11. Director-General's Progress Report on Implementation of Decisions taken by the Council at its 106th Session
11. Rapport intérimaire du Directeur général sur l'application des décisions prises par le Conseil à sa cent sixième session
11. Informe del Director General sobre la aplicación de las decisiones adoptadas por el Consejo en su 106° período de sesiones

DIRECTOR-GENERAL: It is my great honour and pleasure to take up the issue of the Implementation of Decisions adopted by the Council at its 106th Session, on Programmes, Structures and Policies of this Organization.

Firstly, I should like to express again my gratitude and my thanks to you for the confidence you have placed in me and for your unanimous approval of the proposals that I have put to you. This gave me the necessary psychological strength for implementing decisions that are not always easy in an Organization which is almost fifty years old and where you have the weight not only of age, but also of tradition and of practices.

In undertaking the implementation of these decisions, we had to face a number of conflicting considerations. On the one hand, we wanted to implement what was decided as quickly as possible. We wanted to do so in a planned and professional way that would lead to proper discussions and proper implementation. We therefore had to proceed carefully.

The second important consideration is that we wanted, as much as possible, to build a consensus. This Organization is an organization of 170 countries. It is of no use to run with a few and leave the majority behind. We spared no effort to explain our actions, and the reasons and the rationale behind these actions.

The documents that have been distributed to you show what we have achieved so far. Therefore, I will concentrate on the salient points.

First, the programmes.

Let me start by saying that focusing on the priorities of food security and EMPRES did not prevent this Organization from conducting its normal activities as indicated in the Programme of Work and Budget approved by the Conference. We focused, and gave more resources, to specific issues which we considered, in this day and age, and in relation to what would happen over the next decade, as issues of utmost importance. Let me repeat again that this did not stop us from continuing our normal work.

On the priority of food security, I would recall for you the rationale. Today there are 800 million people without adequate access to food. There are 192 million children below the age of five with deficiencies in their daily calorie and protein requirements. In addition, the current growth in world population will add 4 billion people to the present population by the year 2030.

Therefore, with your agreement, we have decided to focus on how to increase food production in low-income food-deficit countries. We identified those countries using mainly the World Bank's information on income, and naturally we used the statistics of FAO on which the concept of food-deficit countries is based. The combination of the two led us to 78 countries in the world of which two are not member countries of FAO. We, therefore, have 76 low-income food-deficit member countries where we will undertake programmes to boost food production.

How shall we do that? First, this programme is a composite programme involving pilot projects in the member countries aimed at ensuring that the optimum use of the technology available today is put into use under appropriate conditions, particularly water availability, and that the activities under these pilot projects

would be undertaken by the people themselves. It would not follow the classical model of projects executed by experts, scientists and research institutions from abroad. These will be projects by the farmers themselves. We will also ensure that particularly in Africa, with the lowest growth rate in agricultural and food production, we will increase the food security. We will identify the most limiting factors among which water is the most important. Let me again remind you that, today, on the African continent 70 percent of the population is in the agricultural sector, yet 94 percent of the arable land is under rain-fed conditions and, therefore, subject to drought. We, therefore, have 70 percent of the population facing the risk of food insecurity over 94 percent of the arable land. This picture is even worse when one realizes that 75 percent of the irrigated land is in five countries: Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Madagascar and South Africa.

We must, therefore, make an effort to increase the present 10 million hectares of irrigated land to 20 million hectares in the first phase, using small-scale irrigation, and I hope to 30 million hectares thereafter.

Precisely what do we do? Inside FAO we had to first agree on these principles and ensure a corporate approach to this programme involving all the departments. This involved many discussions, consultations, and so on, to arrive at a common policy and strategy. Secondly, we had to ensure that each part of the Organization played its role. As you know, we have approved the creation of a new division that would advise member countries on policy issues. It is this Division that would provide the programme with the necessary conceptual and programming framework, which is essential for increased productivity and production. Such advice should also bear on the budget of the countries concerned and their investment in agriculture.

Another important consideration was for us to ensure participation not only of our partners in the UN system and Bretton Wood institutions but also the bilaterals. The FAO budget for the programme is around US$3 million. Naturally, it is not with US$3 million that FAO can deal with an issue as important and complex as agricultural production when we take into account that the total external assistance to the agriculture sector is around US$10 billion a year.

Consequently, we therefore started negotiations with UNDP and reached an agreement for a joint approach to food security which was signed in the presence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in New York. The document will be distributed.

We also held discussions with the World Bank and agreed to jointly undertake this programme in countries, low-income food-deficit countries, where the Bank has a focus on food security within the group of the 76. Several meetings have been held with the UNDP and with the World Bank as a result of which we now have a joint mission in the field to discuss with governments the conditions under which we will (i) agree on the objectives and the philosophies of the projects; (ii) agree on where those projects would be undertaken and the partners for their implementation.

I must say that this programme is moving very well. We have had other contacts with donors, particularly Italy, USAID, Japan; there are ongoing discussions also with IFAD naturally and other institutions that are interested in food security, including the Islamic Development Bank and other regional banks in Latin America and Asia.

The second priority programme is the project of EMPRES, on preventive action against international pests and disease. Presently the affected countries and the international community wait until a serious outbreak occurs before putting up the necessary mechanisms to deal with the problem. We believe there is need to adapt this strategy and focus on two main areas.

One is locusts. As the area of the Red Sea and the Arabian peninsular would be our first focus, we have sent missions to eastern Africa and to the Arabian peninsular. In these areas, we have had discussions with the institutions involved in the control of locusts and reached agreements on the conditions and operational modalities necessary to pre-position the required essential personnel and equipment to ensure rapid reaction capability on the outbreak of locusts emergencies. Later on we will move to the other regions in North and West Africa and to Asia, particularly India and Pakistan.

In the long term, the locust programme would aim at using less pesticides and more use of biological control instead. We are setting up a network of research institutions, specializing in the biological control of locusts, to participate in the programme.

Regarding rinderpest we are undertaking activities in the field. The first mission went to Rwanda and Uganda where there is an outbreak. We have had discussions with reference laboratories in the UK and we are also setting up a network for the use of modern methods of control. As you can see we have started action and we are continuing negotiations on the long-term aspects of those two programmes. I should mention here the importance of our joint division in Vienna with IAEA in the conduct of these programmes.

I will now turn to the important question of restructuring. You have agreed to set up a new Department of Sustainable Development to respond to the decisions of the Earth Summit and the role of the FAO in the implementation of Agenda 21. You have also agreed to transform the Development Department into a Department of Technical Cooperation for the delivery of technical assistance to our member countries.

You decided to give more importance to women in agriculture, through the creation of a new division and the establishment of a unit to ensure coordination between normative and field programme operational functions.

We have set the implementation in motion, in four phases. The first phase was the definition of the overall structure of departments, divisions, and units. The second phase dealt with determining the optimum mix of expertise. The third phase addressed the dynamics of the structure, i.e. the interrelationships between divisions, services and units of the Organization. That phase led to intensive internal consultations, in particular, in order to obtain the views of the staff.

We are at phase four, the last phase, in which we will be dealing with budget and human resources, considering the posts that will change and the posts that will remain but would move. We are ensuring a clear indication of the mechanisms and the modalities we will use to modify the budget as approved by the Conference to a budget, consistent with the new structure as we move from the old to the new.

We had also to look at new job descriptions for the new posts and amend those for posts where the job content has changed. We had to rewrite the mission statements of all the divisions and units affected by the changes. All these documents have been given to all the departments and divisions as well as to all the staff associations of the Organization: field staff, general service and professionals as the basis for the necessary consultations. This process is almost completed, and I hope that I will start most of the decisions by the end of December.

There is one aspect of the restructuring which concerns decentralization and involves the reinforcement of the regional offices, the creation of sub-regional offices and the setting up of the core of national professional offices in the FAORs. That process of negotiation with the different sub-regions on the location of the sub-regional offices has started. We have achieved a result on two sub-regions, arriving at a consensus, and we are still working towards a consensus in three other regions. We are planning for implementation to begin in January, and the setting up of all the sub-regional offices by June. We have initiated negotiations with the host countries identified for the sub-regional offices, and have also approached our regional offices to ensure that the governments hosting regional offices provide the additional facilities which will be necessary for the reinforcement of those offices. We organized meetings with all the heads of the regional economic commissions of the UN to discuss the redeployment of the staff of the joint division in order to arrive at an agreement which will allow us to continue our collaboration, even though the staff would be elsewhere within the restructuring. I wish to say that in the case of Europe, following these discussions we would continue to maintain a team in Geneva to deal with the Commission on Timber.

We have also initiated several activities aiming at reinforcing our cooperation with bilateral and multilateral institutions. As you have the documentation on all the activities undertaken in the different regions, I will not go into the details. I can, however, say that in general not only did we reinforce our cooperation, we increased, in most cases, our cooperation on project preparation of feasibility studies for investment, by 15 percent, 25 percent, and 50 percent, and opened new areas of cooperation with financing institutions. We realize that if we make all these studies and there is little investment in agriculture as a result of the implementation of these studies, our work would be a futile excercise.

We are also advancing very well in the cooperation among developing countries. Twenty-six countries have so far signed the agreement. We are progressing on cooperation among countries in transition, although this is taking a little more time. We are initiating the signature of the first agreement on cooperation with universities and research institutions of member countries.

Although the legal aspects of the programme on cooperation with retired experts took some time, there again I am happy to observe that a number of associations of retired experts have shown interest in cooperating with us.

At their meeting in April in Paris we will be there to work with the retired FAO experts and of the UN system as a whole.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I might have been long, but I have an obligation to give you a full picture of the things that we are working on. We want to do them effectively and efficiently, as we must be very careful in changing an old but internationally well respected organization which is our beloved Food and Agriculture Organization FAO.

EL PRESIDENTE: Sr. Director General estoy seguro de recoger el sentir de este Consejo al expresar la satisfacción por las palabras tan sentidas y el informe tan detallado con el cual ha actualizado usted la información relativa al estado de avance de las propuestas acogidas por el pasado Consejo en materia de políticas de programas de la Organización. Estoy igualmente seguro de que este informe que nos ha proporcionado usted, Sr. Director General, guiará nuestros trabajos, iluminará a las delegaciones respecto de la situación presente y las expectativas futuras en la decisión de todos estos aspectos.

0Me permito ahora, Sr. Director General, pasar la palabra al Dr. Shah y posteriormente al Sr. Mehboob para que hagan la presentación de los documentos respectivos.

V.J. SHAH (Deputy Director-General) (Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation): The Director-General having introduced this item and yourself having referred to the documents before the Council, there is not very much I need to add with regard to the documentation. You had also indicated that you will be inviting the Chairman of the Programme Committee to present the views of the joint meeting of the Programme and Finance Committees on this matter, and therefore I will not refer to that aspect either. However, at this stage I am very grateful to have the occasion to provide you and the Council with some additional information with particular regard to the consultation with organizational units and the staff of these units that the Director-General has referred to. This is not a new matter. This is a consistent policy that the Director-General has pursued ever since he initiated this exercise of restructuring, in his review of the programmes, policies and structures of the organization. In the document that he submitted to the Council at your 106th Session, document CL 106/2, we had indicated precisely the manner in which consultations were held with the staff of the organization before he took his decisions on the proposals he submitted to you. This included the phases 1 to 3 that the Director-General referred to a little while ago.

Let me now provide more information on the consultations that have taken place in regard to phase 4 of the exercise. Phase 4 of the exercise has involved - and this is just to give you an idea of the volume of documentation involved - circulating to the organizational units a memorandum from the Director-General inviting each department, division, regional office, to do four things. Firstly, to examine the functional statements of each unit. Secondly, to examine the distribution of professional posts in each unit, both at Headquarters as well as in the regional and sub-regional offices. Thirdly, to formulate the job descriptions of posts with new functions. And fourthly, to formulate job descriptions for posts with amended functions. This exercise also involved at each stage, at each of these four stages, a very clear invitation to all the programme managers to have systematic consultations with the staff of their units at the departmental level, with division directors, at the divisional level, with service chiefs, and at the service level with the professional staff of that service. While I am sure the Director-General has every confidence and faith in the willingness of his colleagues to support him in the manner he expects and requested them to do, particular care was taken also to ensure that these consultations held at the various levels were systematically recorded in summary notes of those meetings so that all views expressed were carefully noted, all suggestions were recorded, and then those suggestions were then passed on at each successive level, finally ending with the office of the Director-General and my own office. These suggestions, then, involved essentially two exercises. In the case of functional statements and in the case of job descriptions, they involved a settling of whatever inconsistencies that were flagged or drawn to our attention.

At the level of the structures themselves and the distribution of posts, this has involved us - and me personally - in looking at every suggestion that was made so that I could report to the Director-General a recommended

position, whether that suggestion was worth accepting or whether it may have merit but would have other difficulties or, where it was not worth accepting, with the reasons for not accepting.

This, I believe, will help to give evidence to the Council of the care which the Director-General takes in the consultative process. It is not lip service to consultation, it is a very meaningful and substantive consultation with those involved because, as he has repeatedly said, change - and particularly qualitative change - can only be effectively brought about with the full involvement of the persons involved, whether their wishes can be agreed with or, where their suggestions cannot be agreed with, at least with deliberation in their consideration and a reasoned response.

I have not gone into more detail about the similar exercise which has been carried out at the decentralized level because the nature of the exercise has been the same.

I thank you very much, Mr Chairman, for giving me this opportunity. As you have suggested, perhaps Mr Mehboob may now wish to indicate to the Council the manner in which these consultations have been pursued with the staff representative bodies.

K. MEHBOOB (Assistant Director-General, Administration and Finance Department):I should like to supplement the information which my colleague Mr Shah has provided on staff consultations. We in the Organization have an established channel for staff consultations. There is a Senior Staff Relations Officer based in the office of the ADG Administration and Finance who is dealing full-time with staff relations matters. In addition, on certain policy issues the Director-General himself has devoted time to meeting with staff representatives to hold discussions and consultations with them.

We have had frequent contacts with the staff bodies through both meetings and correspondence. We do give consideration to the representations they make. These may result in the provision of clarifications, explanations, agreements in certain cases, divergence of views in other cases, but the dialogue continues.

There are, however, certain management responsibilities which the Director-General, by the Basic Texts and the Rules and Regulations of the Organization, is mandated to discharge himself, and this he does.

To give you some examples of the number and level of contacts we have had with the staff bodies, I will provide the following information. The first thing to note is that there have been many more contacts in the ten months of 1994 than in prior years. To give you some examples, in this period of ten months between January and October, the Director-General himself met with staff representatives six times. To compare this with the previous period, in the prior three years the previous Director-General met the staff representatives five times, so there is a marked difference in the contact with staff representatives at the highest level. In addition, the Director-General also invited the staff representatives to two meetings of the PPAB, the Policy, Programme and Advisory Board, whenever these meetings dealt with staff matters and staffing questions.

In addition to the contacts at the level of the Director-General, I myself met the staff representatives 13 times in these ten months as opposed to last year when the contacts were 11 times. In addition, there is a vast amount of correspondence between the staff bodies and Administration. We receive a number of letters and memoranda and issues raised are either replied to or dealt with frequently at meetings with them.

There is one matter I should like to add to Mr Shah's presentation on the staff consultations which were held in Divisions and Departments. Mr Shah has referred to the thoroughness of those consultations. However, there was a complaint by staff representatives about the type of consultations which were taking place. The Director-General looked into that complaint and agreed with their views and instructed that a special review be carried out to see whether the complaints which were registered by the staff representatives had any validity. As a result of that review, fresh consultations were ordered by the Director-General and in every Division and Department every unit held consultations with their staff and recorded the results of those consultations in minutes which were distributed to the Director-General for review.

That is a brief summary of the type of contacts we have with staff bodies and the type of consultations we have had. If there are any questions we shall be happy to answer them.

EL PRESIDENTE: Señores delegados, he cometido un error al no concederle la palabra, como había anunciado al principio de esta sesión, al Dr. Bommer, quien hará la presentación del informe de la reunión conjunta de los comités del Programa y de Finanzas y también la parte correspondiente del Comité del Programa sobre este tema de nuestro orden del día. Pido disculpas al Dr. Bommer por esta omisión completamente involuntaria. Espero me disculpen ustedes también. Tiene la palabra el Dr. Bommer.

D.F.R. BOMMER (Chairman, Programme Committee): Thank you very much, Mr Chairman, I know that I am easily overlooked. I know that you want to get on, to listen to what the members of Council have to say to you.

I am happy to give you a brief report first. You referred to the meeting we had in September with the Finance Committee and the Programme Committee to discuss the progress report which you have in document CL 107/14, and the report of our meeting is reflected in document CL 107/4. We also had the pleasure of having a full day with the Director-General discussing his first report on progress made in the implementation of the decisions of the 106th Session of the Council.

The Committees appreciated the opportunity for direct and frank discussions with the Director-General and for the progress which had been made in implementing decisions despite the short time which had passed since the last Council Session. They fully understood the preliminary character of the information provided, which will be updated by the Director-General reporting to this Council Session, as he has just done, together with the reports of Mr Shah and Mr Mehboob, and in the information you have received in Document CL 107/14-Sup.1.

The Committees welcomed the additional information which he provided on the Special Programme on food production in support of food security in low-income food-deficit countries, including the objectives, strategies and modus operandi. They took note of the explorations which were to be undertaken and stressed the need to seek additional funding from the donor community and financing institutions. In this regard the Committees commended the consultations to which the Director-General referred this morning which had been held with the World Bank and UNDP.

The Committees noted with satisfaction the activities noted under EMPRES for the remainder of the biennium and particularly the programming missions in relation to desert locust control and the establishment of the Secretariat of the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme.

With regard to Headquarters' restructuring, the Committees were informed of the preparatory work which had been carried out for the reallocation of posts and for the development of staff management policies and staff consultations during this preliminary stage. They expressed concern at the difficulties encountered in attracting qualified people, particularly for senior positions in the Organization, and were informed of the steps being taken to ensure recruitment of staff from non-represented and under-represented states.

In relation to decentralization and field offices, the Committees were informed of the progress that had been made for the redeployment of FAO staff in the Joint Divisions and for the establishment of five sub-regional offices, for which they stressed the need to continue consultations with the countries concerned in order to reach satisfactory solutions on the selection of sites.

The Committees applauded the initiative of the Director-General in having organized a special audit to evaluate the field offices and encouraged follow-up actions in order to obtain maximum benefit from this exercise.

The Committees were pleased to note the new initiatives of the Director-General and the use of experts for TCDC for cooperation among countries in transition in Central and Eastern Europe and cooperation with academic research institutions in Member Nations. They noted the positive responses which had so far been received from governments and looked forward to receiving updated reports at their future sessions. They also looked forward to the finalization of proposals on the use of retired experts and the participation of young professionals from developing countries. Recalling the long-term dimension of the processes approved by the Council in its 106th Session and the sensitivity of many aspects involved, the Committees nevertheless

stressed the need to keep the transition costs to a minimum in order not to lose momentum in priority activities of the Organization's programmes.

That is, in essence, the result of our discussions.

EL PRESIDENTE: Le pido de nuevo disculpas por mi omisión. Le digo también que su personalidad es muy visible y por todos conocida. No fue esa la razón por la cual yo le había olvidado. Le agradezco en nombre del Consejo el informe que ha proporcionado como Presidente del Comité del Programa, porque presidió usted la reunión conjunta. Los distinguidos delegados han mantenido múltiples informes muy completos, muy abundantes, muy detallados, que seguramente enriquecerán en conjunto nuestros debates.

Me voy a permitir leer la lista de oradores. Estoy seguro de que todos tendrán tiempo suficiente para hacer su declaración de manera completa.

Raphael RABE (Madagascar): Ma délégation est reconnaissante au Directeur général de nous avoir présenté de vive voix ce point très important de notre ordre du jour qui fait l'objet des documents CL 107/14 et CL 107/14-Sup. 1. Les éléments d'information qui nous ont été fournis par M. Bommer, Président du Comité du Programme, M. Shah et M. Mehboob, sont également très utiles et nous leur en sommes reconnaissants.

En vérité, notre délégation, comme vous vous en souviendrez, lors de l'examen des points précédents de l'ordre du jour a déjà fait part de sa grande satisfaction sur la suite, très concrète et pragmatique, donnée par le Directeur général aux décisions prises par le Conseil à sa 106ème session. Nous avons apprécié surtout les décisions prises à l'endroit du Programme spécial de sécurité alimentaire cinq mois seulement après la décision du Conseil, et nous avons mis en exergue les démarches très importantes qui ont été faites auprès des institutions du Système des Nations Unies, mais aussi et surtout auprès de diverses organisations, de banques, dont l'apport pour la réalisation de ce programme est primordial. Nous avons encouragé le Directeur général dans cette voie très positive, et bien entendu nous avons indiqué notre soutien sans réserve et permanent.

Dans la déclaration qui a été faite tout récemment par le Directeur général et par ses collaborateurs, nous apprécions grandement la procédure, la méthodologie et la façon de faire, notamment les consultations faites avec tous les responsables des départements, des divisions. Nous pensons que c'est vraiment la meilleure façon de procéder, et d'ailleurs nous nous étonnons un peu de voir autour de ces débats les mouvements qui ont eu lieu. Nous sommes reconnaissants d'avoir obtenu les explications concernant cet aspect de la question, parce que nous sommes sûrs que des consultations ont eu lieu, des rencontres. Des éléments précis nous ont été communiqués.

Nous attirons l'attention de cette auguste assemblée sur la partie du Rapport du Conseil CL 102 concernant la rémunération et les conditions d'emploi du personnel. Voici le texte:

"demande instamment aux gouvernements de tous les Etats Membres de porter une attention particulière à ces préoccupations de l'Organisation";

"demande à la CFPI de poursuivre son examen de la compétitivité du régime commun, en particulier pour ce qui est des traitements des administrateurs et des fonctionnaires de rang supérieur, et de présenter d'urgence des recommandations aux fins d'examen par l'Assemblée générale en 1993, en tenant compte de toutes les caractéristiques pertinentes de la fonction publique la mieux payée, ainsi que des rémunérations offertes par d'autres employeurs internationaux";

"demande que la CFPI soit informée du souci général que toute modification apportée aux méthodes utilisées pour déterminer les traitements et pensions des agents des services généraux soit techniquement fondée et n'entraîne pas de dégradation des conditions actuelles, et de l'appui exprimé à la recommandation du CAC, visant à repousser le choix des méthodes à utiliser pour déterminer le montant soumis à retenue pour pension jusqu'à ce que soient connus les résultats de la nouvelle méthodologie recommandée pour les enquêtes sur les salaires";

"demande au Directeur général de faire part de ses vues au Secrétaire général de l'ONU, ainsi qu'au Président de la CFPI, en les priant de les porter à l'attention de la cinquième Commission de l'Assemblée générale;

"espère que des mesures concrètes seront prises de manière à éviter d'avoir à envisager d'autres mesures dans le cadre du régime commun, en vue de résoudre le problème du recrutement, de la stabilité des services et de la motivation de personnel de haute qualité".

Il est regrettable qu'il y ait encore des problèmes, mais je pense que ce Conseil doit prendre des mesures pour voir quelles sont les propositions, les décisions qu'il doit prendre pour que ce problème délicat soit résolu. Bien entendu, nous apprécions ce que le Directeur général et ses collaborateurs ont fait pour aider le personnel à résoudre ses problèmes, mais une telle situation ne peut pas être favorable à l'Organisation. Nous souhaitons qu'il soit possible d'étudier ensemble les solutions appropriées.

Si nous avons insisté sur ce point, c'est que nous apprécions grandement la méthodologie, les consultations ouvertes, permanentes, qui sont faites pour que les conditions de travail soient satisfaisantes et soient améliorées dans la mesure du possible. Des consultations ouvertes, transparentes devront toujours être la règle entre tous les protagonistes. Je ne m'attarderai pas parce qu'il suffit de consulter le verbatim pour voir les interventions de Madagascar sur ce point. Bien entendu, nous les réitérons, et nous nous réservons le droit de revenir sur cette question.

EL PRESIDENTE: Quizá el asunto que ha tratado usted correspondería al Tema número 12. Le recuerdo que hay una propuesta del Comité del Programa, en donde partiendo de su examen de los informes de la DCI se solicita que la DCI lleve a cabo un estudio sobre las dificultades experimentadas por la FAO en la contratación de personal calificado por no ser las condiciones de servicio competitivas. Esto, a la luz de las experiencias análogas, también registradas en el sistema de Naciones Unidas. Pero en todo caso hemos tomado nota de su preocupación.

Ab. Ghaffar Α. ΤAMBI (Malaysia): The delegation of Malaysia is most grateful for this document before us on the Progress Report on decisions made, and more so for the very lucid presentation made by the Director-General himself.

My delegation notes in particular the progress of work undertaken pursuant to the Council's decision on the Director-General's proposal for Headquarters' restructuring, and given the importance of FAO's role in environment and development particularly in the case of forestry, the establishment of the new Department of Sustainable Development is indicative of the new vision of FAO as personified by our dynamic Director-General himself.

Although not much has been reported in the document on this item pertaining to FAO's implementation of several new initiatives in the area of forestry, my delegation is aware that FAO has made significant progress in fulfilling its mandate in this important area without diverting from its other major responsibilities relating to food and agriculture. We are confident that under the Director-General's open and visionary leadership FAO will undertake relevant and effective programmes, policies and strategies which recognize the need for a multi-sectoral approach which recognize the inter-linkages in the sustainable development of the several areas within FAO's mandate.

In conclusion, my delegation appreciates and welcomes the progress of FAO's measures taken recently and encourages the Director-General to continue with his commendable efforts to translate vision to concrete measures. We truly understand that the restructuring and decentralization process is not an easy exercise to undertake since it involves reallocation and reformulation of posts' description and the redeployment of FAO staff. Nevertheless, our delegation trusts and is confident that with the Director-General's professional competence and full dedication, and with the full support of his able staff, this massive task will be successfully accomplished as envisaged.

Ricardo VELAZQUEZ HUERTA (México): Recibimos con agrado el informe que ha rendido el

Director General sobre la aplicación de las resoluciones adoptadas en el 106° Consejo de la FAO, también las

expresiones del Dr. Shah y el Sr. Mehboob.

La delegación de México desea solamente reiterar su apoyo a la Dirección General. Hemos respaldado con firmeza desde el inicio sus propuestas y acompañado el proceso de su aprobación dentro de nuestro grupo regional primero, en el Consejo 106° después, y también dentro del Comité del programa del que somos parte.

Acompañamos las decisiones de la Dirección General respecto del plan, estrategia y su diseño de ejecución.

Contribuiremos con nuestro mejor esfuerzo a su realización pronta y efectiva, con la seguridad de que tendrán una aplicación universal.

Por lo que se refiere a la Cumbre sobre la Alimentación, estamos listos para participar, como lo ha ofrecido la Dirección General, en todas y cada una de las reuniones que habrá a partir de enero en Roma, que se programarán para que los estados miembros enriquezcan y construyan la agenda de la reunión, fortaleciendo además la preparación de la misma.

En cuanto al informe del 69° y 70° períodos de sesiones del Comité del Programa, no tenemos ninguna objeción para que estos se aprueben. Y aun más, invitamos a esta Asamblea para que los apruebe sin correcciones.

M.S. NOURI-NAEENI (Iran, Islamic Republic of): Firstly, I should like to thank the Director-General and his colleagues for their skilful presentation of the Progress Report, document CL 107/14 and its supplement, and the extra comments.

The decline of agricultural output in 1993 in most developing country regions, decelerated production growth rates in developing countries, forecast of price increase and stock and food-aid decline as a result of GATT agreements and decisions, show that the Director-General has been very farsighted in proposing the special programmes.

These facts not only provide strong evidence for reconfirmation of the proposed programmes, but show that increasing food production in support of food security at country level is the least-risky, high potential and most appropriate form of combating food insecurity.

This policy decreases the dependency of food security on others and, through the process of learning by action, creates the necessary know-how and self-reliance needed in low-income, food-deficit countries.

Keeping in mind the limitations of FAO resources, it is not possible to solve all agricultural problems of all developing countries in a short period of time. As a matter of economic fact, it is not logical to allocate the limited available resources, regardless of the law of diminishing returns, to almost unlimited existing needs. The optimum use of scarce resources dictates some kind of selectivity. This complies exactly with the Director-General's plans of action and proposals. Therefore, the economic logic paves my way to supporting him in terms of his objectives, strategies and modus operandi.

Considering the complementarity nature of both input endowments and responsibilities of FAO and other organizations reveals that initiation of a dialogue with multilateral and bilateral donors is another logical step toward increasing the efficiency of FAO's programmes and is highly welcomed and praised by my delegation.

We have been following with interest the follow-up actions of the TCDC programme. We believe that a concrete foundation for a fruitful cooperation among developing countries has been built. We hope that this opportunity, in addition to satisfying some of the professional manpower needs of these countries, would create the necessary self-reliance among them to be used for the achievement of an independent sustainable development.

An important success element in this programme is qualification criteria for admission of applicants. I hope this will receive the necessary attention.

In the previous Council we fully supported the Headquarters' restructuring and we renew our support again. Restructuring on the one hand would have a profound effect on level of costs and services of the Organization, and, on the other hand, is related to the welfare of a large number of FAO staff. The optimum solution demands managerial, financial, and of course diplomatic experts and skills.

In this respect, we would appreciate the vast and deep consultations which have taken place within FAO. We believe that any pressure which might cause a fast but sub-optimal solution definitely would not serve the interest of FAO and its Member States. If a decision has to be made between a fast sub-optimal and a delayed optimal solution, my delegation strongly supports the latter.

As far as the new sub-regional offices are concerned, selection of optimal location is of prime importance. Provision of facilities and services by the host countries is important but not critical. One should weigh this provision against other variable costs such as travel and cost of living. From a financial point of view, the location which minimizes the total present value cost to FAO in a planning period would be the most appropriate. We recommend the application of some similar simple financial criteria for the future.

The special audit exercise undertaken is an excellent initiative and it would be desirable to expand it to cover the whole Organization and be complemented by regular follow-up evaluation at proper intervals. In other words, a system of evaluation and incentive would definitely lead to increased efficiency and excellence.

Last, but not least, I greatly appreciate and praise the Director-General's new initiatives in cooperation with FAO's Member Nations. Although the cooperation among developing countries through TCDC procedures is of high importance and priority, the strengthened relationship with universities and research institutes of developed countries is also extremely valuable and beneficial to FAO's Member States.

This could have great positive effect on quality of research and eduction in areas related to FAO's mandate in developing countries and, at the same time, contribute to the Director-General's programme of improvement of the normative aspects of FAO's responsibilities.

My Government very strongly supports these initiatives and we are looking for a future in which these cooperations contribute greatly and constitute a considerable share of FAO's activities.

Finally, on the World Food Summit, the Director-General's briefings in the meeting of the Near East Group was quite satisfactory. My delegation fully supports this idea.

I wish full success to the Director-General and all who are assisting him towards the achievement of an improved, sustainable state of food and agriculture throughout the world.

H.S. DILLON (Indonesia): My delegation notes with satisfaction the care being exercised to ensure that the implementation of our decisions during the previous Council proceeds as envisaged.

We are cognizant of the intricacies involved but rest confident that, under the visionary leadership of the Director-General, the process will begin to bear fruit in the very near future.

We are happy to see that the Director-General has entered into meaningful dialogues with regional economic organizations.

Furthermore, my delegation accords great importance to the early implementation of the TCDC agreements that the Director-General has initiated.

Finally, allow me to reiterate my delegation's unwavering support of the changes being undertaken by the Director-General.

Adel Mahmoud ABOUL-NAGA (Egypt) (Original language Arabic): First of all, I should like to thank the Director-General for having introduced this item to us and for having brought in a new spirit, and a new life, into all this process, which gave a true life to the figures mentioned in the silent documents we have been given.

As President of the Near East Group, I would like to thank the Director-General for the measures taken so far with a view to implementing the decisions taken by the Council at its 106th Session, and especially regarding food production in order to support food security in low-income food-deficit countries. Many of these countries are found in Africa.

Regarding the agreements that have been signed with the World Bank, with the WFP and with several regional banks and donors that are willing to support this programme, apart from the signing of these agreements to consolidate food security, these agreements are an excellent channel for these financial institutions which will, therefore, be able to increase their support to agriculture and consequently apply certain remedies to all these concerns we have regarding the constant reduction of investment in the agricultural sector and in food aid for food security.

We give special thanks for the high priority given by the Director-General of FAO to an extremely difficult issue, namely the availability of water resources.

We also wish to express our appreciation for these special efforts which have been made regarding the EMPRES project, especially regarding the fight against locusts which are a tremendous problem in our region as well as in many other regions of Africa.

We fully understand the nature of the consultations and negotiations which are necessary in order to implement the different procedures for the reorganization and restructuring of FAO. We await with interest the final measures which will be taken in the following months.

Likewise, we support the measures which have been taken for the decentralization and reinforcement of regional and sub-regional offices, in order to be able to discuss and to identify the different problems in the different regions.

We also wish to offer our thanks to the Director-General for improving cooperation. Egypt has faith in this cooperation between developing countries and in this context has signed the relevant agreement. We believe that through this agreement and through FAO, Egypt will be able to put its expertise at the service of those countries who may need it.

Jacques LAUREAU (France): Nous étions très nombreux au mois de mai dernier, à nous féliciter de la célérité avec laquelle le Directeur général avait fait un diagnostic de la situation de l'ΟΑΑ pour proposer des réformes dans les six premiers mois de son mandat.

Relativement peu de temps s'est écoulé depuis. Nous apprécions que le Directeur général nous ait présenté, à travers deux documents complétés par sa déclaration d'ouverture du Conseil, un bilan synthétique des premiers résultats des actions engagées. Nous savons que cette présentation succincte ne peut refléter toute la quantité souterraine de travail nécessaire pour aboutir à ces premiers résultats. Nous savons également que tout le processus de réforme est complexe, et qu'il soulève inévitablement des difficultés. La documentation aurait d'ailleurs pu aborder ces difficultés afin de recueillir une contribution des Etats Membres à leur analyse.

Monsieur le Président, je crois important, à ce stade, de rappeler les principes fondamentaux qui sous-tendaient les propositions de réforme auxquelles le dernier Conseil avait donné son aval et de se pencher sur la bonne adéquation des actions engagées par rapport à ces principes.

1. Le renforcement de l'ΟΑΑ en tant que centre d'excellence dans ses différents domaines de compétence et la rationalisation des activités opérationnelles par le canal de mesures structurelles: grâce à ces nouvelles structures, l'organisation devrait être à même de reprendre les recrutements pour disposer effectivement des capacités d'expertise qui lui sont nécessaires et que nous lui demandons.

En particulier, nous sommes attachés à ce que l'organisation retrouve des capacités qui lui seraient reconnues en matière de conseil aux politiques agricoles et alimentaires des gouvernements. Cela est un enjeu de taille pour l'ΟΑΑ dans un contexte économique mondial très évolutif.

2. La poursuite de la décentralisation: il s'agit là d'un processus plus continu qui s'inscrit nécessairement dans la durée mais qui doit aussi, pour l'ouverture de nouvelles structures décentralisées notamment, bénéficier de la coopération des Etats Membres. En même temps que nous considérons comme pertinents lescritères de sélection avancés pour les bureaux sous-régionaux, nous espérons que des solutions consensuelles entre les Etats Membres concernés pourront rapidement se dégager pour leur implantation. Peut-être à laprochaine réunion du Conseil, serons-nous d'ailleurs en mesure de disposer de premières projections budgétaires relatives aux coûts engendrés par la décentralisation accrue du Secrétariat.

S'agissant des divisions mixtes entre l'ΟΑΑ et les commissions régionales des Nations Unies, nous félicitons le Directeur général d'avoir abouti à un accord spécial pour la région Europe, qui permette de maintenir certaines fonctions essentielles dans le domaine forestier conformément aux souhaits exprimés par nombre d'entre nous au mois de mai dernier.

3. En ce qui concerne la recherche d'une plus grande efficacité et de modalités d'action moins coûteuses, c'est un sujet très vaste et les actions entreprises ne constituent bien évidemment qu'un point de départ, car cet objectif fondamental nécessite une évolution des moyens et des méthodes de travail.

Je voudrais attirer l'attention du Conseil sur quelques points seulement:

Le principe d'élargissement des partenariats de l'ΟΑΑ avec les institutions financières internationales est essentiel et nous devons remercier le Directeur général pour ce qu'il a fait à cet égard. Les Etats Membres doivent en avoir d'ailleurs un compte rendu afin de s'assurer de l'opérationnalité des accords et envisager éventuellement de les compléter sur un plan bilatéral comme nous venons de le faire pour ce qui concerne l'accord avec la Banque mondiale. L'établissement d'accords de coopération avec la communauté scientifique danns différents pays est également important; les institutions françaises de recherche et de développement y sont favorables sous réserve qu'une approche sélective puisse être adoptée par le Secrétariat pour faire pièce à la diversité de ces institutions.

- Le recours aux services d'experts retraités ne pourrait être justifié que par un souci de capitalisation de leur expérience. Nous y serions d'autant plus favorables que les économies qu'autoriseraient l'emploi de retraités pourraient simultanément permettre de financer le recrutement temporaire de jeunes experts des pays en développement qui les accompagneraient sur le terrain.

- S'agissant de la mise en place des cadres nationaux pour occuper des fonctions précédemment dévolues à du personnel international, nous demandons à ce que l'Organisation veille à la progressivité de la mise en oeuvre de cette politique pour permettre aux personnels visés de transmettre leur expérience et de préparer l'évolution de leur carrière.

- Enfin, nous sommes heureux de voir que l'Organisation attache du prix à la modernisation de ses capacités d'information et de communication, car c'est aussi son image qui en dépend. La France serait disposée à étudier avec le Secrétariat les modalités d'une collaboration tournée vers l'accès aux réseaux télématiques francophones.

4. Dernier principe fondamental: le recentrage des priorités autour de l'évolution de la notion de sécurité alimentaire mondiale

Les moyens du Programme d'intensification de la productivité dans les zones à haut potentiel ne peuvent pas permettre à l'Organisation de répondre aux problèmes de développement spécifiques qui seront identifiés par les missions exploratoires, d'autant plus que celles-ci vont se multiplier dans 76 ou 78 pays. Si d'ailleurs vous avez des réponses précises à ce sujet, je serais content de les entendre. Par ailleurs, nous jugerions opportun d'examiner l'évolution de ce programme lors du prochain Comité de la Sécurité Alimentaire.

D'autre part, nous serons heureux d'être à Rome, le 9 décembre prochain, pour contribuer à approfondir le contenu du programme EMPRES.

Monsieur le Président, il y a six mois, la délégation française avait conclu son intervention devant le Conseil en appelant à la fois à la "prudence" et à la "célérité" dans la mise en oeuvre des réformes. Je crois que ces mots clés ont été appliqués, mais ils demeurent toujours d'actualité.

Le personnel de l'Organisation est sa première dépense budgétaire, mais aussi sa première richesse. Il importe à nos yeux que ce personnel - toutes les catégories de personnel qu'emploie l'Organisation - s'approprie pleinement le projet de réforme et soit motivé par son succès. Cela passe, bien entendu, par la transparence du processus de transformation. Cela passe aussi par moins de bureaucratie. Il faudra notamment s'attacher à simplifier les procédures administratives. Une responsabilisation mesurable de chacun est également indispensable à travers plus de délégation d'autorité. Ce serait là une étape supplémentaire dans l'évolution du Secrétariat.

Mrs Maria GALVÖLGYI (Hungary): The Hungarian Delegation is happy with the Director-General's Progress Report and shares the views of the Joint Session of the Programme and Finance Committees in September 1994 welcoming the progress reported despite the short time which has elapsed since the last Council session. The Hungarian Delegation had previously expressed its approval of and support for the changes the Director-General wished to make in the organizational structure of the Organization. We hope that the "human factor" was kept well in mind and that job uncertainties, inevitably being a part of such a process, will be dealt with as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

In paragraphs 31 to 34 of document CL 107/14, the special audit exercise has been mentioned. We were happy to note that the field structures of the Organization are performing well. We wonder whether the audit could be released to governments interested, either for learning purposes or to serve the transparency so often sought within the Organization.

Mr Chairman, I will turn now to the subject of the sub-regional offices. The Government of Hungary considers the establishment of a new sub-regional office for central and eastern Europe is of particular importance. In the sub-region of Central and Eastern Europe fundamental changes are under way creating special situations and problems that require special solutions to be developed within the sub-region. The Hungarian Government is ready to participate in this effort and has expressed interest in hosting the office for the sub-region. We are pleased to acknowledge the strong and continued support of many countries in our sub-region. I have been authorized to confirm once again our readiness to host the sub-regional office and to provide all technical support services for its most efficient operation.

As most of you are well aware, Budapest - the capital city of Hungary - has an excellent geographical location for the sub-region and has all the facilities to offer immediate access to adequate infrastructure, including the most advanced telecom and INTERNET connection to FAO headquarters and countries being served. There are convenient and frequent - mainly daily - flight connections with capitals and major cities in the neighbouring states, and good connections to the UN city in Vienna which hosts the FAO - IAEA Joint Division and the headquarters of many UN agencies.

Therefore, as has also been pointed out in the Letter of Interest of my Government, Hungary can meet all the "critical" as well as the "important" criteria stipulated by the Council as listed in paragraph 29 of the Director-General's Progress Report. However, we understand that more time is needed to obtain a uniform view on the right location. Hence, we are open for further consultations on this matter.

Dixon NILAWEERA (Sri Lanka): The Sri Lanka Delegation joins other distinguished delegates in thanking the Director-General for the efforts made to implement the proposals relating to the review of the programmes, structures and policies which was endorsed by the Council at its June Session. We note that the period is insufficient to report on any substantial progress. In the correct way, the Director-General has set about implementing some decisions which are indeed very sensitive.

My delegation would like to touch on a few areas of importance, firstly on special programmes, on food production in support of food security and LIFDCs. We fully agree that action shall be at country level. In fact, the focus seems to be on country-level pilot projects in a limited number of areas. We also note with

appreciation the efforts taken by the Director-General to solicit the support of other international donors to have collaboration programmes.

Mr Chairman, my delegation would like to point out that there are several ongoing programmes which were initiated several years ago for the achievement of identical objectives covering practically all aspects of food production. Since the Director-General proposes some exploratory missions to work out the modus operandi of these projects, my delegation would wish to state that such missions should examine the programmes already implemented and also those that are under way and critically examine their success or failure and evaluate the impact of these programmes so that there will be no duplication of efforts or repetitions of activities which could conveniently be avoided. There are lessons to be learned and situations to be understood from country experiences.

Secondly, as regards headquarters restructuring, we are happy to note that the Director-General is surging forward through consultative process in accordance with the mandate given by the Council. The establishment of the new departments and units seem to be proceeding as planned and we would like to hear more about the performance of these units, particularly the Department of Sustainable Development in the course of time.

My delegation wishes to draw the attention of the Director-General to the urgency of completing the restructuring process as early as possible. Special reference should be made to the strengthening of the capacities of the regional offices. In developing the capacities of these regional offices, efforts should be taken to identify the most important and critical areas of development of the particular region. My delegation would like to emphasize that agrarian reform, rural development, people participation, women in development, a participatory approach to sustainable development and WCARRD follow-up are extremely important to my country. Therefore, we would suggest that special efforts be taken to strengthen the regional office in Bangkok so that the good work done by the regional office could be continued.

In conclusion, I wish to emphasize one important factor. The strength of the FAO depends principally on the quality of staff. This aspect should be kept constantly in focus and should not be sacrificed under any circumstances. My delegation fully supports the Director-General in his efforts.

Salah HAMDI (Tunisie) (Langue originale arabe): J'ai suivi avec une grande attention la déclaration faite par le Directeur général et celles des membres du Secrétariat. J'ai également suivi avec une grande attention ce qui a été dit par le Président du Comité du Programme au sujet des progrès réalisés et des mesures qui sont prises, à l'heure actuelle, en application des décisions du Conseil dans le cadre du programme du Directeur général en vue d'introduire des réformes visant à renforcer l'Organisation afin que ces programmes soient plus efficaces et afin de rationaliser les interventions de la FAO pour servir au mieux les Etats Membres.

J'aimerais dire que l'approche adoptée par le Directeur général a été très efficace. C'est là une question importante et délicate; il faudra en traiter prudemment parce qu'elle a des répercussions sur la structure de l'Organisation ainsi que sur le personnel dans les différents départements et divisions. Je pense que les efforts réalisés par le Directeur général et son personnel jusqu'à présent pour ce qui est des consultations entreprises, en de nombreuses occasions, avec les différents départements et unités ainsi que les représentants du personnel sont la meilleure garantie de succès de ce programme. Je pense aussi que cela facilitera la décentralisation et l'accroissement des activités de terrain de la FAO.

