I. PROGRAMME FRAMEWORK

Introduction

1. The preparation process for the present Summary Programme of Work and Budget (SPWB) proposals has involved, as usual, detailed submissions by all Headquarters departments and offices, as well as Regional and Sub-regional Offices, in response to senior management's guidance. The submissions were analysed centrally in order to distil key issues for decision-making at policy level. These issues were discussed during a series of "budget hearings" at Headquarters, or at videoconferences with the Regional and Sub-regional Offices, to complement the ongoing dialogue between outposted teams and their counterpart departments and divisions in Headquarters.

2. The preparation of submissions was facilitated by an appropriate module of the Web-based computerised system (PIRES), which is being progressively developed to meet the complex analytical and data processing requirements linked to the enhanced programme model now in force in FAO, both at the formulation and reporting stages. One of the particularly useful features of this system, is to put together and make widely available to staff in all locations with access to the wide area-network, extensive sets of supportive materials and data, such as: the instructions on budget preparation, more detailed internal guidance within departments or offices, regional priorities as identified by Regional and Sub-regional Offices, and needed baseline information, e.g. as to current allocations for staff (posts) and non-staff resources, drawn from various policy documents or databases.

3. It is recalled that PIRES was extensively used last year, in the context of the formulation of proposals for the MTP 2004-09, which was marked by greater efforts to improve the quality and consistency of programme entity formulation through the application of programme entity design parameters. Training courses were held for technical staff to promote more thorough understanding of the application of results-based planning principles. Further training is to be conducted, as the functionality of the PIRES system expands to other aspects.

4. As stressed in the Director-General's Introduction, the outcomes of major inter-governmental events and pronouncements, such as the World Food Summit: five years later (WFS: fyl) held in Rome in June 2002, the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg in August/September 2002, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, have heavily influenced the formulation of proposals.

5. While the outcome of the World Food Summit/five years later is, as a matter of course, well known to Members of the Council and of the Programme and Finance Committees, it is worth recalling that the WSSD - in the preparation and the deliberations of which FAO took a very active part - was accompanied by the WEHAB initiative launched by the Secretary-General of the UN, to catalyze supportive UN system action in the five key areas of: Water, Energy, Health, Agricultural productivity and Biodiversity, all of prime relevance to FAO's mandate. The Plan of Implementation adopted by the WSSD includes commitments by the international community of keen interest to FAO, as regards for instance Oceans and Fisheries, Poverty Eradication, Biodiversity and many other areas.

6. The MDGs incorporate under Goal number 1: "Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger", the target adopted by the WFS and reiterated by the WFS: fyl. They also embody other basic common Goals of humankind and related targets of direct relevance to FAO, such as those linked to health improvement, environmental sustainability and global partnerships for development. FAO is participating, as appropriate, in the mechanisms set up in the UN system to ensure coherent implementation of the MDGs at all levels.

Proposals by Programme Budget Structure

7. As also stressed in the Director-General's Introduction, this SPWB contains the DG's real growth proposal and one further scenario. It presents proposals reflecting overall real Growth (RG) over the approved PWB 2002-03, but at a lower level than that anticipated in the MTP 2004-09 for the biennium 2004-05, and then at zero real growth (ZRG). The proposed allocations under the two scenarios are indicated in the detailed tables in Part IV, while the outputs listed in the same Part IV under individual entities, correspond to RG resources. The impact of the lower level of resources inherent in ZRG is illustrated in "boxes" at appropriate places in Part IV.

Resource Distribution Tables (RG)

8. The following tables describe the distribution of resources under the major budgetary headings for the RG scenario - firstly, at the level of the Programme of Work (i.e. the gross budget, including resources from other income) prior to the addition of anticipated cost increases; and secondly, at the level of the Appropriation at the same exchange rate adopted for the Programme of Work and Budget (PWB) 2002-2003. Calculation of cost increases is covered under Part III: Budgetary Framework.

9. It should be noted that the elaboration of the RG scenario had first to build on revised ZRG resource levels as regrettably, there was a need to compensate for several areas of under-budgeting, e.g. mainly stemming from declining support cost income. The shortfall had to be absorbed in one way or another, since the corresponding work still had to be performed. This effect of forced "ZRG savings" is generally masked in the RG tables below in view of the resource increases inherent in RG, but becomes more evident under the successive ZRG tables.

