FO:NEFC/02/11 ![]() |
NEAR EAST FORESTRY COMMISSION |
Item 10 of the Provisional Agenda |
FIFTEENTH SESSION |
Khartoum, Republic of the Sudan, |
NATIONAL FOREST PROGRAMME FACILITY |
INFORMATION NOTE |
1. The National Forest Programme Facility is an innovative partnership to support the implementation of national forest programmes in developing countries. The main modes of operation will be capacity building and information sharing. Particular emphasis will be placed on addressing poverty alleviation and governance issues through empowerment of civil society and enhanced participation of a broad range of stakeholders.
Rationale
2. The five years of intense intergovernmental dialogue conducted under the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) stressed the role of national forest programmes as important means for addressing forest sector issues in a holistic, comprehensive and multisectoral manner. The importance of national forest programmes was reiterated in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) decision establishing the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF).
3. However, the formulation and implementation of national forest programmes in many developing countries are constrained by a number of critical factors, especially:
4. The Facility is being developed to assist countries in tackling these constraints and challenges in the implementation of their national forest programmes. The Facility is the result of an intensive collaborative effort with a large group of partners from the European Union and its member countries, FAO, institutions from developing countries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The projected cost for the first five-year period is US$32 million.
What will it do?
5. The Facility will strengthen the information and knowledge base for national forest programme implementation and will improve processes and mechanisms for sharing and using this knowledge. In broad terms, the Facility will accomplish this mission by:
Who is involved?
6. The intended beneficiaries of the Facility are the key actors involved in national forest programme processes in developing countries. These include participants from both government and civil society, with special focus on community-based organizations and other local NGOs. The partners of the Facility will include interested multilateral and bilateral agencies supporting national forest programme processes as well as other service providers to national forest programmes, such as international NGOs, research institutions and private-sector organizations.
7. The Facility will act with the beneficiaries and partners along two principal lines of action, one at the national and one at the international level. First, it will directly support the national forest programme processes in a number of countries through Cooperation Agreements, following applications from the countries.
8. Second, it will create and maintain a forest information platform at the international level. The platform will enable the users to identify and obtain access to the best possible sources of information and knowledge for any issue that may arise in a national forest programme process, whether technical, political, process-related or financial. The platform will be operated as a collaborative effort with other relevant knowledge and information providers, including NGOs, research institutions and the private sector, using the best possible combination of Web-based and other channels for information dissemination.
How will it operate?
9. The Facility will operate under the guidance of a Technical Steering Committee established by its founding partners. An Advisory Group, including representatives of different beneficiary countries as well as from a broad range of partner institutions, NGOs and the private sector, will provide technical and political advice to the Facility. The Facility will have a small staff at FAO headquarters in Rome to take care of core functions and a number of regionally located facilitators. While FAO technical staff at headquarters and regional offices will provide technical support to the Facility's operations, the bulk of the Facility's work will be conducted by outside specialists (with emphasis on regional and local experts) and through collaborative arrangements with partners.
10. The Commission may wish to review and comment on the objectives and process proposed for the National Forest Programme Facility and recommend measures for: