SECRETARIAT

With the generous support of FAO the IPTRID Secretariat continued its location within the Organization's Land and Water Development Division. The current arrangement, as per the existent Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Assistant Director-General of the Agriculture Department, Ms Louise O. Fresco, and the Chairperson of the Consultative Group, Mr Peter Lee, on 20 May 2003 runs until 31 December 2007.

As one of the main recommendations highlighted by the IPTRID Triennial External Evaluation team in their recent Report, it will be appropriate for the Programme Secretariat to start exploring alternative locations to the present one, including the relocation of IPTRID in a developing country. The matter derives from opinions expressed by a broad range of stakeholders, including FAO officials, who think strongly that the Programme can be more efficient when located closer to our main intended beneficiaries. This issue is to have high priority in our forthcoming years of activities.

With respect to the composition of the Secretariat staff, the year reported saw a good number of changes, including the nomination of a new Programme Manager as of 1 March and as reported in various other sections of this Report. Also, during 2005, the Secretariat was able to engage another middle level position from June onwards. In addition, a new APO provided by France to replace the outgoing one completes the movement of staff during the reporting period.

At the end of this reporting period, the Secretariat finds itself clearly understaffed with three of its Senior Technical positions vacant since the departure in September of the Deputy Programme Manager, as can be seen on Table 2. This, table also includes the staff projections for the coming year.

It is a pleasure to communicate that the Government of France has agreed to provide two civil service water-related professionals under secondment arrangements to the Secretariat. These positions will be at Senior and Middle levels and will undoubtedly contribute to a much needed impulse to our human resources. These personnel are to be available in early 2006.

In Figure 1 the Secretariat's staff organization structure is provided. It represents a minimum staffing level situation required to comply with the existing workload. Thus, the basic number of staff of the Secretariat is meant to be a Programme Manager, three Senior Officers (originally assigned regional responsibilities and lately being considered according to specialization), three Technical Officers (occasionally filled in with Associate Professional Officers seconded by governments), an Information Officer (currently taken up by the project head of the Virtual Center) and a Secretary. Finally, Consultants are meant to be an integral component of the Secretariat's human resources. These are normally relatively short-term. The graph should be used as guideline for the interpretation of Table 2.

Below is a brief information summary on the departing and incoming personnel.

Table 2. Secretariat Long-Term Staff in 2005 and projections for 2006

POSITION

Staff

Actual 2005

Projected 2006

Remarks