 10 countries in the South, and has reached 10 000 small and marginal men and women farmers, who have organized themselves in small groups to work out their own needs, on the basis of their own specific environment and their own potential. The Sri Lankan delegate has mentioned one of these programmes. Through self-organization, training and the use of small credit facilities they have found self-awareness and dignity, and improved their socio-economic status.
Much has still to be learned from these modest experiences. They also should be compared with the wide range of other relevant experiences of community-based organizations, platform organizations and trade union organizations.
Allow me to make some general comments on the main points of the Plan of Action. Above all, we realize that we are late, very late. Important changes have taken place during these last years and we are at the threshold of a new era with new and unexpected dimensions.
Too long we have relied only on logic and rationality from above: the logic and rationality of our vast bureaucracies and central agencies. Too long we have neglected - and not only neglected but even strangled - local initiative, the existing fabric of mutual aid and self-help, and the traditional social and cultural values. Therefore the formal and full recognition by FAO of the role of people's organizations is of the utmost importance. But now it comes to translating this into policy.
When I read the pages of the Action Areas I however feel uncomfortable because in spite of the good intentions of the Plan again I am confronted with too much emphasis on government intervention and FAO intervention while in fact what should be done is to restrict intervention and restrict regulation. What should be done is to create an enabling environment, a facilitating environment, that enables people, men and women farmers to organize their own lives. In fact what we need is less government policies and regulations that hamper self-organization of men and women farmers, the landless poor, the sharecroppers, the fishermen and women.
The Plan of Action needs a stronger recognition of the potential role of farmers' organizations and trade unions, and remains too vague on the necessary policy changes which create a better enabling environment for those organizations. Of course, as the Norwegian delegate has stipulated, we need policies and regulations, but especially in the field of protecting the poor and vulnerable, and in redistributing the wealth for the benefit of the whole community.
If it is in that sense we would agree with the need for policies and regulations.
If we look to the future we will have to evaluate this Plan of Action on what has been achieved for the vast masses of the rural poor in their striving to gain access to basic natural resources, as well as to what has been achieved by the poor in their striving for basic human freedom. And it is especially this second dimension, of human freedom, that we have to measure where and how and to what extent restrictive government policies in the field of social organizations, trade unions, and freedom of the press have been removed. This brings me to some final comments.
The Netherlands Government is looking forward to the FAO including people's participation and participatory methods in its policy formulation process, to its programme and project identification and formulation process, and to include adequate expertise in its field missions dealing with these issues.
The Netherlands fully endorses the intentions of the Plan of Action and is looking to FAO and governments - and where possible would like to support these - to create greater possibilities for men and women farmers and landless labourers to organize their own lives, to express their own needs and wants and to improve their own livelihoods. We are looking forward not so much to new government regulations but to enabling policies and deregulation in the field of social and farmers' organizations.
Frank M. BUCKHAM (Swaziland) : In congratulating you on your appointment as Chairman of Commission I, I wish to express our satisfaction with the manner in which you have been guiding the deliberations of our Commission. I would also like to thank Mr Dutia for the very clear manner in which he presented this document.
My delegation fully supports the contents of paragraph 14 of C 91/22 which spells out seven areas in which action needs to be taken. We feel that those seven areas provide an adequate basis for all concerned to translate this Plan of Action into reality.
The Swazi Government is already fully committed to the principle of people's participation because we have learnt from several years of pursuing rural development that full people's participation is an indispensable prerequisite for effective and sustainable agricultural and rural development and environmental protection. Part of this experience has come from our People's Participation project, which is now in its second phase. This Project has generated considerable awareness among the rural population of their need to embark on self-help and income-generating projects, and uncoerced. The Government therefore regards this Project as
having succeeded in establishing a good foundation to build on in further promoting people's participation in rural development in the country, and in investing in the people.
We therefore thank FAO for supporting this Project and assure you of Swaziland's strong intention, not only to further strengthen its project, but also to pursue the concept for which it stands beyond its lifespan as an integral part of our agricultural development strategy.
We therefore request further FAO assistance in support of this Programme and of our plans for implementing this Plan of Action, which we strongly endorse.
Paul Neville ROSS (Australia): Australia endorses the broad principles outlined in the FAO Plan of Action. We see value in ensuring active participation of rural people in the achievement of sustainable rural development and improved communication between non-governmental organizations and all levels of government involved in rural issues.
People's participation is encompassed within Australia's development programme as an important policy issue. As such, it has been incorporated into our guidelines and procedures for development assistance activities negotiated within our bilateral programme.
While we endorse the broad principle of the Plan, we see some problems in the implementation of specific recommendations for action which are rather prescriptive. There needs to be flexibility for countries to implement the principles of the Plan in a manner appropriate to each country.
Sra. María Eulalia JIMENEZ (El Salvador): Le agradezco que me conceda el uso de la palabra a estas alturas de nuestros debates, y en aras a ello, le aseguro que será la delegación que hablará menos.
Como pais que pertenece a la Región del Istmo Centroamericano, El Salvador comparte y apoya las declaraciones que han hecho en esta Sala los Representantes de Panamá, Honduras y Costa Rica.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic) : We have a request from Lesotho to include its speech in the verbatim record.
T.J. RAMOTSOARI (Lesotho): Involvement of people in planning, deciding, implementing and evaluating their own programmes for future sustainability.
Lesotho has started implementing the concept by creating institutions which will facilitate the process. There are Village Development Councils, District Development Councils which representation is determined by the people through election process. The role of these Councils is to plan, decide, implement, monitor and evaluate local initiative programmes or projects. Government participation is based on the "Client Demand" approach
in assisting the people. Chairman, the success of this approach or concept is yet to be evaluated. We therefore, would like to endorse the actions proposed in document C 91/22.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic) : Before I call one of the Observers as the next speaker, I beg them to be brief.
Mrs Gabriella SOZANSKI (Observer for the World Council of Credit Unions): It is a special privilege for the World Council of Credit Unions to address the Twenty-sixth Session of the FAO Conference.
WOCCU is a non-governmental organization of credit unions, savings and credit cooperatives, and similar financial institutions. As an international apex organization, it represents over 80 national federations or leagues and nearly 100 million members around the globe. WOCCU provides developmental, representational, communications and resource mobilization services to expand, improve and integrate the international credit union movement.
Since our aims are complementary with those of the FAO in specialized fields of activities, in recent years we have been collaborating more and more with competent technical divisions within the FAO, such as the Human Resources, Institutions and Agricultural Reform Division; the Cooperatives and Other Rural Organizations Group; and the Agricultural Marketing and Credit Service. These divisions are aware of previous and existing collaboration with credit unions and their national associations in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Lesotho.
We consider COPAC, the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives, a good forum for the regular exchange of information among its members which comprise both UN agencies, such as the FAO, the ILO and the United Nations Organization itself, and four international nongovernmental organizations, among which one is WOCCU.
When we received the FAO Plan of Action for People's Participation Programme we found it very encouraging that more attention will be paid to the increased mobilization of savings to meet immediate short-term credit and investment needs within all FAO projects. Credit unions are democratic structures based upon people's participation. They are a form of self-help, self-financing organizations, serve as effective mobilizers of local savings, provide needed credit at affordable rates of interest and teach people thrift and the wise use of credit. All these characteristics make it understandable why we are supportive of the Plan of Action for People's Participation Programme. We are confident that the great experience base credit unions have developed in this field of activity could well be matched through WOCCU's membership network, with FAO's expertise for the benefit of the rural population.
In this regard, we have the pleasure to inform you that the most recent Executive Committee meeting of WOCCU held in October of this year adopted a resolution in support of the People's Participation Programme which reads as follows :
1 Statement inserted in the Verbatim Records on request.
"The Executive Committee of the World Council of Credit Unions hereby endorses the Plan of Action for People's Participation in Rural Development as proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In particular, support is expressed for such Proposals for Action which call for the encouragement of autonomous grass-roots democratic organizations which will mobilize local savings for local development.
Further, the WOCCU Executive Committee calls on its member organizations to consider communicating a similar endorsement to member governments of the FAO. "
We are pleased to inform you that this resolution has, of course, been communicated to our member organizations worldwide.
We urge FAO members to approve this Plan of Action and, through our worldwide membership network, we look forward to continuing to work together in areas of common interest.
G. VECCHI (Observateur pour l'Alliance coopérative internationale): Monsieur le Président, je vous remercie beaucoup d'avoir permis à l'Alliance coopérative internationale de s'adresser aux délégués de la Conférence de la FAO sur le problème du Plan d'action de participation populaire.
L'ACI, avec ses 200 organisations coopératives membres nationales et internationales de 79 pays qui représentent 670 millions de membres individuels, possède une longue expérience en matière de promotion de la participation des gens. Elle est engagée dans la promotion et la croissance des organisations populaires durables, indépendantes, démocratiques et viables et dans ce but a collaboré à un certain nombre d'initiatives de la FAO.
La FAO affirme dans plusieurs documents que les coopératives sont le type le plus répandu d'organisation populaire formelle. Les coopératives franchissent les barrières géographiques - elles existent dans le monde entier: Afrique, Asie et Pacifique, Amérique et Europe, dans tous les systèmes économiques, qu'ils soient économies de marché ou bien économies de transition.
Les coopératives ont prouvé être efficaces pour l'amélioration des conditions sociales et économiques de leurs membres, comme témoigne en Inde l'expérience de la ANAND DAIRY SCHEME dans laquelle la FAO a été largement engagée pendant plusieurs années et comme ont démontré les coopératives de crédit et d'épargne, pour citer des petits exemples.
Les coopératives sont à même de répondre tant aux problèmes économiques qu'aux problèmes sociaux, et en tant qu'organisations populaires elles devraient recevoir la plus grande attention et appui. Voilà la raison pour laquelle l'ACI soutient l'adoption et l'approbation de ce Plan d'action par les délégués de cette Conférence.
Depuis trente ans l'ACI se consacre à l'assistance aux coopératives et, en raison de son expérience, est tout à fait d'accord quant à la stratégie et aux domaines identifiés par le Plan d'Action.
Je peux ajouter qu'un certain nombre de domaines correspond aux champs d'action identifiés par la "Politique ACI de développement coopératif" et par la "Politique ACI de développement des ressources humaines", notamment en ce qui concerne la création d'opinion publique sur les avantages de l'approche participative au développement, sur la création d'un cadre favorable aux organisations populaires et sur la formation susceptible de créer des capacités d'autogestion et organisations durables.
Le document parle de la nécessité de renforcer le dialogue avec les gouvernements: l'ACI est prête à collaborer avec la FAO pour que cela puisse se réaliser mais les propositions de collaboration entre FAO et ONG sont encore un peu faibles.
Au paragraphe 62 du document, la FAO propose d'assigner la supervision de la mise en oeuvre du Plan d'action à la Division des ressources humaines et à un sous-comité interdépartemental alors que nous proposons de créer un "point focal" à l'intérieur de la Division des ressources humaines qui soit le point de repère pour établir des relations consultatives et de collaboration systématique avec les ONG et qui soit, en même temps, le point de convergence de l'action des différentes divisions de la FAO.
Nos propositions ne demandent aucun effort économique tandis que la mise en oeuvre du Plan d'action exige des moyens financiers plus importants à disposition de la Division des ressources humaines. Nous croyons toutefois qu'avec des programmes de travail concrets nous pourrons compter sur l'aide de plusieurs gouvernements.
Pour ce qui concerne le rôle des gouvernements, nous ne soulignerons jamais assez l'importance du fait que leurs politiques ne doivent pas être un obstacle à la création des organisations populaires ni qu'ils doivent exercer un contrôle non dû sur ces organisations, lesquelles, à cause de leur nature, doivent être volontaires, autonomes et démocratiquement contrôlées. Lorsque les coopératives ont échoué comme outil de développement, c'était très souvent parce que la coopérative était imposée aux membres au lieu d'être fondée et contrôlée par eux-mêmes.
L'ACI et ses organisations membres, nationales et internationales, désirent collaborer avec la FAO et les gouvernements membres pour la réalisation des activités de promotion de la participation populaire dans le développement rural. Nous réitérons notre volonté de donner assistance et conseils, y compris sur la législation coopérative, le développement de l'éducation coopérative et les programmes de formation, la mobilisation de l'opinion publique vers la participation populaire dans les régions intéressées par l'affermissement du mouvement coopératif.
Nous sommes conscients que le développeront des institutions populaires exige un effort prolongé mais nous sommes aussi persuadés de l'importance et du potentiel de succès de l'approche participative.
Ms Zdenka INDRUCHOVA (Observer for the World Federation of Trade Unions): As you may know, our movement invested a serious effort in the preparation, holding and follow-up to the WCARRD Conference a decade ago.
We have, in particular, stressed the utmost importance of Chapter III of the Programme of Action which concerns people's participation. During the years since 1979, we have repeatedly drawn the attention of FAO and its Member Nations to the fact that this chapter is not being duly implemented and that this shortcoming endangers the whole concept of WCARRD.
At the Eleventh Consultation between FAO and international trade union organizations two years ago, we regretted very much that people's participation did not figure among the priority activities of FAO.
We have, therefore, intervened, together with other NGOs at the Tenth COAG Session in favour of the adoption of a specific Plan of Action for people's participation and then made our observations known during the various stages of the elaboration of the text.
I will, therefore, limit myself to our most essential preoccupations:
Firstly, the people's participation will again remain a dead letter if the concept of freedom of association is not fully recognized by FAO Member Nations.
So we think that paragraph 20 and then the whole paragraph 23 of the proposed Plan of Action should contain a reference to the ILO Conventions No. 87 and No. 141 and to the recommendation 149. The ratification of these international instruments so vital for people's participation has remained very low during the COAG/WCARRD decade. The confirmation of my statement is contained in the document of this Conference C 91/18 which, on page 31, says that so far only 28 countries have ratified the ILO Convention No. 141 which recognizes the right of free association for voluntary and independent rural workers' organizations and supports their socio-economic activities.
Secondly, the Plan speaks about creating new people's organizations, but we ask the question: Why not speak about the strengthening and promotion of organizations that already exist? I mean those organizations that have structures at all levels, at the place of work, at local, regional, national and international. These are organizations which have a bargaining power and are capable of formulating truly effective solutions to combat poverty and to raise the living standards of the rural population. I hope you might have recognized that I am speaking about the rural workers' organizations which, according to a WCARRD progress report document C 91/19 on page 55 says that this organization also played an increasingly important role in many developing areas.
I must confess that it is rather depressing to hear that the only government representatives who spoke about the role of rural workers' organizations were the Netherlands and Denmark.
Nevertheless, I would like to assure the Conference of the full support of our organization of the Plan of Action. We hope that it will be another field for strengthening cooperation with FAO.
B.P. DUTIA (Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department): There were a number of important questions and comments made, and I will try to respond to them as briefly but as succinctly as possible.
First of all, I would like to mention that we from the Secretariat are happy that the Member Governments on the whole feel that the viewpoints that they expressed during the June Council when they considered the draft of this Plan of Action have been taken into account in presenting the revised version that is now before you. Of course, we tried our level best to accommodate these viewpoints to the maximum extent possible.
The second point that I would like to make is that FAO is the organization of the Member Governments. Therefore, it is working with Member Governments and through Member Governments in implementing all of its activities and programmes. Insofar as the Plan of Action on people's participation is concerned, it is not and cannot be an exception to this general rule. I think that point needs to be very clearly stated. It is clearly stated in paragraph 11 of the document, and that is how we see our role in the implementation of this Plan of Action.
At the same time, FAO as a development agency will act as an advocate, as an informed advocate, of the need for people's participation to be promoted in order that the rural development becomes sustained and equitable. This is not only a social imperative. The evidence that has been gathered from the development policies and programmes over the last several decades shows very clearly that people's participation improves the economic return to the investment. Therefore, we see our roles as an advocate for this programme of action, and also as a catalyst in promoting and encouraging the governments for people's participation.
At the same time, we have heard that some Member Governments feel that this Plan is too restrictive, that it seems to give restrictions for what needs to be done. I would like to make it clear that that is not the intention. The Plan has to be seen as a broad framework within which the areas where actions need to be taken or should be taken in order to promote people's participation have been illustrated.
Of course, in the actual implementation of the Plan of Action a certain measure of flexibility will be needed. The flexibility will be needed in order to take into account the specific country situation, the specific needs that will be identified by the Member Governments in respect of the groups that need to be involved in the participatory process. Therefore, while the Plan does illustrate a number of activities where action needs to be taken and could be taken, it should not be interpreted as a very rigid framework for all country situations or for all participatory processes.
Another point on which a number of Member Governments have commented - again, I need to make some clarification on that - is paragraph 64 of the document that refers to the need for external assistance to facilitate the promotion of people's participation. There has been some misunderstanding that the intention here was to say that the implementation of the Plan of Action depends on the external resources only. That certainly is not in the mind of the Secretariat. I do not think that it is in the minds of the Member Governments who have participated this afternoon in this debate. It is quite clearly stated that the primary responsibility for implementing the Plan of Action rests with the governments themselves. That is the sovereign right of each Member Government. Of course, this does not preclude the need for external resources as a facilitator, as a catalyst, in implementing the Plan of Action and supporting the actions that the governments themselves want to take.
After having made these general remarks, with your permission I will go on to some of the specific questions that have been raised during the debate.
First, I would like to refer to the questions that were posed by the delegate of Denmark. He raised the question of there being no targets and no time limits mentioned in this Plan of Action. Certainly we have not done so because we do not think it is possible to lay down global targets in an area such as people's participation. These targets, as the secretariat says, will need to be established by the Member Governments themselves. Again, as many Member Governments have said, this Plan of Action should not be too rigid, too prescriptive. If we were to establish targets, it would be much more prescriptive than it should be. In the view of the Secretariat, target fixing, the setting of the time limits, will all have to be done by the governments themselves taking into account the target groups that they want to involve in the participatory process and the identification of their needs, the resources that are available, and also the methods by which they will try to reach them and involve them in participatory processes.
May I repeat that our role in this process would be that of an advocate and that of a catalyst through information gathering, analysis, examination of analyses, and also helping the Member Governments to create institutions for this purpose.
One important role that we see for FAO in this whole process is the promotion of dialogue between governments, development agencies and the non-governmental organizations. I think some Member Governments referred to this as a very important area where progress needs to be made - dialogue. I think that here we see an important role that we as a development agency can and should play.
The delegate of Denmark also wanted to know of our cooperation in this respect with other UN agencies. I would say that we were cooperating in this field even before the Plan of Action that is before you through the ACC Task Force on Rural Development. In fact, in the ACC Task Force on Rural Development for which FAO is the head agency, there is a special Panel on People's Participation, which is headed by the ILO, in which the participating members of the ACC Task Force participate, including FAO. We also contact and discuss these matters with the Rome-based non-governmental organization groups. In fact, in the preparation of this Plan of Action we had the benefit of receiving their views and incorporating them to the maximum extent possible. Therefore, we were extremely pleased to hear in the statements made by the representatives of the international nongovernmental organizations this afternoon that they find this Plan of Action adoptable and they are supporting it.
The delegate of Denmark also referred to the evaluation of the participatory process. In the ACC Task Force on Rural Development there is a Panel on Monitoring and Evaluation that has established certain guidelines, which have been published, guiding the work of the various UN agencies in this field.
The distinguished delegates of Denmark also asked that whether the promotion of people's participation could be considered as an upstream activity in the new successor arrangements of the UNDP. Here I would say that this is a matter that will need to be clarified with the UNDP and in
consultation with the governments. At this stage it is not possible to give a very clear answer to his question. What is the ultimate goal of FAO in this field? That was the last question raised by the distinguished delegate of Denmark. I repeat that it is to help Member Governments to encourage people's participation, increase the self-help activities and promote participatory development in general through decentralization policies.
The distinguished delegate of Switzerland also referred to the need for a bottom-up approach rather than a top-down approach. In fact, the very idea of this Plan of Action now presented to you is to promote the bottom-up approach. As I said, in the preparation of the plan itself, we have had the benefit of the views of the Rome-based international non-governmental organizations and this has helped us to identify some of the problems that need to be tackled which have been experienced at grass-roots level. I also mention that the meeting of international non-governmental organizations held on 12 November considered that the plan would serve as a useful basis for encouraging NGO participation.
I have replied to the concerns raised by the distinguished delegate of the United States concerning paragraph 64 and also the need for specifying in consultation with the governments the target groups and beneficiaries that would be involved in the participatory process. This will need to be developed, I repeat, in consultation with the Member Governments as the plans for implementation in the field are developed. The distinguished delegate of Turkey referred to paragraph 41(ii) regarding the evaluation systems, and I refer to the answer I gave earlier in reply to the distinguished delegate of Denmark on the ACC Task Force on Rural Development and the panel on monitoring and evaluation. These guidelines have already been published and we would be happy to share them with any delegate who is interested.
The distinguished delegate of Zambia asked how FAO can assist governments in implementing the plan of action. Our role here is to help Member Governments raise internal resources and to assist through our Regular Programme, in addition to acting as an "honest broker" for raising the trust funds in support of participatory activities. We are very grateful to the government of Netherlands, which has been supporting the participatory programmes through FAO and we hope that other donor countries will heed his plea to join Netherlands in providing such assistance to FAO to promote people's participation. The distinguished delegate of China would like to know about follow-up activities, and this has been mentioned by more than one delegate, how we foresee periodic reporting on the progress of the Plan of Action on people's participation. We intend to provide a report on the Plan of Action through the WCARRD reporting to the Conference according to its present schedule. We will have a special section on the implementation of the Plan of Action on people's participation in future WCARRD reports.
The distinguished delegate of Yugoslavia asked for information about the implementation mechanism. This is explained in paragraph 62. What we foresee is that people's participation should be part of the mainstream activities of FAO and therefore what is needed is a focal point to take into account all the activities that are going on, and this will be done through the ESH division and through the machinery of the divisional working group on rural development, under which possibly a sub-group on people's participation could be established, but this is a matter which is still under consideration within FAO.
I think I have replied to most of the questions which have been raised but, if I have missed anything out, I will be very happy to go back to it.
Jorgen Skovgaard NIELSEN (Denmark): With your indulgence, Mr Chairman, I would like to respond to Mr Dutia's answer, which was very exhaustive. I am grateful for that, but my motivation in putting this question was that, even when FAO acts indirectly as a catalyst through sovereign governments, the organization must have some ambitions or targets for the impact it would like to have on this process within a certain time, otherwise evaluation does not make sense. I am confident that the monitoring going on in the ACC Task Force on Rural Development will be able to be carried out on that basis, but that explains the motivation for my questions.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): Thank you, Denmark. Are there any other comments?
P. Natigor SIAGIAN (Indonesia): In my statement I asked whether the language of the Plan of Action is final or not. I would like to make a point on some of the language, Mr Chairman, but I seek your guidance.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic) : This is of course going to be put to our Drafting Committee, so it will be possible to make slight amendments to the language there. Are you satisfied with that response?
P. Natigor SIAGIAN (Indonesia): Yes.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic) : It would appear that no one else wishes to speak. Can I try to summarize then? All Member Nations have given general support to the Action Programme for people's participation. Certain comments have of course been made about this, namely that whilst allowing that governments of Member Nations have the responsibility for taking political decisions and that it is up to governments to do all the necessary political groundwork in order for development to take place, this must be based on people's participation. There has also been general recognition of countries' sovereignty when it comes to the implementation of a plan of action and also when it comes to deciding who is to benefit from this. This of course is going to be done by governments according to their own needs.
The third point I gleaned from the discussion is that external resources allocated for assistance in the implementation of the plan and the main responsibility for it is something which is really up to countries. A number of guidelines have to be laid down, and it is up to governments to mobilize internal resources.
If there are no further comments, we can now conclude our discussion on Item 12.
B.P. DUTIA (Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department): It gives me great pleasure to introduce Agenda Item 13, Plan of Action for Integration of Women into Agricultural and Rural Development: Progress Report. The document on this Item is C 91/14.
As indicated in Section I of the document, this is a follow-up to decisions made at the Twenty-fifth Session of the FAO's Conference in 1989. As the distinguished delegates will recall, at that Session the Conference adopted unanimously the Plan of Action for Integration of Women in Development and also considered the progress that had already been made. The Conference also requested the Secretariat to prepare a second Report on progress in the implementation of the Plan of Action for presentation to this Session, and accordingly this document has been submitted to you for your consideration.
The objective of the Plan of Action is to ensure that, in the Organization's sphere of responsibility, women are accorded equal rights and opportunities to contribute to the agricultural and rural development of their respective societies, recognizing that women still face obstacles to their full participation in agricultural and rural development. The Plan proposes strategies and actions in the civil status, social, economic and decision-making spheres in order to support and enhance women in their roles as producers in agriculture, including fisheries, forestry and animal husbandry.
Mr Chairman, the first Progress Report had identified seven programme priorities and five administrative priorities. For this second Report, which is before you, a new priority on Sustainable Development, Natural Resource Management and Environment is proposed for inclusion together with these original seven priorities. The inclusion of this new priority reflects the fact that the achievement of sustainable agricultural and rural development depends crucially on the active participation of both rural women and men. The second Progress Report discusses the follow-up on these priorities during the 1990-91 biennium.
One of the most intensive sets of activities undertaken during the 1990-91 biennium has been the training in gender analysis of FAO professional staff, in accordance with the First Programme priority of the Plan of Action. The aim of this training is to increase FAO staff awareness of the roles, functions and concerns of rural women in agricultural and rural development in order that these issues be integrated in programme and project planning and implementation. By the end of this year, some 44 training workshops will have taken place with some 750 professional staff at Headquarters and in Regional Offices trained in Gender Analysis.
Section III, paragraphs 15 to 90, summarizes the major activities undertaken by FAO during the current biennium, according to the priorities identified in the Plan of Action. For each of these priorities examples are
given of specific activities undertaken by various technical departments of the Organization. These activities, supported by the Regular Programme and extra-budgetary resources, demonstrate the Organization-wide efforts under way to integrate gender issues in mainstream programme and project activities. They are also an indication of our efforts, in pursuance of the Plan, to act as a catalyst and advocate to encourage and assist Member Governments to address gender issues in agriculture and rural development activities. Based on field experiences, numerous studies on the role of women in agricultural production and development have been prepared by FAO, as indicated in paragraphs 58 to 80. I would also like to add that since the preparation of the document before you, an Inter-Agency Consultation on statistics and data bases was convened by FAO in September 1991 in Rome with the main objective of intensifying coordination between UN agencies in the identification and collection of gender disaggregated data, relating to the population and agricultural sectors.
The inclusion of the new priority of Sustainable Development, Natural Resource Management and Environment, is in recognition of the fact that the achievement of the goal of attaining sustainable agricultural production will require programmes of conservation and development of natural resources in which women play an important role. In this regard, FAO activities are being designed to achieve a better understanding of rural men's and women's interaction with their environment and of their division of labour in the management and use of natural resources. Our activities also recognize that environmental degradation has particularly negative effects on women's daily tasks such as fuel wood gathering, water collection, crop and fish production. In the light of these tasks and constraints, women's needs and contributions need to be included in conservation and resource management programmes.
The follow-up activities of the five administrative priorities, endorsed by the Twenty-fifth Session of the Conference to strengthen FAO's institutional support of the Plan of Action, are outlined in Section IV, paragraphs 91 to 118 of the document. One of the administrative priorities is to increase the number of women professional staff in FAO. Some progress, although limited, has been made in achieving that goal. I would like now to give the latest figures: as of today 209 women professional staff at the Headquarters; that is some 19.3 percent of Headquarter's staff. In the Regions, it is 8.9 percent of the staff in the Regional Offices: that is, women staff. In 1990, the percentage of women consultants rose from 8.8 percent to 10.8 percent. The Organization has a definite policy to increase the percentage of women staff in professional categories and it is making all possible efforts to overcome difficulties found in identifying women candidates in some specialized technical fields.
We recognize that notwithstanding the number of activities undertaken by the Organization, as described in the Second Progress Report, much work lies ahead in the achievement of full and equitable participation of rural women in agricultural and rural development. With the continued cooperation and assistance of all Member Governments, FAO will progressively build upon the work it has initiated in order to reinforce and support the full participation of rural women in the processes and benefits of development. This, in our view, is a social, economic and productive necessity.
