CHAIRMAN: We shall now proceed. We have a report from the Drafting Committee and we expect that it will be ready at around 2 o'clock or shortly thereafter. This afternoon as soon as wo are able to take up that issue we will proceed to deal with the report so that we can have it properly before the Plenary session tomorrow morning. It may be necessary, depending on how things develop today, to go late today: we have not yet made a decision on that, but be on guard.
We are keeping a record of never starting remotely on time. If we can break that record this afternoon and in the days ahead we may have less need for costly extra sessions.
Roger P. LEWIS (United States of America): At the outset the United States would like to associate itself with the comments made earlier by our colleagues from the Nordic countries and Canada with regard to the value of evaluation and with respect to the need for appropriate follow-up.
The document prepared by the Secretariat does show in a very comprehensive way the details of the programme which we all need to know, not only as members of the Conference but also because these will help improve coordination with other providers of external assistance. We want to encourage the Secretariat to continue to improve the document through the inclusion of details of important sub-programmes. The Study on African Agriculture covering the next 25 years and the study associated with agricultural price problems have demonstrated FAO's capacity to deal with the complex policy and organizational issues of agricultural development from an analytical standpoint. In our view, however, the FAO has not been active enough in pursuing policy matters in its field programmes. The United States feels - and we have said it in our discussion of aid-in-kind in Commission I - that the policy framework is probably the single most important determinant of success or failure in agricultural development. Repeatedly during the last two decades apparently workable projects and programmes have failed because of the inadequacy of the policy framework. Thus for FAO as well as Cor all external donors it is important to enter into a dialogue with the recipient governments in order to ensure that scarce assistance resources are used effectively. The FAO, despite its relatively small role as an external donor, needs actively to pursue the policy factor in its programmes in coordination with both recipient countries as well as with other providers of external assistance.
The United States looks forward to the completion of the study currently under way on Latin America and the Caribbean with the hope that it also will be appropriately applied to the field programmes. We remain interested in seeing that the process of review and approval of top projects be more open than has been the case in the past. The document does offer more information than before, a fact that we appreciate, but we believe that TCP should be an even more completely open book, one that can be read by any member at any time.
Lastly, we do have a question for the Secretariat with regard to the status of agricultural rehabilitation programmes in Africa, the ARPA. We would like to know how much of the programme has been completed, what resources remain unobligated and which have been the major problems encountered.
Abdal ila lem AL NOMAN (Iraq) (original language Arabic): Allow me now to speak about some subjects which fall under item 14 of our agenda. I shall be very brief, because I believe that we must save some time and avoid repeating what other delegations have already said.
The presentations and the review of the various items and programmes carried out by the delegation which appear in this document give us a picture of what the Organization has been doing within the framework of agricultural and rural development in developing countries, despite the many financial
stringencies and difficulties, which have had detrimental effects on the programmes which we feel are essential for rural development and for the training of man who is the cornerstone of development. Therefore we would like to urge all member countries to support the Organization so as not to come up with the same difficulties in the future and give assistance to the Director-General to overcome all these problems.
After having account oí all the sub-programmes we concluded that they are indeed very important, because they are oriented to those peoples who can benefit from them and have a right to development in all sectors.
Coming to the problem concerning orientation, we share the views expressed by others that these programmes should be implemented in all countries interested in development to improve man's ability to work in all these fields to improve his expertise, and this would have a very beneficial impact on productivity. We can already appreciate the very good results deriving from the training programmes, and this appears quite clearly in document C 87/8 concerning the Organization's activities and programmes.
We would also like to express our great esteem and admiration for the Director-General and the initiative that he has taken for the independent evaluations of the three special programmes of action which has allowed us to have some information about all the problems and work of the Organization in these fields. These programmes I am sure can give some security to all countries, both donor countries and recipient countries.
Now, coming to the point about the seeds sector, a subject that has been incorporated in quite a number of programmes we agree on what has been suggested concerning prices as well as integrating training programmes in this field. We support all this because we are very much in favour of anything that has to do with food security in this programme.
Assefa YILALA (Ethiopia): The Ethiopian delegation has gone through C 87/8 and its three supplements covering special action programmes which include areas of food security assistance schemes, seed improvement and development programmes and action programmes for the control of African trypanosomiasis. Our delegation feels that the three areas which are presented independently are sectors which will have a significant impact on increasing food production and achieving self-sufficiency. We therefore would like to commend the FAO for the action taken and assignment of the independent evaluation team. Even so our delegation's opinion is generally positive in the overall areas considered. We felt that we should make some observations on specific areas which deserve more attention when seen from our own specific country needs in agriculture and development.
The Government of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is fully convinced and feels that attention given to improvement of seeds, both in its production and also increased usage by farmers, will to a large extent contribute and determine the extent to which food production increases could be achieved. With this in mind and as a background a seed authority with a legal power to produce and regulate seed production has been established recently even though its operations were started a decade or so ago. However, this is still short of achieving the required target and dimensions. its activities have been limited to providing clean seed and production of improved seeds based on physical characteristics. Schemes have been worked out to link agricultural research and activities of the seed authority in the establishment of basic seed farms. Limitations and resources, know-how and experience in establishing such basic seed farms have been prevalent and our delegation therefore would like to indicate support for the views and ideas expressed in areas of relevance, efficiency and achievement as contained in document C 87/8 - Sup.2.
Seed improvement based on physical characteristics and rudimentary breeding areas will only provide a marginal increase in food production. We strongly feel that further margins of increase in food production could be achieved through intensification of research in breeding programmes for both increasing food production and also resistance to the difficult environmental conditions, párticularly those of drought which is prevalent and also the other parts of Africa.
The genetic resources will have further to be exploited so as to overcome the presently prevailing food shortage problems, in addition to the other areas that need to be considered for agricultural development.
In talking about the establishment of a seed authority our delegation would like to voice its appreciation of the support provided by FAO and other donors while, at the same time, indicating the need for more support and assistance in this regard.
In view of the above and the other reasons that we might not be able to state at this stage, mainly due to limitation of time, I would like to mention that budgetary provisions for genetic resources will have a significant role in increasing food production through improved productive capabilities of seeds.
At the global level the establishment of the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources and undertakings of the Commission could be important and very significant and therefore the provision to be considered for the area deserves equally as much emphasis. We would deal with this item at the appropriate time and item of discussion but we would like to air our views that singling out the item will have very little significance to the overall budgetary process and should be left unaffected.
Tsetse and trypanosomiasis, as indicated In document C 87/8 - Sup. I, it is one of the major constraints in the development of agriculture in a potentially rich agricultural area in Ethiopia. The difficulty being faced due to tsetse and trypanosomiasis is limitation both in animal production which could have been used for draft purposes on which we are heavily dependent for farm power and the actual animal protein production, thus affecting human wellbeing in addition to its direct effect on health. Control and eradication of this undesirable infestation would increase food production capabilities of the country. in this connection the Ethiopian delegation gives due regard to the recommendation given by the evaluating team and indicates its support to the recommendations contained in pages 1 - 7 and the question of extra-budgetary support.
Adverse effects of the liquidity on activities like training, meetings and publications will, in our view, have a far-reaching consequence that might cause considerable delay and cannot be adequately censored at present. Support for training institutions like that of the ECOL, DILA, LUTTE and anti-tsetse in Burkina Faso will require our attention and consideration.
Finally in the areas of food security, priority of importance in our country is given to the increase in production so as to achieve self-sufficiency in food. However, resource mobilization has been constrained due to its limited availabilities and priorities of usage in coping with the continuous and repeated emergencies resulting form the drought. We therefore feel that the recommendations contained are in line with our own programme's and actions and therefore indicate our support and appreciation. We also feel that reactions of the Director-General will enrich and improve the quality of the recommendations contained in the documents C 87/8 - Sup. 2.
While on this topic 1 would like to make a mention of the relationship between items 13 and 14. While going through the document and also considering the previous document our delegation felt that discussion of item 14 before item 13 will provide a better rationale for the discussion of the budget for the coming biennium and facilitate matters. We therefore would like to make this point for the consideration of the Secretariat in future deliberations.
Salim SARRAF (Liban) (langue originale arabe)i Monsieur le Président, nous voudrions remercier le Secrétariat de nous avoir présenté les documents qui traitent de cette question, l'examen du Programme ordinaire 1987-88. Ces documents sont extrêmement clairs dans leur présentation et leur contenu.
Ce cinquième examen est un examen approfondi et global étant donné qu'il contient une foule d'informations et d'analyses portant sur les activités d'un grand nombre de programmes et projets, et en particulier les chapitres deux et trois du document C 87/8, où sont examinés les quatre sous-programmes et les activités qui revêtent une grande importance pour la FAO. Nous avons pu constater que les résultats obtenus dans ce domaine sont excellents.
Ma délégation tient également à dire qu'elle appuie l'initiative du Directeur général qui consiste à demander à un groupe d'experts externes de procéder à l'évaluation de trois programmes d'action de la FAO. Nous nous félicitons d'une initiative de cette nature. En même temps, nous constatons,
tout commne le Comité du programmo à la dernière session, que les activités d'évaluation menées par le Bureau de l'évaluation de la FAO sont extrêmement utiles et nous fournissent un travail de qualité. Nous appuyons donc pleinement ce genre d'entreprise de la FAO, qui a pour objectif de renforcer l'évaluation, ce qui se révélera certainement très utile par la suite lorsqu'il s'agira de choisir des programmes et projets pour l'avenir.
Je voudrais a jouter que nous appuyons les bureaux qui représentent la FAO dans nos pays.
Nous espérons aussi quo le Programme de coopération technique sera renforcé.
Je tiens à manifester mon inquiétude face à la baisse des ressources destinées à financer le Programme ordinaire due au fait que certains pays n'ont pas respecté leurs engagements et n'ont pas versé leurs contributions, ce qui nous a obligés à laisser de côté certaines activités qui avaient déjà été approuvées.
Carlos DELPIAZZO (Uruguay): La intervención de la delegación de la República Oriental del Uruguay respecto a este tema habrá de ser muy breve a efecto de no incurrir en reiteraciones de aspectos ya tratados y de ahorrar tiempo en ese sentido. Sin embargo, no queremos dejar de destacar la óptima calidad y nivel de los documentos que hemos estado tratando en esta Comisión, tanto a propósito del presupuesto, como del programa de actividades, como del examen de las actividades de campo, como de las evaluaciones que se han sometido a nuestra consideración. FAO ya nos tiene acostumbrados, en realidad, a este nivel en la documentción que sus servicios ponen a consideración de los distintos estados.
Igualmente agradecemos, porque ha sido muy útil, la exposición que el Sr. Shah ha realizado al comienzo del tratamiento de este punto del temario.
Consideramos que la conclusión primaria que surge del análisis de los documentos puestos a consideración de los Estados Miembros con respecto a lo actuado revelan fecundidad en la labor y ello merece ser destacado por cuanto los resultados que se han obtenido y las actividades que se han desarrollado lo han sido aun a pesar de las dificultades financieras por las que ha pasado la Organización.
Igualmente nuestra delegación estima remarcable que nuevamente, en oportunidad de la Conferencia, se reexaminen y repasen los distintos temas y los distintos aspectoe en los cuales la Organización ha actuado en el período anterior.
Nos interesa de modo particular desarrollar y destacar la importancia que asignamos a la labor de extensión cumplida por la Organización. Tal como surge de las páginas 203 y siguientes de la versión española del documento C 87/8, buena parte de los esfuerzos de la Organización han estado centrados en la labor de extensión y nuestra delegación considera que éste es un aspecto particularmente remarcable cuando, en definitiva, se apunta a que los sectores productivos, los agentes privados sean en definitiva los auténticos protagonistas de la labor de producción, a cuyo efecto resulta de importancia básica el que se realice una adecuada transferencia de tecnología y de capacitación tal como lo ha venido realizando la FAO en el período bajo examen.
Sin embargo, nos interesa destacar que del examen de las labores cumplidas también en el área de extensión surge una escasa actuación de FAO en América Latina en realación a otras regiones del mundo. Ello se advierte no solamente en lo que tiene que ver con las actividades del bienio pasado, sino que surge también de las actividades programadas para el próximo bienio en el programa de labores y presupuesto que esta Comisión ha estado examinando.
Si bien metodológicamente nuestro examen se está realizando por separado en lo que tiene que ver con el examen del bienio pasado y lo que tiene que ver con el programa de labores y actividades presupuestales para el próximo bienio, obviamente se trata de dos asuntos íntimamente relacionados entre sí.
Es inocultable la íntima conexión que existe entre el presupuesto y el programa de actividades, tanto en lo pasado como en lo porvenir. En opinión de nuestra delegación, y tal como lo señaló el Ministro de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca de nuestro país en el Plenario de la Conferencia, Uruguay comparte en sus grandes líneas lo actuado y el programa de labores presentado por el Director General, aunque estima exiguas las cantidades destinadas a la América Latina.
Si bien no se discute la importancia de los programas llevados a cabo en otras regiones y los que se proyecta realizar, se estima imprescindible volcar una mayor presencia y recursos de la Organización a nuestro continente a fin de obtener un mayor rendimiento de los proyectos aplicados.
Solicitamos, Sr. Presidente, que conste en el informe de la Comisión II ésta nuestra preocupación.
Amador VELASQUEZ GARCIA-MONTERROSO (Perú): Perú aprueba y comparte el informe, recomendaciones y sugerencias de la documentación excelentemente preparada por la Secretaría e igualmente presentada por el Sr. Shah; todo lo que confirma el nivel, capacidad y calidad, tanto de FAO como de la consultoría externa oportuna y correctamente elegida.
Mi país no pudo intervenir activamente en este tema, durante el 920. período de sesiones del Consejo, porque lamentablemente hasta ahora no forma parte del Consejo; sin embargo, ello no ha impedido que el Perú otorgue la mayor importancia y respaldo que ameritan tanto la lucha contra la tripanosomiasis africana de los animales, la mejora y desarrollo de las semillas y el plan de asistencia para la seguridad alimentaria básica.
Muchos oradores han coincidido en el impacto positivo del programa de cooperación técnica y la gran utilidad que este programa y los programas especiales de acción tienen. Esta opinión generalizada, y en particular la especial importancia asignada al PASA, lleva al Perú a reiterar ante esta Comisión el planteamiento que, a la luz de dicho respaldo, le satisface haber formulado en la Plenaria cuando señaló: "Los esfuerzos en seguridad alimentaria deben ser acompañados de mecanismos efectivos que, dentro de la Organización de la FAO, tengan que implementarse a nivel regional. Así, proponemos la creación de fondos Regionales de Seguridad Alimentaria que, dentro del esfuerzo por sentar las bases para el nuevo orden agrario internacional, tendrían entre otros los siguientes objetivos: primero, canalizar los fondos financieros complementarlos de los proyectos de desarrollo presentados por FAO a los organismos multilaterales y gobiernos de países de la región que se encuentren en situación crítica de balanza de pagos y deuda externa; segundo, emitir la moneda de comercio regional que permita el comercio de los excedentes de producción agropecuaria de la región, a fin de crear un mecanismo de compensación frente a los precios del mercado internacional y mejorar los términos de intercambio; tercero, asegurar los recursos humanos y económicos necesarios para la realización de la planificación del desarrollo agrícola regional, de tal modo de evaluar e implementar los programas y acciones que identifiquen las reservas alimentarias regionales, las canastas regionales de producción y consumo, y se instrumenten las políticas de seguridad alimentaria regionales; y cuarto, entre otros, formación de los semilleros y centros genéticos en cada región, de modo tal de integrar las actividades de investigación, educación y extensión rural regionales. En principio, los fondos regionales tendrían como objetivo el tratamiento de los temas regionales prioritarios así como el comercio de productos en crisis. Los fondo podrían inicialmente formarse con un autogravamen a las exportaciones y un porcentaje de los proyectos de inversión."
Estamos convencidos que el concepto ampliado de seguridad alimentaria es la estrategia apropiada de acción para la FAO, así como que dicha estrategia requiere claridad de objetivos y que la integración, coordinación y coherencia de los diversos programas dela FAO relativos al fortalecimiento de la seguridad alimentaria son claves.
La propuesta antes reiterada por el Perú se inscribe además en el criterio gradual para la acción futura formulado por el Sr. Director General e inclusive en la necesidad de reformas políticas en los países beneficiarios en apoyo de la seguridad alimentaria, para atraer recursos externos y en la Iniciación de actividades CEPD/CTPD que abarquen la seguridad alimentaria.
Por todo ello, el Perú coincide con el Comité del Programa plenamente cuando consideró que las actividades del PASA podrían ser el elemento catalizador para promover otras inicitivas de FAO tendientes a desarrollar la producción de alimentos y mejorar el acceso a ellos; en ese sentido se hace necesario ampliar la estructura del PASA de manera que la actividad coordinada y efectiva a nivel de cada país se dinamice a travos y con el instrumento regional propuesto y cuya implementaclón o estudio de viabilidad sería oportuno y conveniente encargarle en esta Conferencia.
Pedro Agostinho KANCA (Angola): En premier lieu, nous voulons féliciter M. Shah de la présentation trés claire du document dont nous sommes saisis. Ce genre d'examen est d'une utilité capitale car il nous fournit des informations très importantes sur les activités de l'Organisation.
Nous ne pouvons que féliciter le Directeur générai de l'initiative prise car ces évaluations constituent pour nous un élément important de la vérification de l'efficacité de la FAO.
Mais notre délégation regrette le fait qu'un grand nombre de projets soient supprimés par manque de ressources financières, particulièrement dans le domaine de la formation, élément essentiel pour nous car il occupe une place de choix. La formation dans la vulgarisation assume un caractère déterminant. Elle est définie dans notre programme de développement comme. forme d'enseignement informel et de formation des paysans, qui constitue une composante indissociable des objectifs que nous nous sommes assignés.
En fait, nous n'allons pas entrer de manière détaillée dans l'analyse de toutes ces questions dont l'ensemble constitue le Programme ordinaire. Nous tenons ici à exprimer notre satisfaction d'une manière globale et nous appuyons les conclusions et toutes les recommandations faites par le groupe de consultants.
En ce qui concerne les forêts, ma délégation appuie le Plan d'action forestier tropical.
Pour co qui est dos ressources halieutiques, nous souhaitons quo la FAO accordo uno priorité á la protection de ces ressources dans des zones économiques exclusives ainsi qu'à la nécessité d'offrir aux petits pêcheurs l'accès au système d'information sur la commercialisation du poisson, plus particulièrement celle de l'intérieur.
S'agissant du PCT, nous regrettons toujours qu'il soit maintenu à son niveau de 1986-87 car, nous le savons tous, le PCT a toujours joué un rôle important dans l'affectation des ressources du Programme ordinaire aux opérations de terrain. Nous appuyons la création de quatre bureaux de la FAO car nous on savons ,l'utilité compte tenu de l'expérience passée.
Concernant les trois programmes spéciaux, notre attention est surtout centrée sur la lutte contre la trypanosomiaso animale africaine car nous possédons de grandes régions dont les conditions sont optimales pour l'élevage mais qui ne sont pas mises en valeur suite à l’infestation de la mouche tsé-tsé. Dans le cadre de ce môme programmo, nous attirons l'attention de la FAO sur les maladies telles que laposte porcine qui est un fléau dans notre pays; et nous demandons á la FAO de nous aider à faire? face à cette préoccupation. Nous appuyons la formation et la recherche en ce domaine et souhaitons qu'une aide financière urgente soit apportée à l'école de lutte anti tsé-tsé de Bobo Dioulasso, au Burkina Faso.II est important que soient allouées à ce programme des ressources extra-budgétaires.
Concernant le Programme. de développement et d'amélioration des semences, nous appuyons les conclusions et recommandations de l'évaluation, et mettons notre accent sur.l'aide de la FAO dans le développement de semences traditionnelles.
Nous ne vouions pas laisser passer cette occasion sans remercier la FAO pour l'assistance accordée jusqu'à présent à notre Programme national de semences qui connaît déjà un succès.
Pour terminer, nous voudrions évoquer certains aspects de l'évaluation du Programme d'assistance pour la sécurité alimentaire. En premier lieu, nous exprimons nos remerciements pour l'assistance accordée à la SADCC pour la réalisation d'études de faisabilité et la préparation d'un projet SAR ainsi qu'il est indiqué dans le document C 87/8-Sup.3 paragraphe 3.50.
Ma délégation appuie les conclusions et recommandations de ce rapport et reconnait les efforts fournis par le PASA dans le but de renforcer les initiatives visant à la stabilité et à l'approvisionnement alimentaire.
Nous sommes bien conscients de trois aspects du concept tel que défini au document C 87/LIM/19 paragraphe 2.38; mais nous tenons à souligner en particulier que la sécurité alimentaire ne peut exister dans un pays sans la sécurité et la paix. Mon pays se trouve dans une situation que personne n'ignore car nous ne pouvons pas mettre en pratique à courte échéance les conclusions et les recommandations du PASA suite à la politique de déstabilisation du régime d'apartheid de l'Afrique du Sud, ce qui est pour nous un grand handicap pour notre développement agricole et notre sécurité alimentaire.
De ce fait, nous exprimons notre satisfaction...
CHAIRMAN: Once again we are in violation of the rules of the Organization by deviating from the topic and getting into side political issues. Please cease that, stick to the subject and carry on.
Pedro Agostinho RANCA (Angola): Je regrette, Monsieur le Président, mais je tiens à vous rappeler qu'il y a deux ans, cette Conférence avait adopté une résolution condamnant les agressions perpétrées par l'Afrique du Sud en Afrique Australe.
Pour vous rafraichir la mémoire, il vous suffira de demander au Secrétariat qu'il vous fournisse la résolution.
Pour nous la question de l'Afrique du Sud est un handicap...
CHAIRMAN: The Chair points out that we have repeatedly stated that we are to deal with the topic at hand, not side political issues. Please stick to the topic or the Chair will have to proceed and recognize the next in line.
Pedro Agostinho KANGA (Angola): Je regrette, Monsieur le Président, mais je tiens à vous dire que je ne veux pas rentrer dans un dialogue avec vous, mais il vous faut être conséquent; en effet, cette situation du développement agricole se trouve dans le document du Programme de travail et Budget, au paragraphe 20, sur le chapitre Afrique. Il y est bien indiqué que le Conseil a recommandé qu'une étude soit faite en vue d'évaluer les effets négatifs de l'agression de l'Afrique du Sud.
CHAIRMAN: Please stick to the subject. We are not here to debate issues that are before the UN General Assembly in New York. If you want to talk about Africa's agriculture and food needs that is our role. It is not our role to get into the internal political affairs of a country in that continent or any other continent, nor is it our role to debate the political differences in any region of the world. It is our role to discuss the issues that are before our agenda.
Juan Manuel GALVEZ B. (Honduras): Señor Presidente, cuando recibí la propuesta de representar a Honduras en esta Conferencia, lo primero que hice fue analizar mi capacidad para asumir tan delicada responsabilidad. No hubiera aceptado si no hubiera sabido que me entregaría de lleno al cumplimiento de la tarea que se me encomendaba y si no hubiera creído que mi participación sería valiosa.
He escuchado con atención a todas las personas que han intervenido en las discusiones de esta Comisión. Solamente me he ausentado por breves períodos de tiempo cuando me he visto obligado a atender asuntos relacionados con nuestro trabajo y sólo he tomado la palabra para hacer comentarios que, en mi opinión, complementarían lo que ya se había dicho.
He reflexionado mucho y muy seriamente sobre lo que he escuchado y leído hasta ahora sobre la FAO y sus problemas. He hecho un análisis sobre la situación actual. Deseo compartir mi opinión con quienes deseen conocerla, pero no quiero hablar por hablar. Por lo tanto, consideró que para contribuir a recuperar un poco del valioso tiempo que se ha perdido hasta ahora, lo mejor es poner por escrito mis reflexiones y solicitar que se incluyan en el resumen de esta Sesión. Todos conocemos ya la eficiencia de la Administración en la preparación de los documentos que sirven de base para nuestras deliberaciones.
CHAIRMAN: There being no objection, your statement will, as you requested, be included in the verbatim at the end of the discussion on this item.
Yacoub Y. AL-YOUSUFI (Kuwait) (original language Arabic): Document C 87/8 and the other documents before us are full of extremely valuable information and my country would like first of all to offer some comments which we hope will be helpful to FAO in carrying forward its development work.
We support technical aid through TCP and other programmes in Member Nations and we also feel that training of field, officers is important, as we said before. We notice that there has not been too much done in 1986-87 in this field. There have been fewer symposia and meetings and we feel that the most important ones of these at FAO should be carried out because training is very important.
We also support the animal production programmes being carried out and we would call for better use of pasture land in particular. This is an issue that needs more work.
Extension is very important, as I said before, and it should be promoted and supported by all possible means, both at grass-roots level and intermediate level.
The integration of women in the work places is also particularly important. My country's delegation already made some statements to this effect in Commission I.
As relates to fisheries, we also feel that fisheries is a high priority subject and the fullest possible support should be given. It is regrettable that resources are not sufficient at the present time. Everyone knows how important this area is and the Food Security Assistance Scheme is fully supported. As regards pesticides too, we feel careful control must be exercised and the maximum levels of pesticides must be carefully controlled to avoid negative impact.
As regards the Seed Improvement and Development Programme we feel this is a good idea too, but it should not be developed at the expense of its extension and training.
Animal health of course is very important for agricultural development, and activities at regional and national levels must be enhanced. We support also all work and action within the framework of the control of African animal trypanosomiasis, and we support the special action programmes - the whole concept of special action programmes.
As regards programme priorities, we would focus our attention and our interest on greater transparency so that we may make the proper choice of priorities now that resources are short. Of course, the shortage of resources is due to the fact that some countries are not paying thir arrears in time.
Angus Edward MACDONALD (Australia): The review of the Regular Programme for 1986-87 we consider to be a comprehensive, thorough and informative description of FAO's activities by major functional activity. While we welcome this review, we would urge movement towards establishing verifiable performance indicators against which regular programme activities can be measured over time. We recognize the'difficulties inherent in assessing the effectiveness of certain FAO activities. However, we note that methodologies are being developed which allow assessment against objectives of non-quantifiable programmes, and we urge FAO to look into this type of evaluative monitoring. We also recognize that certain activities and certain publications produced in the 1986-87 biennium may need to be reduced in the next biennium because of the financial problems and we trust that this will be done in a rational and prioritized way. For example, we note in paragraphs 4.50 and 4.55 of 87/8 reference to the two very valuable publications produced by the Freedom from Hunger Campaign and the Action for Development Office, and we trust that, consistent with the request made by the Programme Committee at its 53rd Session, these publications will be retained.
On regular programme activities Australia, like many other delegations before us, would like to see greater emphasis on FAO's role in agricultural policy dialogue and formulation.
My delegation welcomes the independent external evaluation of the three special action programmes. We see great value in expanding this type of monitoring and evaluating activities.
The trypanosomiasis study was conducted by two of the world's foremost authorities on African trypanosomiasis, and together they have produced an authoritative, well balanced and considered report, the findings of which should be adopted and integrated into appropriate programme activities. Of course trypanosomiasis control is inextricably linked to complex questions of land use, rural development and environmental protection which will require a regional approach for effective solutions.
Similarly the Food Security System Scheme study we consider to be of very high value. As table 2.3 shows, Australia has been a not insignificant supporter of food security assistance scheme trust fund projects and to be frank we have not always found those projects with which we have been associated the most efficient in terms of implementation. Expenditure patterns will attest to that fact. We trust that these initial delays have been overcome and that the activities proceed in an effective and efficient manner.
Finally, we consider these evaluations, the conclusions of which will need to be adopted by future programme and decision makers, are a step in the right direction towards a more transparent and open FAO programme operation and we welcome their advent.
CHAIRMAN: Before recognizing the next speaker, I must announce that Tanzania has requested that its statement on item 14 be included in the Verbatim Records. That will be done.
Jean-Pierre POLY (France): Le rapport qui nous est présenté sur l'évaluation du Programme d'amélioration et de développement du secteur des semences a suscité une réflexion attentive de la part de ma délégation, en raison de l'importance de ce secteur pour le développement agricole.
Je dois dire d'emblée que la lecture de ce rapport nous plonge dans une certaine perplexité: il ne fait pas apparaître en effet un certain nombre de points que nous considérons comme essentiels, que ce soit au niveau de la conception du Programme lui-même ou au niveau de sa mise en oeuvre.
Nous notons tout d'abord que le rapport se présente plutôt comme un rapport d'expert sur les semences que comme une réelle évaluation du Programme. Mais qu'on l'envisage sous un angle ou un autre, nous notons surtout qu'il présente la caractéristique de laisser de côté tant le secteur amont que le secteur aval: il ne souligne pas notamment qu'on ne peut traiter la question des semences sans tenir compte de l'ensemble de la filière des produits depuis la recherche et l'expérimentation jusqu'à la commercialisation en passant par la production.
Sur ce dernier point un lien doit être établi entre les semences et les autres intrants ainsi que les pratiques culturales.
Ma délégation attache, en outre, une attention toute particulière aux problèmes de la commercialisation des produits: nous estimons que l'un des problèmes essentiels dans le secteur des semences est de susciter une demande solvable de la part des paysans, demande qui pour le moment n'existe pas ou reste très faible. A notre sens, cette demande n'émergera que si les agriculteurs sont dans une situation d'incitation à la production, c'est-à-dire s'ils ont de réels espoirs de commercialiser leurs produits à un prix rémunérateur.
Je soulignerai également les conséquences que cela entraîne nécessairement sur la définition de la politique agricole, et sur la mise en oeuvre des instruments appropriés. Mais pour nous il est clair que cet environnement économique favorable permettant la création d'un marché et d'un secteur privé de production et de commercialisation des semences aussi réduits soient-ils, est un préalable à la mise en place d'un programme national semencier.
Monsieur le Président, nous notons ensuite que le rapport ne permet pas de se faire une idée bien précise de l'intérêt et des résultats des projets de terrain qui représentent quand même les 9/10 du volume financier du programme.
Nous observons au passage que sur les seize pays qui ont fait l'objet de l'évaluation, deux seulement - le Cameroun et le Maroc - font partie d'une région de l'Afrique où se déroule plus des 3/4 de l'activité de terrain du Programme. Mais ce qui nous paraît plus important c'est que les données fournies sont essentiellement quantitatives. Certaines d'entre elles d'ailleurs nous sont apparues incomplètes ou même erronées. L'analyse qualitative quant à elle et les recommandations qui en découlent restent très théoriques. Il aurait été intéressant par exemple d'avoir une ou plusieurs analyses de projet portant sur l'efficacité des investissements par rapport á l'accroissement des rendements.
Ces recommandations ne mettent pas en évidence la composante essentielle que constituent les projets de terrain et l'appui qui doit être fourni â ces projets. Seules des mesures d'ordre général sont proposées sur lesquelles je reviendrai un peu plus loin: nous pensons que ces mesures ne peuvent être efficaces que si elles sont prolongées par des actions de terrain précises et bien ciblées, et qu'il appartient bien au Service des semences de la FAO de participer directement à l'appui de ces actions et de les lier à leur opération d'ordre plus général.
S'agissant de ces dernières, ma délégation n'approuve pas l'ambitieux objectif de création d'un cadre mondial pour le développement du secteur des semences qui ne nous paraît pas réaliste car il ne constitue pas á notre sens une réponse appropriée aux problèmes de ce secteur. Il nous semble plus productif de promouvoir une coordination plus étroite avec les institutions et expertises multilatérales et bilatérales disposant d'une solide expérience dans le secteur des semences et rechercher une application adaptée aux régions des thèmes du Programme.
Nous pouvons en revanche adhérer aux recommandations relatives á l'information générale, aux réunions techniques, à la formulation de stratégies nationales et à la formation. Mais cette adhésion est dans notre esprit toujours liée à l'application concrète de ces recommandations.
En ce qui concerne la formation notamment, ma délégation n'est pas clairement convaincue par le résultat des actions menées jusqu'à présent: il apparaît en effet qu'elles ont été réalisées sous la forme de séminaires sans reel contact avec le terrain, alors qu'il nous semble essentiel que soit incluse systématiquement une formation pratique. Une action de formation ne peut servir à grand chose si les auditeurs ne sont pas en mesure d'appliquer immédiatement leurs connaissances, ce qui suppose, de plus l'existence réelle locale d'un secteur semencier.
S'agissant du système d'information nous ne disposons pas d'éléments nous permettant d'en juger la pertinence réelle: est-ce que par exemple le mécanisme des passeports variétaux préconisé par la FAO est réellement utilisable sur le terrain?
D'une façon générale, nous estimons que les propositions du rapport restent trop théoriques et semblent partir du postulat que les filières semencières se conçoivent et se mettent en oeuvre dans des bureaux ce qui n'est pas notre sentiment.
En conclusion, Monsieur le Président, nous avons le sentiment que l'orientation générale du rapport tend purement et simplement au renforcement administratif du Service des semences et á l'alourdissement de sa tâche sans qu'apparaisse clairement de gain réel pour les pays désireux de mettre en place un secteur semencier ou de l'améliorer s'il existe.
Il nous paraît au contraire que la tendance devrait être à une coordination accrue des actions, tâche pour laquelle le Service des Semences nous paraît tout á fait qualifié. Coordination des opérateurs, qu'ils soient multilatéraux ou bilatéraux, au travers notamment de l'assistance à la définition de plans nationaux semenciers, mais aussi coordination avec les activités en dehors du secteur des semences.
La trypanosomiase animale est une des préoccupations de ma délégation et la France mène plusieurs programmes visant à lutter contre ce fléau.
Le rapport qui nous est présenté contient un grand nombre d'éléments intéressants, et j'y reviendrai uliérieurement.
Je souhaiterais auparavant souligner les difficultés de définition d'une politique cohérente en matière de lutte contre la trypanosomiase, qui appelle à notre sens une réflexion supplémentaire de la part de la FAO.
En effet, il existe .encore des points fondamentaux sur lesquels nous n'avons pas de réponse sûre.
Je citerai par exemple: la sélection du caractère "trypanotolérant" peut-elle aboutir; l'assainissement des zones peut-il s'accompagner d'une occupation rationnelle du terrain; la chimiopro-phylaxie peut-elle se généraliser et se pérenniser; s'agissant maintenant de propositions formulées dans le document, ma délégation souhaite insister particulièrement sur: a) la nécessité de délégation de pouvoir au Bureau régional d'Accra afin de faire coopérer, non seulement l'ensemble des spécialistes du bureau à un Comité d'exécution de programme, mais aussi les représentants des organisations multilatérales (BIRD, BAD, CEE) qui sont intéressés. Cela permettrait également à ce bureau, en liaison avec la Commission de la Trypanosomiase et l'OMS d'assurer le rôle d'information qui devrait être celui de la FAO; b) les études préliminaires et la préparation des programmes de mise en valeur des terres devront être faites par des projets de terrain suivis par le bureau régional; c) l'Ecole de lutte anti tsé-tsé pourrait être réactivée dès lors que seraient établis, en liaison avec les responsables des pays bénéficiaires, un programme de travail ainsi qu'un programme d'emploi des personnels ainsi formé; d) la FAO a, également, un rôle fondamental à jouer pour coordonner les projets nationaux avec ceux des pays voisins afin de diminuer les investissements, ou éviter leur duplication, et pour réduire les charges récemment entraînées par la lutte contre les glossines; e) enfin, nous sommes surpris que soit rarement fait mention de la coopération menée avec l'OMS dans ce domaine. Nous aurions apprécié de voir détaillé les éléments des actions communes aux deux institutions, qui nous paraissent en tout état de cause devoir être renforcées.
L'importance qui s'attache à la sécurité alimentaire justifie une attention toute particulière. C'est pourquoi ma délégation a examiné avec beaucoup d'attention le rapport d'évaluation qui nous est présenté et qui contient des informations d'un grand intérêt.
Je crois nécessaire, en préambule, de rappeler que la France souscrit pleinement au concept élargi de sécurité alimentaire et à ses 3 objectifs. C'est pourquoi nous constatons avec satisfaction que le PASA a contribué à promouvoir la sécurité alimentaire dans un grand nombre de pays.
Je ne reviendrai pas sur les analyses très intéressantes effectuées par les consultants, et j'en viendrai directement aux recommandations des consultants et aux observations du Directeur général.
Selon ma délégation, le programme élargi tel qu'il est proposé aux paragraphes 35 et 37 ne nous paraît pas tout à fait approprié. 11 nous semble en revanche, que le PASA devrait s'orienter selon deux axes essentiels:
a). une concentration sur les actions pour lesquelles il dispose d'avantages ou de compétences. reconnus, sur lesquels je reviendrai à la fin de mon intervention;
b). le deuxième serait le renforcement des études interinstitutionnelles pour l'accès aux approvisionnements des couches les plus démunies avec des organisations telles que l'UNICEF, l'OMS, l'OAA, ou l'IFPRI.
Cela signifie que la FAO doit développer les contacts avec ces organisations lors de la conception et la mise en place des activités du PASA et l'on peut s'étonner de ne pas voir davantage mentionnées ces organisations dans le rapport d'évaluation.
En conclusion, Monsieur le Président, je soulignerai que le PASA ne peut avoir d'effet à long terme sans une meilleure connaissance des activités des principaux donateurs.
Cela ne justifie nullement la création de nouvelles structures administratives ou opérationnelles. Cela ne signifie pas, non plus, que la FAO surajoute ses propres interventions à celles d'autres donateurs.
Cela signifie, en revanche, que la FAO favorise les contacts entre les donateurs pour clarifier la politique suivie par chacun afin d'aider chacun à travailler ensemble dans une direction mutuellement acceptée.
Il nous paraît en effet que la FAO ne peut se substituer aux donateurs bilatéraux. En revanche elle a, au-delà de réunions des donateurs, un rôle fondamental à jouer dans certains secteurs précis:
- la mise en lumière, grace à des études appropriées, des causes freinant l'accès des plus défavorisés aux approvisionnements;
- la logistique;
- les études liées à la commercialisation et à la politique des prix en relation avec la sécurité alimentaire.
De même, la FAO doit jouer un rôle important dans la mise en place, là où il n'existe pas encore, de système d'alerte rapide ou de prévision de récolte.
La FAO doit également continuer ses actions en matière de pertes après récoltes ou de formation du personnel, tout particulièrement en matière de gestion des réserves céréaiières.
J.K. KYAMBWA (Tanzania): The Tanzania Delegacion would like to congratulate the FAO Secretariat for having prepared a comprehensive review and more specifically the independent evaluation of the three areas. Also let me thank Dr Shah for his excellent introduction. I believe, it is through such regular reviews that Member Nations are enabled to understand how FAO is able to meet its objectives and tasks.
The Tanzania delegation is happy with the findings and recommendations of the consultant reports. It is our hope that in future, we will get similar review in the areas of research, training and irrigation. I am specifically mentioning these areas due to their relevance in enhancing agricultural production.
I agree with other members who have suggested that FAO could also make a review of the programmes and policy measures already undertaken in several countries. One programme which has been the result of FAO efforts is the preparation of a National Food Strategy. A review of the implementation of such strategies will enable FAO to understand the impact so far made and to take remedial measures in those countries which are in the process of preparing such strategies.
The other area where my delegation would like to touch upon is the seed programme. Indeed, the Tanzania delegation has established a national institution that deals with improved seed production. The estimated annual seed demand is 80 000 tonnes but we can only supply 8 000 tonnes locally. Our problem is not land to produce the seed but the processing facility and in some cases the capacity to maintain the standard required. So, this is an area where assistance is required.
Tanzania has rapidly increasing livestock population. As a result, the originally marginal areas are rapidly being reclaimed by arable agriculture thus pushing traditional agriculture in tsetse infected areas. These areas are not only tsetse infested, with a consequence of high trypanosomiasis and elephantitis, but are also generally least developed regarding pasture and management and general livestock infrastructure, such as water etc. We are talking of an area of up to 60 percent of the area of land that is capable of supporting livestock. So you can see, Mr Chairman, how important the trypanosomiasis programme is. It is vital to us as well as it is to almost 90 percent of our livestock population.
Our government attaches great importance to the programme of tsetse eradication and attaches a high priority to it in our national budgets. Likewise, the Government in collaboration with FAO, the EEC and SADCC are jointly participating in a programme of tsetse eradication. 1/
Juan Manuel CALVEZ (Honduras): Mr dirijo a'ustedes en primera persona porque deseo que mis palabras sean tomadas como una evaluación independiente de alguien que, en pequeña escala, hizo frente a problemas similares a los que hoy enfrenta la FAO.
A principios do 1964, so deposito on mi la autoridad y la responsabilidad para dirigir un centro cultural binacional que estaba en quiebra. Una de las dos naciones que formaron esta asociación estaba dispuosta a darle una ultima oportunidad mediante una donación. La donación, como es natural, iba acompañada de ciertos requisitos que tenían que cumplirse en el término de un año.
Después de pensarlo muy bien, acepté el reto porque estaba convencido de la importancia de la institución y porque estaba seguro de que no hay problema que no tenga solución. Al analizar la situación, me di cuenta do quo los motivos do la crisis eran muchos. Había que efectuar reformas considerables en los tres departamentos de la organización: Administrativo, Académico y Cultural. Había que reconciliar las serias diferencias que existían entre los miembros de la Junta Directiva y entre éstos y la administración. Como si oso fuera poco, el personal no vio con buenos ojos que un extraño llegara a decirles qué hacer y cómo hacerlo.
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1/ Statement inserted in the verbatim records on request.
Sumamente preocupado, busqué ayuda en mis textos de administración de empresas y encontré lo que necesitaba como guía:
- "Cuando los problemas son muchos, lo mejor es tomarlos uno por uno para poder resolverlos." Inmediatamente puse en práctica esos consejos. Señalé prioridades. Distribuí el trabajo indicando a cada empleado cuáles eran sus responsabilidades, teniendo mucho cuidado de que esa responsabilidad fuera siempre acompañada del. grado de autoridad adecuado. Establecí estrictas medidas de disciplina, de calidad y de austeridad. Después me dediqué a asegurarme de que cumplieran mis instruciones. Pronto se notaron los resultados.
Ahora, tres años después, la institución tiene otra imagen y opera normalmente. El personal se siente satisfecho porque su trabajo se ha simplificado y puede ver ios frutos de su esfuerzo.
Creo que mi experiencia como Director General de ese centro cultural dedicado a servir a una pequeña comunidad puede ayudar en algo a la administración de esta compleja organización dedicada ai servicio de la humanidad. 1/
Jean-Jacques RATEAU (CEE): Je vous remercie de me donner la parole sur ce point de l'ordre du jour et plus particulièrement sur le document C 87/8-sup.3 qui concerne l'évaluation du Programme d'Assistance pour le secteur alimentaire.
Nous avons lu avec attention l'évaluation du Programme d'Assistance pour la Sécurité Alimentaire (PASA) ainsi que les observations du Directeur générai. Le document fait ressortir clairement que la PASA a contribué à promouvoir la sécurité alimentaire dans un grand nombre de pays.
La CEE peut pleinement souscrire au concept révisé de sécurité alimentaire qui comprend trois objectifs liés: la production d'aliments en quantité suffisante, la stabilisation des approvisionnements ainsi que l'accès aux approvisionnements surtout pour les groupes vulnérables. Ce concept révisé a été l'élément central de l'initiative "stratégie alimentaire" que la CE a poursuivie dans un certain nombre de pays africains depuis 1981. Nous avons récemment généralisé cette approche, pour les pays qui sont associés à la CE par la convention de Lomé, ainsi que pour certains pays d'autres régions.
La CEE peut globalement appuyer les tâches décrites au paragraphe 57 du rapport et soutenir une continuation et une consolidation des principales activités du PASA. Ceci s'applique surtout aux systèmes d'alerte rapide et pour des programmes de réserves céréalières.
S'agissant des systèmes d'alerte rapide nous estimons qu'il conviendrait de les intégrer progressivement dans des systèmes rationnels d'information sur la situation alimentaire tels qu'évoqués dans les recommandations adressées aux gouvernements. Ceci implique que les unités d'alerte rapide devront être liées aux unités générales de collecte et de traitement des statistiques agricoles et alimentaires. Pour assurer la viabilité des actions d'alerte rapide, il faudrait éviter la création de nouvelles structures administratives et opérationnelles. Les différentes actions d'alerte rapide, y compris celles des ONG, devraient être bien coordonnées, non seulement à l'intérieur des pays, mais aussi au niveau régional.
Il serait souhaitable que les informations des systèmes d'alerte rapide soient diffusées dès lors qu'elles sont opérationnelles.par les pays qui en auront la gestion.
Cette situation devra principalement concerner les acteurs économiques et politiques ainsi que les donateurs qui appuient les programmes de renforcement de la sécurité alimentaire.
En ce qui concerne les programmes de réserves céréalières et les programmes de stockage y compris la lutte contre les pertes après récolte il convient de souligner l'importance de la gestion et de l'organisation ainsi que la nécessité d'assurer une formation appropriée en ce domaine.
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1/ Texto incluido en las actas a petición expresa.
En ce qui concerne le stockage alimentaire, il sérait souhaitable qu'il puisse y avoir une bonne répartition du travail entre le niveau villageois de stockage traditionnel, le niveau des intermédiaires privés, et le niveau para-étatique de stockage centralisé, c'est-à-dire lié aux offices de commercialisation.
Le rapport d'évaluation montre quo les unités nationales de sécurité alimentaire n'ont pas tout à fait joué le rôle préconisé, par exemple sur les sujets relatifs à la commercialisation et à la politique des prix. Ceci n'est pas surprenant vu la complexité importante de ces thèmes pour la politique économique globale.
Cette problématique élargie constitue parfois un élément clé dans un processus de restructuration et de réajustement des politiques économiques générales. C'est pourquoi le programme élargi, proposé aux paragraphes 35 et 37 des observations du Directeur générai pourrait ne pas être le plus approprié.
Il nous paraît en effet plus justifié que le PASA continue à se concentrer sur les actions pour lesquelles il a fait preuve d'un avantage comparatif telles que l'appui au système d'alerte rapide, aux programmes de stockage céréalier et à la lutte contre les pertes après récoltes.
Evlogui BONEV (UNDP): I shall limit my comments to the evaluation reports presented for the consideration of this Commission under agenda Item 14. UNDP attaches a particular Importance to the evaluation exercises of our partner agencies, as we view them as a very important tool for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our work in the respective areas of activity. We fully support the efforts of FAO in this respect.
It has been most gratifying to witness during the past two days of sittings of this Commission the great interest and importance the speakers have attributed to this matter. Cooperation, coordination, complementarity and so on, were re-emphasized by most speakers. Further initiatives in evaluation work were encouraged.
UNDP has carefully studied the three Evaluation Reports and has reviewed more particularly two of them: the Food Security Assistance Scheme and the Seed Improvement and Development Programme, on which we wish to make the following comments:
FAO must be commended for having undertaken these exercises. Food security and seed improvement and development are issues of highest importance and urgency. In this area learning from experience in order to avoid past mistakes and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of future efforts is of vital importance.
Regarding follow-up action, in view of the UNDP it is crucial to ensure prompt feedback regarding the findings and conclusions of the evaluation studies. As a possible and appropriate practical measure in this respect, UNDP would suggest, subject to the approval of this Commission and providing FAO finds it useful, that a Programme Advisory Note (PAN) be worked out and issued which, in our view, would assist all those concerned in implementing the recommendations contained in the evaluation reports. We, in UNDP, stand ready to cooperate with FAO in this exercise. UNDP's interest in this matter stems from its own involvement in the area of seed production and distribution. As the SIDP study shows,a large number of the projects evaluated are indeed UNDP/FAO supported. UNDP could contribute with its experience from its own sectoral and cross-sectoral evaluation studies, particularly with lessons learned about institution building and human resources development. The issue of a PAN on seeds would not only be of interest to recipient governments, FAO and UNDP. Seeds are a shared priority concern of the donor community as well. A PAN could facilitate the exchange of experience and information and, as an end result, improve coordination.
With regard to Management of Coordination in the area of Food Security, related to the FSAS evaluation, in the views of the UNDP the study underlines that the promotion of food security is an extremely complex multi-sectoral, multi-level (national, regional, global) undertaking. FSAS activities represent only a fraction of the total effort directed towards this goal. This emerges also from the over-view of the food security situation in selected countries presented in the evaluation study.
Given both these aspects, viz. (one) the multi-dimensional character of the issue, and (two) the multitude of interventions in support of this goal, it is obvious that the management of food-security assistance must undoubtedly place a tremendous strain on the development management capacities of some host countries. UNDP has,in recent years assigned growing importance to strengthening the governments' own capacities to monitor and evaluate their development efforts and would welcome requests to complement these efforts through further projects focussed specifically on monitoring and evaluation of food security related assistance activities.
V.J. SHAH (Director, Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation): This has been a very constructive and stimulating debate so far as the Secretariat is concerned, and I would now like to respond to the questions which were raised and to some of the comments. Among the first questions raised was one by the distinguished delegate of Thailand, followed by Bangladesh and Ghana about their desire to see the Programme of Livestock being made a Major Programme in the programme structure of the Organization.
I respectfully recognize the importance attached to the livestock sector by these countries and many others, but I would draw attention to the fact that whether a programme is called a Major Programme or whether it is a Programme has many reasons. One is conceptual. Fisheries was one of the first to become a Major Programme because conceptually the whole work of fisheries, which is integrated, stands very much on its own. This was followed by forestry, although there are many more links between the Forestry Major Programme and the Agriculture Major Programme. But if we were to take different programmes under the Major Programme: Agriculture and try to hive them oil, somehow think this would not be in the interest or according to the desire of the Member Nations themselves because the work under the Major Programme: Agriculture is integrated to the maximum extent possible.
Looking also at the point of view of resources, livestock has a Regular Programme allocation of some US$ 14.5 million. Would it make sense to have that as a separate Major Programme, compared to Rural Developemnt which has US$ 25 million or to Crops, which has US$ 24.8 million?
1 hope not to be at all cantankerous but just would point that this is a matter which needs reflection from several points of view. I hope that the distinguished delegates who made this valuable suggestion will recognize that we will certainly give further consideration to it, but I would not be in a position to indicate any further reply at this stage. I hope they realize that their comment was very well appreciated.
Le distingué délégué du Zaire a fait un commentaire à mon avis très important sur la responsabilité et les droits des. gouvernements souverains en matière d'évaluation. Et je voudrais le rassurer sans hésitation en disant que le Secrétariat respecte beaucoup cet avis.
Par exemple, dans toutes les évaluations quenous entreprenons - ce qui est le cas des évaluations des programmes d'action spéciaux - les pays concernés ont été consultés et ont participé à toutes les visites que les consultants et mes collègues ont entreprises. Ensuite, en ce qui concerne chaque évaluation d'un projet de terrain, qu'il soit financé par le PNUD ou par d'autres fonds extrabudgétaires, le gouvernement qui est responsable du projet sur son territoire participe toujours à l'évaluation. C'est à mon avis un principe qu'il ne faut jamais oublier malgré tout l'intérêt que pourraient porter l'Organisation ou d'autres pays membres à l'importance de l’évaluation.
The delegate of the Federal Republic of Germany asked whether the indicators of time, the work months spent on technical back-stopping, were based on a random survey or whether they were based on a systematic survey which could have greater credibility. FAO is to my knowledge the only organization in the UN system which continues a cost measurement system related to field programme activities. This was something which started in the 1970s, we have kept it up, we report on the results of this to the Finance Committee and the figures are taken from the time recording of this monitoring system.
The delegate also asked for some clarification or expressed some surprise at the statement in the beginning of the Review of the Regular Programme that nearly 60 percent of the technical staff time is spent in direct support to field activities in the form of advisory services and technical support to Member Countries. 1 would clarify, yes, this is entirely what we have stated, but it is
not only the technical back-stopping of field projects, it refers also to all the advisory and assistance missions which are undertaken at the request of Member Governments by our technical divisions and departments.
The delegate of the United States of America requested information on the African Rehabilitation Programme, ARPA. The majority of projects which were funded under the TCP, the Technical Cooperation Programme, amounting to US$ 1 5 million, have been completed or are in the final stages of completion. In terms of funding, out of the US$ 15 million of the TCP, US$ 14.7 million have been spent and committed so it was only the balance of US$ 300 000 which was unobligated I believe in recent days.
A good number of the trust fund and the UNDP funded projects in support of ARPA are still under implementation because the funding for these was only mobilized in late 1985 and in early 1986, but these projects are of a relatively medium-term duration, three years in most cases. As the Council has been informed, an evaluation of the ARPA is under way. This is something which again the Director-General decides to arrange. The ARPA programme as such is now closed, because it referred to a very specific time period. It is our evaluation service, I am pleased to say, which is undertaking this evaluation in consultation with the Development Department and with the FAO representative involved in the countries concerned. So far the work is at the stage of desk study, also checking into the records and performance of the operating units. We are sending out a questionnaire very shortly to the FAO representatives, in which the governments involved will also be consulted, and following the response to this questionnaire we will then arrange a certain number of field visits. I think the timing of this exercise will be good because by arranging field visits at too early a stage we would not have seen a sufficient number of completed projects in order to assess the effects and the impact. The result of this evaluation will certainly be submitted to our governing bodies and as far as the Conference is concerned I think the most convenient form will be to have the results of that evaluation in the next Review of the Regular Programme and the next Review of the Field Programme.
Le distingué delegue du Gabon a posé une question au sujet d'un projet pour le bétail trypanotolérant: un tel projet est-il envisagé?
Mes collègues m'informent qu'un projet régional a été formulé à la demande de l'UDEAC.
Le distingué représentant du Burkina Faso a attiré l'attention de la Commission sur le centre de formation de la trypanosomiase (ELAT).
Je puis aff inner que mes collégues poursuivent une démarche dans le sens de la suggestion des consultants pour cette évaluation mais nous n'avons pas obtenu de réponse positive jusqu'à présent des bailleurs de fonds que nous avons approchés et qui regroupent un.certain nombre de pays ici présents, aussi bien le PNUD que la Communauté européenne.
The delegate of Malaysia asked a question about guidelines for seed industry development. The preparation of such guidelines is in the pipeline but it will take some time before it is finalized. It may interest the delegate to note that a seminar on the subject of guidelines for the seed industry was held in Pakistan in 1985 and I will certainly arrange, if he is so interested, for him to be informed further about this activity.
As far as the three evaluations of the Special Action Programmes were concerned, we in the Secretariat are delighted at the response you have given them. First, I believe that there is no doubt that on the part of the Secretariat we pay tribute to the very distinguished consultants who undertook these tasks at our request and it is a matter of some pride to us that they come from many countries and from all corners of the world, in the case of trypanosomiasis Belgium and Kenya, in the case of the Food Security Assistance Scheme India and Switzerland, in the case of the Seed Improvement and Development Programme Egypt, France and Germany.
There is no doubt also that we share the satisfaction expressed by the Commission about the value of such evaluations, a value which is undisputed but which has only to be considered in relation to the magnitude of the programme which is being evaluated, the duration of its life, its lifespan, its existence, and the resources available because, as you will realize, these are fairly costly exercises, not just in terms of the external expertise that we get but in terms of the arrangements to be made and the staff support which also has to be mobilized for them.
On these Special Action Programmes we have taken careful note of all comments made, whether in support or whether as additional comments for the Secretariat to consider in implementing the recommendations made. But I think a special word would be in order regarding the Food Security Assistance Scheme. First, we take very well the suggestion made by the Netherlands and supported by Switzerland and a number of the Nordic countries about the role of the Committee on World Food Security. 1 make no apology, 1 state it as a matter of fact, that at the last session of the Committee on World Food Security the committee was not able to examine the report of this evaluation because it was still under way. it did receive an interim progress report given by the head of the evaluation team, Dr Rao of India, who expressed great satisfaction and interest, but naturally this is a matter which the Committee should consider and will have the opportunity to consider. At that stage we are arranging tor the Committee also to examine what action the Director-General is taking in the light of your comments and get its blessing and guidance in ensuring the full implementation desired.
With regard to a comment made by the delegate of Switzerland - I regret he is not here, but out of respect to him I would like to reply - the use of additional donor contributions to the FSAS, we envisage should be used for more comprehensive food security programmes. In these comprehensive programmes, what do we mean? We mean a full analysis should be made of the food security problems in the country concerned, the context, including production, stability and issues of access, and then the preparation of a food security programme taking into account the development plans of the country concerned and, most important of all, what is being done or proposed to be done by donors of external assistance. It is our view that the minor restructuring in the food security assistance unit will make it better equipped to carry out these tasks, as it will be more closely merged with the food security service in the same division.
As regards the Implementation of the recommendations on food security, the Commission has no doubt noted the paragraphs, and in particular paragraphs 32 to 43, of the comments of the Director-General, In brief, all I should perhaps emphasize at this stage is that what is recommended as broadening of the scheme to reflect the broader aspect of food security is something which on the one hand involves the whole Organization, it does not involve one division nor does it involve just one 'programme. Secondly, if it is to be carried out in the spirit and intention of the recommendation, then it can only be done progressively. That is why acceptance of this recommandation by the Director-General is explained in terms of a step-by-step approach.
My colleagues who are more knowledgeable about this than I would be happy to speak further on the subject, but in view of your time I would limit myself to this response and assure all members of this Commission that this subject will certainly be pursued at the next Session of the Committee on World Food Security.
Finally, in reply to many remarks of reflection, on the nature of evaluation activities and where FAO should move, in this context a number of delegations referred to the desirability of verifiable indicators in monitoring and measuring and evaluating programme performance.
The response that I can give on my side would only be one of encouragement, not one of saying we know it all, certainly by no means, nor to say it cannot be done because we are all trying and learning to improve our processes of evaluation and reporting the evaluation, but I think that some of these delegations recognize, In making these suggestions, that the existence of a methodology for assessing the effects, let us say of meetings, or of publications, or of statistics, within any one country is not entirely simple. There is certainly literature on the subject but there are no entirely established and proven methodologies. We generally cannot go beyond the level of outputs in relation to specific programmes or sub-programmes. It is possible to do so, let us say for something like a school feeding programme. This is a large-scale programme and it is possible to see what the indicators should be before the programme is established and what the performance should be before it is established, but the FAO indicators, particularly when you go down to the lower levels are very finite and they are very small. To give you an example, statistics; statistics are used as an input for studies and for analysis, they are used to produce other outputs. The measurement of indicators showing the use of FAO statistics and the value of these statistics is not an entirely simple matter. It will be very difficult similarly to ascertain the impact and the result of participation in a training activity or in a meeting. One can certainly see that effective participation would mean that the person involved would be able to go back and implement part of what he has learnt to improve the unit or organization in which he is engaged. The costs of measuring such impact on an individual basis at the level of activity are substantial, I think one should recognize that, how much further analysis of that nature can be pursued will certainly be considered by- us, will be studied by us in collaboration with all those who may have further experience.
This leads me to my final remarks, which I hope will be accepted in the spirit in which they are intended. This whole discussion has shown the Secretariat, or me, if I may speak personally, that the subject of evaluation presupposes three qualities in the whole process; firstly, the quality of professional integrity. This quality of professional integrity is of enormous importance for the credibility of any evaluation work done and I am pleased to see from the response given by this Commission to the documents that we placed before you that this has been in large measure recognized. Secondly, the quality of professional competence; the praise that you have bestowed on the Secretariat goes, of course, to the colleagues who are responsible and mainly responsible for the preparation of these documents and I am pleased to say that this professional competence is recognized by you, our sovereign masters, and it is also recognized by Member Nations and organizations who have evaluation units and services. I can give you many examples, the evaluation service of UNDP when it was being set up relied to a great extent, and we still rely very closely on it in evaluating our procedures and projects. The evaluation department of the European Community recently contacted us in order to establish closer links. We are always happy to have such links with evaluation departments. Finally, the aspect of professional collaboration; we value the guidance that you have given us and we will do our best, as we always seek to, to respond further to your wishes by improving the kinds of evaluation and the results of the evaluation that we place before you. I will only ask you, the Commission, to recognize that despite all the voluminous documentation that we placed before you on this item, this is not ail the evaluation work of FAO. There is a great deal more which is done, a great deal more, some of which will also be drawn to your attention when you consider the item under review of the Field Programme.
Mr Chairman, Ï hope I have done justice to the questions raised and I thank you.
CHAIRMAN: At this point it is in order for any country which has addressed a question to the Secretariat to which the Secretariat has responded, or has not responded, where any country has put a question and feels it was not answered to so indicate at this point so he can have a follow-up with Mr Shah. India, you had a question; do you need a clarification?
V.K. SIBAL (India): Yes, we had a question on which we think the reply has not. come. We have suggested that so far as trypanosomiasis is concerned some work is also required in Latin America and Asia and if you could let us know as to what the position is. I think we have not had a response to that .
V. J. SHAH (Director, Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation): My apologies to the delegate of India for not responding. I took it more as an expression of a wish by the delegate, something that the Secretariat should look into and that is why I did not respond with a specific answer. I think all I can say is that this desire this wish will be looked into by myself and by my colleagues concerned.
CHAIRMAN: India is indicating the Chair that it is satisfied by your response. Thailand, you had a follow-up on your question?
Poonsup PIYA-ANANT (Thailand): Yes, thank you. My delegation appreciates greatly the clarification given by Mr Shah. However, I also have some questions about your answer because it seemed to us that the amount of budget currently provided to livestock, or any other sector, should not be a justifiable measurement for being a major programme or programmes. That is not the case. Rather, according to the programme budgeting system philosophy, it is the policy, problems and needs priority that decide whether a sector should be a major programme or programmes. Therefore, it will be highly appreciated if such aspects are taken into consideration concerning livestock.
(Mr Shah .nodded his assent).
CHAIRMAN: Thank you Mr Shah. At this moment the Chair has one item I will proceed to, but at the moment we would like to make an announcement. We do have a "Friends of the Chairman" contact group agreement. We have a list of participants; let me read off the list of the countries that will be participating in that discussion. There are 14 countries. They are in no particular order: Norway, Libya, United Kingdom, Congo, France, Cameroon, United States of America, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Mexico, Germany, Philippines, Japan, India. All members will be contacted about where the first meeting will begin. Some of that will depend on how we proceed with the report but as soon as we have some definitive information to put before you on the meeting place you will be informed. Someone will be notifying you as soon as reasonably possible.
Srta. Margarita LIZARRAGA SAUCEDO (México): Mi delegación no quiso interrumpir el ya retrasado debate, sin embargo, no puede dejar de declarar en este foro que está dedicado a los problemas de la alimentación y la agricultura de nuestros pueblos cuando éstos se ven afectados por ella, aquí puede ventilarse el asunto y en este contexto, come bien lo dijo el delegado de Angola, el 91° período de sesiones del Consejo de la FAO solicitó que esta Organización completara sus estudios aquí y en otros órganos iniciados con objeto de evaluar la situación de la seguridad alimentaria y la agricultura en los territorios árabes ocupados y en los países de la línea de enfrente, por lo cual es muy normal que uno de los países involucrados inquiriera con pleno derecho los aspectos relacionados con el tema y no se le debe interrumpir.
CHAIRMAN: The answer to your question is that you are right, and there was a resolution dealing with the policy on apartheid and you are right in stating that there was a reference to that - the word used was not apartheid, the word used was agression and we got into all sorts of political conflicts in that region which was out of order. Libya, do you have a point of order? Please let me explain, so we know whether someone is wishing to speak on the issue or on a point of order, the rules of the Organization ask that members stand up with the sign of the country. That is what, your rules say.
Bashir El Mabrouk SAID (Libya) (original language Arabic): 1 simply would like to stress the point which you yourself raised just now as regards the contact group. You said that the group would be known as the "Friends of the Chairman" but what we said during that debate a few days ago was rather that we would call it a contact group, not "Friends of the Chairman", which you said today.
POINT OF ORDER
POINT D'ORDRE
PUNTO DE ORDEN '
CHAIRMAN: As I stated, I made a vague reference, I said whatever you call Friends of the Chairman. I do not know what you usually call them. I do not care what you call them. Let us hope you do some work.
POINT OF ORDER
POINT D'ORDRE
PUNTO DE ORDEN
Humberto CARRION MCDONOUGH (Nicaragua): Tenemos constancia de que usted mismo es el que rompe los reglamentos. Hice un punto de orden y no me dio la palabra. El delegado de Libia con mucho respeto no ha hecho punto de orden e hizo un punto de aclaración. Le pido no me interrumpa.
Antes de hacer esta moción de orden quiero expresar brevemente los motivos que me llevan a ello. Usted ha estado presidiendo esta Comisión como si se tratara de un corral de un rancho de California. Eso es inaceptable. Todos conocemos las reglas del procedimiento para presidir esta Comisión y considerarnos que su aplicación ha sido parcial y arbitraria. Nicaragua dejó de ser neocolonia en 1979 y puede hablar libremente sobre cualquier tema de interés para el trabajo de esta Comisión.
Angola fue injustamente interrumpida en el uso de la palabra esta mañana cuando hacía referencia específica al contenido de un informe del 910 Consejo de la FAO. Nuestra moción, por tanto, es que usted respete por igual el derecho al uso de la palabra de todos los delegados aquí presentes.
CHAIRMAN: In responso to your point of order, which was an opinion more than a point of order, the Chair would point out that the reason it recognized Libya in place of Nicaragua was not because of any personal views of the United States of America that it happened to favour Libya over Nicaragua, but solely because the representative of the Government of Libya was the first to catch the Chair's attention with the sign of his country and he was mouthing in English "Point of Order". Therefore he was recognized ahead of you. Cuba has a point of order.
POINT OF ORDER
POINT D'ORDRE
PUNTO DE ORDEN
Marcos I. NIETO LARA (Cuba): Quiero, Señor Presidente, apoyar y respaldar la declaración que acaba de hacer la distinguida delegada de Mexico y apoyar la moción de orden propuesta por Nicaragua.
Ayer hablamos de que se han cometido ciertas irregularidades e hicimos un llamado a la concordia para facilitar nuestros trabajos. Creo que usted, Señor Presidente, dijo algo en lo que estuvo acertado y voy a tomar su palabra: hay que respetar las normas y los reglamentos de la Organización, esas normas establecen como principio elemental la soberanía de todos los países que estamos aquí representados y el derecho al pleno respeto a nuestra condición de países libres y soberanos.
Por favor, Señor Presidente, ayude a que esta conferencia no deje un mal sabor en el plano internacional.
CHAIRMAN: With your help may be we can. Congo has a point of order.
POINT OF ORDER
POINT D'ORDRE
PUNTO DE ORDEN
Michel MOMBOULI (Congo): Nous ne pouvons pas aller de motion d'ordre en motion d'ordre; nous sommes au sein'd'une commissionevons avoir la possibilité de nous exprimer. Nou voulons parler des incidents qui ont eu lieu lorsque l'Angola est intervenu.
Nous voulons d'abord rappeler que ce n'est pas la première fois qu'au sein de cette Organisation il est fait état de l'impact des agressions de l'Afrique du Sud sur les secteurs productifs des Etats de la ligne de front. Peut-être est-ce une surprise pour le Président, mais par le passé ces questions ont été débattues, et je voudrais même rappeler que lors d'une de ses dernières sessions le Conseil a recommandé que l'on envisage une étude sur la possibilité d'aider ces pays à reconquérir et redresser leur, appareil de production dans l'optique de la sécurité alimentaire.
Nous n'avons pas du tout apprécié le fait que vous ayez interrompu l'Angola qui, en fait, n'abordait pas la question sous un angle uniquement politique mais visait à faire comprendre à tous ceux ici présents que les attentats perpétrés par ce régime raciste d'Afrique du Sud ont une incidence négative sur leur secteur productif.
Il faudrait que cela soit entendu une fois pour toutes, afin que nous n'ayons pas à intervenir plusieurs fois sur ce genre d'incidents. Nous appelons l'attention de la Présidence afin que tant qu'une question est vue sous l'angle de nos débats visant à l'alimentation et à la sécurité alimentaire, liberté soit donnée à chaque délégation de s'exprimer, même quand il s'agit de condamner, sur cet aspect, une puissance quelle qu'elle soit.
CHAIRMAN: We will now proceed to the next item, item 15, which will be introduced by Mr Shah immediately following my calling to your attention, as we are talking about Rules of the Organization, that made reference yesterday to document C 87/ÏNF/2. Page 8 of the English text of that document states: "A delegate wishing to make a point of order must stand up and raise his country sign. He may not speak on the substance of the matter under discussion". hose are the Rules of the Organization. The Chair has tried to be flexible in that and obviously does not insist on everybody standing and holding up his sign. But, if there is confusion as to whether or not you want the floor for a discussion of the issue at hand, or on a point of order, there are the Rules of the Organization which this Body adopted long ago and which provide that that is the method of the Organization. The Chair has to go by the rules which this Organization adopted.
V. J. SHAH (Director, Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation): The item before you now has a very brief document. Perhaps this will come as a welcome sign to the distLnguished members of this Conference. The impact of financial problems on the Regular Programme activities 1986-87 - this subject has already been referred to a number of times, if not repeatedly during your consideration of the Review of the Regular Programme which you have just concluded. The purpose of this document ( C 87/23) is simply to recall the facts as they occurred and the action taken, and to give some preliminary tentative assessment of the impact of these financial difficulties on programme implementation.
The facts: as explained in Section 2 of the document there were three factors at the origin of the liquidity problem. First, an erring on the optimistic side in the estimate for Miscellaneous Income for the present biennium. This certainly helped in reducing the member countries' contributions- when the Programme of Work and Budget was approved but it led to an incomeshortfall of $12 million.
Secondly, a shortfall in the payment of contributions by member countries but including this time the largest contributor with all too obvious consequences. Thirdly, the dramatic fall in value of the US$ from the budgetary rate of exchange of Lire 1760 adopted by the last Conference. In fact, on that score there seems to be no end in sight to our woes as evidence of the continuous turbulance of the international currency markets.
Now for the action taken. It was clear that the Organization was facing an exceptional situation which required exceptional measures. There was no other option left (in view of the prospective income shortfalls) than to propose to the Council the enactment of economy measures. Action was therefore taken in three successive steps, as the magnitude of the estimated cash shortfall increased and cash flow forecasts became more accurate. The cumulative effect of these measures has been to reduce expenditure under the Regular Programme by US$ 25 million against an approved budget of US$ 437 million. You will find details of the resulting savings by chapter and major programme in a table in Appendix 1.
The situation was kept under constant review by the Council and the Programme and Finance Committees. The summary of the actions of these bodies is provided in Section 4 of the document, as it was felt useful and appropriate that we bring them to the attention of the full FAO membership. The predominant reaction was, of course, of deep regret that the Organization was forced to curtail approved programmes due to external factors beyond its control. The second predominant feeling was that in situations of this nature it was essential to keep a cool head and to take appropriate decisions flexibly and in the most pragmatic manner. There was agreement that these problems were of a purely financial nature and in no way reflected a crisis of confidance in the Organization.
I turn now to the impact of measures taken. The effect is always painful and the circumstances through which FAO has had to live are no exception. Section 5 provides, therefore, very succinctly an assessment of the negative impact of the programme adjustments. In fact, it is precisely for reasons of economy - and I am sure distinguished Delegates will appreciate this matter - that the length of this document is reduced to a strict minimum and we do not reproduce the detailed information submitted earlier to the Council.
The document ends with very brief concluding remarks. One is to stress the limitations to programme adjustments in handling income shortfalls of a substantial magnitude. The other remark underlines it will take some time for FAO to recover from the effect of the measures and restore operational and technical activities to the level desired by our Member Nations.
CHAIRMAN: Those countries who wish to speak on these matters please so indicate.
Juan Manuel GALVEZ B. (Honduras): First of all I want to clarify something. I am gaining experience. I am taking an intensive course in how this type of assembly conducts its debates. Therefore I would refrain from speaking if that means that I cannot make additional comments later. I just want to point one thing out for clarification so that I can analyse better what I would then say on this subject. What I want to ask, and forgive me if this sounds ignorant, but all these documents were given to me the day I had to start attending these meetings. I have had no time to go into them in detail, but all I want to ask is: is there in another document, a table compared to the one in an appendix of this document, showing what the desipuacion presupuestarle of future budget or of the previous budget is compared to the liquidation of that budget. I mean how we complied with the previous year so that we can have a comparison, sort of a comparitive result. There must be one from the year before and this gives us a better basis for our judgement. Is there a history of what has happened in the past?
CHAIRMAN: I am just trying to follow this procedure. It appeared that there was just one country that wished to speak on this. If that holds true we can then proceed to the end of this item which would leave Mr Shah's role to respond to questions raised by members. But before proceeding on that the Chair must see if there is any other country which wishes to speak. We will come back to that at the end of this discussion on this item.
Mourad BENCHÉIKH (Algérie): Avec une clarté et une concision remarquables, le document C 87/23 recense les raisons pour lesquelles notre Organisation traverse une crise financière,d'une ampleur sans précédent dans son histoire. Le paragraphe 8, notamment, dresse le constat que la cause essentielle de cette crise provient de restrictions imposées par voie législative aux contributions du plus gros bailleur de fonds à de nombreuses organisations du système des Nations Unies, dont la FAO.
Voilà qui confirme l'opinion exprimée dès le Conseil de novembre par la délégation algérienne que la crise financière de la FAO ne découle pas d'une mauvaise gestion mais d'une volonté délibérée d'un Etat Membre de transformer les règles établies par les Pères Fondateurs de notre Organisation, de telle façon que cette dernière devienne un instrument au service de la philosophie politique et des objectifs à court et à moyen terme de cet Etat.
Je ne voudrais pas alimenter une polémique avec vous et je voudrais que vous sachiez que ce que je dis n'a absolument rien de personnel contre vous; mais la délégation algérienne a nourri les plus vives appréhensions lorsque, en vertu de la mécanique habituelle qui régit les élections aux postes de Président et de Vice-Président de la Conférence, c'est la candidature américaine qui a été retenue. Encore une fois, il ne s'agit pas d'un problème personnel.
Dans le souci élémentaire de prevenir toute interruption je voudrais que vous considériez que ce que je vais dire n'est pas hors sujet, mais est une réflexion générale sur les difficultés qu'ont connues les débats de la Commission II. Et je dirai d'emblée que ces difficultés proviennent essentiellement du fait qu'il n'est pas possible d'être à la fois juge et partie. Il vous est difficile en d'autres termes de présider sereinement et en toute impartialité une commission qui traite de questions sur lesquelles vous avez une opinion préconçue et dont vous souhaitez à l'évidence qu'elles soient traitées selon l'optique de vos mandants.
Je passerai rapidement sur le fait que la délégation algérienne a été interrompue de façon indue et abusive par vous-même lorsqu'elle a abordé un problème qui était directement lié à la question dans la mesure où il s'agit incontestablement d'un avis donné par une délégation - la délégation algérienne - considérant que dans le rapport C 87/3, un des facteurs les plus importants de déstabilisation de l'agriculture au Proche-Orient avait été passé sous silence.
Je crains fort que si nous continuons à porter atteinte au droit souverain des Etats à s'exprimer, nous allons dans une impasse. Et je voudrais appuyer en l'occurrence les délégations du Mexique, du Nicaragua et du Congo qui m'ont précédé pour réaffirmer la pleine légitimité de cette Conférence à parler des aspects ou des conséquences, sur l'agriculture, d'un certain nombre de réalités objectives.
Monsieur le Président, puisque vous avez annoncé la composition du groupe de contact - ou du groupe des amis du Président -,je voudrais simplement vous rappeler que la délégation algérienne a indiqué dès le départ qu'il était préférable, dans un souci de transparence, que la composition de ce groupe de contact fut arrêtée au sein de la Conférence avec l'avis de tout le monde et sur la base d'un équilibre régional.
Je ne crois pas - je suis en tous les cas très sceptique personnellement - à la faculté qu'aurait ce groupe de contact de parvenir à une solution dans l'immédiat, ou à une solution tout court, compte tenu de l'importance et de la difficulté des problèmes qui nous occupent.
Je lance par conséquent un appel de façon très solennelle pour que vous introduisiez dans nos débats toute la transparence voulue. C'est le seul moyen, de l'avis de la délégation algérienne, d'instaurer un climat de confiance et de permettre aux différents points de vue de s'exprimer dans la sérénité et avec le réel souci de surmonter la grave crise que nous traversons.
Roger P. LEWIS (United States of America): We note that on several occasions in this body the United States has been singled out, either by name or otherwise alluded to, as being solely responsible for the financial crisis in which the FAO currently finds itself. We would like to observe that there are also many other countries who are in arrears with their payments, and would like to ask that the names of those countries be read. In closing, I would also like to reiterate the statement of our Secretary who spoke to the Conference, in which he reaffirmed the support of the United States and the fact that it will meet its commitments to this body.
J. LYNCH (Canada): I was not going to intervene but I figured, seeing that there was a shortage of speakers, something should be said about such an important subject which has had such a large impact on the Organization during the past biennium. We can join others who have complimented the Secretariat in terms of the production of a document which gives us a very clear idea of what the crisis which they have just gone through was. The one area where we would think that there might have been a little bit more work, and this I think would not have required a great deal of documentation, perhaps just a little bit of additional reflection, particularly as the problems which we encountered in the last biennium are in the view of at least some members here, likely to occur in the next biennium, and that is what guidelines, what particularly unique knowledge the Secretariat has gained during this biennium which will guide it during the course of the coming biennium. There are a couple of things that are referred to in section 6 on concluding remarks,
for example during the course of the debate on the budget there was a reference to priorities. Now I do not see in this particular document a very close connection between the identification of priorities and the care with which they were chosen for the Programme of Work and Budget in the coming biennium and the experience of the last. For example again, just to take one of the items which was cut, and it is referred to I think in paragraph 31, was a workshop with respect to forestry. If Î recall, the Secretariat has identified forestry in the Tropical Forest Action Plan as being an area of high priority for the coming biennium. Now am I to take it from this particular incidental reference that priority areas will be cut? My question is in a nutshell and it is a comment: Can the Secretariat give us some guidance about their ability to preserve priority areas from cuts, from programme re-adjustments, even though they are going to have to do this in a reactive way? What type of guidance have they learned from the experience of the last biennium?
Ms Anne-Lise PETERSEN (Denmark): As the Danish delegation did not comment on the financial situation under agenda item 13, I therefore want to make some remarks under this agenda item. The Danish delegation agrees that the present financial situation of the Organization is a difficult one which has had and will continue to have considerable influence on the possibility of implementing the Programme of Work. The shortfall for the 1986-87 biennium is estimated to fall within the range of US$ 40 - 80 million, which has only partly been offset by measures to reduce the expenditures level by a total amount of $25 million.
As mentioned in the document, the financial problems stem partly from a decline in interest rates, currency fluctuations and arrears in payment.
At the outset, let me state once again that the Danish delegation finds it very unfortunate that a great deal of the present financial difficulties originate from some Member States not having fulfilled their legal obligations to the Organization timely and in full.
Concerning the currency fluctuation, my delegation has already stated in the Council that this problem could be dealt with by using a basket of currencies. However, the financial problems have made it necessary to make savings within the original Programme of Work and the results are presented in document C 87/23. In this connection my delegation was somwhat concerned when the Deputy Director-General, in a reply to a question concerning possible cuts in the next biennium, under agenda item 13, mentioned that the basis for savings would be a linear cut, although modified by the selection of areas of priority or protection, together with a contractual precision of the staff. Looking through the annex of the document before us, this seems to have been the general guideline for the 1986-87 savings as well. The linear cut approach is precisely what my delegation has been arguing against since the subject was first discussed at the 90th Council Meeting. The Danish delegation. therefore once again wants to reiterate that we realize the need for making savings in the present financial situation and that it is the Director-General's prerogative to put forward the appropriate proposals. We wish, however, to stress that the savings should follow a selective approach within the framework of clearly defined priorities. My delegation therefore urges the Secretariat to follow that line when further savings will be necessary.
Clifton E. MAYNARD (Barbados): My delegation would like to compliment Mr Shah on his introduction of this rather sad document which explains the position in which FAO finds itself at this time. I think all I would wish to do is to note the information in the document and particularly the assessment of the impact of the crisis on the Organization as outlined in paragraphs 30 and 31 of the document, to support and emphasize the conclusions of the Council as recorded in paragraphs 24-26 and particularly to emphasize the considerations which forced the Programme Committee at its September session to recognize that every effort had been made to avoid indiscriminate, across-the-board reductions; but it stressed that a regime of semi-permanent financial emergency and uncertainty would entail serious disruptions of the programmes and lead to severe damage to the Organization's capital of expertise and direct contact with member countries.
It seems to me that what Conference has to do is to focus now on paragraph 28 of this document because it would wish to give the Director-General the necessary authority and flexibility that he will obviously need to implement the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89.
Khalid HASSAN (Bahrain) (original language Arabic): 1 should like to thank Mr Shah for the presentation of this document and also to thank the Director-General, who has given some programmes to the Organization in spite of the financial difficulties. We know very well that FAO is undergoing a financial crisis and has to adopt measures that will allow it to confront this crisis. The deficit is somewhere between US$ 40 and 80 Million. All these initiatives are well known to all of us. We also know that the crisis has led to a drop in the number of meetings, despite the importance of the meetings themselves, especially when their aim is to discuss the development problems of the various countries involved.
It has also had an impact on extension services for developing countries. We all know that we need these activities to carry out development activities and we also know that the Technical Support services have declined sharply. Some programmes have not been adopted at all. We know also that there will be a cut in professional staff, and of course this will have a negative impact on FAO's thinking. FAO's field projects for member countries, directly or indirectly, deserve our full support. But these programmes will certainly be affected as well by the drop in financial resources available to FAO. The decisions adopted by FAO will have a temporary effect, but the effect of the delay in payment of certain members may well cause difficulties to FAO. We must deal with all due clarity with these matters now because we are the first to be affected by this crisis.
V.K. SIBAL (India): We have this brief document which has been very clearly presented. It makes somewhat sad and not altogether pleasant reading. We have heard in some of the interventions which have just been made some regret expressed that certain valuable programme elements have had to be sacrificed as a result of the measures which are necessary to meet the financial difficulties faced by the FAO. Unfortunately there is no escape from this kind of sacrifice. There are no easy solutions here and no stark choices between what is essential and what is non-essential.
The Programme of Work and Budget, we have said before, is an integrated set of proposals and there is no golden scale for assessing relativities which will yield clear choices. The process of preparing the Programme, if carried on for too long - and there is a clear warning of this in the document - will have to be a matter of informed and professional judgement which is bound to result in a sacrifice of some valuable programme elements. If assessed contributions are not forthcoming we cannot maintain with any complacency that FAO has any chance of preserving all that the membership of the FAO would desire to be preserved.
This document brings out very clearly the painful process of programme adjustments in the face of financial restraints arising from a fall in miscellaneous income, a shortfall in contributions from the largest contributor and in contributions in arrears of other countries, and the damaging effects of such adjustments. A cut of US$ 25 million, resulting in the withdrawal of 7 percent of the resources from the Technical and Economic Programmes, is a substantial cut which has been carried out by the Director-General with care, pragmatism and discrimination, keeping in view the need for maximizing the protection of Technical and Economic Programmes, including the TCP, within the bounds of feasibility. For this we would like to congratulate the Director-General.
It is mentioned in paragraph 6 that theincome shortfall will be in the range of US$ 40 to 80 million. This is a very wide range and we would like to know whether there has been any change in this assessment since the preparation of the document and whether the amount due from the largest contributor of US$ 67.4 million, as indicated in paragraph 8, has suffered any change. While we appreciate that straight across-the board cuts were not resorted to by FAO, we deeply regret that the cuts have had the effect of impairing FAO's capacity to provide advisory assistance to Member Governments and have put added strains on the technical backstopping of the field activities, and that the scope for further staff cuts is now more or less exhausted and future cuts are likely to
be cuts of staff components of FAO's organizational units, with obvious effects on programme health and programme effectiveness. In this context, we would like to express our appreciation for the relinquishment or deferment of their share of the surplus by several Member Nations and the generous gesture by the Host Government to meet FAO's financial costs for 1986-87.
I should like to stress again the urgent need for countries to meet their constitutional obligations of paying their assessed countributionsto avoid the disruption ol orderly programming and institutional damage. We support the Council's view that it would be necessary perhaps to give the Director-General the authority and flexibility, as in the past, to take appropriate decisions on the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89 in the context of the likely continuation of the financial difficulties. We agree with the mannerin which the programme of adjustments has been made and also we agree that the negative effects of the adjustments will be felt for some time. These will be available for analysis and review when we meet again in two years' time to review this Programme in 1989.
Michel MOMBOULI (Congo): A l'instar des autres delegations qui se sont exprimées avant la nôtre, nous voudrions nous aussi joindre notre voix à celles-ci pour remercier M. Shah de l'exposé tout à fait clair qu'il a bien voulu nous faire sur cette question soumise à notre appréciation.
Pour nous qui sommes ici à Rome, les éléments contenus dans ce rapport nous sont en fait connus et c'est d'ailleurs ce qui explique que le démarrage du débat soit un peu ralenti par le simple fait qu'en réalité ces éléments ont été plus ou moins abordés à l'occasion de l'examen des autres points, notamment les points 3 et 8.
Cela étant dit, nous n'allonspas nous appesantir sur l'historique de ce document, que l'on retrouve dans l'introduction et les trois premières parties dudit document. Nous pensons nous arrêter un instant sur les conclusions de ce rapport.
En premier lieu, nous pensons que le Secrétariat mérite toutes nos félicitations pour avoir su tenir le cap en ce ment difficile en assurant l'efficacité constante de l'Organisation tout en s'efforçant de faire face à la crise qui a prévalu et qui l'a contrainte à des ajustements.
En ce qui concerne l'avenir, nous pensons que ce qui est dit au paragraphe 28 de ce document est bienvenu puisque, en effet, nous donnons ici au Secrétariat des directives à suivre désormais en pareille situation si - nous le savons d'ailleurs - celle-ci perdure.
Je voudrais également attirer l'attention de notre assemblée sur la teneur du paragraphe 35, qui fait ressortir que, dans le processus des ajustements, il y a quand même des limites. Nous voudrions saisir cette occasion pour dire qu'il ne faut pas nous appesantir et compter uniquement sur des futurs ajustements. Ce faisant, il faut réitérer l'appel que nous avons déjà lancé précédemment, à savoir que la meilleure façon de protéger notre Organisation, c'est que chaque Etat'sache qu'il est impérieux que chacun s'acquitte de ses obligations financières. C'est la seule solution pour aider l'Organisation à continuer de s'acquitter de sa tâche tout en maintenant son efficacité. Toute autre proposition, notamment celle d'ajustements, ne serait qu'un palliatif sur lequel nous ne pou-vons pas compter.
Encore une fois, je pense que le Secrétariat a su naviguer, comme il est dit au paragraphe 38, avec prudence entre les extrêmes, tant était grande la tentation soit de procéder à une réduction systématique des publications et des postes, auquel cas l'efficacité de l'Organisation aurait été affectée, soit de ne pas être en mesure de tenir le cap face aux frictions et aux difficultés de trésorerie auxquelles l'Organisation était exposée.
Nous ne voulons pas nous étendre davantage car, heureusement, au paragraphe 28, nous avons su dégager des directives concernant l'avenir face à cette situation qui, nous le savons bien, persistera.
Paul Richard BRYDEN (Australia): I think that our report on consideration of this item will be easy to draft. The main differences of view seem to be the choice of adjective to describe the situation. May I add sober and depressing as a description of this report's account of the impact of the financial crisis on our Organization.
This item is of course not the place fully to debate the budget over again, but 1 would note that many Member Nations, including my own, are also experiencing severe financial and economic difficulties involving programme cuts and reductions of services and staff. It is a painful process but one that we hope will lead to a stronger and more adaptable economy and society.
