32. The draft discussion document should incorporate the changes suggested by the Working Party and then be published as a FAO Fisheries Circular.
33. This Administrative Report, including the updated Strategic Framework for Human Capacity Development in Fisheries, should be submitted to ACFR for its deliberation.
34. The FAO Fisheries Department, pending progress in the adoption of the draft Strategic Framework by its Governing Bodies, should lay greater emphasis on human capacity development in its work.
35. In particular, it is suggested that FAO place emphasis on the following areas:
Development and operationalization of a practical toolkit or manual to assist in designing, implementing and monitoring human capacity development approaches.
A number of the strategies outlined in Part 5 of the draft Strategic Framework require considerable levels of cooperation and linkage, within and between beneficiaries, donors, development practitioners, governments, researchers, NGOs and other stakeholders. As the key international fisheries-related organization, FAO could play a lead role in facilitating such cooperation.
Implementation of the draft Strategic Framework will require feedback and consultation with other donors and stakeholders to assess its merits, improve it, and again, to operationalize the specified actions with associated responsibilities and timeframes. The Working Party expressed the view that the FAO should play a key role in this approach.
The importance of ICT and newly emerging electronic systems was highlighted in ACFR/WP/HCB/I/2. FAO has been active in developing and supporting an increasingly wide range of ICT solutions (including the Community Development Server) that are aimed at facilitating knowledge exchange using a participatory, “many-to-many” approach. Such systems, or open source alternatives, could be deployed through FAO or its partner agencies for the purposes of fisheries capacity building in several ways. FAO may also act as a key hub for human capacity development tools and mechanisms for these systems.
FAO regional fishery bodies, along with other intergovernmental organizations, could serve as key hubs in the various regional networks and groupings that already exist or may emerge. It is suggested that where available, the infrastructure and capabilities of existing regional organizations should be used to facilitate these regional fora, rather than attempting to establish new regional organizations specific to human capacity development. The Working Party also expressed concern that not all aquatic areas of the world were covered.
