Decentralization

The decision to pursue a policy of further decentralization was based on three objectives:

• to bring the Organization's technical and operational expertise much closer to those countries and regions where the need is greatest;
• to reduce costs; and
• to make the best use of national capacities, which had increased substantially over the last decades.

Decentralization prompted the Organization to find a new balance between competing requirements. The objective of moving technical expertise closer to where it was needed had to be balanced against the need to maintain a critical mass of expertise at headquarters so as to uphold FAO's role as a centre of excellence. This meant delegating authority to officers at decentralized locations while retaining adequate control and stewardship of resources and transparent reporting lines to senior management and the Organization's governing bodies. It also entailed relocating and retraining staff, but keeping reorganization costs to a minimum. New procedures were designed to ensure the availability of highly specialized expertise as well as facilitating interdisciplinarity as and when required. In view of these considerations, the process of decentralization was progressive and included the following components:

STRENGTHENING THE REGIONAL OFFICES

The first step was to strengthen the existing Regional Offices in Accra, Bangkok, Cairo, Santiago and, to a lesser extent, the Rome-based Regional Office for Europe. A number of functions of direct relevance to the respective regions were transferred to Regional Offices, including policy assistance, field programme development and most technical support services for ongoing projects. The Regional Offices also took on full responsibility for organizing Regional Conferences and meetings of other regional bodies. It proved more effective to undertake these activities from within the region than from headquarters, as the competent officers in Regional Offices can react to requests from the various parts of their region more quickly and more cost-effectively. Furthermore, the cost of support staff is generally much lower at Regional Office locations than at headquarters.

To allow the Regional Offices to undertake their new functions, a number of technical, policy and programme officers' posts were transferred to these offices in the course of 1995 and 1996, mainly from headquarters but also from FAO's former Joint Divisions with the regional Economic Commissions of the UN (these have since been replaced by other cooperative arrangements). Professional staff in Regional Offices were organized into technical groups, corresponding to each of the technical departments at headquarters, and into a Policy Assistance Branch. To ensure that activities at the regional level are fully integrated within the Organization's corporate programme and are of the required quality, Professional officers in the Regional Offices are selected by their respective "parent" division at headquarters. The parent division approves their annual programme of work and ensures the technical quality of their output.

Regional Representatives, together with their Deputies, are responsible for the management of their office, providing managerial and administrative leadership as well as ensuring interdisciplinarity in the preparation and implementation of programmes of work. To this end, they are delegated a substantial degree of authority. An Internal Auditor, reporting directly to the Inspector-General at headquarters, has been outposted to each Regional Office.

The Regional Offices have also been provided with the following essential tools and means:

• Electronic communication and information systems facilities, allowing Regional Officers to share information with each other through a local area network, and with headquarters through a wide area network. These were installed as part of the communication infrastructure project described in the section Modern office and information technology.
• Support staff, through a major recruitment and training effort.
• Clear instructions and guidelines, through the review of administrative and financial procedures, described in the section Replacement of administrative and accounting systems.
• Sufficient office space, with support from the host country. In Accra and Santiago, new premises were required, and these were generously provided by the Governments of Ghana and Chile.

FAO's network of decentralized offices

ESTABLISHING SUBREGIONAL OFFICES

Five Subregional Offices were established to assist clusters of countries that share similar problems and are located far from their Regional Office. After extensive consultation with the Member Nations and the host countries concerned, new offices were set up in: Harare (Zimbabwe) for Southern and East Africa; Apia (Samoa) for the Pacific Islands; Bridgetown (Barbados) for the Caribbean; Tunis (Tunisia) for North Africa; and Budapest (Hungary) for Central and Eastern Europe.

To minimize costs, all Subregional Offices, except in Central and Eastern Europe, were established in countries where FAO Representations already existed. Each Subregional Office is composed of a small, multidisciplinary team of technical officers, geared to the requirements of the subregion, and of a Policy Assistance Unit. As in Regional Offices, these technical officers work under the managerial and administrative leadership of the Subregional Representative. Their parent division at headquarters is responsible for their selection and for ensuring the technical quality of their work.

DECENTRALIZING OPERATIONS

After the initial stage, it became evident that it would be more effective to decentralize most of the Field Operations Division (TCO) to the Regional Offices - so as to create synergies and ensure that Technical Officers, Policy Assistance Officers and Operations Officers could work on field projects as a team, during both the preparation and the implementation stages.

This aspect of decentralization was progressively implemented over approximately two years, starting with the creation of an Operations Branch in Bangkok, in September/October 1996, and followed by the opening of Operations Branches in the Regional Offices in Santiago and Cairo during 1997 and in the Regional Office in Accra in early 1998. Interregional and emergency projects continue to be managed from headquarters, as do projects implemented in Europe.

IMPROVING LINKS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL

Along with the expansion of expertise in the Regional and Subregional Offices, the following steps have been taken to make FAO Country Offices more effective by improving linkages with developing Member Nations while at the same time reducing costs:

• A more selective approach is being adopted in the recruitment of FAO Representatives (FAORs), with priority being given to candidates with advanced academic training and adequate professional experience in agricultural development or related fields. This will enable the Organization to provide high-level policy advice directly to governments and to provide leadership in food and agricultural policy matters within the UN Resident Coordinator System.
• In line with the Organization's policy to strengthen collaboration with key partners, FAORs have been encouraged to increase their contacts with the Ambassadors of Member Nations as well as with representatives of funding institutions and civil society organizations, such as the relevant committees of national parliaments, departments of commerce and agriculture, universities, the private sector and NGOs.
• The internationally recruited Programme Officers, previously assigned to Country Offices, have been replaced by National Professional Officers (NPOs), who have similar, and sometimes better, qualifications and are employed under local salary scales. With their knowledge of national conditions, NPOs enhance the content and impact of FAO's programmes.
• The General Service staffing structure of all Country Offices has been reviewed and rationalized, allowing the elimination of 81 posts.
• The number of countries with which the Organization maintains links through the accreditation of an FAOR residing in a neighbouring country has been increased, from 26 in 1994 to 30 in 1999.
• A National Correspondents scheme has been established for those countries where the Organization cannot assign an FAOR to reside in the country. National Correspondents are senior civil servants who devote a certain percentage of their time to assisting the Organization with a number of liaison functions. They are jointly designated by the Member Government and FAO and are allocated a limited budget to cover some operational costs. They also receive a modest salary supplement. As of October 1999, some 20 National Correspondents had been appointed out of a planned total of 35.
• The Small-scale Facility was set up in September 1998 to help FAORs obtain short-term but essential technical advice, which usually cannot be funded from other sources. With this facility, which permits the engagement of local consultants for short periods, the responsiveness of FAORs to the needs of governments has increased.

GLOBAL IMPACT OF DECENTRALIZATION

In January 1994, out of a total of 4 093 posts, 2 859 were based at headquarters and 1 234 (30 percent) were based in decentralized locations. Less than five years later, the Organization's total number of established posts was reduced by 584 (14 percent).

However, this global reduction conceals the completely new shape of the Organization, since 756 posts were abolished at headquarters and 79 in Country Offices, in contrast to the other decentralized offices which have had their total establishments increased by 251 posts overall. In particular, the number of Professional staff at the regional and subregional levels nearly doubled. As a result of these changes, the proportion of decentralized posts has increased from 30 to 40 percent: 31 percent of posts in the Professional and higher categories and 46 percent of General Service posts have now been decentralized.