Mr Chairman, we look forward to the comments on the Progress Report and guidance by the Conference for future work in this important field.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): Thank you, Mr Dutia, for introducing this agenda item, and for this important information which shows how interested this Organization is in the role of women in FAO.
Sra. Mercedes FERMIN-GOMEZ (Venezuela): Yo debo comenzar por expresar mi complacencia por este extraordinario documento que nos ha presentado la Secretaría. Cuando pensamos en cuánto hemos avanzado desde 1985, en que nos correspondió presentar nuestra primera Resolución para la Conferencia sobre la Integración de la Mujer en el Desarrollo, comprendemos que se ha trabajado bastante, que se ha avanzado mucho en el trabajo de la mujer y que la FAO ha dado creciente importancia en todos estos años a la atención dedicada a la mujer en muchos de los aspectos en que ella estaba completamente al margen de la sociedad, si podemos decirlo asi, especialmente de las actividades económico-sociales.
Debemos estar satisfechos de este progreso, pero no estamos totalmente satisfechos. El mismo documento confiesa que sigue habiendo obstáculos al avance de la mujer hacia sus plenos derechos legales, civiles, sociales; humanos, en una palabra. Tan es asi, que ellos establecen - ya es el documento - prioridades de dos características: prioridades programáticas y prioridades administrativas. Como ustedes lo tienen delante de sí en el documento, yo les ahorro el trabajo de leérselo, pero revela que son realmente obstáculos para que la mujer pueda considerarse verdaderamente incorporada al proceso de desarrollo, aun al proceso de desarrollo rural, y que si nosotros analizamos desapasionadamente y a fondo la necesidad, la verdadera necesidad que tiene la mujer para poder incorporarse a ese proceso de desarrollo, tenemos que llegar a la conclusión de que esencialmente la falla está en la falta de educación de la mujer. La mujer ha recibido de la FAO muchas oportunidades. Se han hecho una serie de actividades que, efectivamente, han tratado de darle importancia en reuniones, organización de cooperativas, invitaciones al trabajo, la participación en una multitud de actividades. Pero es como si todo eso lo estuviera ella mirando desde lejos. A mí se me ocurre que es como si lo estuviera mirando en la televisión: ella lo ve, pero ella no puede participar. Uno no puede hablar con un señor de esos que habla en la televisión; no puede tomar parte; es un extraño.
Entonces, ella no está verdaderamente capacitada para esa incorporación, y es que esa incorporación no se puede hacer de una manera adjetiva; no es por presencia para una invitación a una reunión cualquiera que la mujer puede incorporarse al proceso de desarrollo. La mujer necesita un proceso de educación de ella misma, desde su infancia, su adolescencia, como lo hemos necesitado nosotros. Nosotros hemos necesitado ir a la escuela, recibir desde nuestro hogar una orientación y una educación para poder ser seres humanos conscientes, primero, de los deberes, luego, de las posibilidades de hacer algo bien hecho. Entonces, tenemos que recordar que una de las principales obligaciones que tenemos para esa mujer campesina - que yo, con perdón de los traductores de la FAO, no la llamo mujer rural porque no es mujer rural, es una mujer campesina que vive en el medio rural; lo que es rural es el ambiente donde ella vive, ella no; ella es una mujer campesina que actúa en el medio rural. Entonces, si queremos ayudar a estas mujeres campesinas - o "contadine" si las quieren llamar en italiano - estas mujeres deberían ser atendidas por sus gobiernos - yo no lo estoy pidiendo a la FAO -, por sus gobiernos en prestarle atención a su educación desde su juventud, desde que están en edad de aprender. No vamos
a pedir que nosotros nos declaremos en una campaña de educación de todas las mujeres, no; pero si que a estas generaciones, que están creciendo y que siguen el mismo rumbo de las que ya están en edad adulta, no las dejemos abandonadas para luego darles esa educación cuando son adultas; y mientras tanto ponemos el acento en las profesionales que trabajan en la FAO, y contamos que ya son 214 ó 250, pero esas son ya profesionales. Yo no me opongo a que nos preocupemos de estas colegas profesionales que están haciendo un excelente trabajo en la FAO, pero sí pido para estas mujeres campesinas una atención primordial que va más allá de todas estas prioridades.
Tan es asi que, entre las prioridades programáticas, está la capacitación, pero vamos a darles una capacitación fundamental. No solamente cosas adjetivas para poder participar en las actividades que organiza la FAO.
Por esa razón, elogiamos el proyecto pero podemos decir que no estamos totalmente satisfechas, no con el documento, que es estupendo, sino con el proceso que se ha ido cumpliendo desde 1985 hasta ahora en que, como dije antes, se ha avanzado bastante. Lo que pasa es que a quien se le dan y a quien se le otorgan derechos tiene también el derecho de seguir pidiendo, y eso es lo que estamos haciendo las mujeres en este momento.
Por ello, pienso que esos programas de la mujer en las cooperativas, la mujer en las actividades forestales, la mujer en la pesca, la calidad de vida en el medio rural, esperamos que sean desarrollados en un máximo nivel porque allí la mujer puede aprender muchas cosas, puede aprender muchas técnicas para mejorar sus condiciones de vida económica y social.
Pero al mismo tiempo, esas generaciones que viven en el medio rural, estos niños que ahora están en edad de ir a la escuela, en edad de ir a un nivel de aprendizaje de otra naturaleza, deberían ser también tomados en cuenta para estimularlos a un desarrollo y a una incorporación, a lo que queremos, que es el desarrollo rural. Que las preparemos desde entonces, y no que sencillamente esperemos la semana anterior para convocarlas a un taller para que aprendan allí rápidamente lo que tienen que hacer. Se debe hacer una preparación sistemática de esta nueva generación para que puedan llegar a ser realmente unos seres humanos, con una capacidad más allá de la productividad sola, porque tenemos que pensar en estas mujeres como seres humanos, con derechos humanos, con derecho a disfrutar de algo que va más allá del simple alimento, del descanso y del trabajo, porque eso es también lo que se hacía con los esclavos y lo que se hace con las bestias. Sólo el famoso burro de Buridán, que su amo creyó que iba a poder vivir sin comer, se le murió cuando ya estaba aprendiendo. No queremos que eso pase con las mujeres. Vamos a darles oportunidades para mejorar, para disfrutar algo en la vida, para disfrutar de algo más que de los medios materiales que satisfacen su vida animal, oportunidades que atiendan a su vida espiritual.
Yo no tengo nada que agregar a todos estos programas que considero excelentes, anotados en este documento. Creo que son programas que han sido útiles y que si se siguen practicando serán útiles para incorporar a la mujer al desarrollo. Pero el desarrollo es algo que está fuera de la mujer. Este desarrollo que hacemos aquí, que se llama el aumento de la agricultura, la productividad de la agricultura, la productividad de la pesca, la productividad de las actividades forestales es algo que no es la mujer, y eso es la economía de la Comunidad; eso es la vida de la Comunidad; eso es en fin la vida del trabajo y la vida del dinero,
contabilizando el dinero. Queremos decirle a la mujer que estamos con ella un poco más allá, profundamente, que lo que significa el dinero y la comida, y el trabajo. Estamos con ella como ser humano para vivir diferente, como les gusta vivir a los que ya son educados, como les gusta vivir a los que ya pertenecen a las clases que saben disfrutar de la vida.
A mí se me ocurría que había un programa, y esto lo hago como sugerencia, un programa de intercambio que yo sugeriría, con todo respeto a la Comisión que escribe ésto, porque mi aspiración, mi sueño es que alguna vez la mujer llegue a ser tan interesante como la agricultura, como la pesca, como todos estos sujetos que tienen una Comisión en la FAO. La esperanza mía es que alguna vez la mujer sea un sujeto de estudio, de preocupación, para constituir una Comisión de la FAO que se ocupe de la mujer, en su totalidad; de la mujer en su preocupación y no sencillamente como sujeto de trabajo.
Fíjense que en todos los talleres, en todas las actividades, estamos considerando a la mujer siempre como un instrumento de trabajo. No es por la mujer en sí. Y si no, ustedes ven los títulos, ustedes ven los títulos que dicen: la mujer y el desarrollo forestal; la mujer y la pesca, la mujer y la actividad rural, y la mujer y la producción, y la mujer y tal cosa. Ella nunca es la mujer per se. Ella siempre es un instrumento que trabaja. Así como el automóvil de fulano, como el burro de mengano, como el camión de zutano. Ella no es la mujer porque no se la considera como un ser que por sí misma merece que nos ocupemos de ella. Y cuando menos, es la mujer de fulano cuando más se le da, es la mujer de zutano, la señora de fulano. Por esa razón, pues, nosotros queremos que al lado de estos programas podamos también tener alguna vez un programa para la mujer que pudiera ser para el disfrute de los derechos humanos de que tanto nos ocupamos, por los hombres; que pueda ser también alguna vez ésto. Y yo no quiero pensar que éso no lo va a hacer la FAO, porque la FAO, afortunadamente hasta ahora, ha escuchado siempre lo que le pedimos. Esto quiero decir; el señor Director General que seguramente puede estar escuchando, y si no, que reciba el mensaje, sugeriría pues entonces en beneficio de este contacto de las mujeres, estos programas de intercambio, fundamentalmente para las jóvenes; bien sean las adolescentes o bien sean las jóvenes. Estos programas de intercambio son útiles en ese sentido, porque además de que las jóvenes aprenden, conocen otros grupos humanos, ellas también crecen; es decir, crecen espiritualmente, se desarrollan intelectualmente, conocen otras gentes, aprenden de otros sitios, visitan otras latitudes, conocen otro ámbito geográfico, otro ámbito, otro paisaje. Y éso hace crecer a los seres humanos. Si no, por qué la industria del turismo es tan provechosa y tan prodigiosa, produce dinero. Por éso, porque al ser humano le gusta mirar otras cosas. Le gusta ver, disfrutar de otros ámbitos, de otros paisajes, de otra posibilidad de ver algo nuevo.
