Programme Committee

Executive Summary

1. An internal review of the FAO Associate Professional Officer (APO) Programme, the first in its long history since 1954, was carried out by the Evaluation Service in 1998 to assess the Programme's achievements during the period 1988-97. The review's main purpose was to ascertain the degree to which the Programme has been providing the benefits expected by its main stakeholders and to identify key areas for possible adjustments and improvements. The review was based largely on a survey of the key stakeholders, covering 337 respondants consisting of current and former APOs, officials of the APO-hosting countries, FAO Representatives and FAO supervisors of the APOs.
   
   
2. FAO's APO Programme has been one of the largest of its kind among the UN agencies:

- during the period covered, a total of 867 APOs entered the Programme, with 983 completing it, and two-thirds of the APOs serving on field projects;

- eighteen donors participated, with annual expenditures of US$ 16 million in 1997;

- three of the donors (Italy, Japan and the Netherlands) have also sponsored APOs from developing countries; and

- there had been a steady decline during the period in the number of new entrants to the Programme, from 170 in 1988 to 90 in 1994 and to 21 in 1997.

3. The main findings were as follows:

a) in terms of overall benefits, the Programme was well-appreciated by a good majority of the key stakeholders - it was rated good or excellent by 70% of APOs (current and former), 71% of host country officials, 83% of FAORs and 96% of FAO supervisors;

b) a sizeable minority (36%) of APOs succeeded in obtaining employment in FAO with various contracts, the majority of them in the same units or locations where they had served. APOs from developing countries had a low rate of finding employment with FAO (18%). Those APOs with extended contract duration had a better chance of finding employment in FAO;

c) the majority of APOs finding employment with FAO were those sponsored by the four largest donors (the Netherlands accounting for 20%, Belgium 17%, Italy and Germany 15% each), but there was no clear correlation between the number of APOs sponsored by the donors and the percentages of their APOs finding employment with FAO;

d) according to the FAO supervisors, APOs made useful professional contributions both in technical cooperation and in normative work; and

e) at the same time, several weaknesses were highlighted by the APOs and their FAO supervisors on the programme administration, including the selection process, technical briefing and supervision, monitoring of APO performance, budgetary provisions for APO travel, and debriefing and follow-up of departing APOs.

4. The review identified several main issues, including:

a) the recent trend of decline in new APO entrants, apparently largely due to the donors' funding constraints;

b) the low level of participation in the Programme of nationals from developing countries (a common issue throughout the APO/JPO programmes in the UN system), including low prospects of their finding employment with FAO;

c) the continuing and large imbalance between FAO demand for APOs and the number actually supplied by donors (70% of APO vacancies unfilled); and

d) the persistent problems in programme management and administration, resulting in some serious dissatisfaction among the APOs and their supervisors.

5. The review focused its recommendations on two sets of action by FAO, aimed at (a) immediate improvements in the coherence and effectiveness in the Programme's management and administration and (b) ensuring a greater use of the Programme as a source for recruiting well-qualified young professionals as part of FAO's human resources strategy. The main recommendations include:

a) improvement of APO programme management through: (i) the establishment of modern management methods for oversight and quality control; (ii) the appointment of a full-time task manager for the Programme with responsibility, inter-alia, for the APO performance monitoring system (see e) below); and (iii) issuance of a Circular to promote staff awareness of the Programme objectives and procedures throughout the Organization;

b) enhancing communication with external partners to promote better understanding of the Programme, including the preparation of a brochure or booklet;

c) ensuring the maintenance of uninterrupted donor contact and transparent reporting on the Programme;

d) introduction of recruitment measures which would open up greater opportunities for well-qualified APOs for professional posts at lower grades (P-2/P-3 levels); and

e) the establishment of an independent APO performance monitoring system to assess the level of competency achieved.

6. The above findings and recommendations have been discussed with the Programme management staff in the Technical Cooperation Department. They broadly agree with them and intend to take action for implementation (see Annex with the comments of the Assistant Director-General, TC Department). Similarly, the substance of review findings and recommendations was presented, and was generally welcomed, at the APO/JPO/AE Donors Meeting held jointly by FAO,WFP and IFAD in September 1999.

I. Introduction

1.1 BACKGROUND

1. This note presents a summary of the main findings and recommendations of an internal review of the FAO Associate Professional Officer (APO) Programme. The review was undertaken to address a number of pressing issues emerging in recent years:

1. a divergence of views among main programme partners - donors, host countries and FAO - regarding the Programme's intended benefits, the former emphasizing the opportunity of a UN career for their APOs, while the latter two are more concerned with APOs' possible contributions to development;
   
   
2. the changing opportunities for APO work in FAO due to changes in the size and profile of the FAO Field Programme, including the trend towards national execution, as well as because of FAO restructuring and decentralization;
   
   
3. growing competition for APO utilization from other agencies, both inside and outside the UN; and
   
   
4. a persistent perception among donors as evidenced in some of their recent evaluations that the APO programme management has not received the attention it deserves from the concerned UN executing agencies - in FAO's case, it is acknowledged that there exists an identifiable APO management unit (in TCDM).

2. The scope of the review covered: (a) an in-depth examination of Programme objectives and achievements over the 1988-1997 period; (b) an assessment of its performance in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, strengths and weaknesses; and (c) recommendations for enhancing the Programme's relevance, cost effectiveness and impact in terms of its contribution to FAO's work and to the partners. The review was carried out during 1998 (May- November) by a team composed of an FAO Senior Evaluation Officer and a consultant (a former APO), who assisted in the design, management and analysis of surveys of the Programme's key stakeholders¹. These surveys constituted a distinctive feature of this review aimed at gathering and analysis of the opinions of the major stakeholders.

3. Four distinct groups were covered through a set of questionnaire surveys: (a) currently employed APOs; (b) former APOs, going back over a ten-year period; (c) APO supervisors in FAO, both at Headquarters and in decentralized offices; and (d) APO-host countries. The questionnaire for the last group was administered through the FAO Representatives (FAORs) in 31 selected developing countries, with a relatively larger number of APOs currently in place. Over a thousand persons were contacted - many by email - and 337 questionnaire forms were returned. The surveys were complemented by an enquiry into the FAO personnel database, especially on former APOs' subsequent employment by FAO over the period (1988-1997).

4. Interviews with key informants constituted the second most important pillar of the investigation. Interviews were carried out with both former and current APOs, APO supervisors located at FAO Headquarters and APO Programme donors. APO career-related events, such as briefing and debriefing sessions at FAO Headquarters, were also observed by the review team. Discussions were held with all FAO staff involved in the APO Programme, either as managers or supervisors of APOs (over 60 APO supervisors contacted).

5. In addition, a representative sample of donors were contacted - some of the major donors (the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy) were visited by the evaluation officer, as were WFP, IFAD, and Unesco in Paris. Other major APO user agencies in the UN system and outside the UN system, in particular the OECD and the European Commission, were also contacted.

1.2 APO PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES

6. FAO has relied on the ECOSOC Resolution 849 (XXXII) of 1961 as the basic framework for the APO Programme². The Programme's objectives are two-fold: (i) in-service training of young professionals in FAO under the technical supervision of its senior staff; and (ii) provision of additional assistance through FAO to developing countries. Within this framework, the main stakeholders, especially the donors, host developing countries and FAO, put different emphasis on the benefits they expect from the Programme, although they all agree on the importance of professional training for the APOs. Many donors tend to emphasize the opportunity of a UN career for their APOs, while the APO host developing countries are more concerned with APOs'contributions to their development efforts, and FAO expects APOs to provide additional manpower and expertise for its work. As noted above, these differences in expectations, especially that between some donors and FAO, have raised some issues that affect their participation in the Programme.

7. Given the diverse benefits expected from the Programme, this review focussed on the following aspects in assessing the achievements and results:

• improvement in APOs'expertise for development work;
• APOs' career prospects after their participation in the Programme;
• additional, effective contribution to development assistance; and
• additional support for FAO's normative role.

II. Main Findings

2.1 APO PROGRAMME ACHIEVEMENTS AND RESULTS

2.1.1 Quantitative Achievements

8. The FAO APO Programme, dating back to 1954, is one of the oldest among the UN agencies and has remained one of the largest: in 1998, UNDP had the largest number of APOs (some 350), followed by FAO (219) and UNHCR (98). During the 10-year period covered, a total of 867 APOs entered the FAO Programme. During the period, some 35% were women but their proportion increased from 25-30% during 1988-90 to nearly 40% in 1996-97. At the same time, 983 completed and separated from the Programme. In terms of location of their assignment, the data for 1996-98 showed that the great majority served in the field on projects and programmes (65%) in comparison with 25% at HQ, 6% at country FAO Representations, and 3% in Regional and Sub-regional Offices. However, there has been a steady decline in the number of new entrants to the Programme during the 10-year period, from 170 in 1988 to 90 in 1994 to 21 in 1997. The share of APOs in the total FAO professional staff decreased from about 18% in 1996 to 13% in 1998.

9. The Programme had 18 donors³ in 1998: the annual expenditures were US $18.5 million and US$ 15.9 million in 1996 and 1997, respectively. The largest donors during the 1988-98 period were the Netherlands (32% of the total APOs), Belgium (16%), Denmark (10%), Germany (8%) and Italy (7%). Three donors (Italy, Japan and the Netherlands) funded APOs from developing countries, besides their own nationals: however, such APOs from developing countries have numbered only 28 (2%) so far.

10. Administratively, the Programme has been managed by the Unit for Cooperation with Multilateral and Bilateral Agencies (TCDM) in the Technical Cooperation Department as part of the Government Cooperative Programme (GCP). The day-to-day operation of the Programme is handled by a section headed by one professional (P-3), with four GS staff (posts). Its main functions cover: (i) coordination between the FAO offices and the donors regarding APO vacancies, including management of post descriptions and follow-up on recruitment matters; (ii) organization of briefing and debriefing of APOs, including their separation procedures; (iii) monitoring and reporting on APO budgets and expenditures; (iv) administering APO post transfers and contract extensions; and (v) submission of APOs' arrival and progress reports to the donors. However, the staff of the APO unit has had to take on other work not directly related to the APO Programme in recent years, a trend that has made it difficult for the unit to bring further improvements to the Programme's administration, including the introduction of a more systematic APO performance monitoring system.

2.1.2 Overall Benefits Perceived by the Programme Stakeholders

11. Four categories of stakeholders were approached for their views on the overall benefits they drew from the APO Programme:

• APO host developing countries;
• FAO Representatives (FAORs);
• FAO supervisors of APOs; and
• currently employed APOs and former APOs.

12. In examining the responses summarized in Table 1, the very positive views on the Programme expressed by APO supervisors and FAORs are striking: 96 percent and 83 percent, respectively, classify the Programme as "very useful or useful"and "invaluable or of major benefit". Host developing countries and APOs themselves are also generally very positive. However, it is significant that 10 percent of the immediate target group (current or former APOs) rate the Programme as "poor": when those that consider it only "average" are added, fully 30 percent of this group of stakeholders must be considered as "not fully satisfied". It is also a matter of concern that no less than 29 percent of host countries see the Programme as "average" - many expressed the view that the level of expertise of APOs, often equal to that of national experts, did not justify their status as international civil servants.

