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156th Session of FAO Council (24-28 April 2017)
Joint Statement on item 5.1 “Independent Assessment of the Technical Capacity of the Organization

Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of G-77 and China.
The Group of 77 and China takes note with appreciation of the report on the independent assessment of FAO’s technical capacity, in particular its conclusion that despite a flat nominal budget and decline in posts overall, technical capacity in FAO, in both headquarter and decentralized offices, has increased through the reinvestment of administrative reductions into technical posts and resources.
We also note that the main findings of this assessment are in line with other evaluations, such as the one performed by the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), that recognized an increase in FAO overall performance in recent years, crediting the positive outcome to a clear strategic vision, a modernized management structure and efficiency savings.
The Group congratulates FAO’s management for the efforts that resulted in a total increase of 7.3 percent between 2014 and 2016 in terms of Human Resources dimensions, as well as an increase in the delivery of key products and services that drive its normative work between 2012 and 2016.
Nevertheless, we note that the assessment pointed out data challenges and several opportunities for improving the monitoring. The Group coincides in particular with the recommendation for FAO to develop an integrated perspective of all human resources deployed to deliver its programmes, with greater attention to the large complement of non-staff human resources. We also agree with the suggestion for FAO to consider institutionalizing the assessment of technical capacity through regular strategic workforce planning exercises linked to the Biennial Programme of Work.
The Group of 77 and China also supports the recommendation for FAO to revisit the matter of sharing administrative services and decentralized offices with IFAD and WFP, with the objective of both reducing costs and improving efficiency.
The G-77 and China acknowledges that this first independent assessment was commissioned to address the question of how FAO’s technical capacity had evolved between 2012 and 2016 in a quantitative basis. We also agree on the importance of such exercise as well as on the need for its continuation in the future in a permanent and institutionalized basis.
We note that this first assessment highlighted broad improvements also in indicators related to staff quality and experience. On this note, the G-77 and China supports the recommendation of the Joint Meeting of the 121st Session of the Programme Committee and the 166th Session of the Finance Committee for future assessments to include qualitative analysis and exposition of disaggregated data.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, in G-77 and China’s view, there is no doubt that the positive findings of this independent assessment show the success of the changes in the strategic direction of the Organization that was approved by FAO membership in 2012. We congratulate FAO’s management for all the work done and encourage it to continue in this direction in order to pursue greater efficiency and value for money, the continuous delivery of its key products and the preservation of its expertise and capacity for technical work on norms and standards, as well as on technical assistance and cooperation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman