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Sustainable
Development
RAFS is
the Sustainable Development Group of the FAO Regional Office for
Africa.
FAO/13702/J. Isaac
The RAFS technical Group of the Regional Office
for Africa, represents the Sustainable Development Department of FAO,
established in January 1995. The new Department serves as a global reference
centre for knowledge and advice on biophysical, biological, socio-economic
and social dimensions of sustainable development. It aims at promoting,
coordinating and leading in the formulation of concepts, policies and
strategies for:
-
greater involvement of rural people, especially the poor and women,
in their own development,
-
generation and transfer of knowledge and technologies for sustainable
development,
-
management of natural resources and protection of the environment.
The
Sustainable Development Department comprises three technical divisions:
- Rural
Development and Agrarian Reform,
- Research,
Extension and Training,
- Women
and Population,
which are all represented in RAFS.
RAFS is responsible for carrying out the Sustainable Development Department's
mandate in the African Region, in collaboration with the Sub-Regional
Office for Southern and Eastern Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe.
The
Group contributes to National, Sub-Regional and Regional follow-up
to the World Food Summit (WFS), the UN Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED) and associated natural resource management
and conservation. It aims to mainstream into RAF's technical work,
the concerns and recommendations expected by other major international
summits and conferences, including the Fourth World Conference on
Women, the Social Summit and the International Conference on Population
and Development.
Policy
inputs to the work of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR) are assured. The Group also provides direct support
to the Special programme Food Security in Low-Income, Food-Deficit
Countries (LIFDCs).
The
group gives overall advice and technical assistance to FAO Member
countries in the region and is the first port of call for technical
backstopping of FAO implemented projects and programmes. In this
it takes into account global trends towards more decentralised patterns
of development and the declining roles of governments, with correspondingly
greater reliance on private and civil society initiatives. Furthermore,
it ensures that socio-economic and gender issues are given attention
by policy-makers and aims to strengthen the democratic and participatory
base of rural society.
RAFS includes the following Units:
-
Rural Development and Agrarian Reform Unit -Supported by Antoine
A. Fayossewo
- Research
and Technology Unit
- Extension,
Education and Communication Unit-Supported by Michelle
Owens
- Women
and Development Unit- Supported by Diana E. Tempelman and Caroline
Brants
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