Table 1: Survey Results on Overall Benefits Derived from the APO Programme

13. Table 2 provides a synoptic view of assessments by various stakeholders regarding the main programme management aspects. It indicates that APOs express varying degrees of dissatisfaction on wide-ranging aspects. These include: (i) inadequate briefing and debriefing; (ii) insufficient or unsatisfactory technical supervision; (iii) disputes with supervisors about workplan or lack of an agreed workplan; (iv) a feeling of being exploited to do non-professional tasks; and (v) difficulties in transferring to what seems like a better position in another project or country. It is noteworthy that many APOs expressed dissatisfaction with technical supervision: 44 percent of current APOs and 27 percent of former APOs were not satisfied with the quality of supervision received - a further 48 percent of the current APOs were dissatisfied with technical monitoring by their supervisors. In this regard, while a much higher percentage of current APOs expressed dissatisfaction than former APOs, it is worth noting that their perceptions on the Programme became more positive, the longer they served on the Programme.

Table 2: Survey Results on Major Steps in APO Programme Management

14. In summary, in terms of the programme management aspects, the following points require attention:

• APO selection process;
• APO briefing, particularly technical briefing;
• work methods and APO supervision;
• monitoring APO performance;
• travel budgets; and
• debriefing and follow-up.

2.1.3 Benefits of the Programme

15. Benefits of the Programme as perceived by each group of stakeholders (APOs, developing countries hosting APOs, donor countries and FAO) are examined in this section.

(a) Benefits for APOs

16. APOs were approached for their views on the training benefits derived from the Programme.

17. In terms of their satisfaction on professional/technical aspects, APOs tend to feel more positive as they serve longer periods, as shown in Table 3 below. A strikingly high proportion of (former and current) APOs - 84 percent - judged their overall experience in their second assignment to have been either "excellent" or "good" as compared to 62 percent (former APOs) and 48 percent (current APOs) with respect to their first year. This finding corresponds with the judgement of APO supervisors that APO performance was generally better towards the end of their assignment. It was therefore not surprising that those on a second assignment had a much better chance to find employment with FAO (41 percent did as opposed to an average of 28 percent).

Table 3: Value-added of a Second Assignment or Longer Assignment as APOs

18. APOs attached particular importance to improvements achieved in areas ranging from the management and organization of work (operational skills) to the ability to present (promotional skills) as well as administrative and language skills (see Table 4 below).

Table 4: Benefits to APOs derived from the APO Programme
Other than in Technical Area of Expertise

19. The review also examined the career prospects following APO assignment. The results showed that:

• of the total 983 APOs who separated from FAO over this period, 357 or 36 percent, found employment with FAO (all kinds of employment, including consultancies);
• of these, 222 former APOs, or 23 percent of the total, obtained a contract at professional level at some time over the period, and for 200, or 20 percent, their first professional contract was with FAO, usually at P-3 level;
• the majority of 357 former APOs who found employment with FAO, 235 or 66 percent, did so in the same location (e.g. at Headquarters for those located in Headquarters, etc.) and generally in the same department or division.

20. At times, the APO's contract may be extended beyond the original time under a cost-sharing arrangement in which case the APO supervisor must justify the extension, for example, due to "important unfinished work". The incidence of such cost-sharing arrangements has been variable, ranging from 66 percent of all contracts for one donor (Belgium) to as little as 8 percent for another (Italy).

21. Is cost-sharing an effective instrument to increasing the chance for the outgoing APO to find employment with FAO? This system does indeed work in favour of those APOs in obtaining employment with FAO in one form or another. This is usually because:

• they have already obtained the support of their supervisors;
• they are in a type of job that has strong continuing aspects (i.e. they are not on a terminating field project or working on a one-time "normative" task ); and/or
• they are on an important on-going project/programme financed by their own donor.

22. Looking beyond the question of uptake into FAO, are APOs in a better position to obtain a job at the end of their assignment? This is a difficult question to answer in the absence of a control group of similar young professionals, with whom the experience of APOs may be compared. However, the two following findings indicate a positive picture in this respect:

• length of first involuntary unemployment following the APO assignment: 62 percent of former APOs found another job within two months, 91 percent within one year, and after 18 months only 6 percent were left searching for a job. What is even more striking is that of those respondants who separated most recently from FAO (48 APOs in 1997-98), 85 percent had found a job within two months and 100 percent within one year;
• non-development work: not all jobs found by former APOs were with FAO or the UN system, and a considerable proportion ended up in non-development work, particularly as time went by after their first employment following termination of their APO assignment. This appears to happen particularly to women (53 percent are in other, unrelated jobs).

(b) Programme Benefits for Developing Countries

23. Developing countries that have hosted APOs pointed to the following specific benefits:

• a positive exchange between different cultures;
• an opportunity for national counterpart staff to get additional training;
• a good source of up-to-date information and/or provision of latest skills and improved transfer of technology and new techniques;
• planning and management; and
• good liaison work with local authorities and the international donor community.

24. This being said, the rating as "average" on the performance of some APOs by 29 percent of the authorities of the host countries and 10 percent of FAORs should sound a note of concern: "average" may be a diplomatic euphemism for "poor". For the FAORs, the main causes of concern seem to be what they perceive as APOs' poor interpersonal relations and lack of experience.

(c) Benefits for Donor Countries

25. A parallel examination of Tables 5 and 6 below shows that the rate of uptake into FAO varies considerably from donor to donor and from year to year. Broadly, the more APOs a donor sponsors, the more likely a relatively large number will find some kind of employment in FAO. However, the uptake percentage is likely to be inversely related to the total number.

Table 5: Number of APOs obtaining contracts in FAO after Separating -
Selected Donors⁵
(1988-1997)

Table 6: Yearly Uptake of APOs into FAO with Professional Contracts
(1988-97)

26. The rate of uptake appears to be affected by the following factors:

• factors dependent on the APO's particular circumstances: (a) relationship with direct supervisor; (b) location in a continuing project or programme; (c) existence of an explicit donor policy to link its APO programme with Trust Fund activities in order to increase former APOs' chances of employment with FAO;
• the geographical representation quota system, which acts as a constraint for donors who are over-represented;
• a historical recruitment pattern in the period under review when the average professional grade of entry into FAO has been P-4, a level that is not accessible to APOs.

27. In connection with the latter point, it is noted that APOs from developing countries also experience difficulties in obtaining employment with FAO and are not doing that much better than nationals from over-represented donor countries: only 18 percent of such APOs have obtained employment.

28. An attempt was made to compare these uptake rates to those of other APO-using agencies (i.e. WFP, IFAD, Unesco and OECD in Paris, and the European Commission). The overall impression is that FAO seems to be doing about as well as, or perhaps slightly better than, other UN organizations, although full data to support this are not available at the time of writing.

(d) Benefits for FAO

29. It is conventional wisdom that APOs provide FAO (at no cost) with additional expertise for technical assistance activities, and that they bring with them new, up-to-date knowledge, youthful idealism and enthusiasm. In this view, the real benefits to FAO - as compared to the APOs themselves - are seen to be primarily in the area of technical assistance to developing countries.

30. When asked to provide examples of significant APO contributions in a technical sense, the FAO supervisors were able to give an impressive list, pinpointing to substantive work in both operational and normative activities. APOs are reported to contribute usefully to areas of broad or global interest such as the "Food for the Cities" programme, development of soil conservation approaches and technologies, FAO's agro-ecological methodology, animal husbandry training manuals, environmental impact of aquaculture studies, etc. Thus, it can be concluded that contrary to the conventional view, APOs make useful contributions to FAO not only in the field, in traditional projects, but also to normative work at Headquarters and in the decentralized offices.