Proposed Overall Resources Allocation for the Programme of Work (RG)

Overview of Resource Changes in the Programme of Work

Chapter 1 - General Policy and Direction

10. The increase is necessary in particular so as to regularize a number of temporary General Service posts, and also to establish a P-3 Liaison Officer post in SAD on a firm footing, replacing hitherto temporary arrangements. It is recalled that SAD includes the unit in charge of coordinating FAO's participation in the UN system CEB (Chief Executive Board) machinery, and the number of current UN system initiatives with clear implications for FAO imply an increasingly heavy workload of analysis and follow-up. This is partially offset by the removal of the one-time budgetary provision for the development of PIRES.

11. As reflected also in the above table, the former separate heading 1.9 Programme Management has been eliminated, and the corresponding resources distributed to the other Major Programmes in this Chapter. In effect, this heading was somewhat of an anomaly, as it did not cover the whole range of "Programme Management" costs as in the case of similar provisions in other Chapters, but simply the cost of a small administrative unit supporting a number of independent offices in ODG lato sensu. The distribution of such costs is consistent with the approach taken with the Management Support Service which carries on similar functions for the other HQ offices.

Chapter 2 - Technical and Economic Programmes

12. In line with the substantive thrusts and priorities outlined in the Medium Term Plan 2004-2009 (and summarised at the beginning of each major programme narrative in Part IV of this document), this chapter would benefit from significantly increased resources, albeit at a lower level than that indicated for the biennium 2004-2005 in the MTP. Particular attention has been paid, at the major programme level, to Fisheries and Forestry which show increases of 6.8 % and 6.9 % respectively. Major Programme 2.1, Agricultural Production and Support Systems, also shows an increase of 6.9 %, including significant additional resources for the IPPC and the JMPR, as well as for the CGRFA acting as the Interim Committee for the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

Chapter 3 - Cooperation and Partnerships

13. As clearly conveyed by the table, additional resources are provided for:

1. the policy assistance work carried out by the TCA division, including its outposted teams in Regional and Sub-regional Offices;
2. increased activities of the Investment Centre, reflecting anticipated higher requests and attendant funding from partner financial institutions, which needs also to be matched by an increase under the Appropriation (cf. below);
3. the consolidation of the FAOR network, including training.

14. The increases under 3.3 Field Operations and 3.5 Cooperation with External Partners reflect in the first case primarily expected higher resources for the TCE division, responsible for field emergency work (the resources of which stem primarily from charges on projects it executes), while in the second case, the need to absorb under the Appropriation, the cost of posts hitherto funded from support cost reimbursement resources (cf. below explanations for the ZRG scenario).

Chapter 4 - Technical Cooperation Programme

15. The increase brings the share of this Chapter to 14.7% of the Appropriation, which is a step in the right direction although still far from the expectations in Governing Bodies. Within the total provision for the Chapter, an increase is provided for the TCP unit, which requires strengthening so as to enable it to improve analytical support to, and monitoring of the Programme.

Chapter 5 - Support Services

16. The change under Major Programme 5.1, Information and Publications Support, is for reinforcement of public information activities in the regions as well as at Headquarters, in accord with the strategy for Communicating FAO's messages.

17. The apparent decrease under Major Programme 5.2, Administration, reflects the impact of several factors: 1) it is possible to remove the one-time provision for development of the Oracle phase II project from base allocations; and 2) a technical adjustment, following the transfer of the unit dealing with travel and the shipment household goods from AFF to the MSS, the costs of which are distributed over the budgets of all units being serviced by it. However, this is offset by an increase for the Finance Division (AFF), to support the partial implementation of the recommendations of a reputed firm of consultants, which have advocated its needed strengthening.

Chapter 6 - Common Services

18. The apparent increase is also primarily of a technical nature, arising from revised distribution formulae for indirect costs. In particular, Chapter 6 now includes a greater proportion of computer infrastructure costs, because of the impact of the growing Wide Area Network (WAN) costs in decentralized Offices.

Distribution of the Proposed Appropriation (RG)

19. The following table examines the net impact on the Appropriation before cost increases, which is arrived at by deducting "Other Income" from the Programme of Work. The movements under "Programme Change" are substantively the same in programme terms under many headings, the only exception being Chapter 3, reflecting a decline of resources from "Other Income" (largely support cost income) in the total available resources.

