Address by the Director-General to the Joint Meeting of the
Programme and Finance Committees
by Jacques Diouf
Director-General
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Rome, Italy, 8 October 2008
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
While I have been able to meet with you informally during morning breakfasts earlier in the week and during the lunch, I wish in the first instance to extend my warm welcome to all Members of the Committees, especially those coming from outside Rome. I would also like to welcome Mr. Shioya of Japan as a new member of the Programme Committee, and Ambassador Esquivel from Panama, who was unable to attend the previous Joint Meeting in May earlier this year.
You are meeting at a critical juncture in the life of FAO, as its Governing Bodies are charting a new course for the Organization, making your views and conclusions – as always – a critical input to broader inter-governmental processes.
In fact the agenda of your Joint Meeting provides the opportunity for a dialogue on our accomplishments in the past biennium, important current initiatives, especially linked to the crisis of high food prices, and the opportunities ahead arising from the Immediate Plan of Action for FAO Renewal.
A busy 2006-07 biennium
With all that has happened recently, it is hard to think back to the past biennium. But at this Joint Meeting you will review the Programme Implementation Report 2006-07, while the Finance Committee reviewed yesterday the External Auditor’s report for the same period. The 2006-07 biennium was a particularly challenging and busy period for the Organization. On the one hand, we embarked on a series of progressive reforms to improve our effectiveness and efficiency. On the other, we operated in a climate of financial constraints on assessed contributions arising from a reduced budget level of USD 39 million in real terms, unforeseen costs and very late payments. The liquidity shortage led to us borrowing USD 104 million in November 2006 and contributed to a reduction in delivery under the Technical Cooperation Programme in the biennium.
Nonetheless, we made good progress on the implementation of the approved Programme of Work and associated reforms, starting with more focussed programmes on sustainable food and agricultural systems, on knowledge exchange, policy and advocacy, and on decentralization, UN cooperation and programme delivery. This was associated with structural changes at headquarters, and strengthened decentralized structures in three regions, providing the basis for more effective work at country, sub-regional and regional levels. Furthermore, significant efficiencies were reaped from the establishment and subsequent off-shoring of the Shared Services Centre. We have sown some of the seeds of change, and the current biennium is a period of transition to realise the full benefits of those reforms.
Our significant increase in voluntary contributions, which now represent half of total FAO expenditures in the last biennium is a sign of confidence in the ability of the Organization to deliver its programmes. Most of the increase has been for emergency activities, with noteworthy success in the control of trans-boundary animal and plant pests and diseases, for example in addressing Avian Influenza outbreaks and desert and migratory locust infestations.
Important current activities
Your Excellencies,
Members of the Committees,
I would now like to turn to some important activities that we are currently undertaking in addition to carrying out the Programme of Work that was approved by the Conference.
During 2007 we alerted the international community to the rising prices of food commodities and products, culminating in the launch in December of the Initiative on Soaring Food Prices to boost food production in the short term. The ISFP in its first phase has simple but effective goals: to distribute seeds, fertilizer, animal feed and other farming tools and supplies to smallholder farmers to support the 2008 and 2009 harvests. This is by no means a new activity for FAO. We have the institutional expertise and have been doing this for many years, having implemented 1022 projects for a total expenditure of USD 931 million since January 1998 in this sector. At the same time we offer advice to governments on policy measures in response to the crisis.
At this stage, FAO is engaged in ISFP activities in 79 countries, supporting food production. We are also providing technical assistance, including reviews and analysis in an additional 11 countries.
The ISFP has relied on a variety of funding sources, including the TCP. The TCP can be utilized speedily, providing a foundation for upscaling by others when donor funding eventually becomes available. In fact, what has been mobilized so far is just a fraction of the USD 1.7 billion we estimate is needed to support countries through to the end of 2009.
The ISFP is part of a broader UN system response to the crisis. The High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis set up by the Secretary-General has formulated a global strategy and Comprehensive Framework for Action. The CFA proposes a two-track approach, aimed at both easing the immediate plight of vulnerable consumers and producers of food, and building longer-term resilience to similar price shocks in the future by increasing food production. The CFS next week will provide an opportunity to contemplate the broader aspects of the global community’s response to the food crisis. Even though the prices of basic food commodities have declined recently, on expectation of larger harvests, the FAO Food Price Index is still up 26 percent from its value in August 2007 and 60 percent from August 2006. FAO estimates that because of rising food prices, the global number of hungry people has increased by 75 millions in 2007 alone, bringing the total number of undernourished to 923 millions.
Our collaboration with the UN system at large is strong. For example, during the UN General Assembly last month, FAO was involved in several key events: the Roundtable on African Agricultural Development, where FAO drew attention to the need for action to address the problem of productivity at the smallholder level; the UN private sector forum aimed at new commitments for food sustainability and progress on the MDGs; and the High Level Event on the MDGs, co-convened by the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly to highlight the importance of agriculture and food security issues.
A look to the future – The Immediate Plan of Action for FAO Renewal
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Many of you have been directly involved in the intensive process which has taken place this year to formulate the Immediate Plan of Action for implementing the IEE recommendations, which will be submitted to the Special Conference in November. Management - at all levels - is pleased to have been invited to be proactive in this process. I am confident that the Immediate Plan of Action will result in an ambitious yet realistic roadmap to comprehensively renew the Organization.
After the Special Conference, the road to renewal stretches ahead for three challenging years. I can assure you that one key ingredient for success will not be lacking, and that is my personal commitment, and that of management, to do whatever is necessary to equip FAO to face the challenges ahead. An important feature will be the effective participation of staff, but I must stress that this requires setting aside sufficient time for consultations and not rushing from one deadline to the next. A Change Team composed of 15 staff from headquarters and decentralized offices, which I launched last month, will serve as a catalyst for change.
The IEE reminded us of the obstacles that stand in the way of successful reform, and stated that a principal pitfall “is often found in the mismatch between available resources and over-ambitious goals”.
Your Committees have been asked to provide advice to the Conference Committee on follow-up to the IEE, including in particular on the costs of IEE follow-up, so that it can finalize its report to the Special Conference to be held next month. I am well aware that this will require difficult decisions, and political will, on your part - to determine how and how much you want to invest in the future of your organization.
There are many details still to be worked out in 2009. We have to finalize the Strategic Framework and the Medium Term Plan, and consider the final recommendations of the Root and Branch review, to be issued in April next year.
But I am confident that over the next three years we will be able to achieve greater clarity about our strategic objectives and greatly improved focus on our priorities and programmes. At the same time, we should benefit from improved governance and oversight by Members, ensuring transparency and building mutual understanding; and we will have greatly improved our performance thanks to thorough system reforms and organizational changes.
To sum up, there is much hard work to be done over the next three years to make a reality of the aspirations expressed in the Immediate Plan of Action which is now almost finalized. I am convinced that with your support, we can make FAO renewal happen.
I thank you for your kind attention.