Esto podríamos propiciarlo con pequeños programas de intercambio, en los que las jóvenes pudieran visitar otros grupos y participar en unas actividades comunes con ellas. Esto podría ser una de las actividades que en el futuro inmediato, pudieran ser objeto de práctica por las jóvenes, porque las madres ya estarán muy ocupadas en sus hogares, no tienen tiempo para éso.
Entonces podríamos apelar a los programas de intercambio que estimularan las acciones de las mujeres por la observación de otro mundo, de otras actividades, de otra manera de ser, de otros medios culturales, que también
es una manera de aprender. No solamente de aprender a trabajar, sino también aprender a mirar el mundo. Podríamos divulgar de esta manera, actividades y practicar actividades en beneficio de las mujeres mismas, de su hogar.
Nosotros tenemos en Venezuela, por ejemplo, lo voy a dar como un ejemplo, una Organización que ya va a constituirse en una Institución. Se llama Los Hogares de Cuidado Diario. Fue una idea que tuvo la señora del Presidente hace como quince años atrás, en que se le ocurrió que podrían las mujeres ayudar a las mujeres madres que trabajan y que no tenían con quien dejar sus hijos en la casa, porque no podían pagar la escuela, no tenían con que pagar una escuela, un pre-escolar, una maternal. Entonces, ella encontró con estas mujeres a quienes conoce, mujeres trabajadoras, mujeres de los barrios pequeños, barrios pobres, encontró voluntarias que estaban dispuestas a recibir los niños de las vecinas que trabajaban, para pasar con ellas el día y su madre los recogía en la tarde, cuando regresaba del trabajo.
Esto tuvo aceptación en mujeres de otros barrios; y hoy existen en Venezuela numerosos Hogares de Cuidado Diario. Ya pasan de miles entre todo el ámbito del país. Y creo que algunos países vecinos, tengo entendido que la Primera Dama de Colombia vino una vez a Venezuela, le pareció muy interesante, y le pareció que ella podía hacer una práctica de una actividad semejante en su país. Yo creo, pues, que estas cosas que se le ocurren a las mujeres de un país, de un barrio, de un campo, de una pequeña población pueden ser aprendidas o pueden ser conocidas por mujeres de otro ambiente. Y ésto es lo que pienso que se puede lograr con los Programas de Intercambio donde los pequeños grupos de jóvenes de mujeres pueden intercambiarse con un país vecino, con una localidad vecina. Yo no quiero hacer esto a un nivel internacional. Estoy pensando en los campos vecinos del mismo país, y con eso se podría lograr alguna actividad estimulante para la mujer, que no es simplemente aprender a trabajar más para producir, para ganar más dinero, para poder tener más. No, porque esa es la orientación que tienen la mayoría de los programas que se contemplan para la mujer. De la misma manera que se me ocurre ésto, es posible que haya otras actividades de índole cultural que pueden ser perfectamente cultivadas por las mujeres de un pueblo, que uno no conoce y que si uno va de visita lo descubre.
Con esto quiero decir, porque yo voy a terminar para no hacerme fastidiosa, que todo lo que está en este Programa cuenta con mi apoyo, de todo corazón, porque considero que ha sido un trabajo estupendo; que hemos progresado desde 1985 a esta parte. Creo que todavía está un poco lejano el sueño mío de que la FAO pueda alguna vez constituir una Comisión que se ocupe concretamente de la mujer. En eso vamos a merecer menos que los peces porque todavía tenemos una Comisión de Pesca, y tenemos una Comisión de muchas otras cosas que son menos importantes que la mujer para mí. Pero bueno, hay que esperar; no tenemos que desesperar. Pero yo sí quisiera ir pensando, después de leer este documento en que me impresionó la actividad que tiene la Organización de la FAO en América Latina, los contactos que están logrando, no quisiera irme de esta reunión sin la esperanza de que la FAO en el próximo futuro pudiera pensar en convocar, por lo menos para América Latina, una reunión de mujeres de los países vecinos, que tengan la oportunidad de conocerse, de mirar y examinar las realidades de sus países. Y probablemente desde este contacto de las mujeres, yo solamente pienso por ahora en las de América Latina, por este contacto pudieran ellas
estimularse para soñar juntas, para pensar en nuevos proyectos, para estimular sus actividades como mujeres, como seres humanos, y no simplemente como instrumentos de trabajo.
Me excusa el Sr. Dutia, porque me tomé demasiado tiempo, y el Presidente. Pero hasta aqui queria llegar, y ojalá que estas palabras no caigan en el vacío. Que asi como esa primera Resolución que en 1985 con mucha timidez, pero con mucha esperanza, yo presenté a aquella Conferencia, pudiera ésta en no lejano tiempo ver también llevarse a una realización.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): I thank Her Excellency, the Ambassador of Venezuela, and I am quite confident that the situation of women and the status of women will always be guaranteed because you have always fought for the rights of those men and women.
Sra. María Eulalia JIMENEZ (El Salvador): Agradecemos en primer lugar este segundo Informe sobre la Aplicación del Plan de Acción para la Integración de la Mujer al Desarrollo, ratificado por esta Conferencia en su anterior período de sesiones. El Informe es muy completo y su presentación ha sido excelente. Creemos que abarca los diferentes aspectos del Plan en forma muy adecuada. En mi país, El Salvador, estamos trabajando intensamente en la incorporación de la mujer en el proceso económico.
Para 1990, la población total de El Salvador ascendió a 5,2 millones de habitantes, de los cuales 5,3 corresponden a la población femenina. Además de esta población total, el 51 por ciento reside en el área rural. La inmigración y los desplazamientos internos causados por la difícil situación que ha vivido El Salvador en los últimos años, han afectado particularmente a la mujer. Una cuarta parte de los hogares rurales están encabezados permanentemente o de facto por mujeres. En algunas zonas, se sobrepasa este porcentaje.
El 50 por ciento de las mujeres rurales salvadoreñas se encuentra entre la edad de 21 a 40 años. Comienzan a tener hijos a edades tempranas, alcanzando un promedio global de cinco hijos por mujer.
La situación de pobreza implica una participación cada vez mayor de la mujer en la búsqueda de ingresos para su mantenimiento y el de su familia, principalmente cuando debe asumir la jefatura de su hogar.
Pero no ahondaré sobre la situación en que se encuentra la mujer rural en mi país, ya que es muy similar al cuadro que observamos en muchos otros países en desarrollo. Para contrarrestar la profunda crisis económica y revertir la tendencia de los indicadores económicos, el Gobierno de El Salvador se ha comprometido a cambiar la estrategia de desarrollo, y a impulsar un nuevo modelo sustentado sobre los principios y postulados de una economía social de mercado y la realidad misma del país.
El nuevo modelo de desarrollo está plasmado en el Plan de Desarrollo Económico y Social 1989-94. Este Plan en su estrategia económica y en su estrategia social, persigue fundamentalmente crear las condiciones para alcanzar un crecimiento robusto y sostenido, y elevar el bienestar y calidad de vida de toda la población, especialmente la que vive en extrema pobreza. La versión preliminar del Plan de Recuperación Económica y Social
Nacional ha sido aprobada en septiembre de este año por mi Gobierno, como instrumento a utilizar una vez alcanzada la paz, que esperamos sea al plazo más breve posible.
Existe a nivel de instituciones del Estado, una creciente preocupación por dirigir su acción hacia la mujer rural. Lamentablemente no se tiene un marco de políticas que permita una acción coherente y decidida. La creación en octubre de 1989 de la Secretaría Nacional de la Familia, adscrita a la Presidencia de la República, ha sido un elemento importante en el propósito de alcanzar objetivos que promuevan un cambio en la situación de la mujer, especialmente en el logro de cambios en la legislación que excluye o discrimina a la mujer, así como su incorporación plena a actividades económicas del país.
La FAO nos ha ayudado en esta labor. En 1987/89 desarrolló un Proyecto sobre incorporación de la mujer campesina al desarrollo de pequeños proyectos productivos, y entre 1989/90 nos proporcionó asistencia técnica para la mujer rural. Tenemos también en estudio un Proyecto intitulado Promoción para el Acceso de la Mujer a los Servicios de Extensión Rural.
En el párrafo 37 del documento C 91/14 se indica que la Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe celebraría tres Talleres Subregionales en 1991 sobre el Plan de Acción con el objetivo de identificar las necesidades de ayuda técnica y los mecanismos para su aplicación en el plano nacional y subregional.
Estos talleres se llevaron a cabo en mi país, El Salvador, en septiembre de este año con la participación de 28 de los 33 países que forman la región. Los tres Talleres Subregionales encontraron una serie de ideas programáticas prioritarias para la cooperación técnica a saber; capacitación y capacidad regional; información y datos estadísticos; legislación; organización de mujeres rurales; proyectos productivos y acceso a recursos con énfasis en la tecnología. En una Mesa Redonda que siguió los trabajos de los tres talleres, fue constituida la Red de Cooperación Técnica de Apoyo a las Mujeres Rurales para toda la Región de América Latina y el Caribe, pero con coordinadores subregionales. Los temas prioritarios en los que trabajará esta red son los que indiqué hace poco, como áreas programáticas prioritarias identificadas por los tres Talleres. Esta red representa para nuestra región un elemento fundamental para la efectiva incorporación de las mujeres rurales en el proceso económico de nuestros países.
La delegación de El Salvador desea aprovechar esta ocasión para agradecer a la FAO, a la Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe, y al Servicio para la Promoción de la Mujer en la Producción Agrícola y el Desarrollo Rural, por la realización de este evento, y fundamentalmente por esta importante iniciativa de la red; y solicitamos que se dé el apoyo financiero adecuado a fin de que la red establecida pueda funcionar eficientemente a la mayor brevedad. El objetivo de la misma, la mujer del mundo rural, lo merece.
Queremos compartir, por otra parte, lo expresado en el párrafo 38 del documento en estudio a efecto de que se continúe a dar hincapié a la integración de las mujeres como participantes y beneficiarias de los proyectos generales.
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Para concluir, encontramos interesante la propuesta que ha hecho hace un momento la Dra. Fermín de Venezuela sobre los Programas de Intercambio de Mujeres Jóvenes. Creemos que esta idea podría ser propiciada por la FAO ya que podría dar resultados positivos.
Sra. Graziella DUBRA (Uruguay): Antes que nada, quiero agradecer al Sr. Dutia por la presentación del excelente y detallado informe contenido en el documento C 91/14, al que apoyamos plenamente.
Señor Presidente, cuando en 1967 se adoptó por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas la Declaración sobre la eliminación de la discriminación contra la mujer, era evidente que si bien esta declaración era un primer paso, no tenía la fuerza jurídica vinculante necesaria para darle obligatoriedad respecto de aquellos estados que apoyaron dicha Declaración.
Por ello, y luego, diría, de muchas batallas verbales, muchas negociaciones, muchas sesiones nocturnas, en las cuales tuve el honor de participar, 12 años después se logró reiterar en un instrumento internacional, es decir, en la Convención sobre la eliminación de la discriminación de la mujer, la preocupación de la situación de la mujer, en las esferas jurídicas, culturales, laborales, sociales, económicas y políticas, figurando en su Artículo XIV nada menos que diez párrafos señor Presidente, diez párrafos dedicados a la mujer en las zonas rurales, a fin de asegurar a esta mujer, en condiciones de igualdad entre hombres y mujeres, su participación en el desarrollo rural y en sus beneficios.
Creemos, señor Presidente, que a nivel del sector rural al tema no se le ha dado una adecuada importancia política, económica social o educacional, ya que lamentablemente las instituciones no han desarrollado suficientemente el trabajo de promoción para la solución de la problemática de la mujer en iodo la zone rural. En tal sentido, el Gobierno de mi país para el período 1990-1995, estableció que una de las preocupaciones prioritarias en el campo de las políticas sociales, lo constituye la mujer como protagonista activa de la sociedad, en tanto ésta se ve afectada por una real y evidente discriminación en su vida privada, en el trabajo y en el marco de la vida comunitaria.
Por estas razones, mi Gobierno ha reiterado su especial preocupación respecto de la mujer rural y dentro de las actividades del Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca, se ha promovido la inclusión de la situación de la mujer rural.
Para lograr un buen conocimiento de la real situación por la que atraviesa la mujer rural, consideramos importante entre otras cosas: Primero, disponer de la mayor cantidad de información y estudios de tal forma de mantener actualizada la situación de la mujer rural y sus condiciones de vida dentro del espectro nacional y de cada región, teniendo en cuenta sus respectivas actividades productivas.
Segundo, determinar líneas de acción a tomar en las áreas productivas, de servicios sociales y culturales, en función del desarrollo de la mujer en la zona rural y de la mujer en el desarrollo.
Tercero, crear o fortalecer un organismo nacional que asuma el liderazgo en las actividades de la mujer en la zona rural y al desarrollo.
Cuarto, establecer un mecanismo financiero que contribuya a facilitar los recursos que demanden las actividades productivas, comerciales y de servicios a desarrollar por la mujer.
Quinto, una difusión más amplia del papel de las organizaciones no gubernamentales y la importancia de los programas que despliegan.
Como lo dije anteriormente, señor Presidente, nos adherimos integramente al Informe del Consejo contenido en el documento C 91/14 sobre la Aplicación del Plan de Acción para la Integración de la Mujer al Desarrollo, en especial su Parte III "Examen de las medidas sustantivas adoptadas en cumplimiento del Plan y de las recomendaciones del Consejo", donde en su Punto A se ocupa del Programa de Capacitación del Personal de la FAO en relación con la mujer en el desarrollo y esperamos que en los próximos años ese 19 por ciento, que mencionó el Sr. Dutia, sea incrementado. Y en su Punto B, presenta siete puntos básicos relativos a la integración de la mujer al desarrollo.
Nuestro objetivo general, señor Presidente, debe apuntar al logro de una mayor y efectiva participación de la mujer en el desarrollo en todos sus aspectos, como una forma eficaz para su inserción en todo el proceso económico, social y cultural. Está en manos de la Comunidad Internacional continuar apoyando el plan de Acción y asi hacer realidad las metas que nos hemos fijado.
Sra. Concha Marina RAMIREZ DE LOPEZ (Honduras): Felicitamos a la Secretaría en vista de los avances de que se acaba de informar en los sectores prioritarios del Plan de Acción para la Integración de la Mujer en el Desarrollo, desde su aprobación por la Conferencia en 1989.
Encontramos en el documento una amplia gama de intervenciones esbozadas, que reflejan una sensibilidad creciente hacia los numerosos problemas que impiden la plena participación de las mujeres en los procesos de desarrollo social y económico.
En Honduras, las mujeres ya son beneficiarias del proceso de Reforma Agraria. El 18 de octubre del presente año el Congreso Nacional aprobó una reforma a la Ley de Reforma Agraria. Uno de los argumentos expuestos en la Ley es que la mujer, ante el Proceso de Reforma Agraria, ha sido prácticamente discriminada en su conceptualización de beneficiaria en la aplicación de la misma, lo que la obliga a recurrir a mecanismos precarios para conseguir tierra y desarrollar sus actividades productivas. La Reforma aprobada, es precisamente en el Articulo 79, el que dice: "ser hondureño por nacimiento, varón o mujer, mayor de 16 años, si son solteros; de cualquier edad, si son casados o tengan unión de hecho con o sin familia a su cargo y en estos casos el titulo de propiedad sobre el predio, se extenderá a nombre de la pareja". En el Articulo 84 dice: "cuando falleciera el adjudicatario o adjudicataria de un predio o se volviere absolutamente incapaz, tendrá derecho preferentemente al mismo el conyuge, compañero o compañera sobreviviente o capaz y en su defecto, alguno de los hijos que reúna los requisitos establecidos en el Articulo 79 de esta Ley".
Los esfuerzos iniciales de la Década de las Naciones Unidas para el Avance de la Mujer, se centraron en resaltar la importante contribución de las mujeres en los procesos de desarrollo y hacer visible su posición
desventajosa en muchas sociedades. En la actualidad, el análisis de género pone énfasis en las actividades y responsabilidades a cargo, tanto de las mujeres como de los hombres y en el impacto diferencial que pueden tener sobre cada uno de ellos las políticas, programas y proyectos de desarrollo.
Durante el mes de septiembre del presente año, bajo la responsabilidad de un equipo técnico de la FAO, se llevó a cabo en Honduras el "Taller sobre la aplicación de un marco de análisis de género" para optimizar las políticas, programas y acciones de desarrollo". La evaluación por el Gobierno fue excelente, ya que se logró sensibilizar al personal vinculado con la ejecución de programas y proyectos sobre los temas de la Mujer en el Desarrollo. Se ha logrado introducir el análisis de género en los procesos de formulación y planificación de políticas, programas y proyectos, y los participantes desarrollaron sus capacidades para integrar los temas de género en el diseño, implementación, monitoreo y evaluación de las actividades institucionales.
Conforme al párrafo mencionado, 50, en Honduras durante esta segunda fase de este Programa se están capacitando 460 promotoras campesinas y 215 extensionistas; además, se está dando asistencia técnica a 200 grupos de mujeres campesinas que ejecutan pequeños proyectos sociales y productivos. Y se están sentando las bases para la generación de un sistema de información, sobre la disponibilidad de recursos humanos y meteriales que puedan fluir hacia las mujeres campesinas que ejecutan pequeños proyectos productivos y sociales.
Mi delegación, señor Presidente, desea continuar solicitando la colaboración de la FAO en la formulación y ejecución de políticas y programas agrícolas y forestales con perspectiva de género y capacidad institucional. También el apoyo a las organizaciones de mujeres, a través de la capacitación, en las áreas de producción, comercialización y manejo organizativo.
Consideramos de gran importancia y apoyamos a la Red de Cooperación Técnica de Institución de Apoyo a la Mujer Rural, ratificando Honduras la coordinación subregional para Mesoamérica. Nos preocupa, el reducido monto de recursos que se pone a disposición de ésto y solicitamos el incremento de fuentes extrapresupuestarias para un papel destacado con fuerza y eficiencia a los problemas que se presentarán en los años 90 y más adelante.
Desearía por lo tanto, señor Presidente, apoyar la declaración hecha por la delegada de El Salvador. Lo mismo mi delegación aprecia la idea de los programas de intercambio expuestos por la distinguida delegada de Venezuela, que también les da su apoyo.
Art WRIGHT (Canada): We have a very interesting and important document before us and I would certainly like to commend the Secretariat and Mr Dutia for its preparation and introduction. It is indeed clear that much has been achieved, and it is appropriate that we give recognition to the FAO for the work that it has done. Canada has been a long-standing advocate within FAO of the integration of women in agricultural and rural development. We would like to explain that we place emphasis on gender equity and the need for integrating women into the development process in all of our interventions in UN institutions not because this is a standard
paragraph; not because it is simply an ethical argument, though that point could be made; not because it is a matter of social justice, though that indeed is perfectly valid; and not because of women's particular role in social development, although that is very important. The reason for our emphasis is simply that we believe very sincerely that pragmatism, development effectiveness and efficiency demand that half the population not be excluded from the decision-making process and from activities which directly affect them. This applies increasingly to the allocation of financial resources for development, which of course have a direct impact on economic and socially sustainable development.
We have consulted with some of the other delegations and we wish to associate ourselves in advance with the comments that will be made by the Nordic delegations and which have been made already by delegations who have previously spoken on the need for training and skills development, on access to education, jobs and income. We commend the Secretariat for the activities undertaken to date but we believe, as has been mentioned, that more is required. We would, however, particularly like to commend the Director-General for maintaining the level of resources allocated to WID despite the tight financial situation. This is a clear signal of the continuing high priority and importance that Member Nations attach to the Plan of Action for the integration of Women in Development.
Given the progress that has been made we believe that the next logical step is for FAO to consolidate its systems in a way which will guarantee the integration of women into all the activities of the Organization. When we reach the point at which WID issues are no longer perceived as added on to other considerations but are fully and automatically considered in all aspects of FAO's work, then we will be able to say we have fully integrated WID issues into the values of the Organization. As an aside, I can promise you that Canada will continue to urge progress in this direction while commending the Organization as it is achieved.
If we examine the WID Plan of Action presented by FAO according to the criteria suggested in the OEC/DAC/WID assessment proposal, we see much more can be done at the organizational, administrative and operational levels. Within our own Canadian International Development Agency our experience indicates that we need to operate in a systematic fashion in all programmes and activities. We have within CIDA, our development agency, a WID steering committee, which gives strategic guidance to the agency and to our WID Directorate. We note the reference in paragraph 107 of the interdepartmental working group on WID and would appreciate clarification from the Secretariat on the membership, role and mandate of this group. Does it comprise a committee at the senior level which governs the process of integrating WID into all aspects of the activities of FAO? Paragraph 38 says gender concerns are being addressed in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects but the report does not identify or discuss what specific mechanisms or tools are used to do this. Perhaps the Secretariat could comment on how this is being done. Is it part of the project-by-project approach or part of a comprehensive FAO strategy?
Paragraphs 63, 69 and 95 refer to the need for various type of WID guidelines and manuals, including integration of WID concerns, into manuals already in general use. Such tools are critical for technical staff in implementing WID throughout the project cycle. At the same time, the inclusion of these issues in manuals is not sufficient unless it is also
included in the attitudes and work habits of the individuals who are using those manuals. Once again, we would be interested in additional clarification on progress being made in this regard.
Within our development programme we have found it essential to screen all projects during the design stage to ensure the full participation of women in the development process and to judge the potential impact of projects, negative and positive upon women. My delegation would be interested in knowing if such a mechanism exists within FAO. We have been pleased to work with FAO in its WID activities through funding of several well-qualified Associate Professional Officers, located both in Rome and in the field, by the provision of a data base of Canadian WID specialist consultants and by cooperating with FAO in its gender sensitization efforts. Several member countries, including Canada, have pertinent and valuable experience in systematically institutionalizing WID concerns throughout their programmes and activities. We urge FAO to tap further into this expertise, which exists not only in developed countries but very much in developing countries too. I can assure you, Mr Chairman, that Canada would like to continue to work with FAO in this regard.
Canada notes the comments of Mr Dutia at the beginning of this session when he introduced this item concerning the standards of women in the professional and technical ranks of the FAO itself, and we recognize that there is progress being made and that the numbers are moving in the right direction. We would however express some regret that the numbers have not risen further, particularly in the professional, managerial and technical ranks. Additional efforts to recruit qualified women would strengthen FAO's own effectiveness and make better use of the skills of women, particularly those from developing countries. We are aware that the legacy which has generally favoured the education of males and which seems to be prevalent universally has rendered the pool of qualified women smaller than that for men. Access to improved educational opportunities is indeed changing this ratio. The numbers of qualified women are growing substantially and Canada strongly urges the Secretariat to make special efforts during the next biennium to recruit more women into the professional, technical and managerial level of the Organization. We associate ourselves with the views and proposals that other countries are putting forward in this regard.
My delegation believes that the practice of reviewing the application of WID criteria in the technical committees, while somewhat uneven in its quality and approach, has been extremely useful. Perhaps now the time has come to "mainstream" these activities and to ensure that all of the documentation submitted to the technical committees takes this into account before the committees actually examine that documentation. We urge the Secretariat to further strengthen its efforts to include WID considerations in all aspects of the Organization's work and reflect this in its publications.
I apologize, particularly in the light of your comments, Mr Chairman, for the length of these remarks and, where I have been critical, I have done so in an attempt to stimulate further action, but I am pleased that I have also been able to be complimentary, because much progress has been made and we know that further efforts are under way. Canada will continue its strong support for the FAO Plan of Action for the integration of Women in Development. We congratulate the Director-General for the commitment he has demonstrated to integrating women in development issues and concerns and we
commend the Secretariat for the progress achieved. We urge the Organization to move to the next stage now, which is to systemize its approach throughout the programmes and activities of FAO, and we look forward to reviewing the third progress report on the integration of WID at the 27th FAO Conference.
CHAIRMAN (Original language Arabic): Thank you very much, Canada. Canada has referred to the need to recruit more women within the Organization. We do not want there to be discrimination here because what we have to look at m recruitment is competence and not sex.
Sra. Mayra IVANKOVICH ANZOLA (Panamá): Muchas gracias, señor Presidente. Le agradezco la oportunidad que me brinda de poder hacer algunas consideraciones en este importante tema, el segundo informe sobre la aplicación del Plan de Acción para la Integración de la Mujer en el Desarrollo; dos son los motivos: el primero, la importancia del tema en si mismo y el segundo, debido a que me toca ser el portavoz de las mujeres del campo de mi pais, en este valioso foro internacional que sigue con preocupación los problemas que confronta la mujer para su integración socioeconómica y jurídica en la actividad productiva en la sociedad, tal como se expresa en el párrafo 7 del documento que examinamos.
Deseo felicitar nuevamente al Sr. Dutia por la clara y precisa presentación del documento, que es un análisis serio y profundo del camino que nos queda aún por recorrer en este campo, donde se requieren cambios en las estructuras para que una verdadera integración sea posible. Mi delegación considera que dentro de las prioridades establecidas, la inclusión del desarrollo sostenible, gestión de recursos naturales y medio ambiente, complementan el campo de acción para la integración de la mujer en el desarrollo. Paralelamente se establecen las prioridades administrativas que refuerzan el apoyo institucional de la FAO al Plan de Acción.
Consideramos, señor Presidente, que los esfuerzos de la FAO para que su personal pueda aplicar el Plan de Acción a través del conocimiento del mismo, representa un elemento importante, que reforzado con la asignación de recursos financieros destinados a proyectos y actividades de la mujer en el desarrollo, pueden dar un efecto positivo en un futuro cercano.
Con relación a la capacitación técnica de la mujer, apoyamos los programas patrocinados por la Oficina Regional de América Latina y consideramos de gran importancia el sostén dado a los gobiernos en el marco del Programa FAO/Italia de capacitación en planificación, políticas y proyectos de desarrollo agrícola y rural para América Latina y el Caribe.
Deseo resaltar, además, el éxito de los Talleres Subregionales sobre la ejecución del Plan de Acción para la integración de la mujer en el desarrollo que se han llevado a cabo en nuestra región. Los talleres agruparon a todos los países de la región. De ellos surgieron recomendaciones concretas para trabajar con estrategias nacionales y subregionales en favor de las mujeres rurales. Mi delegación estima conveniente resaltar que como resultado de los mismos se ponen de manifiesto algunos importantes aspectos comunes a la región, y que estamos seguros caracterizan a gran parte del mundo en desarrollo.
Es por ello que expresamos nuestra preocupación por la apremiante necesidad de contar con datos estadísticos suficientes y adecuados para poder evaluar y mejorar la aplicación del Plan de Acción.
Destacamos asimismo, al referirnos a estos aspectos, la siempre mayor responsabilidad de las mujeres en la conducción de las labores agrícolas en nuestros países, debido a factores tales como la migración masculina, el creciente empobrecimiento de las comunidades campesinas, etcétera. Esto trae como consecuencia que las mujeres deban asumir el control de los hogares rurales e intervenir en amplios sectores de la producción rural aún cuando las políticas macroeconómicas y sociales, con excepción de algunos países, no conceden particular atención a la situación de la mujer rural. En nuestro concepto deben buscarse soluciones válidas a la falta de políticas específicas para la mujer en los países en desarrollo. En efecto, aun cuando en muchos países en desarrollo se evidencian algunos progresos, en la mayoría los servicios y programas básicos como los de extensión agrícola, distribución de tierras y crédito, por citar sólo algunos, no benefician aún a las mujeres en su función de productoras rurales.
Estas razones nos llevan a insistir en que deben realizarse todos los esfuerzos para lograr el necesario sostén a la promoción y a proyectos de apoyo de las organizaciones de mujeres en el área rural. En el marco de las acciones realizadas se celebró en El Salvador una Mesa Redonda para constituir la Red de Cooperación Técnica de Apoyo a las mujeres rurales de América Latina. Como conclusión de la misma se acordó constituir la Red Regional Latinoamericana y del Caribe. Confiamos, señor Presidente, que la FAO pondrá a disposición de la institución coordinadora de la red, los recursos necesarios para llevar adelante esta importante actividad cuya población objeto es un sujeto social: las mujeres en el mundo rural.
Compartimos plenamente el párrafo 81 del documento que se refiere a la educación demográfica en las esferas técnicas clave que afectan a la mujer y al desarrollo rural. Para fines de la planificación y seguimiento existe la necesidad de reunir mayor información sobre las relaciones entre la mujer y los factores demográficos en el desarrollo agrícola.
Para mi delegación, la Resolución 7/89 de la pasada Conferencia todavía tiene vigencia. Por ello, pedimos al Director General que continúe menteniendo el nivel de los recursos asignados para el subprograma sobre la mujer en el desarrollo dentro del Programa Ordinario.
Esperamos asimismo que se continúen los esfuerzos para integrar a la mujer en todos los aspectos del Programa Ordinario y las actividades de campo de la FAO.
Lamentamos que en el sector administrativo, el aumento del acceso de la mujer a puestos profesionales de la Organización sea lento, como lo refleja el párrafo 103 del documento.
Esperamos que los obstáculos que se mencionan en el párrafo 105 se puedan superar con la ayuda de los Estados Miembros.
Para finalizar, deseo manifestar que para Panamá, las áreas programáticas del Plan de Acción son de especial interés. Entre ellas puedo señalar: la capacitación y el análisis de la problemática de la mujer; la concientización de dirigentes; la revisión y ajuste de las estadísticas; la
sistematización de la información sobre mujeres rurales, asi como también la adecuación de las normas jurídicas y la divulgación de la legislación a las mujeres del campo, y es en este sentido que continuaremos trabajando para eliminar las condiciones de marginalidad de la mujer y para poder combatir sus causas.
Sra. Olga Clemencia FERNANDEZ (Colombia): Queremos agradecer al Dr. Dutia por su introducción a este Tema 13. Los representantes de Colombia hemos participado intensamente en las actividades que condujeron a la aprobación de este Plan de Acción en la Conferencia de hace dos años.
Pensamos que siguen teniendo vigencia las tres funciones básicas de la FAO con respecto a la mujer en el desarrollo.
Entre estas tres funciones básicas - citadas en el párrafo 1 de este documento - creemos que ahora adquiere mayor prioridad la primera: la evaluación y el seguimiento general de la situación y de las necesidades de la mujer en el desarrollo, porque el próximo bienio será el segundo y penúltimo de este Plan concebido a Plazo Medio, para los años 1989-95, de manera que al llegar a la mitad del periodo establecido, será necesario evaluar los resultados y revisar las bases del Plan para acometer nuevas actividades que intensifiquen nuestros comunes esfuerzos para la mayor y más efectiva integración de la mujer en el desarrollo rural.
Tenemos la impresión de que este documento se refiere muy poco a otro aspecto muy importante destacado por la Conferencia al aprobar el Plan: la importancia de la capacitación de funcionarios y cómo se puede transferir a los paises, fomentar la productividad agricola de la mujer, su capacidad de producción de ingresos y estimular, por todos los medios, la más efectiva contribución de la mujer al mejoramiento de la agricultura y el desarrollo rural.
En cuanto a la solicitud que en la Resolución 7/89 se hacia a los Estados Miembros de que hicieran esfuerzos para aplicar el Plan de Acción, el Gobierno de Colombia ha reorientado cada vez su politica en favor de la reivindicación de los derechos y de las justas aspiraciones de las mujeres rurales.
El Gobierno colombiano está haciendo notables esfuerzos por la vinculación, cada vez más efectiva, de la mujer al proceso de desarrollo social y económico.
Hemos adoptado disposiciones para que la mujer tenga amplio acceso al crédito, a la tierra, a los servicios sociales y humanitarios básicos, a las nuevas tecnologías, a la extensión y capacitación que consideramos esenciales, a fin de que la mujer adquiera las condiciones necesarias para hacer uso de esas facilidades a su propio nombre.
En el párrafo 28 consta que Colombia está entre los paises que han recibido asistencia de la FAO en un aspecto que interesa mucho a las condiciones higiénicas y de la vida de nuestra población, en las cuales la función de la mujer es sobresaliente.
Hacemos propicia esta oportunidad para reconocer y agradecer, en nombre del Gobierno de Colombia, la forma atenta e inmediata como la Organización ha venido atendiendo nuestras solicitudes en todo lo relacionado con la aplicación del Plan.
Este documento reconoce - particularmente en el párrafo 103 - que poco se ha hecho por aumentar el acceso de las mujeres a puestos profesionales de todos los niveles dentro de la Organización.
Podríamos acaso mejorar la propuesta: ¿antes de finalizar 1993 tendremos una mujer Subdirector General en la FAO?
La FAO está muy lejos de alcanzar el promedio del 35 por ciento del objetivo de las Naciones Unidas. El aumento de mujeres profesionales en el bienio que va a concluir se ha limitado al solo 0,4 por ciento.
En el personal de campo, actividades que las mujeres pueden desempeñar con tanta competencia por el conocimiento de las gentes, las condiciones de vida y costumbres de los países, la participación de las mujeres se mantuvo estancada en un mínimo del 3,4 por ciento.
El párrafo 104 indica que en cuanto a mujeres consultores, la situación tampoco es muy favorable.
Apoyamos lo dicho por la Representante de Venezuela, en cuanto a que convendrá que en el informe sobre este tema, la Conferencia reitere su recomendación a los gobiernos, en el sentido de que presenten candidatas mujeres, de todos los niveles profesionales, pero sobre todo altamente calificadas, para tratar de ir modificando ese estado insatisfactorio actual.
Finalmente, los representantes de Colombia consideramos importante que, como dice el párrafo 118, la FAO colabore con otras organizaciones del sistema de Naciones Unidas y fuera de éste y con las Organizaciones No Gubernamentales en el empeño de activar la integración de la mujer al desarrollo rural, ya que la función de la mujer, en muchos casos, puede ser útil más allá de los propios campos especializados de la FAO, así como lo ha pronunciado la delegación de Canadá. Queremos también apoyar lo ya mencionado por las delegaciones de El Salvador y de Panamá sobre el párrafo 37, en cuanto a los talleres de trabajo que se han llevado a efecto en nuestra región de Latinoamérica, lo mismo que la importancia de continuar la red que ya ha explicado la delegación de Panamá.
S. NAJMUS-SAQIB (Pakistan): The Pakistan delegation would like to compliment the Secretariat for producing Document C 91/22 which embodies a comprehensive Plan of Action for the Integration of Women in Agriculture and Rural Development.
May we submit, at the outset, that the implementation of the Plan and the extent of its development, as envisaged, would vary from country to country, in view of each country's socio-religious, cultural and historical experiences, including the prevalent setup. Of necessity, this entails a flexible and a country-to-country or a region-to-region approach. As indicated, the prevalent milieu would determine responses to the implementation of the said Programme.
It may be added here that customs and traditions of a certain country or, of peoples have to be seen in perspective. May we submit that with this background, value judgements are rather irrelevant. Progress cannot be and should not be gauged by counting the number of women in one or the other setup. Most customs and traditions of the developing countries do not hamper the so-called development process. Attitudinal levels, customs, traditions and the roles determined for women in the Western societies may not find acceptance in other countries and in particular in most Muslim countries like Pakistan. Accordingly, the said Progress of Women in development has to be seen in this perspective.
In most developing countries, women are actively involved in agricultural activities, and in other developmental activities to a lesser extent. Their respective roles may vary, however. Out of economic necessity, women have to participate in agricultural and other activities in developing countries.
We join the FAO in recognizing women's special needs, ensuring them a proper place in society. Here, we should like to go a step further. We feel that women should be ensured a respectable place in society along with a proper place in developmental activities. We also concede the contention that the Plan of Action is directly related to the interest and commitment of respective governments. It is stated that education has rightly been identified as a priority area in women's development.
It may be indicated here that Pakistan, being an Islamic state, is committed to safeguard the rights of women as enshrined in the Islamic Law. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is accordingly based on Islamic tenets: Article 25 lays-down "equal rights for women", while Article 34 guarantees "full participation of women in the national life," and the like.
Women in Pakistan are active in the agricultural scene, and also in the rural sector. They contribute significantly to the household incomes and to the economy. Besides others, there are four major areas where Pakistani women make a significant contribution: crop production, livestock production, cottage industry, and food production including household activities. Above all, of particular mention is the role of the Pakistani woman as a wife, a mother, a sister and a daughter, and her role in community women's affairs where, at the village level, she is actively involved.
Out of a total female labour force, 75.2 percent is actively engaged in agriculture and related activities. As mentioned in earlier discussions, overseas migration from some of the areas of the country results in a shortage of male labour force during peak agricultural seasons. However, the intensity has not been acute because of the active participation of Pakistani women in the agricultural sector.
However, the interesting part is that these women farmers and actual contributors do not get a chance to be represented at the national or other forums. This however, does not bother them as they are involved and remain busy in their daily agricultural chores and do not have time for such nonproductive affairs. Unfortunately, those who claim to represent them are women who live in the city, are highly westernized and totally ignorant of the conditions and problems of the women in the villages. A word about
ownership and credit: Ownership rights are guaranteed to women in Pakistan., Women have free access to land and credit. To facilitate the process further, the first exclusive women's bank has also been established. It may be mentioned that a separate Ministry for Women's Development makes continuous efforts to formulate plans and policies to assist women improve their conditions further.
In conclusion, we state with satisfaction that Pakistan is fully pursuing policies and plans for the integration of women in rural and sustainable agricultural development.
The meeting rose at 20.15 hours.
La séance est levée à 20 h 15
Se levanta la sesión a las 20.15 horas.