Par ailleurs, je voudrais indiquer que la délégation de la Tunisie appuie le programme spécial tendant à améliorer la production alimentaire à l'appui de la sécurité alimentaire dans les pays à déficit vivrier. Nous appuyons également l'EMPRES avec ses différents éléments et tout particulièrement la lutte contre les acridiens, contre les maladies et contre les ravageurs. Nous appuyons tous ces programmes et projets parce que nous sommes convaincus que la FAO peut faire davantage. Mais en même temps, il faudra mobiliser des ressources supplémentaires pour profiter de la coopération que nous pouvons obtenir d'autres institutions, surtout dans le secteur de l'aménagement des ressources hydriques parce que l'eau peut accroître la productivité et, en fin de compte, peut même nous permettre d'arriver à la sécurité alimentaire.

Je pense que les consultations qui se tiennent à l'heure actuelle entraîneront une coopération accrue avec les autres institutions du système des Nations Unies, comme le PNUD, avec la Banque mondiale et avec les pays

donateurs ainsi que les institutions financières internationales. C'est là une indication claire et positive qui garantira une meilleure application de ces programmes dans le cadre d'un partenariat entre les différentes organisations, les pays donateurs et les pays concernés, etc.

Jürgen OESTREICH (Germany): On behalf of the European Community, Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden, I wish to make under this item a few remarks concerning the Director-General's proposal of a World Food Summit (although this proposal was not explicitly mentioned in his progress report we have just heard with great interest). But I will come back to your introduction this morning when we touch on this Item under point 11.

From our point of view the Director-General's proposal of holding a World Food Summit is an important one. Therefore, it is our considered opinion that such a World Food Summit should be a success; i.e., serving visibly and effectively our common cause to increase world food security.

In order to guarantee this success three major aspects seem to be most important:

First, a good and timely preparation in substance with due and also joint participation of all Member States of our Organization;

second, the right timing for such a summit;

and third - so to speak as a consequence of the first two aspects I just mentioned - participation of political leaders who are expected to pronounce themselves on an assessment of the state of global food security, the prospectives for the future and on a plan of action for the international and national level.

We agree with the Director-General that the preparation should not be subject to bureaucratic delay and that costs should be kept to a minimum. We also agree that such preparation should be a participatory process involving broad-based consultations with all actors involved, individually but also jointly.

However, we have noted with some concern the information contained in document G/X/CC-709 on the preparation of a World Food Summit which was distributed to us at the end of October 1994 that, I quote, "plans for the consultative process are still evolving". In these circumstances careful consideration needs to be given to the optimal timing for a Summit. In any case, we consider it most important that Member States should be able to start considering the draft documents for the Summit in the near future, especially the Secretariat draft policy document for Summit consideration and the Secretariat draft of a plan of action. In our view, that should be done well ahead of the June Council in 1995, bearing in mind that ministers at the Quebec meeting, shortly after the July and August summer break, will have to give their views on these documents.

Thomas A. FORBORD (United States of America): The United States welcomes the further information we have received this morning on both the restructuring and the reorienting of FAO staff and activities. We supported the Director-General's initiative in the extraordinary session of the Council and continue to do so, but some concerns remain. These include the slow recruitment of key staff, the separation of normative and operational programmes and the need for developing a results-based approach for the next biennium budget. We appreciate the problems facing the Director-General and the very real resource constraints that have impeded more rapid progress, but we hope to see an acceleration of the restructuring process in the next few months. The split between normative and operational programmes has some rationale, and we are prepared to wait for results. To overcome the probable tendency of too static units to develop, with little or no interaction, FAO management will need to emphasize multidisciplinary approaches to programme and project design to maximize the potential of this new structure. In this connection we were pleased to learn this morning that the Director-General has set up a new unit to ensure coordination.

We applaud the Director-General's initiative on strengthening the FAO global communication network and

agree that this is an urgently needed investment. The further information provided in document

CL 107/14-Sup.1 is also encouraging, particularly the information on the new financing partnerships

established by the Investment Centre. We also believe the efforts to strengthen collaboration with other UN system agencies will strengthen FAO's performance in the future.

Turning to the Director-General's special programme on increased food production for food security and his initiative on the World Food Summit, the United States would like to note that production is only one of many factors in developing sustainable food security strategies. The rise of food production in Asia and Latin America has been a direct consequence of better overall government economic policies and an effort to put production decisions in the hands of farmers. Establishing free markets that promote real incentives has been a critical factor in this dynamic change.

The report on the state of food and agriculture illustrates that public investment in agriculture, including official development assistance, continues to decline, but given the rate of global capital formation we need to better understand how private investment, both foreign and domestic, can improve the productivity of the agricultural sector. We believe FAO might usefully collaborate with UNCTAD in determining how private investment is already impacting on the agricultural sector.

Beyond macropolicies, governments can help with reducing post-harvest losses, developing in-country distribution systems and assisting communities in sustainable land and water management. At the recent FAO Regional Conference for Africa, we were told that 50% of African food production is lost after it is harvested. Several African Agricultural Ministers identified this post-harvest loss as their countries' major agricultural problem. FAO's policy advice role in these instances demands attention to a multidisciplinary approach which I have highlighted earlier. We hope the special programme on food security and the Secretariat's preparations for the meetings in Quebec and Rome will bring new insights to bear on these critical areas and note our belief that participatory, small-scale approaches have the most promise. We do not want to see the failures of the past decades with large capital intensive projects repeated.

One important new approach which FAO needs to pursue is agricultural diversification. Increased production is not the only means to greater food security. The real key is higher incomes. Many non-food crops can provide higher income to farmers and thereby assure food security. Earlier this morning the Director-General mentioned the weight of age, traditions and practices of an organization which is almost 50 years old. To some extent this tradition is reflected in the FAO motto Fiat Panis, Let there be Food. We may want to consider for the next 50 years of our Organization an updated motto which reflects the need for agricultural income, Fiat Panis et Fiat Argentum.

We hope the Secretariat will keep these observations in mind when formulating its series of analytical background papers in preparation for the next Session of the Council. We hope that the draft documents can be provided to members in the very near future so that they can be properly prepared by members in preparation for the World Food Summit. We understand that Member Nations will have the opportunity to comment on plans and objectives for the World Food Summit at the June Council. We are, however, concerned that the schedule of 1995 meetings which was circulated this morning shows that only the June Council is scheduled between now and the Ministers' meetings in Quebec as an opportunity for members to consider Council preparation. The United States is concerned as to whether that will be enough involvement of member countries.

In closing, I should note that the United States has always supported the idea of a World Summit on Food Security. Our concern has been, and remains, that in order to be successful the Summit must reflect careful, detailed and timely preparation, extensive Secretariat consultation with membership and extensive consultation among Members organized together here at FAO. It will critically depend on fully developed proposals for a Plan of Action designed to actually make a difference in food security, this most critical of problems.

Pedro MEDRANO (Chile): Quisiéramos, en primer lugar, a nombre del Grupo Latinoamericano y del Caribe, expresar nuestro reconocimiento y satisfacción al Sr. Director General por los resultados y progresos logrados en la aplicación de las decisiones adoptadas por el Consejo en su 106° período de sesiones. En tal sentido, quisiéramos agradecer al Sr. Director General por la valiosa información que nos ha proporcionado y queremos, al mismo tiempo, felicitarle por haberse colocado al frente de esta iniciativa, que tiende a lograr una FAO más moderna y en condiciones de responder a las necesidades de los tiempos actuales. Especialmente, quisiéramos expresar nuestro reconocimiento por los progresos que se han alcanzado en la

ejecución de los programas especiales, prioritarios para la Organización, tales como el Programa especial para la producción de alimentos en apoyo de la seguridad alimentaria en los países de bajos ingresos y con déficit de alimentos, así como el Programa EMPRES.

Del mismo modo, quisiéramos señalar nuestra satisfacción por los resultados que se han logrado, a pesar del poco tiempo transcurrido, para desarrollar nuevos acuerdos de cooperación con los Estados Miembros, con el propósito de ampliar los servicios de expertos a disposición de la FAO y la forma como se están explorando nuevas modalidades menos costosas de ejecución, utilizando expertos para CTPD, para las actividades de cooperación entre países en transición de Europa central y oriental y la cooperación con instituciones de investigación de ámbito universitario de los Estados Miembros.

Esta línea de trabajo, estamos seguros de que producirá no sólo una mejor cooperación y ahorro de recursos, sino que servirá para fortalecer las relaciones políticas entre nuestros Estados Miembros.

Nuestro reconocimiento al Sr. Director General adquiere mayor relevancia si se tiene en cuenta, como señalábamos recientemente, el poco tiempo que ha transcurrido desde la adopción de estos acuerdos. Sin embargo, quisiéramos hacer presente a este Consejo que la Conferencia Regional de la FAO para América Latina y el Caribe tuvo la oportunidad de conocer los progresos alcanzados en estas materias y expresar al Director General su reconocimiento por los avances logrados, particularmente por la decisión de llevar a efecto y traducir en la práctica el establecimiento de una Oficina Subregional para la Región del Caribe.

En relación al proceso mismo de reestructuración que se lleva a cabo, quisiera simplemente recordar a este Consejo que el GRULAC presentó en su oportunidad una serie de consideraciones como contribución a las propuestas del Director General y nos complace que éstas estén siendo tomadas en cuenta en la medida que esto sea posible.

Queremos, en todo caso, reiterar la importancia que asignamos al proceso de descentralización y al fortalecimiento de las oficinas regionales, subregionales y las representaciones locales. Al respecto, quisiéramos hacer presente la importancia que asignamos al hecho de que se fortalezcan técnicamente las oficinas regionales y que esto se haga en lo posible trasladando o reasignando personal desde la sede hacia las oficinas regionales y subregionales y que, en todo caso, el proceso de establecimiento de oficinas subregionales no limite o debilite la capacidad técnica de las oficinas regionales.

En relación a la Cumbre Mundial de la alimentación que se está proyectando para 1996, queremos expresar claramente nuestro respaldo a la idea de celebrar esta cumbre. Creemos que es oportuno y necesario que la comunidad internacional, al más alto nivel representada, pueda reflexionar y plantearse políticas y programas de acción en relación a uno de los flagelos más graves que afectan a la humanidad. Por esto, queremos señalar y reiterar nuestra disposición para participar activamente en los Comités Técnicos y de Gobierno de la FAO, así como en las modalidades prácticas y efectivas que permitan asegurar el éxito de esta Cumbre.

Hemos tenido la oportunidad de intercambiar opiniones como grupo regional con el Sr. Director General, y quisiéramos reiterar en esta oportunidad nuestra mejor disposición para participar activamente en los preparativos de esta cumbre. Al mismo tiempo quisiéramos señalar nuestra mejor disponibilidad para contribuir con documentos técnicos y especialistas en las experiencias que tenemos en cada uno de nuestros países para que éstas puedan, en definitiva, ayudar al mejor éxito de este propósito.

Quisiéramos sugerir que las reuniones de los Comités Técnicos en las reuniones de los órganos de gobierno que tengan lugar el año próximo, tanto en la sede como a nivel regional, esta idea pueda ser trabajada, pueda ser enriquecida con el aporte de los Estados Miembros. Creemos, asimismo, que se deben aprovechar las instancias que permitan, tanto a nivel nacional, como regional e internacional, promover adecuadamente el desarrollo y ejecución de esta idea.

Por último quisiéramos hacer un reconocimiento a la disponibilidad que ha demostrado el Sr. Director General con el personal y funcionarios de la Organización para sostener entrevistas y reuniones y mantenerlos informados respecto de los propósitos de la reestructuración. Como grupo regional nos complace expresar nuestro reconocimiento por la disponibilidad demostrada por el Director General para reunirse con nuestro grupo, así como en nuestros países con nuestros respectivos Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno las veces que esto ha sido posible.

