CHAIRMAN: I call the meeting of the Commission for this afternoon to order. Our distinguished Chairman has asked me to chair the meeting this afternoon. The introduction is going to be done by Ms Killingsworth, who is the Director, Office for Inter-Agency Affairs.
Ms K. KILLINGSWORTH (Director, Office for Inter-Agency Affairs): Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, Relations and Consultations with International Organizations is a standing item on the Conference Agenda, as you know. Its purpose is to keep Member Nations abreast of developments in FAO’s relations with other organizations both within the UN system and outside it. As you have said earlier, the Secretariat has submitted to you document C 91/9, which covers recent developments in the UN system, and C 91/9-Sup.l, which reports on relations with IGOs and INGOs.
I would like to say a few words first about the document dealing with the UN system. We are seeing an increasing focus in UN fora on what we might call cross-cutting issues, which by their nature involve various if not all the agencies and programmes in the system. In addressing these issues, the Organization is working with many others, and in our reporting to the Conference under specific items of the Agenda we are also covering the question of cooperation within the system on those issues. You will have already noted also in considering the Medium-Term Plan last week the wide range and expected development of this type of cooperation within the framework of our various technical programmes. So we have not in the document before you attempted to be exhaustive or to cover questions which are already being discussed under other items of your Agenda, such as environment and sustainable development or operational activities for development, to name but two. A report on the same subject was presented to the Ninety-eighth Session of the Council last November and further information was provided to the Ninety-ninth Session of the Council in June this year. As much of that information is still relevant and also complementary to what we are reporting now, the report submitted to the June Council has been included as an Appendix to C 91/9. Some of the issues which are covered in this documentation have moreover also been taken up
during this session of the Conference under other items, and I might mention here the Uruguay Round, the Common Fund for Commodities and large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing, so I will not touch on these at this point.
To add to the information contained in the documents on other items, there is very little I need to say. The documents are in fact produced as closely as possible to the date of the Conference to ensure that they are as up-to-date as possible. A number of the questions covered here are before the current session of the General Assembly, but, as the General Assembly is still discussing them, we have no decisions to report to you at this point.
One major issue for Member States of ECOSOC and the General Assembly this year has been the question of the response of the UN system to emergencies and disasters, and its humanitarian assistance. This year has seen an unprecedented number of emergencies and FAO has been actively involved, within the framework of its mandate and available resources, in responding to them. The activities reported in the document under this heading, however, are not designed to provide an exhaustive account of what the Organization has done but primarily to illustrate the way in which FAO has assumed its role in cooperation with other organizations in assisting Member Nations to face emergency situations.
Beyond the issues currently before the General Assembly, I would like to say a few words about one or two other matters covered in the document. One is the World Summit for Children. As discussed at the June Council, one of the major aspects of FAO's response to the Declaration and Plan of Action which emerged from the World Summit last year are the preparations for the joint FAO/WHO International Conference on Nutrition, which you will be discussing tomorrow. Also in the context of follow-up to the World Summit, FAO was one of the cooperating agencies for a Conference on micro-nutrient deficiency diseases, the title of which was Ending Hidden Hunger, and which was organized as a follow-up to the Summit in Montreal in October. Another follow-up was a recent meeting of humanitarian and development NGOs on the World Summit for Children, Moving Toward Action, and in this FAO also participated actively.
I could give a brief update on preparations for the International Conference on Water and the Environment, which is to take place from 26-31 January 1992 in Dublin, Ireland. Preparations for this Conference are at a fairly advanced stage. It is hosted by the Government of Ireland and is co-sponsored by 24 UN organizations and specialized agencies, including FAO. The World Meteorological Organization is organizing it, but the Conference is guided by an inter-agency Steering Committee, of which FAO has been a member since the beginning. The preparatory activities are also coordinated with the UNCED Secretariat with regard to the subject of freshwater in Agenda 21.
Invitations have been sent out to all Member Nations of the UN, requesting designation of high-level experts to participate in the meeting. A number of NGOs and IGOs are also invited. FAO attaches great importance to this Conference, which will discuss freshwater management issues in a comprehensive manner, taking into consideration the development needs and environmental protection imperatives, and constituting an important input to the preparations for the UN Conference on Environment and Development next year.
Touching briefly on ongoing activities of the Organization in the UN system as a whole, FAO continued during the present biennium its active participation in the Administrative Committee on Coordination, and the subsidiary machinery of the ACC.
The Director-General attended all four meetings of the ACC itself, and FAO has worked with the other agencies on all of the Subsidiary Bodies, but I would point out in particular the Consultative Committees on administrative and substantive questions. During the biennium FAO held the Chairmanship of the Committee on personnel questions, and subsequently, of the Committee dealing with Finance and Budget. Since the outset FAO has also been the lead agency for the ACC Task Force on Rural Development, and at present also holds the Chair on the Joint United Nations Information Committee.
The ACC participates in joint meetings with the United Nations Committee for Programme Coordination once a year in October. The 1990 Joint Meetings are reported on in the document before you. I would just add that the subject for the 1991 meetings was the International Development Strategy and the role of the United Nations system in its implementation, although some discussions also took place on subjects which might be discussed at ECOSOC in the coordination and the high-level segments of its single regular session in 1992.
The FAO statement to the Joint Meetings placed stress on the special efforts which had been made by the Organization to contribute to the International Development Strategy, and that was, as you will recall, through the specially prepared Long-term Strategy for the Food and Agriculture Sector which was considered by the FAO Council last November at its Ninety-eighth Session.
Going on to C 91/9-Sup.l, I should like to say on, that as well, the information provided on FAO's relations with IGOs and INGOs is selective rather than exhaustive.
The major forms of ongoing cooperation with these organizations are those foreseen in the Basic Texts and in the agreements reached with them. That involves the exchange of information, reciprocal participation in meetings, consultation on matters of common interest. It would obviously not be possible to report on all that was done in this area in one short document. What we have attempted to do, as in the past, is to highlight certain activities which are of particular intrinsic interest, and which are also illustrative of the scope and range of FAO's relations with the IGO and INGO sectors.
This time we have also changed the format somewhat in order to give the document a regional focus. As you know, the Regional Offices play an important role in maintaining relations with IGOs and INGOs in the regions they cover, and recent years have seen a strengthening of many regional institutions with which FAO relates.
I would point out, however, that the regional break-down in the document is not a rigid or institutionalized one. For instance, some organizations which are global in membership are reported on one or the other of the regional sections, simply because the activities described took place during this biennium in those regions.
Some other forms of ongoing cooperation are dealt with in the concluding section entitled Cooperation at International Global Levels. The final paragraph of that section reports on the activities of the Ad Hoc Group of INGO representatives to FAO residing in Rome. That group took the lead, as it has in the past, in making detailed arrangements for the informal meeting of representatives of INGOs attending the Conference as Observers. This meeting is a traditional part of the Conference proceedings and it provides the opportunity for INGOs' views and suggestions on the activities and programmes of the Organization to be reported to the Conference. The meeting this year discussed the International Conference on Nutrition, Peoples' Participation on Rural Development, Sustainable Development and Environment, and also Modalities for Enhanced FAO/NGO Cooperation.
The report is presented to you in document C 91/INF/1.
I will conclude here, Mr Chairman, but of course I remain at your disposal for any further information or clarification which any delegates may request.
Sra. Mery HURTADO SALAMANCA (Colombia): A mi delegación le complace participar en este tema: Novedades recientes en el sistema de la Naciones Unidas de interés para la FAO. Este documento, en el Consejo y en la Conferencia, es siempre interesante, ya que dentro de la inexorable interdependencia entre todos los aspectos económicos, sociales y humanos, es conveniente conocer los hechos que ocurren en el sistema y que son de interés para la FAO.
En cuanto a la situación en el Golfo Pérsico, los representantes de Colombia encontramos muy acertada la participación de la FAO en las misiones inter-organismos y que en los programas de ayuda alimentaria el Programa Mundial de Alimentos haya ofrecido su asistencia de acuerdo con el párrafo 1.16, nos complace que la FAO siga asistiendo a todas las reuniones y participando en las actividades que pueden contribuir a la necesaria y justa recuperación de los países del Golfo, tan seriamente afectados por la reciente crisis.
En relación con los huracanes en Bangladesh y las inundaciones en China, es igualmente muy satisfactorio que la misión conjunta de FAO/PMA y los proyectos del PCT hayan estado al servicio de esos nobles países de nuestro Tercer Mundo, a cuyos representantes reiteramos la más plena solidaridad del Gobierno de Colombia.
Pensamos que esta Conferencia debe subrayar la honda preocupación por el deterioro de la situación de hambre y malnutrición en el mundo, tal como lo hizo el Consejo Mundial de la Alimentación en su última reunión celebrada en Dinamarca.
En cuanto a la preocupación que nos causa el hecho de que la asistencia a los países de Europa Oriental pueda ser ofrecida a expensas de los ya escasos recursos que actualmente se dedican a los países en desarrollo, convendrá apoyar la Declaración de los Ministros Miembros del CMA, quienes se comprometieron a que la asistencia a Europa Oriental no afectaría el volumen de la ayuda al Tercer Mundo, y que estudiarían la posibilidad de incrementar a la OCDE hacia los países en desarrollo.
Es satisfactorio reconocer una vez más cómo el Centro de Inversiones sigue asistiendo a los paises a elaborar proyectos de inversión que puedan recibir el apoyo financiero de los organismos de crédito.
El párrafo 3.2 indica una ligera recuperación en 1990 de los compromisos multilaterales para la agricultura que ascendieron a 7 900 millones de dólares en relación con los 7 200 millones de dólares en 1989, aunque aún no se ha vuelto al nivel de los 8 700 millones de dólares de 1986.
Se afirma que ese aumento considerable se debe al incremento de los préstamos a la agricultura por parte de los Bancos Asiático y Africano de Desarrollo. Nos llamó la atención que en el párrafo 3.2 no se hable del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Para encontrar nuestro BID tuvimos que pasar al párrafo 3.20 y constatar con gran tristeza que aunque el BID en 1990 aumentó el total de los préstamos concedidos, los préstamos destinados a la agricultura disminuyeron de 621 millones de dólares en 1989 a 319 millones de dólares en 1990, alta diferencia del 24 al 8, menos el 16 por ciento neto.
El cuadro que sigue en el párrafo 3.22 contiene el número de proyectos de agricultura formulados con asistencia del Centro de Inversiones de la FAO, que fueron financiados por diversos organismos de crédito. Ese cuadro señala lamentablemente que el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo es el último, a mucha distancia, entre todos los demás organismos de crédito.
El BID aparece tan sólo con dos proyectos por un monto total de 45 millones de dólares; el Banco Mundial con 4 058 millones; el Banco Africano con 427 millones; y el Banco Asiático con 515 millones.
Discutimos este tema cada vez que en el Consejo y en la Conferencia hemos venido preguntando hasta cuándo será el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo el único Banco Regional con el cual la FAO no tiene ningún acuerdo especifico. Siempre se nos responde, ya casi. El párrafo 3.20 nos deja casi en la misma espera.
Se dice que está, que prácticamente ya está listo el acuerdo de cooperación entre la FAO y el BID referente a actividades de proyectos de inversiones y estudios sectoriales o de política. Pero antes de aprobar ese acuerdo, dice el párrafo 3.20, hay que allegar un número suficiente de iniciativas sobre proyectos hasta por un valor de 3 millones de dólares. Nuestra delegación se pregunta: ¿los otros acuerdos con Bancos Regionales están sometidos a esas mismas metas? ¿Quién ha determinado la cifra de 3 millones? ¿La FAO, el FIDA o las otras entidades con mutuo acuerdo? ¿Con cuántos millones en iniciativas se han allegado hasta ahora? ¿Estamos ya muy cerca de los 3 millones?
F.A. Shamin AHMED (Bangladesh): At the outset, I should like to extend our very warm thanks to the Secretariat for producing the excellent documents. Our compliments are also due to the Director of Inter-Agency Affairs for her clear presentations of the subjects.
As in the past, the documents contain a very useful review of the activities of other UN agencies which are of relevance to FAO, and also the Organization's relations and consultations with other UN Bodies. We have
always found these documents to be extremely useful and informative. A careful perusal of them does, indeed, update us on the major activities of the other UN and international Bodies.
In order to be brief, I shall confine my remarks to a few of the subjects covered in these papers. My delegation has noted with particular interest the part in Section 1 of document C 91/9 which deals with the UN response to emergencies and disasters, and FAO’s admirable role following such calamities. Our particular interest in this aspect of the UN activities stems from the fact that it was only earlier this year that my country, Bangladesh, was struck by a severe cyclonic storm which left at least 150 000 people dead and a million homeless, besides causing enormous losses in terms of crop properties and cattle heads. We are happy to note that FAO, within its mandate and available resources, has responded to the emergencies and disasters directly and through UN systems initiative.
In this connection, my delegation would like to record its deep gratitude and appreciation to the Director-General and his Organization for mobilizing a prompt and effective response to the need for help following the severe cyclone in the coastal areas of Bangladesh.
FAO also lent valuable support to the coordination of the post-calamity activities of other international Bodies, particularly the WFP and UNDRO. My delegation would also like to express its gratitude to FAO for its emergency and rehabilitation assistance to the TCP projects, to the agriculture and livestock sectors, and to the artisanal fishermen.
Getting back to the paper under consideration, we have noted with great appreciation FAO’s valuable role in monitoring and responding to the serious food situation in some parts of Africa. We have also noted the very important support which FAO is providing to the developing countries through the FAO’s investment centres in close consultation with other multilateral institutions lending for agriculture. My delegation hopes that the investment centre will be further strengthened in the future to enable it to take in hand more projects covering more countries.
Akira NIWA (Japan): With regard to driftnet fishing, as my delegation stated, if one kind of fishing method is banned according to the present proposal of one country, whose proposal is not based on a scientific basis but is a political one, other fishing methods such as coastal driftnet fishery and trawl fishery should be automatically banned. From this viewpoint we strongly anticipate FAO’s initiative to approach these problems in a calm and rational manner based on scientific evidence.
My delegation therefore supports the idea formulated at the COFI meeting to hold an expert consultation and then to have an ad hoc intergovernmental consultation on the high seas fisheries data illustrated in paragraphs 4.20 and 4.21.
Ms Riitta RESCH (Finland) : On this Agenda Item I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and my own country, Finland.
Under the Agenda Item Recent Developments in the UN System of Interest to FAO, I should like to inform the Conference about some of the ideas and proposals which we have formulated within the Nordic project on strengthening the UN activities in the economic and social fields. It was initiated in 1988 and was concluded and presented to the Secretary-General of the UN in May 1991. Subsequently, the report has been introduced in various multilateral and bilateral fora and has already been introduced to the Director-General and the Council of FAO.
Basically, the project was motivated by a concern to safeguard international solidarity and development: in an increasingly interdependent world. The main thrust has been an analysis of the role of the UN and of the operational activities of its various agencies in meeting the challenges and opportunities facing the world community. Even if the recommendations do not constitute an official Nordic Government position they do convey the general line of thinking of the senior level officials of the Nordic aid agencies.
The final report of this project contains similar elements to those emphasized by the Nordic countries in the Review of FAO's Goals and Operations. Some ideas are already under implementation in FAO. In some respects the Nordic project, however, goes further than the FAO review. In the FAO context the decision-making process and working methods in particular are a matter of special concern.
The Nordic/UN project focuses on the problems and possibilities of the UN system's operational activities on which more than two thirds of the funding available to the UN system is spent every year.
The most important findings in the Nordic/UN project are as follows: the need for a high level forum for Member Nations to discuss development issues and give overall policy guidance for the UN operational activities for development; the need for a more effective and executive governance of the UN operational activities to provide the organizations involved with necessary support and guidance on a continuous basis; and the need to improve the funding system of the UN operational activities in order to be able to meet present and emerging needs on a more stable and equitable basis.
The Final Report asserts that the specialized agencies of the UN have a crucial part to play in responding to the rapidly growing global challenges. The major specialized agencies, therefore, ought to strengthen their centre of excellence role in order to become better qualified and relevant within their respective mandates. This would enable them better to exploit opportunities to meet the needs of all Member Nations for advice and analysis. The new perspective for the agencies must also be adjusted to the changes resulting from increased national execution of technical assistance projects in the UN system.
There are two functions of the specialized agencies that stand out as being of particular importance. The first is the analytic and normative one, which should be stressed as a very important function in the work of the specialized agencies. The second relates to the agencies' capacity in operational matters where their advisory role should be enhanced and where their extra-budgetary activities must be organized in such a manner as to allow the Governing Bodies control of both areas of development and of the costs associated with these operations.
As far as the issues of governance and leadership are concerned, the Final Report suggests the establishment of a joint International Development Council to give high level policy guidance. The institutional arrangement is not yet spelled out in detail. The project also introduces the idea of creating a system of smaller Governing Bodies that should meet on a regular basis as a complement to the overall policy deliberations of the International Development Council. The central function of these Governing Bodies should be to translate the general policy guidelines from the International Development Council into operational terms. The membership of these Bodies should follow the principles of universality and equitable representation which would be combined with good and effective governance.
The Nordic project also addresses funding for the UN operational activities. The present funding system with voluntary contributions is not sufficient. The new system proposed in the Nordic project combines contributions from three sources: firstly, assessed contributions from all Member Nations emphasizing the principle of shared responsibility between all members; secondly, negotiated pledges to cover the core operational costs; and thirdly, eventual additional voluntary contributions.
The Nordic countries are proposing that these aspects of operational activities are included as part of the reform process of the economic and social fields of the UN. As for the timetable and further action, the most appropriate venue for a comprehensive and in-depth discussion of the various interlinked reform issues in the field of operational activities seems to be the net high level meeting of the reformed ECOSOC in June-July 1992 with special focus on UN specialized agencies and funds. The Nordic countries intend to present a draft decision to this effect in the Second Committee of the General Assembly during its present session.
Peter Gary FRANKLIN (Australia): Apart from congratulating the Secretariat for the presentation of a very competent document, I wish only to comment briefly on those paragraphs of the report dealing with large-scale driftnet fishing, that is paragraphs 4.13 to 4.21 of document C 91/9.
Our views on the subject are already well known, and I will not repeat them on this occasion. However, I cannot let the opportunity pass without acknowledging the valuable work that FAO has done in response to the outcome of our last Conference and in response to UNGA Resolutions 44/225 and 45/197 on large-scale driftnet fishing and its impact on living marine resources of the world's oceans and seas.
Although not specifically mentioned in the report, we were particularly pleased to note the close collaboration of the FAO with the United Nations Office of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea in this work.
Having said that, it is our view that the FAO has now, as a consequence of this work, fulfilled its charter on this matter. We look forward to it concentrating its efforts in the future on those more general aspects related to high seas fishing identified at paragraph 4.20 and the course of action proposed at paragraph 4.21.
Harald HILDEBRAND (Germany) (Original language German): The document C 91/9-Sup.1 will show once again how varied and broad are the working relationships within our Organization. They result and spring from the
complexity of the mutually related tasks and challenges which have been stressed frequently during this Conference. They are also due to the varied nature of the factors which have to be taken into account with regard to possible solutions of problems in agrarian production, nutrition and protection of resources.
