Foreword

In recent years, global events have brought into focus the United Nations system as a whole, altering the general perceptions of its role and prompting reform. It was against this background that a review of FAO's programmes, structure and policies was initiated in early 1994. The review paved the way for a comprehensive and ongoing reform process, intended not only to adapt the Organization to the changing external environment but, above all, to enable us to assist our Member Nations more effectively.

The reform process has been dynamic and sustained, benefiting from extensive consultations with FAO's stakeholders and other international organizations, from opinions expressed by development experts at numerous meetings and from discussions with FAO staff. In embarking on such a formidable task, consideration was given to the strengths and achievements that the Organization had built up over 50 years of operation as a centre of excellence for agricultural and rural development, as well as to the constraints encountered in fulfilling its mandate.

Reforming FAO: into the new millennium presents the principles that have been followed, detailing the measures taken and the results achieved to date. The major surgery carried out on FAO's structure, governance mechanisms and operational and financial procedures has lent a much greater degree of coherence to our wide-ranging and multidisciplinary activities. Considerable progress has been made in improving the planning, coordinating, monitoring and auditing of FAO's action in priority areas. At the same time, a concerted effort has been made to cultivate constructive partnerships - within the intergovernmental community and with civil society - that contribute to the Organization's lead role in achieving global food security, and hence to the successful accomplishment of its mission. Finally, the reform process has led to a strategic vision for the future, documented in The Strategic Framework for FAO: 2000-2015, the corporate blueprint that defines our core objectives and strategies as well as providing a timetable and methodology for their implementation.

The guiding theme of reform has remained "food security", and this has ensured continuity of purpose as well as consistency with the mandate set out in FAO's Constitution. The process has focused on the Organization's dual role, clarifying the distinction between its normative and operational activities with a view to optimizing efforts to secure "food for all" as the common development goal of all Member Nations.

Effective development is achieved through improvements in the production and distribution of food and agricultural products, including greater access to supplies and higher nutrition levels and living standards of all people. I believe the reform process has greatly enhanced FAO's capacity to work towards this goal and to succeed in its mission: "Helping to build a food-secure world for present and future generations".

Jacques Diouf
FAO Director-General