LI ZHENGDONG (China) (Original language Chinese): The Chinese delegation has taken note that the time since the previous session has been rather short and the work carried out by FAO during this period is appreciated. We want specially to mention the progress that has so far been achieved in implementing the Special Programmes. China actively supports these Special Programmes. We are pleased to see that there has been consultation with the World Bank and other international organizations and certain Special Programmes and plans have been formulated for cooperation with other organizations. As indicated in the Progress Report, without multilateral cooperation it would not be possible to implement such programmes. We hope that FAO will strengthen its cooperation with other bilateral and multilateral finance institutions. We also note that the Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases Control programme has been implemented smoothly and we should like to express our appreciation for such a speedy implementation. We appreciate the series of measures taken by the Director-General geared towards the promotion of agricultural development in developing countries. We are willing to cooperate with other developing countries and share the experience we have, for instance in hybrid rice and sustainable agriculture.

Aguinaldo LISBOA RAMOS (Cap-Vert): Je voudrais féliciter le Directeur général pour son introduction exhaustive et détaillée à ce point de l'ordre du jour. Je voudrais remercier M. Shah, M. Mehboob et M. Bommer pour les informations supplémentaires qu'ils nous ont données.

La délégation du Cap-Vert a donné un appui total aux propositions du Directeur général soumises à la 106ème session du Conseil. Nous constatons avec satisfaction les efforts déployés et les démarches entreprises pour la mise en oeuvre des décisions adoptées à la réunion de mai du Conseil.

Notre attention est particulièrement attirée par ce qui concerne le Programme spécial de production alimentaire dans les pays à faibles revenus et à déficit vivrier, le système de prévention et de réponse rapide contre les ravageurs et maladies transfrontières des animaux et des plantes, la restructuration de l'Organisation et la décentralisation.

Les contacts établis avec les donateurs multilatéraux et bilatéraux, notamment la Banque mondiale, le PNUD et autres organisations financières internationales, les accords CTPD déjà signés, les consultations avec les gouvernements, sont des pas importants pour le succès du Programme spécial. Aussi, l'approche déjà évoquée par l'EMPRES nous semble la plus appropriée.

La restructuration est un exercice de rationalisation très complexe et délicat qui doit tenir compte des facteurs organisationnels et humains, et qui doit être conduite avec un souci de prudence et de solidarité. Notre délégation donne son accord total à la méthodologie, au processus consultatif et de dialogue adoptés par le Directeur général dans la mise en oeuvre de cette décision du Conseil.

Nous espérons que les bureaux sous-régionaux seront établis et deviendront fonctionnels dans les prochains mois.

Nous sommes convaincus que la décentralisation des activités administratives et techniques vers les structures de terrain et une plus importante utilisation des ressources nationales et régionales donneront à la FAO un nouvel élan dans l'accomplissement de son mandat.

Notre délégation donne son appui et son approbation au rapport du Comité du Programme et du Comité financier présenté par M. Bommer.

Un processus de réforme étant toujours très difficile, ma délégation encourage le Directeur général à poursuivre dans la voie tracée que lui et ses collaborateurs suivent avec tant de soin et d'attention. Ma délégation le félicite également pour les résultats atteints durant ces six mois écoulés.

Akihiko UDOGUCHI (Japan): First of all, my delegation welcomes the Progress Report presented by the Secretariat. We also welcome the Director-General's efforts to submit periodic progress reports on the implementation of the Council's decisions on FAO revised programmes and structures, and we hope that FAO

will further evolve to an efficient and effective international organization which can greatly serve the member countries and meet the needs of the international community.

At this opportunity, I would like to raise some points in relation to the Director-General's new initiative.

Firstly, we expect that FAO's Secretariat will strengthen its efforts to actively cooperate with international Funding organizations in the implementation of both food security programmes for low-income food-deficit countries and EMPRES.

Concerning the Desert Locust Programme, we appreciate the efforts of the Secretariat towards production of the paper which was presented to member countries just recently. In this connection, I would like to point out the importance of safe and effective use of pesticides in order to ensure the minimum adverse effects on both human health and the environment. We hope that human and budgetary resources will be allocated favourably to these identified priority areas in the next biennium.

Secondly, concerning the restructuring of the Headquarters: An adequate process of change will secure a smooth transition into a new structure.

Thirdly, on the decentralization process: We hope that current cooperations with Regional Commissions will be continued and strengthened through the process of redeployment of FAO staff in regional, economic and social conditions.

On the establishment of sub-regional offices, we endorse in general the selection criteria in the Secretariat document CL 107/14.

In order to achieve significant success in the decentralization process, it is essential to strengthen the capacities of regional as well as country offices. From this viewpoint, we welcome the Director-General's exercise through special audit on field structures.

We also welcome the Director-General's initiative itself on new cooperation agreements with Member Nations. However, in so doing, existing cooperation framework should be taken into account.

I would like to comment briefly on our position concerning the proposed World Food Summit. My country, Japan, has a very strong interest in world food security, from the viewpoint that development in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in many developing countries contributes to poverty eradication and economic development, and leads to food security for those developing countries. We have been making our best efforts in bilateral as well as multilateral cooperations with developing countries in the area of agriculture, forestry and fisheries development. Based on the foregoing, as well as the recognition that the importance of world food security will ever increase in the future, we consider that it is necessary for all member countries to have serious discussions on the issue of attaining world food security with the initiative of FAO.

In the last session of FAO Council the Director-General proposed the idea of a World Food Summit to be held early in 1996. In the subsequent Regional FAO Conference the FAO Secretariat developed some scope on the Summit. The Summit is to aim at raising awareness and political will at the highest level, as well as the realm of public opinion on the unacceptability of continued food insecurity and the need for global commitment and action to address the problem. It was also clarified that it was not expected to propose new organizations, structures or additional financial mechanisms, nor is it meant to be a pledging conference. Japan highly appreciates, and supports in principle, the Director-General's initiative to convene this highest political level meeting on food security, in light of the importance of food for the present international community and for its future.

I associate myself with the statements made by the distinguished delegates of Germany, representing the European Community, and the United States. Japan stresses the following points, which my country considers important for the success and fruitful outcome of the Summit meeting.

Firstly, it is critically important to ensure participation at the highest political levels responsible for food security.

Secondly, with regard to the procedure of preparation for the Summit, it would be necessary to fully discuss among Member States issues such as the Agenda, the modalities, and the timing of the meeting, in order to ensure a satisfactory outcome through adequate preparation and participation of Member States. In this context, we must initiate the preparatory process as soon as possible.

We hope that the proposed World Food Summit will lead to a truly meaningful world conference on world food security, through full preparation and the participation of all Member States from the early stages, and will become a major drive towards the establishment of world food security.

Ms Michelle COMEAU (Canada): Comme je vous l'avais dit lors de ma présentation au 106^e Conseil de la FAO, nous sommes tous confrontés à des contrôles et à des restrictions budgétaires particulièrement sévères.

Le Gouvernement du Canada revoit présentement tous ses programmes, y compris sa participation aux institutions internationales.

Notre Conseil des ministres décidera sous peu de réductions budgétaires variant entre 25 et 40%, qui s'ajoutent aux réductions antérieures de 15%.

Il est donc très clair que nous ne pourrons continuer à appuyer que les activités qui sont essentielles à l'atteinte d'objectifs très précis et que nous serons de plus en plus exigeants face à l'utilisation efficace de nos contributions.

Nous sommes donc très encouragés par les progrès accomplis à cette date par le Directeur général, notamment le programme spécial de production alimentaire et la restructuration de la FAO. Les détails présentés ce matin par le Directeur général et ses collègues sont très utiles.

Le Canada encourage fortement les efforts de coopération avec les autres organisations puisque nous y voyons là une occasion de réduire les coûts et d'accroître l'efficacité.

Lors d'une récente réunion de l'UCA au Costa Rica, nous avons eu l'occasion de voir de remarquables progrès en matière de coopération.

Nous encourageons donc le Directeur général à poursuivre ses efforts en ce sens. Le Canada est prêt à l'appuyer dans cette voie. Nous sommes très heureux d'être un des premiers pays à parapher une entente de coopération avec les institutions de recherche.

Monsieur le Président, nous sommes conscients que la gestion du changement, notamment au sein d'un organisme aussi vaste que celui comme la FAO, ne se fait pas du jour au lendemain et qu'il nécessite un des effort constant. Nous réitérons donc notre appui au Directeur général. Nous sommes prêts à l'aider dans ses efforts, et ce de la manière qu'il jugera la plus appropriée.

Finalement nous croyons à l'importance du sommet mondial sur l'alimentation et nous aiderons le Directeur général à en faire un succès. Dans cette optique, le Canada serait heureux de pouvoir contribuer à l'élaboration d'une proposition précise et d'un plan d'action ainsi qu'à la constitution d'une équipe de travail efficace.

Mme Béatrice DAMIBA (Burkina Faso): Ma délégation voudrait saisir l'occasion pour réitérer au Directeur général le soutien du Burkina Faso au processus de restructuration et de redynamisation de la FAO en vigueur depuis juin 1994.

Ma délégation se félicite de l'opportunité reconnue au Conseil de prendre connaissance des progrès accomplis en si peu de temps et se déclare satisfaite de l'esprit de transparence qui sous-tend le rapport intérimaire du Directeur général. Nous approuvons pleinement la démarche basée sur les principes de consultations

permanentes entre le Secrétariat et les Etats Membres. Ce dialogue, cette communication responsabilisent tout le monde et participent de la nécessaire synergie pour notre cause commune vitale.

S'agissant du contenu du document CL 104/14-Sup. 1, ma délégation désire exprimer son appréciation générale pour les résultats globalement positifs obtenus en trois mois d'activités intenses.

Pour en venir aux domaines spécifiques du programme, je souhaiterais formuler les quelques commentaires ci-après:

- s'agissant des programmes spéciaux: le succès de ces programmes dépend largement des conditions politiques et sociales propres à chaque pays récipiendaire et surtout du degré de mobilisation des populations rurales, notamment des femmes, qui auront à charge de conduire les activités de production. La FAO devra par conséquent accorder une attention à leur formation tant en ce qui concerne l'alphabétisation de base que l'acquisition de savoir faire.

Il faudra également favoriser le développement du tissu agro-alimentaire qui devrait toujours se situer en aval de toutes les filières de production y compris les productions vivrières. Le secteur privé et surtout les ONG seront, à cet effet directement impliquées au processus, compte tenu de leur expérience dans ce domaine.

Il conviendrait également de développer le crédit et l'épargne rurale dans les espaces des projets et y accorder une attention particulière aux capacités naturelles de gestionnaires avisés que l'on reconnaît généralement aux associations féminines. Excusez-moi de revenir et d'insister sur la place des femmes, mais des expériences initiées sur ce plan par le Gouvernement du Burkina Faso, avec l'appui de partenaires bilatéraux et multilatéraux, se révèlent aujourd'hui un succès et suscitent un intérêt grandissant pour d'autres pays et de nouveaux partenaires.

Pour ce qui concerne la restructuration du siège, ma délégation se félicite de la participation du personnel au processus de définition et de réallocation des postes; à cet effet, il est important de noter que l'exercice en cours donne une place prépondérante à l'examen des modalités de consultation des associations de personnel. Ma délégation espère vivement que, tout au long du processus de restructuration, l'ensemble du personnel sera étroitement associé à la prise de décision grâce au mécanisme de consultation que le Directeur général aura mis en place.

