CSO Intervention - Multi-Year Program of Work (MYPOW) 2020-2030

We, members of civil society and farmer organizations in Asia-Pacific who are engaging in the 35th FAO-APRC, reiterate the indispensability of our meaningful participation in intergovernmental deliberations and processes of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).  This principle has been strongly enshrined in UN norms and agreements since the Rio Summit in 1992 and UN agencies have evolved various mechanisms and practices to operationalize this in their programs and activities.

We thus express our concern on the absence of reference to the role of CSOs and farmer organizations in the formulation, priority-setting, monitoring and review of the past and current Multi-Year Program of Work (MYPOW) of the FAO Regional Office for Asia-Pacific (FAO-ROAP).  The activities and working methods identified to achieve results and targets for the MYPOW for 2020-2030 could benefit from engagement with CSOs and farmer organizations through regular consultations, integration in FAO programs and activities, and obtaining feedback from them at the regional and national levels.

The participation of CSOs and farmer organizations in the FAO Asia-Pacific Regional Conference cannot be as meaningful if we are not involved in formulation of the MYPOW that details the priorities and activities of the regional office in a decade cycle.  CSOs and farmer organizations will not be able to substantively contribute to the APRC’s consideration of the implementation of the MYPOW and provide useful feedback if we are not meaningfully integrated in the planning and review process.  While there had been involvement of CSOs in some programs and activities of FAO as reported in the Decentralized Offices Network (item33), we believe that there could be more opportunities for productive and inclusive engagement if the mechanism for regular dialogue and consultation at national and regional levels, beyond the biennial APRC, is in place. 

We call on Member-States and FAO-ROAP to institutionalize a transparent mechanism for CSOs and farmer organizations to meaningfully participate in shaping the MYPOW, be consulted on feedbacks and impacts, and contribute to monitoring and review of FAO programs and activities in the region.  We hope that FAO will give priority attention and share the result of the Independent Evaluation of FAO’s Strategy for Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations conducted this year, in the spirit of responsible, inclusive, and genuine partnership.