Establishment of the Open Ended Working Group on General Rules of Procedure of the G77 and China.

22/05/2012

As a collective reflection of the outcome of the recent years on different election occasions and due to the enlargements in the bureau of different FAO Technical Committees, the G77 and China Chairmanship of 2011 has proposed to establish a set of basic general rules of procedures that would govern elections, candidatures to different positions, and the implementation of rotation among Regional Groups, without prejudice to the sovereignty of the Member States and their right to take appropriate decisions.

Since the beginning of her mandate, the Chairperson of G77, H.E Gladys Urbaneja Durán, reiterated this proposal, calling the G77 and China Membership to participate in an Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) being integrated by the Bureau of Regional Groups and Members with institutional memory in FAO and other UN Agencies, in order to add value and historic knowledge to the Group.

In this context, a Zero Draft Concept Note was distributed to Members during the two Plenary Sessions of 11^th April and 4^th May 2012, containing initial Terms of Reference, which can eventually be enriched and completed with the participation of Members. According to the open-ended nature of the Group, Regions and Members will be able to give their inputs and contributions, with the view of detailing specific roles and mandate in a consolidated document. Such views are welcomed in anticipation to the forthcoming G-77 Plenary to be held on 8th June 2012.

In this regard, the list of candidates appointed by each Regional Group to integrate the OEWG, are as follows:

a. Near East: Iran (Chairperson H.E. Seyed Aminollah Taghavi Motlagh) Kuwait (Vice-Chairperson H.E. Faisal Al-Hasawi) and Syria (Dr. Amar Awad).

b. Africa: Equatorial Guinea (Chairperson H.E Crisantos Obama) Mozambique (Vice-Chairperson H.E. Carla Elisa Mucavi) and Cape Verde (H.E. José Eduardo Barboza).

c. Asia: Thailand (Chairperson Minister Rapibhat Chandarasrivongs) Sri Lanka (Vice-Chairperson H.E. Asitha I. Perera) and Pakistan (Mr. Khalid Mehboob).

d. Grulac: Chile (Chairperson H.E. Oscar Godoy Arcaya) Perú (Vice-Chairperson Mrs. Stella Maris Chirinos Llerena) and Dominican Republic (Vice-Chairperson H.E. Mario Arvelo Caamaño).

H.E Gladys Urbaneja, the Chairperson of G77, has called for the first assembly of the OEWG on G-77 Rules of Procedure on 15th May 2012. Members agreed on the coordination mechanism in which they identified four Members, -one from each G77 Regional Group - to act as coordinators, enabling a collective and inclusive work amongst all Regions, which will promote commitment and continuity. Additionally, the four coordinators can brief their Regions accordingly. Members also agreed to nominate one Chairperson and three Vice-Chairpersons among the coordinators, to form the Bureau, with the understanding that the Chairperson’s responsibilities will be equally shared by the three Vice-Chairpersons.

Giving the fact that an initial idea proposed in the past suggested that the G77 Vice-Chairperson could take the lead of the OEWG, Sri Lanka, Vice-Chairperson of the G77, and Vice-Chairperson of Asia Group, accepted the proposal ad-referendum.