Proposed Allocation for the Appropriation - RG (Excluding Cost Increases)

Resource Distribution Tables (ZRG)

20. As for the RG scenario above, the following tables describe the distribution of resources under the major budgetary headings for the ZRG scenario for both the Programme of Work and the Appropriation, shown in comparison to the same in the RG scenario. As explained above, ZRG not only implies the removal of much needed net increases in many areas, but embodies effective reductions in real terms in most cases from allocations in the current PWB 2002-03. A clear example is the TCP Appropriation which cannot be maintained even at its current level in the PWB, as this would have entailed an even higher sacrifice under other substantive programmes.

Proposed Overall Resources Allocation for the Programme of Work (ZRG)

21. As "other income" is not much affected by the level of the Appropriation, deduction of "other income" from the previous table leads to generally identical decreases from RG allocations for the Programme of Work and hence affecting the capacity of the Appropriation to meet recognised priorities.

Proposed Allocation for the Appropriation - ZRG (Excluding Cost Increases)

Links to the Strategic Framework 2000-2015
and the Medium Term Plan 2004-09

Distribution of Resources by Strategic Objectives

22. The Medium Term Plan 2004-2009 included information on the distribution of resources for substantive programmes (i.e. those under Chapter 2, Technical and Economic Programmes, and Major Programme 3.1, Policy Assistance) across the 12 objectives of the Strategic Framework (labelled A1 to E3).

23. The following table supplements the information provided in the MTP (adjusted to the first biennium 2004-2005 for comparative purposes) with similar breakdowns for the present SPWB proposals.

Substantive Programmes - Distribution of Resources by Strategic Objectives

24. The resource breakdowns across strategic objectives are broadly similar, while differences may occur due to the fact that lower resource levels are used in the SPWB proposals, compared to the tentative resource distribution pattern in the MTP 2004-09. A further analysis of the contribution of this Programme of Work to the Corporate Strategies of the Organization will be included in the full PWB.

Relationships with the Medium Term Plan 2004-09

25. The prime scope of the MTP is to translate the broad orientations of the Strategic Framework into fully articulated six-year programmes, which are specifically defined in terms of constituent programme entities. Therefore, the preparation of the rolling Medium Term Plan (MTP) is the prime instance in FAO, where the major design features of future programmes are set, as intended in the revised programme budget process endorsed by the Conference. In this context, the latter has underlined inter alia the desired complementarity between the MTP and PWB processes and documents. The constituent entities described in the MTP have a rationale, objectives, major outputs and indicators, as well as timeframes and estimates of overall resources required.

26. In addressing the MTP 2004-09 at its session of October/November 2002, the Council invited the Secretariat to prepare the SPWB 2004-05, taking as a starting point its substantive content. Therefore, the articulation of the SPWB proposals under substantive programmes, in terms of constituent entities, is identical to that shown in the MTP 2004-09. Hence, the SPWB formulation effort revolved essentially around the specific identification of the outputs planned for the biennium, and refining staff and non-staff resource requirements, in line with the resource scenarios specified by Senior Management, i.e. Real Growth (RG), but at a lower level than that anticipated in the MTP for the biennium 2004-05, and Zero Real-Growth (ZRG).

27. Moreover, the MTP 2004-09 included fairly detailed sets of priority actions aimed at implementing the six Strategies to Address Cross-organizational Issues which were highlighted in the Strategic Framework: Ensuring Excellence, Enhancing Inter-disciplinarity, Broadening Partnerships and Alliances, Continuing to Improve the Management Process, Leveraging Resources for FAO and its Members and Communicating FAO's Messages. As conveyed by their titles, the latter strategies affect to varying degrees, both substantive and non-substantive areas. Those priority actions listed in the MTP which were deemed to be amenable to immediate implementation within the prescribed resource scenarios, have been taken into account in the SPWB.

28. It is useful to recall below the principles of the programme model which underlie both the Medium Term Plan and the Programme of Work and Budget. The constituent entities of FAO's substantive work fall under three categories:

1. Technical projects (TPs, which can be recognised by their numbers in the range 2XXA1 to 2XXO9 - under Chapter 2). TPs have a normal duration of up to six years; their design should entail precise, time-bound objectives compatible with the Organization's overall strategic objectives, and clear benefits for target users; they should have well-defined major outputs and demonstrable effectiveness criteria and indicators;
2. Continuing programme activities (CPs, numbered 2XXP1 to 2XXR9), which are not of the same time bound nature as TPs (e.g. collection of statistical time series), while still involving clear objectives, indicators and outputs; and
3. Technical service agreements (TS, numbered 2XXS1 to 2XXZ9), which cover essentially demand-oriented services, such as advisory services to Members or technical support services to projects which cannot be specified in advance, and can include servicing of statutory meetings.

29. Important fields of information in the design of entities, such as the rationale and indicators, were specified in the Medium Term Plan 2004-09 and the associated database available on FAO's website. Accordingly, for the sake of brevity, the narratives for individual entities in Section IV below, are limited to statements of objective(s), which are normally "lifted" from the MTP, and lists of outputs planned for the next biennium. Further adjustments to these lists are possible and will be reflected in the full PWB, e.g. following the review of proposals in respective sectors by the Technical Committees of the Council, or when they result from more detailed planning or updated contexts during the full PWB preparations.

30. For information purposes, the indicative resource levels for the 2004-2005 biennium included in the Medium Term Plan 2004- 09 for FAO's substantive programmes are provided in the following table, together with those in the present SPWB proposals at the RG level.

Resources Programmed for Substantive Work for 2004-2005 (All amounts in US$ 000)

Priority Areas for Inter-disciplinary Action (PAIAs)

31. The first version of the Medium Term Plan (covering the 2002-2007 period) highlighted for the first time, sixteen Priority Areas for Inter-disciplinary Action (PAIAs), calling for needed cooperation across departments and offices. These PAIAs were to respond to the emphasis placed on enhanced multi-disciplinary approaches in the FAO Strategic Framework 2000-2015. Since then, these PAIAs have become an integral part of the MTP and PWB formulation process, while implementation is supported by a range of coordination mechanisms to secure joint commitments by all concerned units, as well as specific reporting procedures.

32. These PAIAs are recalled below under the corporate strategies on which they are largely focused, bearing in mind that several also support other strategies.

A - Contributing to the eradication of food insecurity and rural poverty

1. Local Institution Building to Improve Capacity for Achieving Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (LHOO)
2. Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness and Post-Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation (REHA)

B - Promoting, developing and reinforcing policy and regulatory frameworks for food, agriculture, fisheries and forestry

1. Biosecurity for Agriculture and Food Production (BIOS)
2. WTO Multi-lateral Trade Negotiations on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (AWTO)
3. Climate Change Issues in Agriculture (CLIM)

C - Creating sustainable increases in the supply and availability of food and other products from the crop, livestock, fisheries and forestry sectors

1. Organic Agriculture (ORGA)
2. Food for the Cities (FCIT)
3. Integrated Production Systems (SARD/SPFS) (PROD)
4. Biotechnology Applications in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (BTEC)

D - Supporting the conservation, improvement and sustainable use of natural resources for food and agriculture

1. Integrated Management of Biological Diversity for Food and Agriculture (BIOD)
2. Strengthening Capacity for Integrated Ecosystem Management (ECOM)

E - Improving decision-making through the provision of information and assessments and fostering of knowledge management for food and agriculture

1. Definitions, Norms, Methodologies and Quality of Information (QINF)
2. Spatial Information Management and Decision Support Tools (SPAT)
3. Global Perspective Studies (GLOP)

33. The other two PAIAs are of a thematic nature, covering Gender and Development (GAD), and Ethics in Food and Agriculture (ETHI). It is recalled that the detailed Plan of Action on Gender and Development 2002-2007 was endorsed by the FAO Conference at its November 2001 session.

34. It is also recalled that a provision exists at central level (entity 210S5) for limited resources to be made available to the respective coordination mechanisms and Chairpersons, to cover the cost of corporate outputs not otherwise budgeted under the respective divisions (e.g. the establishment of a Website of a PAIA). Some PAIAs may also attract extra-budgetary support.

35. Planned work under each of the above PAIAs was described in the Medium Term Plan 2004-09, including the objectives sought, the identified priorities, the appropriate supervisory mechanism and the anticipated contributions from the concerned substantive Major Programmes. Therefore, it may useful here only to recall briefly the scope and/or context of each PAIA, and the objectives sought as stated in the MTP. The full PWB will provide more information on pertinent planned activities in the biennium 2004-05.

