TAC compliments Professor E.T. York and the team which conducted the Mid-Term External Review of ICLARM for a clear, frank, and perceptive assessment of the Centre's programme and management. TAC endorses the panel's recommendations and offers the following commentary, which was prepared with contributions by the CGIAR Secretariat on the management aspects of ICLARM's work, to supplement the panel's report.
TAC is pleased with the progress ICLARM has made since the 1992 External Review and the internal crisis of April 1993. The Committee is convinced that ICLARM is well positioned to make a major contribution to CGIAR goals and priorities and that the Centre merits the full support of the CGIAR. The pains associated with the Centre's transformation from a project-driven to a programme-based organization, as well as the turbulence arising from the 1993 internal strife, have been largely overcome and the Centre's research programme is being successfully implemented.
The panel has based some of its conclusions on the outcome of Internally-Commissioned External Reviews (ICERs), which are a welcome development to supplement CGIAR external reviews. In this connection, TAC applauds the Board of ICLARM for its intention to commission ICERs of all ICLARM programmes every four to five years in a staggered fashion.
TAC notes with pleasure the progress ICLARM has made in its Inland Aquatic Resource Systems Programme (IARSP). The quantitative genetic breeding programme has been very successful in increasing growth rates of Tilapia up to 60%. Over the last two years ICLARM has integrated its former Coral Reef and Coastal Resource Systems Programmes into a single programme and impressive output has been achieved in the form of databases such as Fish-base, FiDAS and (be it in an initial phase yet) Reef base along side a number of valuable and well-received publications.
Response to the 1992 External Review
ICLARM has largely implemented the recommendations of the 1992 External Programme and Management Review and TAC commends the Board and Management of ICLARM for successfully steering the Centre after the period of internal crisis in 1993. However, three aspects of ICLARM's evolution continue to concern TAC:
· ICLARM's Science Capacity.
ICLARM is a small institute with a global mandate for research on aquatic resources. The Centre's in-house scientific capacity to carry out an interdisciplinary international research programme is limited, especially at the middle level. TAC therefore urges ICLARM to enhance its capacity and to ensure that it maintains and expands strategic alliances with other research organizations to enhance its own research capacity.
· ICLARM's Financial Base. ICLARM's unrestricted core resources are the lowest in the CGIAR in absolute terms (US$ 2.7 million in 1993). TAC is concerned about this precarious financial situation as it provides the Centre with very little flexibility. TAC urges the CGIAR donor community to explore ways of ensuring a minimum critical unrestricted funding base, particularly for small centres.
· Legal Status and Headquarters Agreement. ICLARM still does not have the legal standing in the Philippines befitting an international research organization. Although there is a formal agreement establishing ICLARM as an international entity, despite the continuing efforts of ICLARM's Board and Management, the Centre has not yet been able to obtain a host country agreement providing the requisite and customary immunities and privileges to this entity. Currently ICLARM operates as a non-profit corporation under Philippine law. This creates significant inefficiencies for the institution as an international research centre. TAC joins the panel in recommending that the Board continue to attend to this matter with utmost urgency.
Offer of the Government of Egypt
A major limitation to the effective implementation of ICLARM's research programme has been the Centre's lack of facilities. The offer of the Government of Egypt to provide extensive fisheries research and residential facilities could provide good opportunities, particularly in the areas of in-situ conservation, training and experimentation.
TAC agrees with the Board of ICLARM that the Egyptian offer will need to be studied carefully by ICLARM with the support of a team of external experts from several perspectives. These should include: first, scientific and technical considerations such as the suitability of the facilities for carrying out scientific research vis-à-vis ICLARM's and the CGIAR strategies and priorities, and the representativeness of the site vis-à-vis ICLARM's total mandate area. Second, there are strategic institutional considerations which will need to be taken into account, such as ICLARM's need for a staging post for its African operations and the opportunity to transform ICLARM from an "office-based" to a "research station-based" operation in the immediate future.
Third, ICLARM will need to take into account the long-term financial implications of basing a major part of its operations in Egypt, such as the recurrent cost of operating a sizeable research station and residential facilities.
Given the potential implications for ICLARM and the CGIAR, TAC asks to be kept informed of ICLARM's progress in studying this matter.
Conclusion
TAC is pleased with ICLARM's progress in implementing an effective research programme and in improving its management. The Centre is now well on the road to success. TAC agrees with the panel that ICLARM should be allocated the US$ 1 million fisheries reserve which TAC had conditionally recommended based on a positive outcome of this Mid-Term Review.
TAC concurs with the panel that the CGIAR should give higher priority to research on aquatic resources. This will require a gradual expansion of ICLARM's activities and resources. TAC will address this issue in its deliberations on resource allocation and the CGIAR's research agenda.