En ce qui concerne la décentralisation, ma délégation voudrait souligner la priorité accordée au renforcement des structures régionales et nationales des représentations de la FAO. Les mesures consistant à introduire progressivement les fonctionnaires recrutés sur le plan national dans les bureaux de pays sont salutaires. La modification des articles appropriés du règlement général, qui doit permettre au Directeur général de démarrer le processus, a du reste été déjà approuvée par le Comité financier de la FAO et nous osons espérer que le Conseil n'aura pas de difficulté à entériner cette mesure.

Concernant l'exercice spécial de vérification des comptes, ma délégation voudrait saluer cette initiative dont l'utilité a été reconnue par le Directeur général lui-même. L'évaluation globale des structures de terrain est une opération indispensable pour une gestion avisée, d'autant plus attendue à cette phase importante de mise en place de nouvelles structures.

Pour terminer nous voudrions saisir l'occasion pour féliciter le personnel des structures de terrain de la FAO qui s'acquitte bien de ses multiples missions et dont le rapport de vérification interne reconnaît les mérites.

Mme Régine DE CLERCQ (Belgique): La Belgique souhaite remercier le Directeur général de son exposé détaillé de ce matin, en complément au document CL 107/14 et supp. concernant l'état d'avancement des programmes spéciaux de sécurité alimentaire et de lutte contre les ravageurs ainsi que de la restructuration de la FAO. Nous apprécions les efforts du Secrétariat et du Directeur général pour donner aux délégués des informations sur ce processus en cours; comme d'autres délégations qui nous ont précédées nous avons néanmoins quelques questions supplémentaires à poser.

En ce qui concerne les programmes spéciaux et précisément à propos du programme Sécurité alimentaire, cette délégation se demande si la conception du programme qui met surtout l'accent sur l'augmentation de la

production, moyennant le transfert de technologie, dans les zones à haut potentiel tient suffisamment compte des aspects socio-économiques et culturels des problèmes; en effet, il ne suffit pas d'apprendre aux fermiers comment sélectionner les meilleures semences, si on ne leur fournit pas les moyens de se procurer ces semences et, comme le disait si bien le délégué du Saint Siège avant hier, la culture, c'est-à-dire l'éducation, la prise de conscience, l'amélioration du niveau de vie, la participation des femmes, en un mot, une politique de développement global doit accompagner le développement agricole, pour que celui-ci puisse réussir.

Il serait également souhaitable que les délégués puissent prendre connaissance du cadre conceptuel dont il est question au paragraphe 6 du document CL 107/14, afin d'apprécier comment ce cadre intègre les contraintes de durabilité, plus particulièrement celles liées à l'environnement.

Pourrait-on aussi apprendre quels sont les pays qui ont accueilli des missions exploratoires? Quels seront les pays où de semblables missions auront lieu dans le proche avenir? Quels sont les critères qui ont été retenus pour les sélectionner? et quels sont les paramètres de sélection des pays qui accueilleront finalement des projets pilotes?

Enfin, cette délégation voudrait insister sur la nécessaire cohérence de ce programme spécial avec les activités menées par la division de la nutrition qui dans le sillage de la CIN doit contribuer à certains volets de la sécurité alimentaire.

En ce qui concerne EMPRES, nous nous réjouissons des progrès réalisés pour la mise en oeuvre de ce programme.

S'agissant d'un programme qui sera tributaire en partie des contributions volontaires, cette délégation souhaiterait que l'on conduise une réflexion attentive sur la gestion et le contrôle des programmes multidonateurs. La réunion prochaine du 9 décembre nous donnera certainement l'occasion de développer quelques idées à ce sujet...

En ce qui concerne la restructuration du siège, nous reconnaissons très volontiers que la question de la restructuration de la FAO relève de la responsabilité du Directeur général et nous nous garderons donc de toute ingérence à cet égard. Nous avons apprécié que le Directeur général ait complété les informations au sujet du calendrier de la mise en oeuvre de la restructuration. En effet, la période transitoire ne pourrait se prolonger trop longtemps sans affecter la bonne marche de l'Organisation.

En tant qu'Etat Membre, nous attendons de la restructuration qu'elle contribue à l'efficacité de l'Organisation, ce qui lui permettra de s'acquitter de ses responsabilités croissantes. Une structure qui contribue aux synergies et qui évite des blocages est donc nécessaire.

Enfin, et je me permets de le signaler, malgré les efforts de consultation tels que rapportés, et qui sont très poussés, le sort des agents dont le poste a été dupprimé nous inspire des préoccupations. Les procédures qui ont été mises en place pour les réaffecter dans l'Organisation pourraient être améliorées.

A propos de la décentralisation, nous nous réjouissons de la poursuite des activités de la division forestière. Quant à la localisation des bureaux sous-régionaux, nous espérons que les endroits retenus présenteront la plus grande pertinence par rapport aux besoins prioritaires des sous-régions concernées. L'idée maîtresse de la décentralisation est de rendre l'organisation plus proche de ses membres afin qu'elle apporte une assistance concrète dans la solution de leurs problèmes agricoles et alimentaires.

La Belgique qui attache une grande importance aux activités de terrain se réjouit des résultats de l'évaluation de ses structures. Il serait intéressant que nous puissions disposer des analyses conduites sur les données récoltées concernant la gestion des programmes ordinaires et de terrain. Ces analyses devraient mettre en évidence les facteurs de performance et faciliter à l'avenir la mise au point des mesures visant à optimaliser le fonctionnement des bureaux, y compris ceux que l'on se propose d'installer.

Brièvement, Monsieur le Président, cette délégation suit de près les évolutions relatives aux nouveaux accords de coopération interuniversitaire et espère pouvoir y souscrire bientôt.

Pour conclure, cette délégation voudrait réitérer son appui constructif aux réformes courageuses qui sont entreprises et aux principes directeurs qui les sous-tendent.

Paolo Vincenzo MASSA (Italy): Firstly, our delegation would like to express its appreciation for the presentation made by the Director-General, by Mr Shah, by Mr Mehboob, which has enriched the information contained in document CL 107/14 and its supplement.

We also want to congratulate the Director-General for his intention to submit to us periodic information on the various implementation decisions taken by the last Council.

We note from studying the document that some action has been taken in quite critical sectors such as the allocation of posts and reformulation of post descriptions.

From what we know of the alterations in the structure of Headquarters - for example with regard to the new Technical Cooperation Department which will somehow come from the Development Department which is at present the Unit -we welcome of course the separation of the normative activities from the operational and technical work related to field projects. We think this Unit would work very well, provided some attention is given to the need for an appropriate relocation of people from technical divisions, and there is no risk that the new department becomes an organization within the organization itself.

We are also very interested in the establishment of a new policy formulation division, as we hope that this new division will facilitate dialogue between FAO and donor countries which need to know which are the main agricultural issues and priorities in a given region and a specific country, in order to be able to programme activities in advance.

At the moment, we sometimes have difficulty in getting information from the various Divisions of FAO. We hope that FAO will be able to produce some country studies on the agricultural sector on a more regular basis.

With reference to the big issues of decentralization, whilst we welcome the efforts to be at field level close to the needs of member countries and, therefore, we support the general principle, we should like to point out some potential risks.

One of the potential risks is that the regional and sub-regional offices will become miniature-sized versions of the Organization and coordination with Headquarters would become difficult. We would like to know what care has been given so that this risk would not become a reality.

As far as FAO representation abroad is concerned, we do not object to the progressive use of national officers provided that, first of all, they receive adequate training, that independence from local pressure is secured and that there is still an appropriate balance between national and international officers.

Finally, I would like to come to the issue of the World Food Summit. Of course, we are very much in favour - and who could not be? - of the convocation of the World Food Summit. We are deeply honoured as we will be the host country for such an important event. We hope that the preparations for the Summit will start early, will be done in strict cooperation with all Member States, and we hope that from that Summit there will be real success which is the condition for a real step forward in food security.

Wilberforce A. SAKIRA (Uganda): Our delegation would like to thank the FAO Secretariat for the exposure of what has so far been done and achieved since the 106th Session of the FAO Council. We would like to thank the Director-General for the informative briefing he has given to the Council. Our delegation commends FAO for what it has so far achieved.

Mr Chairman, our delegation strongly supported the proposals related to the review of the Organization's programmes, structures and policies during the 106th Session of the Council. We strongly supported the special programmes relating to food production in support of food security in low-income food-deficit countries. I wish to single out one point. Locusts constitute one of the main problems facing Africa, the Near

East and some parts of Asia. We were pleased to hear from the Director-General this morning that a lot has already been done in soliciting financial and material support from the international community. We would like to commend him on the plans he has in mind to lay emphasis on biological control - let me repeat, biological control - because we believe that chemicals are a potential hazard to humans.

Regarding animal diseases, we would like to thank FAO for the assistance so far given to the Government of Uganda and Rwanda - as you have heard this morning - in controlling or containing rinderpest. We wish to propose, as we have done before, that foot-and-mouth disease and bovine pleuropneumonia be addressed under the EMPRES Programme in addition to rinderpest. We are doing this mainly because bovine pleuropneumonia, which is a notifiable disease, is a major hindrance in livestock production in various parts of the world.

It is our considered opinion that in addition to temperate cereals there is a need for FAO to place emphasis on traditional foodstuffs which have maintained generations in developing countries for many centuries. We have in mind the different types of millets, the sorghums, root and tuber crops and plantains. We feel that when addressing food security in developing countries this question has to be looked into because these crops have a lot of merit including being resistant to, or tolerant of, pests and diseases in their own environment and can tolerate certain environmental stress.

We would like to appeal to the international donor community to support the efforts of the Director-General since some of the programmes will depend on voluntary contributions. The Ugandan delegation strongly supports the Director-General's efforts and strategies in this regard and we wish him the best of luck.

Ms M. McCOWAN (United Kingdom): The United Kingdom Delegation welcomes the efforts being made by FAO at senior level to coordinate its activities with those of other Member Nations and international organizations. We stress the importance we attach to continuing this process, for example, in relation to the special programme on food. We supported this programme in principle at the 106th Council but stressed the importance of FAO providing full information as programme planning was developed, particularly in relation to selection criteria and the development of the conceptual framework. Although we understand that country missions are well under way, and we do, of course, acknowledge that there have been lots of consultations at the national level, we have yet to receive the conceptual framework documents on which the programme as a whole is based. Nor is it clear to us what the criteria are for deciding the order of priority for country selection.

The Director-General outlined this morning the sorts of things that were involved in forming discussions at national level. He referred to the identification of location, identifying partners for implementation and setting objectives. He himself put this within a philosophic framework. It is that philosophy that at the moment we feel unsighted on. We are particularly interested to see, for example, what the advantages are of the establishment of a special programme over the continuation of FAO's existing national initiatives.

The kinds of questions we would expect to see considered when deciding the criteria for selection are such as the sustainability of credit access where this is a component, the balance of advantage in selection of high or low potential agricultural areas, the focus on subsistence or cash crop production, and the extent to which urban food supply is a special focus for the programme. It is these kinds of issues that we had hoped would have been included in the Progress Report and simply not a description of process.

We opened our remarks by welcoming FAO's efforts to coordinate with Member Nations. In the desert locust component of EMPRES, we stress the importance of FAO ensuring that the capacities of specialist groups in a number of countries, including affected countries, are fully consulted and their skills utilized. By contrast we commend the closer discussion evident in the rinderpest component, for example with the EC Pan African Rinderpest Campaign.

Turning to the World Food Summit, like others we would like to comment on this Agenda Item. We fully understand the imperative under which the Director-General's commitment to focusing attention on the issue of food security is based and we recognize the value too of opportunities for substantive discussions in international fora at the highest levels. Food security, of course, involves far more than food production and this point was well made by the US Delegation. It includes such issues as trade, investment, entitlements, land

tenure, environment, and on all of these issues FAO will need actively to involve those other bilateral and multilateral organizations, governmental and non-governmental, which have considerable and dedicated responsibilities in these fields. Such consultations take time and we will need to focus on not just the substantive issues but also on the very nature of the event, including arrangements and agenda. The objective of all this is, after all, success.

We are all aware of the number of international meetings now scheduled which will place heavy demands on the times of Heads of State and Ministers, as well as the administrative support structures. A degree of scepticism about further additions to this schedule is beginning to appear and organizations proposing any additions must be very clear and realistic in setting aims and objectives if such events are to be credible. That is why we urge FAO to take prompt action in involving all the relevant partners at the planning stage.

Finally, I would like to turn to those aspects of the Progress Report dealing with decentralization. We would like to reinforce the comments we made at the 106th Council on this subject. Decentralization of staff and functions: my delegation fully supported such plans but made the point then that for decentralization to be meaningful it must involve greater delegation of budgetary control and decision-making appropriate to the level of staff being relocated. There is in our view more to decentralization than simple staff relocation. It must mean adoption of new working practices and structures. We would therefore request more information as soon as that is possible on the exact form of FAO's future operating structure.

We also look forward to evidence that FAO's essential normative functions can be maintained under the decentralization structure proposed. The welcome changes proposed for the communications infrastructure must provide for the maintenance of quality control and the supervision on technical matters.

Ken MATTHEWS (Australia): The main document that we have before us - CL 107/14 - is dated September. It is the same document that the joint meeting of the Programme and Finance Committees considered at that time. There was a favourable reaction in those Committees to the Director-General's efforts. Australia as a member of the Programme Committee joins in that reaction.

Two specific areas were given the highest priority following the Director-General's review. One was the special programme on food production in support of food security in low-income food-deficit countries. The other was the emergency prevention system for trans-boundary animal pests and diseases or EMPRES. Australia supports both of them. However, we repeat here, as we have done in this year's earlier Council sessions in the Programme Committee, as well as at the recent session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific, that food security should not be equated with self-sufficiency in food production. There are other important factors involved in food security and this view has been acknowledged by those bodies. It was noted that other factors contributing to food security would continue to be addressed in FAO's work programme.

As an agency of the United Nations, FAO clearly has an important role to play in assisting low-income food-deficit countries and in aiding the improvement of food security at all levels - households, national, regional and global. Food security is about giving people physical and economic access to a nutritionally adequate and reliable supply of food. It is not about the source or origin of the food. The key lies in assisting countries to make full use of their comparative economic advantage. Our ultimate goal must be household food security. It is not enough for a nation as a whole to be regarded as food secure while certain groups within it are chronically food insecure.

In the case of EMPRES, we are pleased to see that the desert locust is being targeted and we understand that detailed work plans have already been formulated for 1994 and 1995. In Australia we are fully conversant with the destructive impact of the plague locust.

In the case of animal diseases, we were pleased to learn that the second disease to be addressed involves long-term strategies for the eradication of foot-and-mouth disease. This is a problem in some parts of Southeast Asia as well as in Latin America. As a major animal producing country in the Southeast Asian Region, we have been involved in work to counter it. The report of last month's Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific calls for FAO to give equal emphasis to Southeast Asia and Latin America in its work to eradicate

foot-and-mouth disease. Australia was one of the countries which strongly supported that call and we do so again in this Council. Australia would wish to be involved in any consultations or workshops undertaken in this area.

We congratulate the Director-General in his initiatives in implementing an overall assessment of the performance of the present field office structures of the Organization and to the reference of paragraph 32 to its perhaps being the most comprehensive internal audit undertaking ever performed in the UN system. We were particularly pleased with the advice given by the Director-General to the Programme and Finance Committees last September that this was not just a one time exercise but one which will be ongoing and carried out every two years. While on the question of offices, Australia's strong support for the location of a sub-regional office in the Pacific is well known. Our view that the choice of location is one for the developing island countries of the region has been conveyed to FAO. We would be happy to support their choice subject to some consideration having been given to the costs and logistics involved and to the requirements of FAO.

As regards the proposed World Food Summit, we note from the information paper made available recently that a series of analytical background papers, a draft policy document and a plan of action are to be prepared. We are advised that these will be made available to Members for comment in the first half of 1995. Australia would want this summit to be a success. Given the preparations involved both for FAO and for individual member countries, the earlier these documents can be provided, the better. Access to reasonable detail of the proposal is a requirement of our Government's decision-making process on this matter. I am sure that the same applies to other member countries. Of course, proposals to the Summit will ultimately require the prior consideration of all Member Governments. It is therefore desirable that governments have an early opportunity to jointly consider the documents proposed in order to develop a durable and satisfactory consensus before the Summit event.

The Australian Delegation believes that it is vital that the proposed Summit have good prospects for a positive outcome, an outcome which will justify the efforts and the costs involved, an outcome which builds constructively on the work already done and institutions already built, and an outcome which is achievable and makes real progress towards FAO's mission.

We have appreciated having received the documents today and thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Sra. Ileana DI GIOVAN BATTISTA (Argentina): El 106° período de sesiones del Consejo otorgó un fuerte respaldo a las prioridades definidas por el Director General y a sus propuestas sobre reestructuración de esta Organización. Al considerar la implementación de tales prioridades y reformas, la delegación argentina ratifica lo expresado por la delegación de Chile en nombre de todo el Grupo Latinoamericano y el Caribe. Sin perjuicio de ello nos parece oportuno señalar, en primer lugar, que nos complace que las medidas de reestructuración, tendientes a actualizar el perfil de la Organización a las necesidades actuales, no han interrumpido ni alterado la marcha de los programas regulares.

En segundo lugar, reconocemos el difícil imperativo de reestructurar una Organización sin modificar el nivel de presupuesto, es decir, la reasignación de recursos, sin la creación de nuevos, exige procedimientos prudentes y delicados, que el Sr. Director General está conduciendo con el debido respeto a la sensibilidad de las personas afectadas.

También reconocemos las dificultades de mantener un alto nivel profesional, el alto nivel profesional que caracteriza a la Organización, con salarios que no son competitivos con los de otros órganos del sistema de Naciones Unidas.

Felicitamos al Director General, por su objetivo de incorporar funcionarios de países no representados aún, en el staff de la Organización, y sobre todo su objetivo de dar un mayor lugar a mujeres provenientes de países en desarrollo.

Finalmente, nos complacen los pasos dados para mejorar el sistema de información de la FAO y el acceso a los bancos de datos y nos hacemos cargo de las implicaciones financieras de este proceso.

Aunque no está en el orden del día, algunas delegaciones se han referido a la iniciativa del Director General relacionada con la celebración de una Cumbre Mundial sobre la Alimentación en 1996.

La delegación argentina entiende que la celebración de esta Cumbre es parte del programa de trabajo del bienio 1996-97 y por lo tanto sería el próximo Consejo de 1995 el adecuado para tratar las cuestiones de fondo de esta Conferencia, por lo cual no se va a referir a ellas. Sin embargo quiero destacar el total apoyo que damos a esta iniciativa. Consideramos que esta iniciativa, así como la adecuada celebración del cincuentenario de la FAO en 1995, constituirán oportunidades significativas para inducir, para provocar una toma de conciencia profundizada en los altos responsables políticos mundiales, pero también en las ONG y en la opinión pública internacional sobre los desafíos económicos, sociales y políticos que suscita la persistencia de carencias inaceptables en todavía excesivamente numerosos grupos humanos.

La delegación argentina agradece al Gobierno de Canadá y a las autoridades locales de Quebec la información sobre el importante cúmulo de actividades conmemorativas que nos ha enunciado para 1995. Esto contribuirá a que este próximo año permita que los temas de la agricultura y la alimentación estén en primer plano. Por eso es natural que varias delegaciones estén ya interesadas en la preparación de la Cumbre de 1996. En ese sentido, supongo que el Director General habrá recogido este interés y esta ansiedad por participar en sus consultas recientes.

Habida cuenta de las limitaciones presupuestarias y de ese interés ya expresado, la delegación argentina se permite solicitar al Director General, en primer lugar, que la documentación que la Secretaría prepare para esta Cumbre Mundial sea elaborada y distribuida con una especial antelación, antelación suficiente para el adecuado análisis en las capitales, pero también para permitir el intercambio de opiniones entre los representantes de países.

En segundo lugar, que el Sr. Director General mantenga sus prácticas de reunir a los grupos regionales en Roma para mantener una continuidad en la preparación de esta Cumbre entre la Secretaría y los gobiernos a través de sus representantes y que se estimulen y faciliten esas reuniones a través de la distribución oportuna de la documentación.

Per Harald GRUE (Norway): I have the honour of making this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

A relatively short period of time has passed since the 106th session of the Council. Therefore, rather than commenting on the details of the presented progress report, we would like to make a few more general comments on some issues of the Director-General's progress report, namely on the special programme for food production in support of food security in low-income food-deficit countries, on EMPRES and on the organizational changes in FAO.

We are very pleased with the decision to give special attention to food security in the poorest developing countries, and have taken due note of the action taken to follow up on the decisions from June this year.

We feel that FAO, as a lead agency within the agricultural field, has a special responsibility to secure that the principles laid down in Agenda 21 are observed in the new programme for food security in low-income food-deficit countries. To this end the new Department of Sustainable Development, when established and operative, will have an important role to play.

With regard to the Emergency Prevention System, we welcome this priority. We would like to underline the importance of a long-term approach in the combatting of animal diseases and plant pests. Giving priority to prevention rather than to cure is a sound principle. In this context we support the initiative to review the desert locust programme in order to form policies and guidelines for the future control and combat of desert locusts.

At the 106th Council meeting earlier this year, the Nordic countries expressed our support to the Director-General's proposals related to his review of the organization's programmes, structures and policies. We specifically appreciated the Director-General's recognition of the need to sharpen the priorities. The

organization needs to have clear and consistent priorities and to concentrate its resources in a limited number of fields.

Restructuring the organization, with the aim of achieving greater efficiency, is a top priority for the Nordic countries, as stated on many previous occasions. We know very well that the approved restructuring is a major operation and that the challenges confronting the Director-General are complex. We are, nevertheless, starting to get somewhat concerned regarding the actual pace of the implementation of the changes. Expectations for FAO are high. Therefore, reshaping of the organization and embarking on the execution of important assignments are crucial to rebuilding the confidence in the organization. This was clearly expressed during the discussion on item 6.2 on forestry.

The management decisions involved in the restructuring process are, of course, the prerogative of the Director-General. But the process itself involves Member Nations as well as staff. Transparency in the process, and a high level of information on the progress is therefore of utmost importance for its success.

It is the sincere hope of the Nordic countries that the Director-General will succeed with his endeavour, and we shall indeed do our utmost to cooperate constructively to this end.

EL PRESIDENTE: Creo que hemos llegado al final de esta séptima sesión plenaria de nuestros trabajos. Continuaremos hoy por la tarde con los siguientes oradores.

Distinguidos Miembros del Consejo levantamos esta séptima sesión plenaria. Nos vemos aquí a las 14.30 horas.

The meeting rose at 12.45 hours.
La séance est levée à 12 h 45.
Se levanta la sesión a las 12.45 horas.