31. The APOs themselves perceive this. "Significant" contributions reported by themselves can be grouped into three distinct categories: operational, normative, and programme administration and liaison activities. With respect to the "normative" category, APOs' contributions reported by supervisors are confirmed by the APOs' own assessment. As regards programme administration, where only a few have been involved, APOs' contributions are well appreciated by both their technical and administrative supervisors and FAORs. In short, FAO is able to derive a range of benefits from APOs in all its main work areas - not just technical assistance to developing countries.

2.2 MAIN ISSUES IDENTIFIED

32. In spite of its successes in broad terms, the APO Programme faces a number of issues. Among the more important ones are:

• a continuous contraction over the decade from a high 170 new entrants in 1988 to a low 21 in 1997. The average number of new entrants per year has been much lower in the second part of the decade than in the first (76 compared to 115); this appears mainly due to donor budgetary constraints, but recently some donors (e.g. Belgium) insist they seek a "cheaper" training formula for their junior experts;
• minimal participation in the Programme of nationals from developing countries even though three donors (Netherlands, Italy and Japan) have agreed to finance them: of the 867 young experts who entered the APO Programme from 1988 to 1997, only 28 came from developing countries. This seems a common feature of APO/JPO Programmes in the UN system. Furthermore, these nationals do not enjoy any better prospects of obtaining professional contracts in FAO when they separate than those from over-represented countries;
• persisting programme management problems which cause a documented degree of dissatisfaction among APOs and frustration among their supervisors. Main problems include: (1) poor APO post identification and formulation; (2) lack of work methods and procedures adapted to FAO's new decentralized structure; (3) difficulties in coordinating the various units involved in programme management; (4) lack of modern oversight tools to monitor both APO training and APO performance; (5) no follow-up of separating APOs, and absence of any institutional memory or APO roster; and (6) no "ombudsman" to serve as a referee in disputes between APOs and their supervisors;
• a permanent and very large imbalance between FAO demand for APOs and the numbers actually supplied by donors: normally around 70 percent of APO post vacancies go unfilled. This may, to some degree, be explained by the low priority given to the agricultural sector by the international donor community, and by a persisting misunderstanding of the technical nature of "normative" posts in FAO which leads to rejection by some donors of such positions for their APOs.

These problems call for remedial measures on the part of FAO and/or partner donors.

III. Recommendations

33. The recommendations below address two main issues confronting the APO Programme. The first relates to persisting shortcomings in programme management and the other to the high level of instability of APO entry, with wide yearly variations. These issues point to the urgent need for FAO to ensure the attraction and effectiveness of the Programme to potential donors and APOs. Further, if FAO is to retain its status as a "centre of excellence", it cannot afford to ignore the state-of-the-art and up-to-date contributions that can be obtained from young professionals, recently out of academia. Yet, "tapping" the pool of APOs to strengthen FAO's own staff renewal process cannot be done without first putting in place a systematic approach, including an effective screening system to identify the best performing elements.

3.1 TO IMPROVE MANAGEMENT OF THE APO PROGRAMME

34. A number of measures are suggested for more effective results-based management:

1. improving APO Programme management through:

i) establishment of modern management methods for oversight and quality control of the APO Programme;

ii) issuance of a Circular to disseminate and raise staff awareness of the APO programme objectives and operating procedures, both at Headquarters and in the decentralized offices;

2. enhancing communication with external partners through production and wide circulation of a brochure or booklet, explaining both the APO Programme objectives and working arrangements. A version of the material should be available on Internet through a specific APO Programme website;
3. giving priority to maintaining uninterrupted donor-contact and transparent reporting. Evidence shows that continuing donor-contact is one important factor in ensuring a satisfactory level of entry into the APO Programme. Likewise, transparency in reporting, particularly the transparency TCDM has achieved with respect to APO budget management, has proved to be a key factor for maintaining good relations with donors. This should be preserved under the new financial arrangements being introduced with the Oracle system.

