S. PADMANAGARA (Indonesia): My delegation would like to thank Mr West and Mr Shah for their clear introduction to the subject under discussion. My delegation has carefully examined the documents concerning the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85. Taking into account the current world situation, and especially having listened to the Director-General's statement yesterday, we welcome the proposed Strategies, Priorities and Measures as contained in those documents. My delegation therefore fully endorses the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85.
Tesema NEGASH (Ethiopia): I would like to thank Mr West and Mr Shah for the policy statement and the lucid introduction to the Programme of Work and Budget.
I was in the Plenary Session for a while this morning and the atmosphere there is rather for complete support for the Programme of Work and Budget. I am afraid we cannot here act differently or take a different position than the one that is being taken at the Plenary.
The Programme of Work and Budget presented to us in its final form is the most scrutinized in content and in form Programme of Work and Budget that I have ever known. It has been through the various Committees and two Council sessions. I have no doubt therefore that this Commission and the Conference would unanimously support and endorse it as it is presented to us.
In the past my delegation made its position clear by strongly - and I repeat, strongly - opposing the trend towards zero budget growth. However, having carefully considered the current unfavourable global economic situation, and being convinced of the need for pragmatism and a case by case intersituational approach made by FAO, we express our full support for the Budget before us.
We reiterate our unreserved support for the Programme of Work and the level of the Budget. We hope, however, that the present trend - that is, the tendency towards zero growth - will be corrected in future in line with needs of developing countries.
The effective use of the TCP project has been endorsed and agreed by several Member Nations of the FAO Council only last week, especially in reference to its use in attacking rinderpest in Africa, and I wish to commend FAO for the efficiency and effectiveness demonstrated by the use of this fund.
The continuous depletion in the size of FAO administrative staff gives us some concern. The Organization has been effective without any sacrifice qualitatively as well as quantatively, in the discharge of the duties and responsibilities entrusted to it by the world community. However, this cannot continue indefinitely, and there should be an end to it. We are opposed to any unjustified directions which would force the Organization to compromise the quality of its service.
Lastly, we wish to record our appreciation for the priority accorded to Africa for research, technology and training. We reaffirm our full support for the strategies and priorities charted for the biennium 1984-85.
We shall make further comments, if need be, in due course.
R.M. SHIRIMA (Tanzania): The Tanzania delegation wishes to join the other delegates in congratulating you on your selection as Chairman of this important Commission. The Tanzania de'egation support the suggested budget and work programmes and commends the way it has been presented. We endorse the Director-General's introduction and support the idea of minimizing certain areas of expenditure as far as possible.
The question of exchange rate used in the Budget has been raised by other delegates, and we share this concern. We endorse the general considerations, and feel that it covers the necessary spheres FAO has to look into in the coming two years. We appreciate the efforts being made in fisheries and forestry, and fully support the programmes mentioned. We consider this greatly supports the FAO's efforts in assisting developing countries, and my delegation expresses sincere thanks for the efforts FAO made in preparation of the national food strategy, now adopted by the Tanzania Government. We hope FAO will continue to assist such strategies, and ensure adequate technical support during implementation.
We further note FAO's support in assisting our regions in a number of outbreaks, such as the large grain borer, and such measures should be emphasized in future programmes, in order to assist not only the affected countries, but also the developing countries.
At this juncture, Mr Chairman, we shall reserve our specific comments to later debates.
M. MOMBOULI (Congo): Nous aussi, Monsieur le Président, nous allons tenter de ne pas épuiser nos vingt minutes de parole à la première séance.
Qu'il me soit permis, au nom de la délégation, de notre pays,de joindre notre voix à celles des autres délégations qui nous ont précédés pour vous adresser nos vives félicitations à l'occasion de votre élection à la présidence de la Commission II de la Conférence. Nous voulons de même profiter de l'occasion que vous nous offrez en nous donnant la parole pour remercier MM. West et Shah ainsi que vous-même, Monsieur le Président, pour vos explications complémentaires aux documents soumis à notre examen.
Il y a quelques jours, intervenant en tant que membre du Conseil de la FAO, notre délégation, tout en prenant note du fait que le Programme de travail et budget 1984/85 de la FAO serait examiné en détail au sein de la présente Commission, avait appuyé de façon totale ces outils de travail pour la Direction générale de la FAO. Depuis que le Conseil a pris fin, nous avons affiné l'examen de ce document, et à l'issue de cet exercice, nous sommes heureux de vous dire à nouveau que nous n'avons pas changé d'avis mais que, tout au contraire, plusieurs raisons nous ont confortés dans notre soutien au Programme de travail et budget 1984/85 présenté par le Directeur général de la FAO.
Au nombre de ces raisons, nous pouvons citer: les efforts tendant à la réduction des charges administratives déployés par le Directeur général, le choix délicat mais bien réussi des stratégies et priorités qui concilient à la fois la situation des pauvres et celle des pays industrialisés, mais tous membres de notre Organisation; la transparence, la prudence et le réalisme qui caractérisent ces documents; les multiples innovations apportées à la présentation des documents conformément aux directives de la Conférence, du Conseil et des comités spécialisés de l'Organisation; la priorité accordée aux actions de terrain par rapport aux charges du Siège; le soutien à l'Afrique continent très épouvê par des calamités naturelles de tout genre.
Encore quelques mots avant d'en terminer. Par rapport au budget de l'exercice précédent, le budget 1984/85 de la FAO aura une croissance globale de 0,5 pour cent. Devant les effets du cisaillement de la crise économique mondiale de plus en plus ressentis par les pays à faible revenu et à déficit alimentaire, nous voulons exprimer une fois ade plus nos préoccupations quant aux réductions dont sont l'objet les programmes de terrain de la FAO.
Dans ce même ordre d'idée, nous délaissons et rejetons en bloc le culte que certains pays accordent au principe de la croissance zéro en matière de contribution au Fonds de notre Organisation. En terminant, nous déclarons que, pleinement ouverts à la discussion, nous souhaitons participer activement à l'exercice qui aboutira, nous osons l'espérer, à l'adoption par consensus et à l'unanimité, du Programme de travail et budget 1984/85 de la FAO sous l'éclairage des déclarations que nous avons entendues en séance plénière, et en particulier après la Conférence donnée par M. Kreisky de la République d'Autriche.
N. RAYEL (Ireland) : I would like to add my congratulations to you on your appointment to the Chairmanship of this Commission. I would also like to thank Mr West and Mr Shah for their very helpful introductions. I will be very brief, indeed, as my delegation made its views known at the Eighty-fourth session of the Council last week.
We commend the Director-General and his staff for both the presentation and content of the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984 and 1985. We welcome the fact that the Budget level takes into account the present difficult economic and financial situation prevailing in all countries. While it is not possible to satisfy everybody, we feel that the Programme of Work and Budget, as presented, goes a long way towards meeting all interests. We can, therefore, add our support.
C. THOMSEN (Denmark): The Danish delegation wishes to join others in congratulating you and the other members of the bureau on your election to this important task. We would also wish to thank the Deputy Director-General and Mr Shah, for their helpful introductions.
The first part of my general remarks will be related to the format of the document. Whereas my delegation in the past has advocated the presentation of Medium-term Objectives as a separate document, we can see the advantages in incorporating these background considerations under each of the Programmes. It does, in fact, in our view, facilitate the examination of the individual Programmes. We are anxious, however, in line with our previous point of view, to maintain the importance of this part of the Programme document, that is that the importance of medium-term planning should not, as it is stated in the document, be compromised in the future. We welcome the list of priorities indicated under each programme, although, as it is stated, their presentation is not always so easy to elaborate and to grasp. We believe that there is room for further progress and refinement in this respect, and we would like to take advantage of such progress in the future.
We also welcome the increased amount of detail provided on the proposed changes in resources, which although we would admit it makes for more difficult reading, it does at the same time provide us with a better basis for understanding the proposals and their implications. So we do welcome-this.
With regard to the level of the Budget we wish to express our satisfaction that account has been taken of the present economic circumstances in presenting a budget for the next biennium which, as it has been stated, involves a real growth limited to 0.5 percent. But at the same time it should not be forgotten that the budget for the present biennium has provided for a considerably higher rate of real growth, and this, of course, has provided the base for the new budget proposed.
My delegation would like to express our appreciation of the achievement of the Director-General in changing the emphasis from administration to technical and economic programmes, which has made it possible to propose 3.6 percent increase in real terms in these programmes. We welcome that.
We also welcome the proposed reduction in a number of posts, especially at headquarters in Rome. We do not consider this to be an objective per se, but as a way of promoting more action in the field, that is as a part of the action orientation of the Organization.
I then wish to make a few general remarks on priorities, but will revert to these matters in more detail in a later intervention. Within the proposed budget level it is, of course, most important to consider with care the relative priorities of the various parts of the Programme of Work and Budget, but from the point of view of scarce resources, it seems equally important to avoid overlapping and competition with other organizations that are involved in improving the world food situation. We admit that coordination can be a troublesome undertaking but we cannot escape the need for close collaboration with other organizations in order to obtain efficient use of resources. We fully acknowledge that there are several examples of such collaboration under various parts of the Programme, but we wish to express a wish that these examples may be intensified and may be in other areas collaboration-promoted in the future.
Finally, in connexion with the consideration of priorities it is in our opinion most important that all activities are included no matter from where the sources or finance come; that is total programming as far as this proves possible. But particularly with regard to the presentantion and implementation of the special action programmes we consider it essential that these should be fully integrated in the Regular Programme and not become a separate entity in the total system. In our view close interaction is a condition for obtaining successful results also here.
M.E. BONDANZA de FILIPPO (Argentina): En primer término deseo aprovechar esta primera ocasión para felicitarle, señor Presidente, por su designación; estamos seguros que los trabajos de esta Comisión se van a llevar a cabo con todo éxito bajo su experta dirección y nosotros comprometemos nuestro esfuerzo para que así ocurra.
Al mismo tiempo también deseamos agradecer al señor West por la brillante presentación del temario que nos ha efectuado, y también al señor Shah que nos ha dado explicaciones que nos resultan muy útiles sobre el documento C83/3.
Siguiendo su primer consejo, nuestra intervención en esta ocasión va a ser breve. Simplemente queremos resaltar dos aspectos el más importante es que la Argentina cree due el Proyecto del Programa de Labores y Presupuesto presentado significa un gran esfuerzo por parte de la Secretaría y quizá constituya un verdadero ejemplo entre las agencias de las Naciones Unidas.
Las prioridades y estrategias sugeridas en el documento nos parecen apropiadas en tanto responden a las necesidades de los países en desarrollo.
Evidentemente, la FAO podría bien utilizar más recursos si se contara con ellos, pero debemos tener en cuenta las especiales condiciones económicas internacionales que han sido ya señaladas en esta Sala; y en este sentido quiero destacar un segundo aspecto: que mi país en la actualidad ha logrado ponerse al día con sus cuotas de pago para la Organización, pero ello se ha hecho con gran esfuerzo. Debemos ser entonces conscientes que ello implica un sacrificio para nuestros pueblos. De todas maneras creemos que la Secretaría ha logrado un verdadero equilibrio en la presentación.
Vemos con satisfacción que no se han afectado los fondos destinados a proyectos de desarrollo, sino que, por el contrario, se sugiere un aumento, y es importante comprobar que el mismo surge en buena parte de ahorros provenientes de una racionalización administrativa.
Por otra parte, deseo dejar constancia de nuestro apoyo, en particular a los programs de Cooperación Técnica que resultan de invalorable utilidad a todos los países en desarrollo y de un modo general quiero expresar el apoyo de Argentina a todo el Programa. Claro está que a medida que vayamos analizando Programas y Subprogramas nos reservamos el derecho de hacer comentarios adicionales.
B. AL-MABROUK SAID (Libya) (original language Arabic): I would like to join the previous speakers in extending our heartfelt congratulations to all those who contributed most effectively and seriously to the preparation of this excellent and clear document. This programme has not only been able to maintain the budget level despite the economic problems facing the world of today but it also increases the allocations for technical and economic programmes by a rate of 3.6 percent. By this formula the Director-General presented to us constructive and most effective solutions. My country's delegation supports the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium 1984-85 presented by the Director-General, which we believe lives up to our aspirations.
M. NIETO Y LARA (Cuba): Señor Presidente, a nombre de la delegación Cubana, deseo trasladarle nuestra felicitación por haber sido elegido para conducir las sesiones de esta Comisión.
Asimismo agradecemos al Director General adjunto y al Director de la Oficina del Programa, del Presupuesto y de Evaluación por la clara presentación del tema para facilitar nuestras deliberaciones.
Al examinar el Programa de Labores y Presupuesto para el próximo bienio no podemos dejar de recordar, ante todo, la gravedad de la situación alimentaria y nutricional y la miseria y pobreza que padece una parte importante de la humanidad, tal como se deduce de la introducción del Director General de la FAO al documento C 83/3; los problemas del hambre, la carrera armamentista, la creciente deuda externa de los países subdesarrollados caracteriza la dramática situación mundial sin que los análisis que se hayan realizado auguren una solución a los agudos problemas que aquejan a toda la humanidad, y en particular a los países de más bajos ingresos.
La producción de alimentos con marcada tensión descendente permite asegurar que la aspiración de una seguridad alimentaria estable que satisfaga incluso los niveles indispensables de consumo resultan muy incierta. Si a toda esta situación añadimos que existe la propensión de los países de mayores ingresos a reducir sus contribuciones para la ayuda del desarrollo de la agricultura y de la alimentación, las perspectivas no pueden ser más desalentadoras y ello nos obliga a reflexionar para que en el marco de las posibilidades actuales tratemos de orientar las actividades de la FAO, ya reducidas en sus posibilidades, hacia la solución de los problemas más urgentes.
Debemos reconocer que la FAO ha realizado un notable esfuerzo en la preparación de un Programa de Labores y Presupuesto que busca precisamente la redistribución de un fondo para orientar las prioridades de sus labores hacia los temas y problemas más agudos que hoy confrontamos en los países subdesarrollados. Esta labor merece nuestro reconomiento y el apoyo por la forma en que ha sido enfocada, tanto en el orden estratégico como práctico, a la vez que elogiamos el equilibrio razonable que presenta el Programa, teniendo en cuenta las múltiples solicitudes y actividades que tiene la FAO en materia de asistencia técnica.
De manera especial se debe señalar la preocupación del Director General en cuanto a dirigir los escasos recursos disponibles para resolver las necesidades urgentes de los países menos adelantados como primera prioridad, y en particular hacia el grupo de países del Africa Subsahariana.
No podemos dejar de mencionar nuestra preocupación relativa al bajo nivel de crecimiento propuesto del 0,5 por ciento y al que muchos países lo han denominado crecimiento simbólico o crecimiento cero. Esto debe constatar la preocupación de todos por cuanto sienta un precedente que para los períodos futuros pudiera no ser salvado, incluso puede constituir un anuncio de perspectivas de reducción en los períodos venideros.
En consecuencia, esta Conferencia debe hacer un llamado a los países de mayores ingresos y a las instituciones contribuyentes para que aumenten de una manera significativa sus aportes, si es que en alguna medida están sensibilizados con los agudos problemas del hambre, la malnutrición y el sub-desarrollo que caracterizan a los países del Tercer Mundo.
Permítame, señor Presidente, sugerir y apoyar los esfuerzos que ha realizado la FAO en el fortalecimiento de las acciones encaminadas a la identificación de proyectos y programas que puedan ser financiados a través de los fondos extrapresupuestarios. Mención especial debemos hacer acerca del Programa de Cooperación Técnica, que ha venido desempeñando importante papel para los países subde-
sarrollados dado su dinamismo, capacidad y movilidad de recursos dentro de cada país. Este programa permite además abordar los problemas urgentes con prontitud para la búsqueda rápida de soluciones. En consecuencia, consideramos que esta Conferencia debe apoyar las asignaciones propuestas para este importante Programa y siempre que sea posible aumentarlas.
De otra parte consideramos que ha sido acertado el criterio de dar una alta prioridad a los programas que se llevan a cabo en el Continente Africano, identificado como aquel que acusa una situación más crítica.
Estamos convencidos que la FAO realizará sus mejores esfuerzos para obtener los mayores resultados que puedan derivarse de recursos tan limitados, pero para ello sería necesario que esta prestigiosa Organización cuente con el más decidido apoyo de todos los países que se esfuerzan por un futuro mejor para sus pueblos.
O. AWOYEMI (Nigeria): Mr Chairman, I wish to add my voice to those who have congratulated you on your election to this high office of Chairman of this very important Commission. From the way we have progressed so far it is quite apparent that we are in good hands and the Commission will accomplish its tasks efficiently and within the allotted time.
The Nigerian delegation has examined in some detail the Programme of Work and Budget. We have also listened to the excellent introductions to the subject and we have nothing but praise for the Secretariat and the Director-General of FAO.
In our judgement the budget is the most analytical and most informative one in recent years. The integration of the medium-term objectives at the global, regional as well as programme level has put every programme in the document in its proper perspective.
The Director-General's introduction has also provided an excellent summary to the Programme and Budget. The interesting features of this Programme are: (1) in spite of the marginal increase of 0.5 percent in real terms over the current programme, all field programmes of the Organization which have been acclaimed to be useful by Member Nations will continue at least at the current level of activities, while those that have outlived their usefulness have been struck out to release resources for other programmes. In fact it is recorded that an increase of about 3.6 percent in the expenditure on field and economic programmes is envisaged. This is highly commendable. The restructuring of the administration and technical services of the Organization which started a decade ago has continued, thus reducing the proportion of the total budget spent on administration from 77 to 58 percent. This will go a long way in improving the image of the Organization as an action and result orientated one.
The priorities have been set in full recognition of the state of food and agriculture in 1983 which has been characterised by widespread drought, floods and disease advent in various parts of the world. Even some developed countries were not immune to these natural instabilities. My delegation therefore endorses the Director-General's priorities in the following areas: (1) Research and technical development which forms the basis of most FAO technical programmes in many developing countries. The reorganization proposed that will make research and development more cost-effective is supported. (2) The new focus on agricultural extension, education and rural institutions for women in the context of WCARRD is most welcome.