For this reason, one thing seems very important to my delegation; on the one hand, the presence and involvement of FAO should be ensured wherever possible on account of its potential and the comparative advantage it has, to recognize and solve, in the best possible way, the problems that have to be tackled. The document also mentions a number of concrete examples such as Global Information and Early Warning System, TCP projects, with FAO inputs, measures to provide assistance in catastrophes and other such measures. On the other hand, for outsiders it is difficult to see and understand the network of cooperation and consultations which bind the FAO to a number of organizations and their sub-units and there thus arises a danger of overlapping and double work. For this reason my delegation welcomes any step which can help to make this work more directly related to the needs of recipient countries. What counts in the end is the success, not so much who provides it.
With regard to Item 2.7 of the document with reference to the Seventeenth meeting of the World Food Council, mention was made of the intention to establish an informal consultation mechanism relating the four Organizations and Bodies based in Rome. I would like to ask the Secretariat a question in this connection: what is the present situation with regard to this very important matter?
In Item 2.18, where the increasing role of FAO in the support and encouragement of technical cooperation between developing countries is mentioned, my delegation supports very much and agrees with this trend. We also support the proposal that we should draw useful experience from the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for TCDC and place it hopefully in an easily understandable strategy for TCDC in the 90s. My delegation has the conviction that FAO can give valuable support to the UNDP in this regard.
In conclusion I would like to refer to the well-known position of my delegation relating to the inter-relationship of international organizations. We expect a maximum amount of coordination and cooperation of the best kind within the UN system principally. The wrong kind of rivalry should be left out.
Leslie J. BAJA (Phillippines): On behalf of the Philippine delegation let me thank the Secretariat for its informative report on FAO's Relations and Consultations with International Organizations. Our appreciation is also extended to the Director of Inter-Agency Affairs for her equally informative recitation.
The Preamble of the UN Charter seeks to promote social progress, better standards of life and to employ international machinery for the promotion of economic and social advancement of all peoples. The Philippines, therefore, commends the FAO for interfacing with other international organizations to uplift the economic and social standards of mankind. As we observe the International Decade for Natural Disasters, we welcome and appreciate FAO's quick and effective response to offset the effects of natural disasters.
Mr Chairman, with regard to large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing, the Philippines welcomes the important option initiated by the Director-General regarding this matter. The Philippines hopes that the provisions of UN Resolution 44/225 will be completely observed in all Regions in view of the wasteful results of driftnet fishing. Thank you, Mr Chairman.
Ms Joan DUDIK-GAYOSO (United States of America) : The United States would like to express its appreciation to Ms Killingsworth for the introduction she has just made and the document prepared for this Agenda Item. We have seen steady improvement in this documentation over the past several years. The United States considers the coordination of relationships among UN system agencies of paramount importance, especially during this era on the increased reliance on the multilateral system. The need has never been more urgent to delineate responsibilities, improved coordination and eliminate duplicative efforts within the UN system.
The global needs are too great to permit wasted efforts or resources in the UN systems' fight against hunger, poverty, malnutrition and environmental degradation. Furthermore, these efforts to link with non-governmental organizations link similar efforts by other UN agencies can go a long way toward extending the impact and reach of FAO's technical capacity. FAO's technical support to regional and sub-regional technical organizations and consultations can do the same. These functions truly call on FAO to be a centre of excellence and a source of technical expertise.
Before turning to the document at hand, my delegation would like to take the opportunity in this forum, as we have in others, to compliment the Nordic countries for the initiatives represented by the Nordic/UN Project. Its findings with respect to the issues affecting UN system operational activities for development are quite similar to the views of my own Government, although at this point we have not reached firm conclusions on the recommended solutions especially with respect to some of the proposals on governance and financing. We certainly believe there is much for members, and for Secretariats, to learn from and consider seriously as we continue to work toward the further improvements in the UN system. My Government appreciates the efforts the Nordic countries have made to broaden the dialogue on UN system reform.
Document C 91/9, the document before us today, describes the various consultations which FAO has participated in with its sister agencies during the past year. The document, Supplement 1, similarly describes FAO's consultations and coordination efforts within governmental and nongovernmental organizations. While both documents are informative, we would like to make two suggestions for future reports. Firstly, I would suggest that future reports be less descriptive and more analytical in terms of their significance for FAO and its programmes. What was, for example, the nature of the FAO contribution to the UN Plan for African Economic Recovery and Development? What steps will the FAO take to respond to the call of the World Food Council for the creation of an inter-secretariat consultative mechanism among the four Rome-based organizations? We think that coordination could easily be improved at the staff level here in Rome, as well as at the higher level.
Secondly, I think it is important to incorporate a UN system-wide perspective into the discussion of virtually all Agenda Items as has been done in the case of the environment to some extent. The current
presentation of this Agenda Item sometimes isolates rather than integrates critical subjects. I would suggest, for example, that the detailed section on the ACC for rural development in document C 91/9 could have been included in the documentation on the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development and discussed under that Agenda Item.
The comprehensive discussion of the relationship between FAO's Investment Centre and other multilateral organizations might similarly have been addressed in the Review of the Field Programme. Perhaps FAO's relationships with UN system agencies in the area of technical cooperation among developing countries could be included in the Agenda Items on the Field Programme or even on the Medium-Term Plan. This approach might better clarify the relationship between FAO's proposals and activities and broader UN system objectives. Future reports on this issue would then only include UN-related issues not discussed under other Agenda Items, as I think was the intention in this particular document.
I would like in particular to say on the TCDC subject that it is worth noting, and might have been noted in the report, that this past February UNDP allocated substantially increased resources for technical cooperation among developing countries. The programming of these monies is now being planned. FAO may find consultation with UNDP on this particular issue especially timely.
I would like now to comment very briefly on one issue that we have already covered earlier in this session in other parts of this meeting, and then in greater depth on the issue of the UN response to emergencies. Mr Chairman, the issue of large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing has already been discussed twice during this Conference. FAO's work on this issue provided much of the scientific basis for the discussions currently underway in the General Assembly. The UNGA is now in the best position to deal with this issue. FAO in turn can now focus on the larger issue of high seas fisheries.
The current debate in the UN system regarding reform of the emergency response capability illustrates firstly the current bottlenecks within the UN system, and secondly the potential for more efficient and effective collaboration among UN Agencies. Natural and man-made disasters in the past year have taxed the capacity of the current emergency response of the UN system. Complaints have been heard that the system is slow to respond, that various UN Agencies have overlapping responsibilities, that there is a lack of coordination among interested agencies, that appeals for financial assistance are uncoordinated and requests for assistance are often shopping lists, lacking any independent assessment of needs or priorities. The United States believes that the UN system agencies have done a noteworthy job in tackling the crises that have arisen this past year from the cyclone in Bangladesh to the famine in the Horn of Africa and the situation in the Persian Gulf. In all of these situations, however much the performance of the UN system could be improved as a whole, FAO has worked within the UN system to provide information and assistance consistent with its mandate and its areas of technical competence.
FAO and IFAD, working jointly within a framework that emphasizes the comparative strengths of each institution, succeeded in assisting governments to eliminate the threat of the screwworm in North Africa. FAO has played a particularly important role in preparing early warning assessments and, along with the World Food Programme, food-stock estimates
and needs assessment. These assessments provide the raw data on which policy assessments can be based. FAO's TCP could be used to assist Member States in advice on disaster-preparedness types of activities, for example enabling them to develop their own early warning capacity.
The United States believes, however, that reform of the UN emergency response is necessary and should be addressed as part of a broader reform of the UN Secretariat. We look to the election of a new Secretary-General as an opportunity for implementing these reforms, which are now under discussion at the UNGA.
If the UN and its specialized agencies are to fulfil the rising expectations that their performance this last year has inspired, they will have to consider this issue in relation to the consultations among international organizations, both in the field and at Headquarters, as among their highest priorities.
J.C. MACHIN (United Kingdom) : I too compliment the Secretariat for the paper C 91/9, and Mrs Killingsworth for her helpful introduction.
This is clearly an important paper which puts FAO and its work in the wider context of the United Nations and multilateral systems. A good deal of work has obviously gone into the preparation of this excellent tour d'horizon of recent developments in the UN system. Previous speakers have made some very interesting comments on it, and I do not want to repeat them, so I will try to be fairly brief and selective.
I think one of the main points, as I see it, arising out of the paper is the question of humanitarian assistance delivery, to which my United States colleague has just referred. Clearly 1991 has been an exceptionally difficult year for disaster relief and involved a re-examination of both national and international disaster relief delivery systems, as the paper makes clear, and we hope this is going to be an ongoing process both for the international agencies as well as the bilateral agencies. It is clear the the UN agencies themselves have a crucial role to play in these activities, not least FAO through its excellent Global Information and Early Warning System.
Perhaps I should add a slightly cautionary note here by saying that coordination among the UN agencies is vitally important, as is the importance, of course, of the UN specialized agencies using to the full their areas of comparative advantage and resisting the, I think one can say, obvious temptation of duplicating or outdoing each other's work.
Above all, the point I wanted to refer to is the renewed interest in reforming the UN's economic and social system, as exemplified in the Nordic study. My colleague from Finland made an excellent presentation on the Nordic study, which is a subject I referred to at greater length yesterday in this Commission. Therefore perhaps I should limit my remarks now to joining my United States colleague in congratulating the Nordic countries, as we have done in many other fora, on the excellent efforts they are making to take forward the debate on this crucial issue, which is not only going to affect the UN system but also the multilateral system as a whole, not just in this century but into the next century.
The other major area covered in the paper to which I want to refer is the Review of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, TCDC. As the paper clearly recognizes, TCDC is an important instrument of development which encourages the developing countries to make better use of their own resources and institutions. As we see it, the virtue of TCDC is that by working together, developing countries can actually achieve results without having to over-rely on donor support. Ultimately, however, successful TCDC will rely on more national execution and the development of national expertise. Agencies such as FAO have a crucial role to play in developing such execution and expertise, that is to say, building self-reliance in developing countries. My delegation therefore very much hopes that FAO will be fully responsive to, and imaginative of, the development of this capacity in developing countries.
Mansur SEGHAYER (Libya) (Original language Arabic): I think that this document C 91/9 is very clear and it places FAO within the context of international organizations. I shall be very brief because it is a very clear document, as I say, and it does not need any additional explanation.
My delegation supports the humanitarian role played by FAO, which is part of the UN system. The idea is to meet all the challenges put to it, the challenges facing developing countries which constantly suffer from poverty and hunger. The capital role played by FAO and by other organizations in the UN system - a role played also by the different UN agencies - in the fight against the different scourges, for example, the screwworm: all these efforts are exemplary. It is indispensable to give our Organization total freedom so that it can face the challenges of the future.
Igor MARINCEK (Suisse): Je remercie d'abord le Secrétariat des documents soumis et de ce point de l'ordre du jour que nous considérons en fait comme assez important car il a le mérite de mettre les activités de la FAO dans un contexte plus large, ce que nous apprécions. Le document que nous avons devant nous est plutôt descriptif. Il nous informe comme délégations, comme Etats Membres, autrement de ses différentes activités. Si nous l'avons ici dans l'ordre du jour de la Conférence, il serait peut-être souhaitable de pouvoir trouver à la fin du document quelques conclusions que le Secrétariat tire de ces activités, pour les activités de la FAO pour dire: voilà, ici, en fait, l'activité de la FAO pourrait se renforcer; là, elle pourra se diminuer un peu puisque d'autres organisations sont déjà actives. Donc, première suggestion de ma délégation.
La deuxième suggestion serait liée à cette première: pour pouvoir en bénéficier davantage dans les délibérations de notre Conférence, nous pourrions peut-être avancer ce point de l'ordre du jour, en discuter avant l'entrée en matière sur le Programme de travail et budget et sur le Plan à moyen terme pour justement en discuter un peu en connaissant le contexte dans lequel travaille la FAO.
Ms K. KILLINGSWORTH (Director, Office for Inter-Agency Affairs): I think I can be very brief. First, before taking specific questions, some more general comments. We have taken very careful note of all the views expressed during the debate and the information provided by some Member Nations, and also the suggestions made for improvement of the document in the future.
First of all I would just note that we are, as I said in my introduction, in some difficulty in accommodating the need to be as complete as possible in our reporting, and at the same time not duplicating the reporting done under other items on the Agenda: so we have some difficulty in accommodating all suggestions for improvement of the document in this respect. We try every year to make it more analytical and more pointed than it was before. We have gradually, I think, tried to clarify the distinctions between what we report and what is reported under other items on the Agenda, but we sometimes have problems, because you can cut certain subjects either vertically - in a technical discussion - or horizontally if you are talking about activities across the system, with other agencies. So while we will definitely make an effort next time to make the document even more analytical and therefore even more useful to you, I think we do need to keep in mind that the document as it is presently conceived and as you presently discuss it, cannot pretend to be an exhaustive picture of what the Organization does in relation to other agencies, on the whole gamut of activities and the gamut of subjects which come within its mandate.
However, we have also taken note of the suggestions made by the United States in regard to the relationship, for instance, between the reporting on the ACC Task Force on Rural Development and other activities of the Organization concerned with WCARRD, reported under that item. In the future the issues might be a different one but we certainly will try and avoid duplication and facilitate your consideration of the various items.
We appreciate the support expressed, and I think this was a very general support expressed by all speakers, for the considerable efforts the Organization does make at all times to ensure proper coordination and close consultation with other agencies in carrying out its work, and I believe that although the document is selective in the subjects it has treated this time, it reflects the general approach which we have. I do not think there is very much I need to add with regard to the important work done by the Global Information and Early Warning System, the response of the Organization, through the TCP and other means at its disposal, to the emergencies which have taken place; the support expressed also for the work of the Investment Centre in cooperation with international financing institutions; work on TCDC and work on UN/PAERRD, and the Organization's role in addressing the issue of driftnet fishing.
There were one or two specific questions, and one of them was with regard to the Inter-American Development Bank, and I believe it was the delegate of Colombia who asked several specific questions. I would point out that the number of projects required before the FAO/IDB agreement will be signed is a request made by the Inter-American Development Bank itself. It was agreed that six possible projects should be identified to start off the joint activities. So far only two have been identified by the IDB and we are waiting for the Bank to propose further ideas. So in answer to the first question, we are not yet close to the US$3 million. No similar arrangement exists with the other cooperating institutions but that is also because we already have a full, ongoing programme of work, as you will have noted from the document.
The main reason for the recent low-level of agricultural lending by the IDB is its recent reorganization and restructuring. The Bank staff wish to lend much more to agriculture. We have had consultations with them, hence the revised agreement with FAO, that, I believe, is the only specific question
I needed to answer because I would request the Chairman to ask Mr Shah to deal with the question of the inter-Secretariat mechanism among the four Rome-based food agencies.
V.J. SHAH (Assistant Director-General, Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation): My colleague, Ms Killingsworth, is perfectly knowledgeable and competent to deal with this question also but, as I have been given some responsibility by the Director-General on this matter, I would like to share the information with you personally. Mr Chairman, distinguished representatives will remember that the idea for this mechanism was something which the Director-General suggested in the context of the FAO Review and his proposals before the Conference at your last session. Both you and he realize of course that coordination between the Rome-based institutions is an ongoing matter and well-developed in well-established fields: with IFAD since the creation of IFAD in the preparation and appraisal of investment projects with our Investment Centre; with the World Food Programme since its inception in technical support, policy collaboration and administrative services; with the World Food Council.in collaboration on the formulation of policy analyses and documents which the World Food Council presents to its inter-ministerial meetings. However, the idea was that there should be a systematic and established forum to enhance this coordination. The idea was also very clearly enunciated in the proposal that firstly, if it was to work, it had to be supported by the respective Governing Bodies of these institutions. Secondly, if it was to have real meaning, it should deal with substantive coordination and not protocol matters or have meetings for the sake of it, which so many of you have cautioned us to avoid.
The final point is the present status. The Director-General has given me responsibility, as I said, to take on this matter and I intend before the end of the year to invite my counterparts from these other institutions to meet me and get the process going.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much, Mr Shah. Of course, I cannot let this opportunity pass without also attempting to say something in brief. A very useful discussion has taken place on one of the most important issues that this Conference has to discuss. All in all, although 11 delegations have spoken, 15 countries have participated in the discussion this afternoon because Finland spoke for Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland too. It has come out clearly from the interventions made this afternoon that the presence and involvement of FAO in the activities of the UN system, the UN family of nations, should be reinforced and enhanced. FAO has been involved and the membership would like them to continue to be involved, and on an even larger scale.
The next point I noted is that it has been remarked that there is an imperative need for an efficient network of coordination, consultation and collaboration, as the delegate of Germany said. This would avoid duplication of effort, and of course, the resources are very scarce, so this coordination is important. So we are very happy to hear what Mr Shah has just told us, that these agencies are set to coordinate more closely on substantive issues. So this is a very welcome area of activity by the FAO.
The importance of TCDC has been pointed out, and TCDC activities are at two levels. There is the South-South context and the North-South context, and it is necessary to enhance these activities because eventually the developing countries themselves have to take over many òf these things, and cooperation and collaboration among themselves is very important. However, in order to do that, the developing countries definitely require the assistance of the developed countries. This is an area that needs to be enhanced.
FAO's work in the overall UN system of organization, according to what has been said, has been adequate. I have said this before: there is a call for FAO to increase its activities, but it has also been pointed out that, in order for FAO to enhance its activities, it needs the tools to do the job; it must have the resources it requires, and the call for FAO to do more at the same time requires that this Organization be assisted by the membership to carry out its activities. This has also come out clearly in the discussion this afternoon.
The Nordic contributions have also been recognized, especially their recent study, the UN Project. Some of us have read that study. It is a very useful study. I would ask, since this is a study for five rich countries, that you make copies available to those of us who have not read it yet. They were made available in Denmark - was it just a treat for being the host of the World Food Council? Those who have not yet received it would appreciate the opportunity of seeing it. It is a valuable contribution and is worth reading.
The question of natural and man-made disasters has been stressed. This is a very serious and challenging area for the international community, including FAO, and as the Nineties proceed, these natural disasters are on the increase. They are complex and on the increase. Obviously, the victims of these disasters are the developing countries and therefore they need the capacity to deal with them. This capacity must be provided at least with the assistance of the developed countries, so while gratitude is felt for the assistance received so far, a request has been made that in future, as these complex disasters occur, there should be a coordinated approach on an international scale to help countries like Africa, which is very vulnerable when these disasters arise.
These were some of the things that I was able to note as the discussion went on, and it has been a very useful discussion.
Ms C. FORTHOMME (Secretary, Commission II): The Drafting Committee meets immediately in the Mexico Room. Commission II will meet tomorrow morning at 9.30 hours to consider the next matter on your Agenda, Item 21, United Nations/FAO World Food Programme Pledging Target 1993-94.
The meeting rose at 16.15 hours.
La séance est levée à 16 h 15.
Se levanta la sesión a las 16.15 horas.