Local Institution Building to Improve Capacity for Achieving Sustainable Rural Livelihoods

Scope/context

36. This PAIA reflects the importance of paying due attention to institutional aspects in the enhancement of rural livelihoods, beyond other traditional dimensions of policy formulation and development cooperation, such as technology improvement and transfer. It may be recalled that there is extensive interest of some donors in this area.

Objectives

1. to improve the effectiveness of national policies and programmes aimed at strengthening the contribution of local institutions to rural livelihoods and assisting vulnerable populations;
2. to foster local institutions and attendant organizational capacity for improving rural livelihoods and ensuring equitable access to resources; and
3. to strengthen links of local institutions where appropriate to regional, national and international institutions.

Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness and Post-Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation

Scope/context

37. In the light of the growing volume of activities linked to emergencies and rehabilitation in all regions, this PAIA addresses the need for well coordinated assistance throughout a broad continuum of interventions, from preparedness and alerts, to rehabilitation through relief assistance.

Objectives

1. to develop FAO's capability as a diversified source of information on technical, institutional and policy considerations of relevance to the theme of this PAIA;
2. to increase synergies between the concerned FAO technical and operational units, so that normative activities reflect lessons learned from field experience; and
3. to increase FAO's effectiveness in relation to emergency preparedness and response at the field level.

Biosecurity for Agriculture and Food Production

Scope/context

38. The much heightened interest among the general public and governments in the effective management of risks associated with agricultural and food production, provides the self-evident backdrop to this PAIA.

Objectives

1. to provide policy advice to governments on biosecurity issues;
2. to support effective information exchange among Members; and
3. to assist countries in terms of effective biosecurity programmes and their participation in related standard-setting activities.

WTO Multi-lateral Trade Negotiations on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Scope/context

39. There are extensive requirements for assistance among the Membership linked to ongoing Trade Negotiations in areas covered by FAO's mandate, which call for concerted action by all concerned departments.

Objective

In the light of the conclusions of the Fourth WTO¹ Ministerial Conference (Doha, Qatar), to support Members, particularly developing countries and countries in transition, with a view to increasing their capacity to participate effectively in international trade negotiations and to better integrate into global trade in food, agricultural, fishery and forestry products.

Climate Change Issues in Agriculture

Scope/context

40. Work under this PAIA should enable FAO to play its due role and in a consistent manner, in the expanding field of analytical activities and international initiatives and agreements linked to climate change and its consequences for agriculture.

Objectives

1. to develop normative and methodological approaches integrating forestry, agricultural, cultural and economic issues in the context of climate change; and
2. to open new channels of financing and other support measures for mitigating and adapting to climate change, building on expanding cooperation with GEF².

Organic Agriculture

Scope/context

41. This PAIA takes account of the growing interest in organically produced foods in all regions and of related demands for assistance, which require multi-disciplinary approaches.

Objectives

1. to assist countries in the development of organic agriculture, including national capacity to effectively produce, store, process, inspect, certify and market organic foods and fibres; and
2. to strengthen FAO's information base and partnerships on issues of importance to organic agriculture.

Food for the Cities

Scope/context

42. Feeding cities in a fast urbanizing world, including tapping the potential for this from peri-urban areas, also calls for multi-disciplinary inputs, which this PAIA aims at assembling.

Objectives

1. to enhance awareness of governments, municipal authorities and relevant institutions as relates to urban and peri-urban food security requirements, especially of poor households;
2. to assist with safety, efficiency and sustainability dimensions of urban and peri-urban food and agricultural production and post-production systems;
3. to ensure that the urban food system is an integral component of the national food supply and distribution system, taking into account the need to enhance rural and urban linkages; and
4. to promote sound environmental policies concerning urban and peri-urban areas, while reducing urban food insecurity.

Integrated Production Systems (SARD/SPFS)

Scope/context

43. The scope for cross-sectoral work can be directly perceived from the title of this PAIA, which seeks to ensure the improved integration of all necessary components in FAO's work on production systems, both of a horizontal and vertical nature.

Objectives

1. to assist with smallholder crop and livestock intensification strategies and integrated production technologies, including aquaculture and agro-forestry;
2. to provide viable crop and livestock diversification options to Members to meet food security and income generation targets and increment market opportunities;
3. to enhance integration of production, processing, packaging, transport and storage of marketable commodities and value-added products from the farm through to the consumer;
4. to support entrepreneurs in rural and peri-urban agribusiness development; and
5. to facilitate adoption of novel approaches to crop and livestock intensification and product processing.