35. In particular, results-based management would entail the establishment of a clear management centre through the formal appointment of a full-time task manager who would:

1. be responsible for all tasks necessary to ensure coordination among all the HQ units and decentralized offices involved in the functioning of the programmes covering young experts, especially:

i) the establishment and operation of an independent APO performance monitoring system, mainly based on regular assessments made by the APO supervisors;

ii) production and updating of a standardized information folder to be provided to entering APOs, together with debriefing workshops for departing APOs, including job counselling through the concerned technical services; the brochure mentioned above could also be one of the tasks;

iii) the establishment of an "intelligent" roster (i.e. incorporating performance monitoring information) for former APOs who could be considered as potential consultants;

iv) the launching of a systematic process of briefing all FAO staff involved in APO supervision, and, as needed, organizing the coaching of supervisors in training techniques; and

2. serve as a reference person or "ombudsman" for APOs to help sort out post transfers or other disputes - to some extent TCDM already plays this role, but the function should be strengthened and institutionalized with clear official status and power.

36. In conjunction with the proposed appointment of a task manager above, it is suggested that an APO post be established to assist the task manager in the first phase of establishment of the results-based management system proposed here. There would also be a need in this initial phase for some additional funds for specific tasks such as the computerization of the APO monitoring database, production of the proposed brochure or the APO website, but these would be relatively modest, one-time expenditures.

3.2 EXPLOITING THE APO PROGRAMME AS SOURCE OF FAO'S TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

37. For this purpose, the following measures are recommended as a move towards a more effective recruitment strategy aimed at using the APO Programme as a potential source for young FAO staff, especially at lower grades. To assist in identifying the more promising candidates, it would be essential to establish an independent and functional APO performance monitoring system based on assessing the level of competency achieved. This would open up greater opportunities for well-qualified APOs for professional posts at lower grades (P-2/P-3 levels), including their systematic inclusion among candidates for posts compatible with their qualifications.

38. The advantages of adopting such a recruitment strategy are:

• it would open the way for an immediate and effective solution to address the broader problem of FAO staff renewal, particularly as over the next 15 years a professional staff turnover of 70 percent is projected;
• it would also demonstrate to the donors that the Programme provides, in a transparent way, opportunities to integrate the qualified APOs into the FAO professional staff establishment.

Annex

Comments of the Technical Cooperation Department

The Department has decided to introduce a number of measures in follow-up to the conclusions and recommendations of the donors meeting and of the internal review of the APO Programme over the last ten years. These focus on two levels with different timeframes:

• in the immediate period, they aim to improve the operational management of the Programme to make it more attractive and effective to donors, especially in terms of training/learning. These measures consist in:

- establishing modern management methods of oversight and quality control of the Programme (building a database to monitor the training and professional competence of APOs);

- enhancing communication with external parties and promoting the image of the Organization (brochure, website, visits to beneficiaries and users of APOs);

- maintaining permanent contact with donors and APOs, and ensuring transparency of financial procedures.

These measures will be implemented by a full-time team made up of one P-3 Programme Officer and three General Service staff.

• in the medium and long term, based on a consultant's study, they will aim to use the Programme to reinforce FAO's technical expertise with, notably, the establishment by the Personnel Division of an integrated system of FAO human resources management. Working closely with this Division, a consultant will be recruited to introduce an integrated human resources management system based on the concept of competency. The following elements will be taken into consideration: recruitment planning, placement, training, performance, further training, career counselling and preparation for separation.

_____________________________

1  The consultant was funded by the Netherlands for four months.

2  ECOSOC Resolution 849 (XXXII), 1961. The Resolution, which addresses the use of young professionals throughout the UN system, defines the role of "volunteers"as providers of "additional supporting assistance". It also highlights the "promotion of peaceful relations" as an added benefit. Main features of the APO Programme (UN staff status, costs) are governed by the Resolution and cannot be unilaterally changed.

3  They are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America

4  The group who responded to the second assignment question are fewer since only one donor normally allows a second 2-year assignment.

5  Donors excluded from the table are those whose uptake percentage for their nationals was below 18 percent.