3) The sub-sectorial allocation of resource crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry is quite satisfactory having regard to the magnitude of the problem of each sub-sector and its potential contribution to the most urgent problems of food and agriculture.
4) The enlarged concept of food security which includes improved food production, stability of supplies and economic access to food by all sectors of the population is also supported.One issue of major concern to my delegation is the funding of field programmes which depend largely on extra-budgetary funds from UNDP,EEC, IFAD donor governments, and development banks such as World Bank and IDA.
Although an indicative figure of $653 million has been entered into the budget, recent trends make one wonder whether this is optimistic, realistic or conservative. We make this observation at this stage even though it is not the main subject of discussion, in order to underscore the need to appeal to donor agencies, to favour multilateral channels of aid over bilateral channels which appears to be the trend. The UNDP which, for instance, used to provide the bulk of the extra-budgetary funds, is facing a serious decline in its revenue and according to document C 83/4, UNDP indicated late in 1982 that it would authorize budget levels of only 55 percent of the original IPF for each country for its Third Programme Cycle for 1980 to 1986. In practical terms this has resulted in not renewing the contracts of several experts while their services were still very much needed or wherever possible,setting up trust funds to retain such officers. The longer-term effect of these cutbacks in extra budgetary funds is that many valuable projects which have been studied and appraised by FAO and other bodies remain on the bookshelves of the Ministries of Agriculture.
It is therefore a serious matter requiring the attention of all developed countries and donor agencies. Important programmes such as Food Security, Assistance Schemes, Control of Locust and Rinderpest, Prevention of Food Losses, Seed Improvement and other development programmes will eventually be enhanced if multilateral aid flows improve during the coming biennium.
One feature of the budget which cannot escape notice is the focus on Africa. My delegation appreciates the concern of representatives of other regions and also the initiative of the Director-General in devoting as much as 35 percent of the Regular Programme to Africa. It is indeed ironical that Africa which was once noted for its abundance of food and agricultural resources is going through its second decade of food shortages, droughts and pestilence. I wish to assure this august assembly that we in Africa are not relenting in our efforts to turn the tide in our favour. The Lagos Plan of Action is being pursued vigorously at the country, regional and sub-regional levels. We know this through the exchange of experiences, at various meetings some of which are devoted exclusively to agriculture. It is gratifying to note that food production increased by 2.6 percent per annum in Africa from 1978 to 1982, with a record increase of 3.7 between 1981 and 1982. This shows that with a little more effort from within and outside, the target rate of 4 percent per annum is attainable. However, the very high rates of population increase in many parts of the Continent render these production gains imperceptible.
This has also been compounded by the widespread incidence of drought and pest and disease outbreaks starting from late 1982 and 1983.
This occurence has called for a new focus on such crucial programmes as water conservation planning and development, pest and disease control on crops and livestock, and prevention of pre- and post-harvest losses, development of drought-resistant crop seeds in the seed improvement programme also need to be considered. The resources earmarked for this aspect of the Programme are therefore fully supported.
Finally, my delegation supports the transmission of the Programme of Work and Budget to the Conference for its adoption.
M. MAHI (Cameroun): Je voudrais tout d'abord excuser la délégation du Cameroun parce que la personne désignée pour prendre la parole vient d'être appelée au téléphone. Néanmoins, comme il y a dans l'ensemble de cette délégation un phénomène d'intercompétence d'interchangeabilité, je me permets de prendre la parole à sa place.
Monsieur le Président, la délégation du Cameroun s'associe aux précédents orateurs pour vous féliciter de votre élection à la présidence de la Deuxième Commission de la Conférence, ainsi que le secrétariat et les responsables de la direction générale de la FAO.
La délégation du Cameroun a suivi avec un grand intérêt le programme de travail et budget 1984-85. Ce document nous a été présenté dans le détail ce matin. Notre délégation se félicite des principes généraux qui ont présidé à l'élaboration de ce document, et prend note du fait qu'il s'agit essentiellement de la maîtrise des facteurs de production, du développement rural, de vaincre la pauvreté et la faim qui frappent la plupart des pays en développement. Elle reste sensible à l'effort international visant à soulager les moins nantis, mais s'inquiète que malgré tout cela l'autosuffisance alimentaire reste encore à un niveau illusoire.
La délégation camerounaise note avec satisfaction la variété et la diversité des programmes que se fixe la FAO au cours des années 1984-1985. Elle apprécie également le niveau du budget qui a été affecté à ce programme.
Tout en se félicitant et en approuvant le programme de travail et le budget qui sont soumis aux diverses délégations de notre conférence, la délégation du Cameroun souhaite que des actions concrètes qui ont un impact réel sur le terrain soient menées dans l'ensemble des pays et c'est dans ce sens qu'elle appuie le programme de travail, soumis à notre appréciation en même temps que le budget.
La délégation du Cameroun se reserve la possibilité d'intervenir sur des petits détails, mais elle constate que le travail essentiel a été très bien fait.
M. BALLA SY (Sénégal): Monsieur le Président, comme les honorables délégués qui m'ont précédé, je voudrais saisir l'occasion de la réunion inaugurale de notre importante Commission pour vous adresser à mon tour mes sincères félicitations pour votre brillante élection. A ces félicitations, je voudrais associer M. le Directeur général adjoint et M. le Directeur du Bureau du programme, du budget et de l'évaluation de la FAO dont les contributions claires, concises et objectives faciliteront certainement nos débats, que je souhaite, dès à présent, fructueux et constructifs.
Concernant le Sénégal, pays en développement, et de surcroît situé dans la partie Sud du Sahara durement éprouvé par la sécheresse et confronté à de très réels problèmes dans le domaine de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation, il est inutile de réaffirmer son intérêt, du reste certain, pour tout ce qui intéresse notre grande Organisation, je veux dire la FAO.
S'agissant du programme de travail et budget qui nous a été proposé, son étude m'a inspiré des sentiments de satisfaction. Satisfaction parce que ces documents, outre leur parfaite présentation et leur clarté, reflètent une démarche logique du Directeur général, dont la déclaration d'hier en séance plénière, fort appréciée du reste, est traduite concrètement par le contenu du budget proposé.
Que l'examen comparatif des chiffres proposés montre une priorité pour l'agriculture et le pays en développement n'est pas un hasard mais une volonté sincère de la FAO, à travers son directeur général, de contribuer à la paix dans le monde et à une meilleure redistribution des moyens de subsistance existants sur notre planète.
Aussi, vous pouvez être assuré que dans sa globalité le projet proposé recevra notre appui, même si nous nous réservons, comme certaines délégations qui nous ont précédés, le droit d'intervenir dans certains détails de forme pour améliorer le travail que nous présenterons avec beaucoup de fierté à la Conférence générale.
P.S. McLEAN (United Kingdom): My delegation gave its general views on the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85 during the Eighty-fourth session of the Council when we also commended the Secretariat for the revised format of document C 83/3. On the level of the budget we commend the Director-General's recognition of the need to limit real growth in the Programme and we welcome the shift in the deployment of resources, from administrative services to economic and technical activities. This reassigning of funds to the priority areas which have been indicated by regional and technical meetings of FAO has been achieved, by and large, within the same level of real resources as provided in 1982-83. Thus the practice of across the board increases of recent biennial budgets has now been replaced by changes more closely reflecting the priorities of the Organization.
The United Kingdom like the Government of New Zealand supports budgeting of this type, particularly in times of financial constraint, not just because of the resulting budget level but - and far more importantly - because it directs available funds to areas of greatest need.
An objective of the United Kingdom's current policy on the financing of the UN and its specialized agencies is to maximise benefits to developing countries by more cost effective use of scarce resources. We are therefore in broad agreement with the Programme priorities set out by the Director-General in his introduction to the document before us. The increase in resources allocated to research and technology development represents, in our view, a realignment which is likely to yield considerable benefits. Similarly, we hope that the strengthening of the follow up to WCARRD will lead to substantial progress fairly soon. The concentration on field work through other agricultural programmes also has our support. In this connection we would like to support the views expressed this morning by the New Zealand delegation in relation to aspects of evaluating their effectiveness.
I would only like to refer now briefly to two other substantial matters. We can accept an increased role for the Technical Cooperation Programme given the difficultsituation of external funding for technical cooperation. We note the Director-General's affirmation that TCP is not intended to compete with other sources of technical assistance, such as UNDP, but to complement them. Provided that TCP does not impinge upon work which is properly the province of UNDP we can continue to support the purposes for which that programme, i.e. the TCP, was designed but we would wish to emphasize that TCP should not be regarded as an alternative source of funds to replace UNDP resources. The short term and quick responding nature of TCP must in our view be preserved.
Lastly, we welcome the planned further decentralization of FAO activities assisted as they are now by the existence and further appointments of FAO representatives at the national level and we note the extension of double accreditation, where this is practicable. The establishment of FAO country offices over recent years has in our view contributed very greatly to the Organization's ability to respond quickly to the needs of member countries but this national orientation of FAO's representation does in our view raise the question of the future role and cost effectiveness of the regional offices. We hope to revert to this and other issues at a later stage of the Commission's work.
R.F.J. NETO (Angola): M. le Président, comme l'ont fait les délégués qui m'ont précédé, je vous félicite à l'occasion de votre élection à la présidence de cette importante Commission. J'adresse également mes félicitations à M. West et à M. Shah pour les déclarations excellentes qu'ils ont faites ce matin sur le document C 83/3.
Ma délégation approuve le document C 83/3 comprenant le Programme de travail et le budget pour 1984-85 et profite du temps qui nous est imparti pour remercier le Directeur général de l'effort qu'il a déployé pour définir les stratégies et les priorités de notre Organisation durant le biennium 1984-1985.
Nous exprimons notre satisfaction quant aux efforts également déployés par le Directeur général pour donner la priorité aux programmes économiques et techniques, tout en réduisant les frais administratifs et de soutien de la FAO. Cela dénote l'intérêt que l'Organisation accorde à la solution des problèmes prioritaires du moment que pose l'agriculture dans les pays ayant un déficit alimentaire, dont les populations rurales sont, comme par hasard, frappées par la pauvreté, la faim et la misère.
Nous exprimons également notre satisfaction pour l'attention particulière accordée à la région Afrique qui est au centre des préoccupations de tous les délégués, du fait qu'elle constitue une des priorités du programme. Nous demandons que lors des attributions des ressources, la FAO tienne compte des besoins réels de chaque pays africain et de chaque sous-région.
Pour terminer, nous acceptons le principe de la croissance 0,5% du budget, car elle a été atteinte sous des contraintes imposées par les péripéties de l'économie mondiale et la réduction considérable des dépenses nationales par les principaux pays donateurs. Cette réduction compromet sérieusement les programmes prioritaires, tracés par nos gouvernements, parfois avec l'aide de la FAO. Néanmoins, nous encourageons notre Organisation pour qu'une augmentation substantielle du budget soit accordée au cours de l'exercice prochain.
ABDUL WAHID JALIL (Malaysia) : In the last Council session, my delegation had indicated our general agreement on the proposed Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85. It was clear from the introduction of the Director-General also contained in the document before us and as he had explained in his statement yesterday, the Director-General had taken all possible motives to balance his proposed budget to meet the opposing requirements, one, that of restraint and the other on the ever increasing priorities of the developing countries. He had undertaken certain cutbacks and reallocated the available funds for more priority activities. Without having to go into detailed discussion of the proposal now, because we intend to do so at a later stage, my delegation wouLd like at this moment to reiterate our support for the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium and endorse the medium-term strategies and priorities of the Organization.
H. MAURIA (Finland) : Coming to the item under discussion we have to consider that the preparation of the Programme of Work and Budget has been a difficult issue this time as has been stated here. Keeping this in mind I would like to say that the document before us is a good one. It gives a fair picture of the intentions for the next biennium and of the programmes and financial facilities. Particularly we want to commend the way in which the Director-General has analysed the problems and underlined facts. We believe that the choice of priorities made on that basis is a realistic decision which we are ready to support. Further I want to say that we are in agreement with the search for economy and greater efficiency in the Organization, which research has been reported on in the document. It must only be added that FAO's efforts must be, of course, a continuous process with the aim at improving steadily the management of the work of FAO. We agree principally also to the cuts made in the administration as to allocating additional resources to FAO ' s technical and economic programmes. In this way a reasonable growth in the real core of the activities has been made possible.
We do hope that the proper balance can be kept in the performances of the Organization when cutting down administrative costs and trying to improve management. The shift in resources to substantive programmes which has taken place is again a necessary procedure to streamline the work and to avoid undue dispersion of resources. It is not quite easy to find all the proper reasons for the shifts but we trust in the policy considerations of the Director-General in this respect.
Finally, we feel that the Director-General and the Secretariat this time should be given full support for the Programme of Work and Budget and confidence in the carrying out of the Work Programme.
A.F.M. DE FREITAS (Brazil) : My delegation wishes to compliment the Secretariat for the new presentation of document C 83/3; the latest format, which now incorporates to each different chapter the texts on Medium-Term Objectives is a net improvement as compared to the previous editions of the Programme of Work and Budget. The other changes in the traditional presentation of different parts of the document have greatly contributed to an easier reading and a better understanding of this complex matter.
As a member of the Programme Committee and as a representative of Brazil in the Council I have twice had the privilege of expressing ray Government's views on the new Programme of Work and Budget. I can, therefore, afford to be brief this time. My delegation believes that the Director-General's introduction reflects in a correct way the most relevant aspects of the world's current situation which directly affects food and agriculture. His perception of the economic crisis and particularly of the financial issues leads us naturally into the main topics he analyses with respect to food and agriculture, interdependence and dependence, the problems of production, the decrease in it, shortages and emergencies and prospects for the future. The section on world food security underlines production, trade and aid as its main component and discusses the wider concept on food security which ray delegation fully endorses. Coming now to the strategies and priorities which the Director-General proposes in order to guide the work of FAO for the next biennium I wish to acknowledge the effort required to achieve the aim of a Programme of Work and Budget taking into account the restricted financial climate which generally prevails in the world today. Care was taken to limit the financial burden on member countries; major shifts in resources from administrative to substantive programmes were made; and, finally, forty-one posts had been eliminated. This effort, however, has not changed the main priorities of the programmes which rightly continues to be the promotion of food production and the increase in food security; the impact at the field level and enhancing economic and technical cooperation among developing countries.
My delegation fully supports the special priority given to food and agriculture in Africa. My delegation is happy to endorse the programme priorities and indeed, it welcomes the special emphasis given to the programme of research and technology development. The establishment of a new research and technology division is a needed step which will enable FAO to render better and more efficient services in helping developing countries to increase food production and to improve agricultural productivity.
I wish to reiterate the support given this morning by the Minister of Agriculture of Brazil to the Technical Cooperation Programme of the Director-General. My delegation will be glad to participate in the detailed debate on each one of the major programmes included in the document at a later stage. At this stage let me reaffirm the full support of my delegation to the proposals put forward by the Director-General. My delegation wishes to recognise the difficulties that had to be overcome in preparing these proposals and it is grateful for the positive results achieved by the Director-General. It expresses the wish that his Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85 may meet with the support of all member countries of our Organization.
M. LENSTRA (Netherlands) : In my intervention I confine myself in this meeting to some general remarks concerning three subjects: the documentation submitted, the planning, and strategies and priorities.
Documents submitted: Let me first say that my delegation has noted with satisfaction the improvement made in the presentation of financial information in document C 83/3. We appreciate the form of tables, in which for the various programmes and sub-programmes the budget estimates of the Regular Programme as well as of the extra-budgetary fund are presented. From this presentation it becomes clear that for a number of important programmes, such as rural development, natural resources, crops and livestock, the extra-budgetary funds are four to seven times as large as the Regular Programme. This leads me to ask the Secretariat about how the extra-budgetary activities are integrated in these Regular Programmes. In the same context my delegation would like to have more information about the role and responsibility of FAO with respect to other international organizations such as UNDP, World Bank and bilateral donors.
I come now to the second subject of my intervention, medium-term planning. The medium-term objectives and the Programme of Work and Budget are incorporated in document C 83/3. This has improved the surveyability. But what is lacking is information about the relative priority in the medium-term for the various programmes. Compared with other UN specialized organizations the FAO system of programme planning - and that includes medium-term programmes and programme budgets - could be improved. On the basis of General Assembly Resolution 37/234 my delegation would suggest a revision of the present system in order to acquire a better understanding of (a) the relationships between the Bu lget and the activities which have to be financed; (b) the medium-term planning; and (c) a better understanding of the effectiveness and efficiency of the activities performed. My delegation agrees and supports the recommendations concerning this subject which were made by the Danish delegation.
I come now to my last subject, Priorities and Strategies 1984-85. In view of the serious situation concerning world food security, my delegation can support the priorities and strategies for the biennium 1984-85 formulated in the introduction by the Director-General. In that context my delegation would like to emphasise the need for an integrated approach in rural development. Therefore it is necessary that there is a clear connection between the proposed priorities and the other FAO programmes in order to break through the traditional mono-disciplinary approach.
KYO-EUN KIM (Korea, Republic of): Firstly, I would like to join other delegates in congratulating you, Mr Chairman and the two Vice-Chairmen, on your election for this important Commission. My thanks also go to both Mr West and Mr Shah for their excellent introduction of the subject matters. I would like also to take this opportunity to express my people's and Government's heartfelt welcome to the new four Member Nations of this Organization.
With your permission, I would like to state my Government's views and position on the agenda.
The Government of the Republic of Korea shares the Director-General's view on the assessment of the world economic situation and its impact on food and agriculture. As he mentioned in his introduction, the political and economic situation of both developed and developing Member Nations continues to be in difficult circumstances due to the slow and delayed recovery from the worldwide economic recession and the effects of which are more severe on food and agriculture, particularly in the developing world. As a result, the interdependence and dependence in world agriculture is also growing rapidly.
In such a situation, in my view, FAO activities and every possible means of international cooperation should be expanded, if the new goals of the world food security and the target of the agricultural development in the developing world are to be achieved. To meet these needs, however, it is imperative to achieve consensus and to win unanimous support through the expanded dialogue and compromise among the Member Nations. My Government is very happy to find out that a great deal of painful and courageous actions have been taken to win unanimous support from Member Nations on the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium. It must be a painful and courageous action to cut down heavily programmes, budget and posts, even though they are in the lower priorities area and at the same time to expand the programmes and budget of higher priorities in order to meet the urgent-felt needs of Member Nations.
My Government has the view that the programme priorities, means of action and budget level for 1984-85 as a whole are selected, coordinated and modified well enough to deserve the full support of my Government. In this connection, I would like to emphasize the importance of TCDC and ECDC as one of the most effective ways of expanding FAO activities under the situation in which the adverse international economic and political situation makes it more difficult for FAO to mobilize additional resources.
As a new effective means of international cooperation, TCDC and ECDC should be and also can be expanded in the various fields of agro-business, forest industries, EEZ development projects and so on. My Government welcomes and fully supports FAO's continued efforts to expand and stimulate TCDC and ECDC.
The FAO's application of a farming system approach to small farm development is also our great concern. Development of the integrated crop-livestock farming system along with the integrated support of credit, input supplies and marketing is an essential element for the effective development of small farms with a limited access to land.
According to our experiences, however, it is also very important to apply farming system approach on both the individual farm and regional base. Without approaching on regional base, it is never easy to adjust production and marketing and consequently, the increase in production does not lead to the increase in farm income.
Lastly, I am pleased also to mention my Government's continued support on the FAO's highest priorities for Africa where problems and needs are more urgent and greater in relative and per caput terms than those of any other region.
In conclusion, Mr Chairman, I would like also to emphasize my Government's strong and positive view that the international cooperation not only for eradication of hunger, poverty and malnutrition, but also for the elimination of the international terrorism and blooded violence, should be expanded and intensified to realise the lofty goals of FAO, that is to achieve coexistence and common prosperity of mankind.
A. RUIZ DIAZ (España): Gracias, señor Presidente, y reciba en primer lugar la felicitación de la delegación española por su elección. Permítame también expresar el reconocimiento al Director General y a todas las persona que han contribuido a la preparación y presentación del documento objeto de esta discusión.
La delegación española está conforme en líneas generales con la propuesta del Programa de Labores y Presupuesto para 1984/85. Subrayamos con especial complacencia que la reducción en los gastos administrativos haga posible el aumento de los gastos en Programas Técnicos y Económicos, aunque por desgracia la realidad actual no permita el nivel de aumentos que sería necesario.
También se felicita la delegación española por la eficacia lograda por la FAO en cuanto al rendimiento de sus Programas y por la expectativa de que en el futuro esa eficacia continuará aumentando.
En definitiva, en estos tiempos de serias dificultades económicas mundiales es inevitable que los aumentos de los gastos tengan que moderarse al máximo y que la búsqueda de la eficacia, ligada al rigor en las evaluaciones, sea más que nunca un objetivo prioritario. Esto se refleja en el Programa de Labores y Presupuesto presentado por el Director General, por lo que elogiamos y apoyamos dicho Programa.
Sin embargo, y como observación particular para nosotros importante, debo expresar en nombre de la delegación española cierta preocupación por el volumen de gastos dedicados a América Latina, que juzgamos insuficiente; Señor Presidente, esta delegación es consciente de la escasez de recursos disponibles; tampoco deseamos, de ninguna manera, reducir las actuaciones proyectadas en otras regiones del mundo, donde las necesidades son extremadamente importantes y urgentes; conocemos que América Latina está también atendida en parte por medio de programas especiales o de tipo similar.
Y por último, quisiéramos dejar bien claro que esta observación particular no supone desacuerdo de la delegación española con el Programa de Labores y Presupuesto presentado, pero nos permitimos insistir en que la participación de la FAO en América Latina debería ampliarse.
A. BOTHNER (Norway): Mr Chairman, the delegation of Norway welcomes the format and the way of presentation of the Director-General's proposal on Work and Budget. I would also like to express my appreciation of the introductory remarks made this morning by Mr West, and by Mr Shah.
With regard to the level of the Budget, it is the view of our delegation that the Director-General's proposal strikes a careful balance between the enormous needs of assistance, and the limitations of the present international situation. I also appreciated the Deputy Director-General's remark this morning, to the effect that the Director-General during the biennium will maintain flexibility with regard to the needs for Programme changes, if I understood him correctly. This, I believe, could be quite useful. For instance, with regard to programmes concerning fisheries development. We do on the whole support the priorities of the Budget, with emphasis on WCARRD; nutrition; the role of women; focus on Africa; fisheries development, and forestry development. We would like to comment further on this at a later stage. Priorities should, as we know, in general be based on basic UN decisions and the basic purposes of FAO as laid down in its constitution. In its operational activities FAO should in a general way, take into consideration and inform governments of what other international organizations are doing, particularly the World Bank. Thus the work of the various international organizations will be seen in the total context, enabling governments to get an overall view.
I would also like in general to support the points made by the distinguished representative of the Netherlands with regard to his reference to General Assembly Resolution 37/234. Allow me also to commend document C 83/3 as a source of information. I particularly appreciate information contained under each Programme on extra-budgetary resources. If at all possible, it would be interesting if these figures in the future could be split into two, one for UNDP, and one for Trust Fund resources. My authorities would in general like to encourage FAO to continue on this road of increased transparency.
In conclusion, Mr Chairman, I would like to reiterate our support for the Budget, its general direction and its priorities.
P. OLMOS MORALES (Uruguay): Señor Presidente, la delegación del Uruguay, en primer término, desea expresar las felicitaciones por el cargo para el cual ha sido elegido y que será, sin duda alguna, un apoyo para nuestros trabajos en la Comisión.
En segundo lugar desea expresar su reconocimiento por la presentación del Programa de Labores y Presupuesto para este período de sesiones, en los cuales se ha logrado concentrar en un solo documento una serie de aspectos que han facilitado el trabajo y el análisis de cada una de las delegaciones. Asimismo la clara exposición realizada esta mañana por el señor Director General adjunto, señor West y por el señor Shah, nos han permitido un análisis más exacto de los distintos aspectos que incluye este tema.
Mi delegación desea expresar en líneas generales su apoyo al documento presentado, en primer lugar a la introducción del señor Director General en la cual se analizan muy claramente los principales problemas de la agricultura y de la situación de la seguridad alimentaria en el mundo.
Asimismo en lo que concierne a los aspectos de estrategia y prioridades para el período 1984/85, nuestra delegación comparte los lineamientos básicos y 'as estrategias que en él se plantean.
Desearíamos detenernos algunos instantes en algunos de los aspectos referidos a los medios de acción, particularmente nos preocupa lo que tiene relación con el Programa de Cooperación Técnica. Nos importa señalar la necesidad de su fortalecimiento en tanto ha significado para las distintas regiones en desarrollo un elemento valioso para atender sus necesidades y ha cubierto la situación de disminución de otros fondos que habitualmente contribuían a programas de desarrollo en las áreas en desarrollo.
Nos preocupa, y en ese aspecto recalcamos lo señalado por la delegación española, la disminución que ha significado en el área Latinoamericana la asignación de fondos, particularmente en los Programas
de Campo en el último bienio; si bien la situación de la region Latinoamericana pueda compararse en forma relativamente ventajosa con otras regiones, no debemos descuidar sus necesidades y sus carencias frente a los graves problemas de su agricultura y de su situación de alimentación y nutrición.
En lo que tiene relación con la política de descentralización de funciones, mi delegación comparte y apoya lo relacionado con el funcionamiento de las representaciones nacionales y de las Oficinas Regionales. Consideramos que constituyen un instrumento básico para la acción de la Organización en los distintos países y que han constituido en los últimos años un mayor fortalecimiento para su acción y para la integración de distintas actividades, en particular en un momento en que se han planteado algunas observaciones, que creemos importantes. La actividad de las Oficinas Regionales, la experiencia que se ha desarrollado dentro de la región Latinoamericana y el Caribe con el sistema Latinoamericano de redes de cooperación técnica que ha fortalecido la cooperación horizontal entre países en desarrollo y ha sido una de las actividades que más ha impulsado y más ha catalizado en estos últimos años la Oficina Regional. Consideramos que esa línea de acción es una línea de acción insustituible y que debe ser asumida justamente por las Oficinas Regionales en la viabilidad, más aún en la cooperación Sur-Sur entre los países en desarrollo.
Nos preocupan también algunos aspectos señalados en cuanto tienen que ver con la modalidad de cooperación técnica. Creemos que es necesario un uso más eficiente de la cooperación técnica, teniendo en cuenta las características particulares de cada región y de cada país, buscando de esa manera una mayor eficiencia y mayor fortalecimiento. La evolución de muchos países lleva a que la cooperación técnica deba buscarse en temas más específicos, con expertos más calificados y de corto plazo. En ese aspecto debe tener un enfoque entre el organismo internacional y cada país a los efectos justamente de ir fortaleciendo las propias estructuras nacionales en materia de asistencia y cooperación técnica. Nuestra experiencia en cuanto a la asunción de dirección nacional de proyectos de cooperación técnica en los últimos años ha permitido acortar una valiosa experiencia y ha también significado una disminución en los costos de cooperación técnica.
Por último, como resultado de nuestra observación a los planteos referidos a los medios de acción, nos parece significativo procurar la difusión como señalábamos antes, de los mecanismos de cooperación horizontal que posibiliten una mayor amplitud en las acciones en los distintos campos, y sobre todo en lo que tiene que ver con los campos prioritarios de los Programas de Labores y Presupuesto que se expone a consideración de esta Comisión en lo que tiene que ver con la investigación agrícola, con la investigación de recursos naturales y con la coordinación en lo que tiene que ver con los aspectos sanitarios.
L. MOHAPELOA (Lesotho): Mr Chairman, I would like to congratulate you on the way you have conducted this meeting so far and again take this opportunity to congratulate the rest of the bureau which has been elected to assist you in the running of the meeting.
As a member of the Council we have already had the opportunity to make our comments on the Programme of Work and Budget. We therefore only wish at this stage to add our voice to those that have indicated their general acceptance of the programme. We wish at the same time to make particular mention of some aspects of the Programme of Work and Budget, and that is the priorities and the position occupied there by WCARRD and by training. There are one or two areas that the meeting may wish to address which we think are of particular importance such as the administration and the budget allocation for the regional offices. Added to that will be the priority consideration that is given in the budget for food security insofar as it reflects the priority that we accorded to security in all our statements. We will at the appropriate times be making our points on these.
Claes-Erik ODHNER (Sweden): Mr Chairman, we are all national governments and international organizations, we are all now caught in the austerity trap. This means that the inevitable restrictions deprive us of much of the means for development and investments that should have increased production and productivity and thereby reduced the need for future austerity, and it deprives us of the demand necessary to promote investments growth and employment. We are in a vicious circle. We very much share the analysis put forward by the French Minister of Agriculture, Michel Rocard, this morning in the first part of his statement. The international debt crisis and the conditionality of the International Monetary Fund for the debt-stricken countries leads the way into this vicious circle both for those countries themselves and for industrial countries that were providing their imports which are now drastically cut down.
The FAO and other international organizations in the agricultural field are the most important of the international family of organizations that could help to lead the developing countries and the world economy out of the trap. That is why the developments in the coming years for these organizations are so decisive. This budget with only a symbolic growth is certainly now to be taken as a political fact. It is also a political fact that austerity will prevail in the medium term. The economic cooperation between the dominating governments in industrialized countries that would be needed for a more positive development is still very far.
In this situation it is extremely important for FAO to see to it that available resources are efficiently used to support production and productivity in order to help to get out of the tran. We also think that resources should be reallocated for this purpose. In this respect the proposed budget is a step forward which should be continued.
Mr Chairman, the Swedish delegation supports the suggested level of the budget, and we will come back in the following discussion on chapters on forestry and environmental problems.
M.A. MEDANI (Sudan) (original language Arabic): Please allow me on behalf of the delegation of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan to congratulate you on your election as Chairman of this Commission. We are fully confident that you will lead our debate to full success. We would like to assure you of our full cooperation. We would also like to thank Mr West and Mr Shah for the concise statements they made. Thanks are also addressed to the Director-General for the efforts he deployed in preparing the Programme of Work and Budget.
We would like to commend the policy of cutting down the administrative expenditures, provided that it would not affect the FAO's performance. Criticism has been addressed to this Organization on the account that it allocates more funds for administrative posts rather than for supporting the agricultural sector and for increasing its productivity.
Therefore, we support this policy and we hope that further assistance will be given to the development of agriculture with both its aspects of plants and livestock.
Large surfaces of lands have not been cultivated in Africa and in the Sudan in particular. Many productive agricultural projects need to increase their productivity. Animal wealth in Africa is threatened by diseases and needs great efforts in order to be protected from such diseases and in order to increase in number.
Besides, forests are being cut off with a view to cultivating these areas despite the fact that such areas are suitable only for forests and range lands. This trend leading to deterioration of nature should be stopped. We should work for reafforestation.
Fisheries in fresh and saline water need further studies in order to identify the existing stocks and the quantities that should be consumed annually.
Thus additional financial and technical support should be provided for these natural wealths.
We therefore support the Programme of Work and Budget together with the priorities and strategies included in it.
J. SCHWARZ (Czechoslovakia): Mr Chairman, my delegation would like to join the other delegations in congratulating you on your election as Chairman of this Commission. I would also like to express my delegation's congratulations to the Secretariat for the quality of the document on the Programme of Work and Budget submitted to the Conference, and for the excellent introduction by Mr West and by Mr Shah. At the same time I would like to commend the work of the Programme and Finance Committees which examined in detail the financial situation of the Organization and the prospects for the next two years on the basis of the proposed budget. I do not want to go into detail but nevertheless I would like to express a few general comments on this subject.
First of all, I wish to emphasize that while appreciating the efforts and success made by the Director-General in re-orienting FAO funds towards an intensive action programme, including the Technical Cooperation Programme, we hope that this trend will continue and the present result should not be considered as final.
We welcome the measures aiming at rationalization and economies in the bureaucracy of FAO and we assume that these efforts will also continue.
Secondly, with regard to the strategies and the priorities for the next biennium, we fully support them, of course with special emphasis and special priorities for the African regions. We are confident that the various items in the budget corresponding to the Director-General's priority programmes of work will certainly be accepted by the Conference. I should like to mention that even a 0.5 percent increase in the budget means, in terms of Member Nations' contributions, that after adding the inflation rate to the expenses, the burden increases. It is not appropriate to say that some members contribute more important amounts to the Regular Programme because the contributions are equitably distributed according to means so that all nations contribute directly at the same level. However, for the smaller States the smaller contributions may represent greater problems than to others.
Finally, I would like to stress the importance of the cooperative programmes recently started or continued in the European Region which may have important effects on development assistance, even in the short term, during this biennium. To give an example: the potential of Applied Research in European Agriculture:
- In the European networks more than 350 institutions are now cooperating;
-.Work on the development of new and renewable energies for agriculture is being,carried out in cooperation with 150 European institutions;
-There is an enormous treasure of both plant and animal genetic resources in Europe.
It should be taken into account that all these activities are largely supported by the European governments through their institutions without calling for any increase in the Regional budget, which remains the most modest among all regional budgets and we would not like to see it reduced.
Having said this, I would like to state that my delegation will fully support the proposed Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85.
S. BODHISANE (Laos): M. le Président, je voudrais à mon tour et au nom de la délégation de la République démocratique populaire du Laos m'associer aux collègues qui m'ont précédé depuis ce matin pour vous féliciter d'être élu à la tête de cette importante Commission.
Je voudrais également féliciter M. West et M. Shah pour leur introduction au document C 83/3.
Notre délégation a tardivement étudié le Programme de travail et budget pour 1984/85 et nous sommes heureux de vous dire que nous approuvons sans réserve les concepts et les propositions présentés par le Directeur général.
L'augmentation des ressources de 0,5 pour cent pour l'exercice biennal et la réduction du budget de support d'administration qui ne représente plus que 58 pour cent, vu la conjoncture économique que nous traversons pour l'exercice 1984/85, nous paraît convenable.
Nous sommes aussi satisfaits que le budget du PCT, dont l'intérêt est bien connu dans les pays en développement, subisse également une augmentation.
Toutefois, nous espérons que les ressources budgétaires pour le prochain exercice biennal connaissent une augmentation plus importante car elles sont très nécessaires pour combattre le problème de la faim et de la malnutrition dans le monde, particulièrement en Asie.
E. MARTENS (Belgium): First of all my delegation would like to extend congratulations for your election as Chairman. I am sure this choice has been a good one. As you asked us to be brief and to the point I will try to do so, and moreover, to stay within the limits of 5 1/2 minutes.
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Shah for the concise and very clear introduction he made on the matter. The actual presentation of the Programme of Work and Budget is indeed a very good one and I am sure it will facilitate the work of this Commission.
Regarding the evolution of the budget itself, my delegation was favourably impressed by the fact that it is augmented by only 0.5 percent as compared to the previous biennium. We are especially glad to see that the technical and economical programmes constitute almost the only chapter where there is a significant rise in budget allocation. However, we think that still a greater effort could be made taking into account that this Programme represents 72 percent of the total budget when including extra-budgetary funding, whereas it represents only 45 1/2 percent of the Regular Programme.
In conclusion, we should admit that it shows well the special interests of the Director-General to try to increase the relative importance of technical and economic programmes within the very limited possibilities of the overall budget. We would have welcomed finding a comparison of extra-budgetary funding between the two biennia, which fact would have completed the récapitulâtive table on provisions per chapter and head programme.
I will end with these general reflections and I will come back on more detailed questions later on.
H. MENDS (Ghana): We are most grateful for the excellent introductory statements made by the Deputy Director-General and by Mr Shah this morning. We warmly commend them for their presentations.
My delegation has had a unique opportunity of more or less proofreading the Director-General's Programme of Work and Budget for the 1984/85 biennium in the last two sessions of the Finance Committee. Consequently we can afford to be really brief.
While we fully concede that it is difficult to meet individual member governments' concepts of Programme priorities and budgetary economies and efficiency for the needed impact in a dynamic Organization such as FAO, we are quite convinced that the objectivity, balance and realism with which both the Programme and budgetary proposals are made admit no argument at this stage. My delegation therefore can only reiterate its full support for the Programme of Work and Budget for the ensuing biennium and urge this Commission to adopt them for remission to the Plenary with the recommendation that they be unanimously approved by the Conference.
T. CLARKE (Jamaica): The Programme of Work and Budget that is before us for 1984/85 must be described as a well prepared and structured document. The Programme in technical and economic activities covering agriculture, fisheries and forestry is of primary importante to fight the battle of poverty and hunger. The emphasis which FAO has placed on such activities can only assist poor countries to redress their problems of feeding themselves and the development of the rural poor. The development support programmes are endorsed by my delegation.
The Technical Cooperation Programmes are considered vital in assisting small island economies such as Jamaica and the Caribbean nations in assisting themselves towards self-sufficiency in food production.
In the face of serious financial problems my delegation must congratulate the Director-General and the Organization on structuring its Programme of Work so that zero growth is achieved, but also ensuring that the aims and objectives of the FAO are attained.
My delegation would recommend that in the future Programmes of Work and Budget more attention be given to job creation programmes in developing countries. We feel that food security and eradication of poverty can only be obtained through the creation of jobs in agriculture or agro-industry.
My delegation endorses the FAO's Programme of Work and Budget for 1984/85 and commends the Director-General and his Secretariat on the high level of presentation.
N. SRISURAK (Thailand): My delegation carefully examined the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85. We welcome the increase of 3.6 percent for technical and economic programmes. We believe that this strategy, this new direction is essential. We also welcome the Programme by region which, in our opinion, is balanced in relation to the needs of food demanded by great numbers of people in all regions.
The re-organization of FAO, especially the setting up of a Research and Technology Development Division is necessary. My delegation welcomes this direction. However, we would wish to see further additional financial contributions to market research. We believe that trading or marketing is an important role concerning food security. Increasing food production alone does not mean that hunger can be reduced unless food distribution is efficient and marketing costs are low, taking into account the income on the consumer.
H.L. CHAWLA (India): The Indian delegation extends its felicitations to you, Mr Chairman, on your election as Chairman of this important Commission. We also congratulate the Vice-Chairmen on their election. The Indian delegation commends the Director-General on his review of the world situation and his views on inter-dependence and dependence problems of production and food security. Attention to the special needs of Africa certainly deserves the appreciation which it has widely received, and we support it.
Considering the realities of the economic situation in the world today, the approach adopted on the size of the FAO budget for 1984-85 is realistic and we support it.
It has been noted that the strategies and priorities for 1984-85 have been guided by four principal aims : promotion of food production, increase in food security, increased impact of FAO activities at the field level; and enhancing economic and technical cooperation among developing countries.
The farmer is at thee centre of agricultural production. In this context the role of the small and marginal farmers in a large number of developing countries working under extremely hard conditions requires special attention. His problems, his needs and motivations are crucial to the achievement of food security and agricultural growth in the world. Therefore his interests require closest consideration by this august forum.
Priority to farming system development in small farm holder areas deserves appreciation. Emphasis on greater attention to problems of small and marginal farmers and small fishermen are really very desirable objectives which have been emphasised, we find in this Programme of Work and Budget.
The creation of a Research and Technology Development Division under the Agriculture Department is a welcome development and we hope it will make a very useful contribution to agricultural progress. The document presented by FAO, inter alia, indicates that in order to take into account the needs for information on how farmers are affected by fluctuation in world markets, further improvements will be made in the data series after commodity prices received by the farmers and the prices paid by them for inputs.
It had also been indicated in the budget that the comprehensive study of agricultural price policies will be continued and completed. We commend these efforts because the economic condition for the agriculturist is a very important factor in successfully implementing agricultural development policy.
To keep within the limits of time I will, in conclusion, also mention that in the sphere of fisheries the Programme lays considerable emphasis on conservation of Marine and inland fishery resources, acquaculture development, protection and control of fish habitat, etc. These are comprenhensive programmes and correspond to the priority needs of development in the world in this sector.
The importance given to forestry is also very timely considering the serious menace to forest resources from growing pressure of population and increased production in developing countries, industrialisation and other factors in the developed countries.
In conclusion, we give our full support to the priorities and programmes laid down in the FAO budget for 1984-35.
HOANG THI CU (Viet Nam): My delegation wishes to join other previous speakers in congratulating Mr West and Mr Shah for their clear and excellent presentation of the document. On behalf on my country I fully support the Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85 as proposed by the Director-General. I think it is most appropriate and achieves a balance.
We welcome the list of priorities set forth in the document because they reflect the urgent needs of the developing countries. We are happy to see the stress on the TCP and hope in future FAO can obtain more resources so that it can provide more help for developing countries which are now making all efforts to achieve self-reliance in food.
T. AHMAD (Pakistan): The Pakistan delegation has had the occasion to give opinions on the Programme of Work and Budget earlier in the Programme Committee and subsequently in the FAO Council so we can therefore be very brief in our general remarks about the Programme of Work and Budget.
Briefly speaking, as far as the format is concerned we find that the merger of the Medium-Term Objectives into the body of the Programme of Work and Budget is a great improvement and a step in the right direction. We also feel that the document frames in the beginning of the document gives an excellent overview of the Programme of Work and Budget and is a very useful part of the document.
We support all the priorities and strategies in the Programme of Work and Budget and we want to convey our priorities to the Director-General and to the FAO Secretariat for the fact that these priorities and strategies reflect the guidance given by the FAO Conference, the FAO Council and the other Technical committees of FAO.
We also appreciate the difficulties which the Director-General encountered while formulating his proposals. We appreciate the way he has come out with a very finely balanced document. We appreciate the shift of resources from general administration and policy to the technical departments and we appreciate the fact that there is a 3.6 percent expansion in the technical programmes. However, we feel that the additionality of resources provided in this Programme of Work and Budget are very modest particularly if we realize the magnitude of the task that we expect FAO to perform and we therefore hope, and as the leader of my delegation said this morning in the Plenary, we therefore hope that this is only a temporary modest increase and in future FAO would be provided with resources adequate for the task it has to perform.
I will not go into any of the details of any of the programmes except referring to the Technical Cooperation Programme and again in our country's statement of the morning the leader of our delegation pointed out the usefulness of the programme and subsequently when we look at the review of the Field Programme we will see how useful and effective TCP programmes have been for developing countries. These programmes are welcomed for their flexibility, for their elasticity and they meet the emergency needs of developing countries. If I recollect correctly in the Summary Programme of Work and Budget there was an indication that the TCP would be 13.5 percent
of the overall budget but in the Programme of Work and Budget it now stands at 12.7 percent. We recognize the fact that the programme change is the same as was indicated in the Summary Programme of Work and Budget. However, we are still concerned that in the overall total picture of the Programme of Work and Budget TCP does not have as big a chunk as we wish and hoped that it would have due to its usefulness to the developing countries.
S. SCHUMM (Germany, Federal Republic of) (Original language Cerman): May I make a few general comments on this document initially. The present world economic situation is characterized by recession, unemployment and financial and monetary instability. Our national budget for 1984, which is at the moment being deliberated in the parliamentary committees for the purpose of bringing about further cuts, is based on a nominal growth of 1.8 percent. At the same time we expect an inflation rate of 3 to 3.5 percent. In other words, already during government planning a minus growth rate of 1.2 to i.7 percent is accepted. This situation naturally also has an impact on our attitude towards the budget of FAO and against this background we would like to make the following comments in this respect:
We welcome the efforts made by the Director-General in the form of his suggestion to meet the interests of many developing countries in strengthening the fields of food and agriculture and at the same time taking into account the existing world economic and financial problems and also making a realistic assessment of the possibilities of the industrialized countries. In particular we welcome the clearly recognizable intention to balance to a large extent real programme increases within a clear priority framework through cuts in overhead costs. We also welcome the presentation of document C 83/3 which has gained greatly in clarity both through the description of the technical aims, in particular through the inclusion of the Medium-Term Objectives, but also through the surveys which preceed the individual main programmes showing their financial impact.
Now I would like to make some comments on the actual Programme: the setting of priorities, i.e. the increase of agricultural production and in particular in developing countries with a food deficit and the promotion of rural development in the wider sense of the word is right in our opinion. The following areas deserve particular attention: integrated plant nutrition systems, water management, soil and water conservation measures, farm management and environment as well as energy.
In the main programme on agriculture we welcome within the framework of the planned strengthening of priority measures the greater orientation towards research and technology, particularly concerning activities for strengthening agricultural research in the developing countries. In connection with the main Programmes on fisheries, we consider the measures to strengthen the exploitation of fish reserves an important food resource in many developing countries as being something particularly positive. In the main programme on Forestry we would above all welcome the strengthening of afforestation programmes to produce fuel wood in Africa.
As far as the TCP is concerned I would like to draw your attention to the attitude we have continuously adopted according to which technical cooperation should be financed by voluntary contributions and not from the Regular Programme Budget. We however note with concern that the TCP has the highest rate of increase in terms of percentage compared with other main programmes. We do not ignore the difficulties which the Organization has in the project area due to the declining allocations of UNDP resources even if these are made up for, to a certain extent, through an increase in "the trust fund resources. Nonetheless, we hold the view that with the share of the TCP in the overall budget to the amount of 12.9 percent, which has been reached in the current budget 1982-83 the upper limit for projects which are financed from the Regular Programme budget has been reached. We are seriously concerned about the possibility of allowing this percentage for the TCP to grow beyond this ceiling. We would also explain our concern to the fact that through a further increase in the number of projects which is very high already now too much working capacity in the Secretariat will be tied down by planning, implementation and supervision. In view of the already existing high share of the TCP in the overall budget we would like to repeat our request for more detailed information on the TCP. To our view this shoud also include the possibility for interested member states having a list of the projects made available to them so that they can make an in-depth assessment.
As far as the internal evaluation of the TCP through the FAO itself and the external evaluation by the Joint Inspection Unit is concerned, chis will be referred to us in more detail under the agenda item on the review of the Regular Programme.
I would now like to comment in general on the budget. I can describe the general attitude of the Federal Republic of Germany in the following terms: throughout the United Nations systems for some years now we have been in favour of real zero growth, partly absorption of cost increase due to inflation and the application of a realistic exchange rate within the budgets of international organizations. This attitude is not in any way directed specifically against the work of these Organizations. On the contrary, we are firmly convinced that the activities of the Organizations in the family of the United Nations are absolutely necessary in the interest of the welfare of mankind and understanding among the people, but on the other hand we feel that the scarce
resources at our disposal should be used as economically as possible. This is the basis for our attitude to the FAO, to an organization which has such an important role to play in fighting hunger throughout the world. The German delegation welcomes on the one hand that despite a relatively low rate of increase of about 0.6 percent in the biennium in respect of the technical programmes, a real growth of 3.6 percent could be obtained by savings in the administrative sector. On the her hand the German delegation regrets that in document C 83/3 the full compensation for inflation costs has been proposed and,as has been already pointed out by the host country Italy, this is a very high figure. Furthermore, another thing which is not clear to the German delegation is why, when listing the established posts and their grades the data for the FAO Country Representatives are not given in more detail because according to the statement made by the Director-General the decentralization at country level should be concluded with the current budget 1982-83. We understood the Secretariat said at the Council meeting in June that the established posts for the Country Representatives would be included in the usual tables in the budget document. In this connexion there will be some further detailed questions which we will return to.
Another point which is also not clear in document C 83/3 is the number of the actual posts which are to be economized on, excluding the Country Representatives. On page30 and table B page 3, there is a saving of 41 posts which is mentioned, which is very difficult to reconstruct in the tables appended to the document. Over and above this in previous meetings of the Finance Committee the Secretariat has said that an EDP system would be set up which would give concrete data on the number of established posts and the number of posts in the Organization. We would be very grateful to hear to what extent any progress has been made in this field because document C 83/3 does not give us any detailed information on the actual number of filled posts on the basis of the Regular Programme Budget. We think it is important to get an overview about how many established posts approved in the budget have in fact been filled on certain dates or remained unfilled. Moreover, we would like to ask the Director-General to inform us about the cash position of the Organization. Because of the favourable rate of exchange between the US dollar and the Italian lira in 1982 and 1983 there should be a substantial surplus of funds in hand during the current biennium and we would be glad to know to what extent this surplus of funds is going to have an impact on the contributions of the members for 1984-85. Finally, we would be very grateful if the Secretariat could tell us very soon its latest concepts about the basis of dollar/lira parity it will suggest for an adoption of the Budget.
That is all I would like to say at this stage, but I would like to reserve the right to take the floor again on further details if the occasion should arise.
J.E. MENDES FERRÀO(Portugal): Je vous félicite au nom de mon pays pour votre élection à la prési‐dence de notre très importante Commission.
Nous sommes d'accord avec le Programme de travail et budget présenté par le Directeur général.
Nous savons bien que les pays en développment aimeraient certainement un budget plus élevé, soit que les besoins sont très grands, soit que les conditions difficiles des dernières années ont provoqué des situations critiques qui se sont traduites par de nombreuses pertes de vies par suite du manque d'aliments. Nous pensons que les pays développés aimeraient de leur côté faciliter une aide plus grande, et si ce n'est pas possible ce ne sera pas par manque de conscience des difficultés mais par suite de la conjoncture économique que le monde traverse actuellement. Je pense que le Programme de travail et budget est ainsi un compromis avec la réalité.
Mon pays souhaite vérifier le renforcement des activités au niveau des pays mais considère qu'au niveau du Siège beaucoup de services de base ne devront pas être sacrifiés, comme par exemple les services de publication, les services de Codex alimentarius, qui apportent une aide précieuse à tous les Etats Membres.
L'approbation globale donnée par mon pays au programme et au budget ne signifie pas que nous ne ferons pas quelques interventions sur certains points du programme.
H. BENATTALLAH (Algérie): Notre intervention se limitera à la présentation liminaire faite par M. West. La délégation algérienne approuve le Programme de travail et budget pour le bien nium 1984-85. Dans notre entendement, il correspond à un double effort de compromis: d'abord parce qu'il représente une volonté d'arbitrage en quelque sorte entre des tendances centrifuges poussant à une limitation des activités, face à une augmentation quasi exponentielle des besoins. Ces besoins sont connus et la FAO a estimé l'aide financière internationale nécessaire de l'ordre de 8 à 9 milliards de dollars aux prix de 1980, pour la décennie de 1980, ceci en fonction d'un objectif de croissance de 3,5 à 4 pour cent.
Le programme de travail et budget ne cède pas à la première tentation, et s'efforce de maintenir, estimons-nous, un niveau important d'activité; ce qui se matérialise par des mesures d'austérité, une réaffectation des ressources qui se maintiennent au niveau réel de celles de 1982-83, et un transfert substantiel vers des programmes techniques. Nous estimons que les stratégies et priorités sont également fondées. Il est d'ailleurs normal de marquer une pause lorsque l'effort a été soutenu.
Cependant, M. le Président, nous situerons ce profil bas dans un contexte des baisses générales des ressources, surtout celles de caractère multilatéral. Les moyens des instruments de caractère multilatéral particulièrement, à la fois dans leur fonctionnement naturel de cadre de négociation et de vecteur de l'esprit de coopération internationale, y compris l'aide au développement, sont globalement en recul.
Nous demeurons persuadés que cet effort méritoire de rationalisation, cédant aux appels au réalisme, est conjoncturel. Bien que se situant dans un contexte de crise mondiale, ce lien ne doit pas prévaloir indéfiniment, au risque d'emboîter le pas à la montée de certaines tendances négatives dominantes.
R. STEINER (Austria): The Programme of Work and Budget for 1984-85 is one that is in our opinion both by its content and format down to earth. My delegation is grateful to Mr West, the Deputy Director-General, and Mr Shah, the Director of the Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation, for introducing it with their renowned skill and ability. The Budget for the forthcoming biennium was prepared by taking into account also the harsh reality of the current economic situation in the world and in our member countries. The Director-General's realistic judgement of how best to reconcile needs and costs on the one side and member countries' preparedness to endorse the budget proposals on the other side are evidence of the realistic and wise approach taken by the Organization. To make it clear, however, the Austrian delegation does not hold the opinion that for development activities organizations such as FAO should follow a zero budget procedure. As a matter of fact to speak about development issues implying a sustained economic and social upward trend in the countries concerned and anticipating that this be achieved with stagnating or even reduced financial resources is a contradiction in itself.
The efforts of the Programme Committee, the Council, and in particular the Director-General, in shifting resources from administration to economic and technical activities and towards priority . areas is appreciated. At this point - and we will revert to it later - the Austrian delegation would express its appreciation of the methods and the work followed by the Technical Cooperation Programme.
Finally let me indicate that the Austrian delegation will accept the Budget proposal as presented in the document before us and I hope it can be carried by consensus.
CHAIRMAN: I do not see any further indications of a desire to speak this afternoon. However, I want to indicate that I have received requests from some delegations who would like to speak on this general part of the debate tomorrow morning. We are going to use the first half of tomorrow morning to complete this section of our general discussion, after which we will proceed to the chapters of the Programme of Work and Budget document. Therefore I will not as yet give the floor to the Deputy Director-General and Mr Shah to reply to questions but will do that tomorrow at the end of our discussion.
The meeting stands adjourned.
The meeting rose at 17.30 hours
La séance est levée à 17 h 30
Se levanta la sesión a las 17.30 horas