Biotechnology Applications in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Scope/context

44. This PAIA also covers a subject of growing interest to the general public and governments, and aims at ensuring coherence of action, across many areas pertinent to FAO's mandate, where biotechnologies are or could be applied.

Objective

To assist Members, particularly developing countries, in the safe and responsible application of biotechnology to enhance food security.

Integrated Management of Biological Diversity for Food and Agriculture

Scope/context

45. This PAIA takes account of the fact that FAO is both a key promoter of concerted international action and agreements in managing biological diversity (particularly as relates to Plant Genetic Resources in Food and Agriculture) and an essential contributor to other initiatives, requiring a common approach by all concerned units.

Objectives

1. to improve understanding of: the ecological functions of agricultural biodiversity; the interactions among its components, the physical environment and socio-economic factors at all scales; and the impact of agricultural practices on biodiversity and ecosystems;
2. to promote improved and adaptive ecosystem management practices, including resource allocation and conflict resolution leading to increased benefits for local, national and global stakeholders;
3. to assist in capacity building of local communities and organizations to manage agricultural biodiversity; and
4. to support national and international policies and instruments related to the conservation, sustainable use, and adaptive management of agricultural biodiversity.

Strengthening Capacity for Integrated Ecosystem Management

Scope/context

46. This PAIA relates to important problems of management and protection of fragile eco-systems, requiring effective multi-disciplinary tools.

Objective

To promote the ecosystem management approach for use by Members and other partners.

Definitions, Norms, Methodologies and Quality of Information

Scope/context

47. As information dissemination is central to FAO's mandate and permeates the work of most technical units, the Organization must pay continuing attention to well coordinated approaches and methods.

Objective

To promote the use of agreed standards, norms and common methodologies so as to ensure high quality of the information disseminated.

Spatial Information Management and Decision Support Tools

Scope/context

48. This PAIA should enable FAO to continue its pioneering role in the use of spatially-referenced information and tools, which cuts across various technical programmes.

Objective

To facilitate access to harmonised spatial information produced within and outside FAO; e.g. for use in global and regional perspective studies, and for national application by Members.

Global Perspective Studies

Scope/context

49. While work on the well established range of global and sectoral outlook studies issued by FAO, has always involved a substantial amount of inter-departmental cooperation and exchanges, this PAIA addresses a number of specific areas where this cooperation can be further strengthened.

Objectives

1. to harmonize, to the maximum extent possible, major assumptions and time horizons used in FAO's perspective analyses, and policy statements on key issues of international interest;
2. to identify and analyze issues of a long-term and inter-disciplinary nature on which FAO needs to express a position; and
3. to identify (additional) analytical tools and enhance FAO's capacity to undertake long-term perspective analysis.

Gender and Development

Scope/context

50. This PAIA addresses a major priority of consistent interest to Governing Bodies, i.e. "mainstreaming" of gender issues in all aspects of FAO's work (it used, in fact, to be referred to as: "Gender Mainstreaming"). As recalled above, the major instrument for this is the Plan of Action on Gender and Development endorsed by the FAO Conference, which foresees four major objectives, as follows.

Objective 1

To assist Members in their efforts to increase rural women and men's equal access to sufficient, safe and nutritionally adequate food.

Objective 2

To assist Members in their efforts to increase rural women and men's equal access to and control over natural resources and agricultural support services.

Objective 3

To assist Members in their efforts to promote gender equality in policy- and decision-making processes.

Objective 4

To assist Members in their efforts to promote gender equality in opportunities for on- and off-farm employment in rural areas.

Ethics in Food and Agriculture

Scope/context

51. "Ethical" issues or dimensions are clearly not exclusive to any single sector of activity covered by FAO's mandate, and thus this PAIA aims at addressing such issues in a systematic and coordinated manner.

Objectives

1. to mainstream activities relevant to ethics in food and agriculture within FAO, in order to incorporate ethical considerations, where pertinent, in the ongoing normative and technical work of the Organization; and
2. to assist with raising public awareness on ethical issues in food and agriculture and facilitate exchanges with other inter-governmental organizations.

¹ World Trade Organization

² Global Environment Facility