I would like to raise one possible avenue of enquiry not covered in document 87/23, which is of course an account of past and current pressures. It may be that there is a simple answer that for one reason or another there are impediments, but my delegation wonders whether there might be scope for improving the revenue-raising or income-earning side of FAO's activities. For example, is there scope for commercially oriented publications or better cost recovery on a selective basis? It occurs to us that the publication area of FAO has much talent and might see opportunities. Similarly, in Australia virtually all universities and colleges, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, and many State Governments have commercially oriented units which are able to provide expertise from within the broader organization and respond to requests in the marketplace for that expertise on a commercial basis. Perhaps such arrangements could help smooth out staff establishment problems, as noted in paragraph 36.
I repeat that there may be some impediment to these ideas, which are of course offered in a constructive manner. Perhaps the Secretariat might care to offer comment. It is certainly more positive to consider income generation rather than cuts and savings. We are, after all, living in a time of change and new challenges, and flexibility and innovation seem required.
J. Augusto DE MEDICIS (Brazil): Is regrettable that a multilateral decision of a member country aiming at "decision-making system for budgetary matters providing voting strength in proportion to the size of its contribution" - that is paragraph 8 of document 87/23 - has brought financial insecurity to FAO and deeply affected the implementation of the Programme of Work and Budget as approved by the 1985 Conference. This is the main factor of our present difficulties.
Arrears incurred by developing countries are, after deducting the recent payment of Brazil from the total presented in document C 92/LIm/1,around the same level as in the preceding years and as a result of an extremely difficult economic and financial situation.
Furthermore, we deeply regret that FAO had no choice but to enact a series of programme adjustments in the Programme of Work and Budget which was approved totalling US$ 25 million. We deplore that important meetings had to be cancelled, publications stopped and established posts frozen. We are especially concerned at the reduction of work in areas whose priority has been supported by several delegations to this Conference, such as the advice on trypanosomiasis control, nutrition, land evaluation for forestry, and land use planning. It is also disturbing to verify the adverse impact of the financial difficulties in the recruitment and retaining of qualified staff. We do appreciate, however, that amidst the financial problem it has yet been possible to fulfill the statutory requirements and to maintain FAO's food programme. Taking into consideration the great support given to TCP by the majority of Member Nations and its direct and immediate benefit to developed countries, the TCP must be protected from programme adjustments and cuts in activities.
As I have the floor, may I support the views expressed previously in this Commission by the delegations of Congo, Nicaragua, Mexico and Cuba defending the prerogative of the delegation of Angola to allude to and condemn the aggression suffered by his country, to which we also want to express our solidarity.
CHAIRMAN: The Chair would point out that we are once again getting into the political area, and aggression can mean one thing to one party and another thing to another. We are not sure whether you mean the presence of overseas military or whether you mean problems with the neighbours.
J. Augusto DE MEDICISBrazil): As my delegation has been mentioned by you, Mr Chairman, what I referred to is aggression by South Africa.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you. The Chair is clear on that.
James AITKEN (United Kingdom): As during this Commission there have been a number of comments on the Chairmanship which are now on the record, I would like to begin this intervention by clearly stating that my delegation has full confidence in your Chairmanship. Members of my delegation who have participated in a number of FAO meetings over the years consider that this particular Commission has been marked by the quality of its Chairmanship. In particular we welcome your impartial adherence to the rules of debate of this Organization. It is this which has distinguished this meeting. Sir, you have set a very high standard of debate and it is one that we hope will be maintained in future meetings of FAO.
Turning now to the substance of my intervention, document C 87/23, we found this a brief but significant document. It is a particular concern to us, as it may be a precursor, a forewarning, of how adjustments to the programme may be made in the next biennium unless this Conference has a much more detailed involvement in identifying priorities and indicating activities which can be phased out. We find that the process outlined in document C 87/23 provides a picture of a weak management taking soft options, not filling vacant posts, cutting travel, etc. This is always the front line for management but not necessarily the best and we expect a much more dynamic approach by management and we believe that this can only be achieved if management works with Conference, which represents all the Member States, to achieve this process of identifying priorities.
I would like to refer to the remarks made by the Minister of Agriculture of Turkey when he spoke in Plenary, and I would echo his views, where he says that this Conference is a supreme body of our institution and then goes on to make the particular point of the need for recognition, of the need for all Member States to participate in the programme budget preparation in all its stages. I would emphasize here "participate in the programme budget preparation in all its stages". We would very much like to associate ourselves with this remark of Turkey.
The process that is before us and described in these documents can hardly be described by any stretch of the imagination as orderly reprogramming. Mr Shah gave three reasons for the financial situation - an over-optimistic assumption about miscellaneous income, currency fluctuations, and United States of America non-payments. We would like to point out a fourth point, and that is arrears from other Member States as well as the United States. It is quite noticeable that what we have had here is a situation in which a number of Member States have not been able to pay because of their economic circumstances. The effects of this on the programme are quite clear. We will return to this point in a debate on the budget, but in our view this document shows us that it is quite ludicrous to attempt to increase budget levels when the economy of many of the Member States - and we have personal experience of many of the poor Member States who have to make sacrifices, and these economies certainly do not have the foreign exchange to meet existing budget levels.
There has been talk in the debate of the possibility of FAO being in deficit. I have a question for the management, that we would appreciate if they could say whether there will be a cash deficit atthe end of December 1987 and if so what is their forecast of this.
We certainly appreciate the spirit of economy which has kept this document thin and the economy of Mr Shah's introduction, and with your permission, Mr Chairman, I would now like to ask management a number of questions which we have in relation to this text.
At paragraph 30 of the document there is a reference to 170 posts being frozen. We would like an explanation of how these frozen posts are distributed across divisions and what is the split between professional and general service grades. We would also like to know if there are plans to transfer staff in the departments and divisions which have been most hardly hit by the cuts and if so what are these plans.
Some activities within FAO, within the management, are timebound, in other words they must take place by a certain time. I am thinking here particularly of FINSYS PERSYS, the computerization system of the accounts, so where you have a situation in which one part of management must meet a deadline, unfilled vacancies there are much more significant than they are perhaps in some other areas. They can certainly produce a knock-on effect which has a significant effect on the administration. We would therefore be interested to know if management has introduced a process of review to identify those sorts of vacancies and taken steps to give them priority in any recruitment.
We would also be interested to learn to what extent, if any, TCP spending has been slowed down and what are the estimated proportions of TCP spending now expected to take place in 1988, 1989 and 1990.
Finally, paragraph 33 of document C 87/23 refers to measures of a trivial character. I would like to ask some questions about this. Certainly when the people in the Secretariat speak to us they mention they have problems in obtaining photocopying, paper, and so on, and we can understand the problem and sympathise. But at the same time they also say that nevertheless official entertainment, the work of the Organization still seems to go on unabated. In this mention of trivial measures we would like to know if management has issued any indication to staff asking them to curtail and limit official entertainment. Also we would be interested to have figures for spending on entertainment for 1986 and 1987 on a comparative basis.
In conclusion 1 would like to emphasise our dissatisfaction with the proposals for the future outlined in paragraph 28. I think it is what a very senior member of my government, if she was asked, would call wet. We have made it quite clear in our interventions, as have a number of other delegations, that it is up to Conference to indicate the priorities for this Organization. It is not something which is to be left to management in a closed room. This is very much within the scope and mandate of the Conference. Speakers in these debates have indicated that they would wish to participate in this process. We believe it is now up to management to provide us with the information and the facility so that Conference, which represents all Member States, can take these decisions which are important to us all.
Gonzalo BULA HOYOS (Colombia): La Delegación de Colombia considera que la Secretaria ha procedido adecuadamente al presentarnos este Documento dirigido, sobre todo, a informar a la Conferencia sobre las circunstancias negativas y las repercusiones que todos conocemos.
Pensamos que también se presenta muy bien en este Documento las reacciones del Consejo y de los Organos Auxiliares a las medidas que ha debido tomar el Director General. Nuestro colega de la India se ha referido a ios párrafos 4 y 6 en relación con las cifras citadas en esos párrafos, y también desearíamos saber si hay actualización al respecto.
Pensamos que la parte sexta de este Documento, en las observaciones finales, se presenta un balance adecuado de lo que se ha hecho. Pensamos que además de la preservación hasta donde ha sido posible en los programas técnicos y económicos, estas observaciones finales indican que se ha procedido adecuadamente. Tal vez no podrfamos compartir la impresión que nos han producido algunas declaracio-nes de otros colegas en el sentido de que parecería que esta situación forzosa de crisis de liquidez no debería como se ha logrado hasta ahora, mantener en plena vitalidad a la Organización, sino causar problemas que realmente no entenderíamos.
Pensamos que afortunadamente, sobre todo para el futuro importantes países desarrollados y también países en desarrollo, han hecho notables esfuerzos para pagar oportunamente sus contribuciones. Nuestro país, Colombia, tiene una difícil situación económica. Poseemos escasos recursos, sin embargo, hemos logrado pagar todas nuestras contribuciones al bienio 1986-87 y figuramos entre los veinte Estados Miembros que han aceptado recibir en el futuro los excedentes de caja.
Con esa autoridad moral muy modesta en nuestro caso, quisiéramos decir que es necesario que se haga de nuevo otro llamado al primer contribuyente, y también a ios otros países que no han cumplido con el pago de sus contribuciones para que procedan a pagarlas lo antes posible ya que, como dijo el colega del Congo, ésta es la única garantía en favor de la ejecución del Programa de Labores.
Lamentamos la reducción de 25 millones de dólares en el año 1987, pero como este documento lo indica, lo que más nos preocupa es las repercusiones negativas para el futuro. Las limitaciones de 1987 no van a quedar limitadas a ese año. Tendremos que afrontar el futuro y somos conscientes de que este tema es apenas uno entre otros, los que se relacionan con esa situación difícil. Hay temas vinculados entre sí; pero convendrá ahora en esta ocasión insistir en que la Conferencia debe conceder al Director General flexibilidad indispensable, pero a la vez delegar en el Consejo algunas facultades. El Consejo es el organismo que cumple las funciones de la Conferencia en el intervalo de dos años, durante los cuales la Conferencia se reúna. Además convendría también, y esto esperamos verlo más adelante en la Comisión III, la función que en todo ello habrán de desempeñar los dos Comités, asesores más importantes del Consejo: los Comités del Programa y de Finanzas.
También convendría pesar en una sesión especial como ya se hizo en 1974. En fin, creemos que si bien el Director General debe disfrutar de la más amplia flexibilidad y seguir contando con el apoyo que se le ha ofrecido hasta ahora, porque todas las actuaciones del Director General han sido acertadas, convendría a la propia Organización que en ese lamentable proceso de reajuste contara con el apoyo permanente de ios representantes de Gobierno de todos ios Estados Miembros.
Finalmente, sin àmimo polémico, poro con convicción democrática, la Delegación de Colombia apoya las declaraciones que hicieron esta mañana los distinguidos colegas de Angola y de otros países.
CHAIRMAN: The Chair presumes my friend from Colombia did not include the United Kingdom among those other countries.
Sami SUNAA (Jordan) (original language Arabic): It is very clear that the main reason behind this critical financial situation of the Organization is largely due to the non-honouring of a big number of states of their commitments. I deem it appropriate in this connection that the Conference would reaffirm its call to Member States to examine every possible effort in order to pay their contributions as early as possible in order to alleviate the adverse impact of the current financial situation. This crisis is not created by the management but it is created by us.
It is also definite and clear that the impact of this financial crisis will continue for some time. Therefore the delegation of my country endorses what has been contained in the document, namely to give the management the necessary prorogative to intervene through amending the decided programmes. However, we deem it appropriate that we should take into consideration two important criteria or principles; first, to give priority to existing programmes and projects and to avoid the creation of any new projects before we see signs showing the improvement of the financial situation of the Organization. The second principle seen by my delegation is the necessity to put an order on priorities for the cuts which will be undertaken and this order of priority differs from one country to another and from one region to another. Therefore, although we support giving the authority to the Director-General in this respect, we deem it appropriate that the management would solicit the viewpoint of member countries and perhaps regional officers to set these priorities and to consider them by the Council before they are approved.
Jabula DUBE (Swaziland): The Swaziland delegation wishes to thank Mr Shah for the clarity of document C 87/23 and its brevity. The Swaziland delegation regrets the reasons for the cuts, i.e. the decline in interest rates and shortfall in payment by the largest contributor due to home policies, and also the non-payment by other Member Nations. The Swaziland delegation hopes the affected Member Nations will find ways and means to alleviate the situation so that the FAO is armed with the resources for the task that this Conference gives it.
My delegation like other Member Nations, would like to highly commend the Director-General for the efficient and proper management of the available resources. He has demonstrated managerial maturity in adjusting programmes and yet protecting urgently needed major programmes like the TCP. My delegation hopes that this situation can be averted- in the 1988-89 biennium by ail Member States supporting FAO with all appropriate resources.
CHAIRMAN: We have now exhausted the time available to us this morning for this discussion.
The meeting rose at 12.45 hours '
La seance est levée à 12 h 45
Se levanta la sesión a las 12.45 horas
