1. The twenty-sixth FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 13 to 17 May 2002. The Conference was organized in two parts, a Senior Officers Meeting from 13 to 15 May and a Ministerial-level Meeting from 16 to 17 May.
2. Representatives from 25 member countries participated in the Conference. Observers from two United Nations member states, 17 international non-governmental organizations and three intergovernmental organizations were also in attendance. Representatives of five other United Nations organizations participated. Representatives of 13 international non-governmental organizations and 19 local non-governmental and civil society organizations participated in a pre-Conference NGO/CSO regional consultation in preparation for the World Food Summit: five years later, convened from 11 to 12 May.
3. The Senior Officers Meeting was opened with addresses by Dr R.B. Singh, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative of FAO and the Honourable Mahesh Acharya, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, His Majesty's Government of Nepal.
4. Dr Singh expressed appreciation to His Majesty's Government of Nepal for its excellent support in hosting the meeting. He noted the serious challenges of agriculture in the region over the past two years, particularly as a result of numerous natural and man-made disasters. However, he also expressed optimism as a result of steady progress in several areas of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. He urged the senior officers to seriously address the reasons for slow progress in reducing the numbers of undernourished in the region and to recommend immediate remedial action.
5. His Excellency, Mahesh Acharya, welcomed delegates and participants to Kathmandu on behalf of His Majesty's Government of Nepal and formally opened the Senior Officers Meeting. He highlighted economic growth, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability as the most critical inter-related aspects of development. He pointed out that agriculture in most of Asia and the Pacific is characterised by the prevalence of small farmers, landless labourers and resource-poor fisherfolk. Economic growth, therefore, must be pro-poor, broad-based and sustained. His Excellency noted that Asia and the Pacific had made reasonable progress in reducing the number of undernourished in recent years, but that the region still held nearly two-thirds of the undernourished population of the world. He urged developed and developing countries to join efforts in ensuring food security and promoting sustainable development for all.
6. The Inaugural Ceremony of the Conference was held on 16 May. Dr Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO, welcomed all participants of the Conference. He noted the timeliness of the Conference, coming just one month before the World Food Summit: five years later (WFS:fyl).
7. His Excellency Mr Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister of Nepal, presented the Conference inaugural address. He commended the past and ongoing contributions of FAO in combating world hunger, but reminded participants of the challenges that remained.
8. Noting the high numbers of the world's undernourished, His Excellency the Prime Minister urged Conference delegates to redouble efforts to ensure that all people have access to adequate and safe food. He stated that, at a time when the global war against terrorism continues, the need to wage war on poverty and hunger is no less urgent.
9. His Excellency the Prime Minister proclaimed that considering the astounding progress and advancement mankind has made over the centuries, it is shocking that we are not able to feed ourselves and even more shocking when we know that we have sufficient food to feed all. The Prime Minister stressed that raising the level of nutrition, the standards of living of the people and enhancing agricultural productivity were more vital than ever before.
10. The text of the inaugural address of Prime Minister Deuba is given in Appendix D of this report.
11. Delegates unanimously elected Mr Surendra Kumar Shrestha, Secretary of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Nepal, as Chairperson of the Senior Officers Meeting. The senior officers also elected all the heads of delegations of Vice-Ministerial and Secretary of Agriculture rank as Vice-Chairpersons of the Senior Officers Meeting and Mr Frederick Muller, of the Republic of Marshall Islands, as Rapporteur.
12. His Excellency Mr Mahesh Acharya, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Nepal, was elected as the Chairperson of the Ministerial Meeting. Delegates also elected all of the other Ministers present as Vice-Chairpersons of the Conference and Ms Elsa Bayani, of the Philippines, as Rapporteur of the Conference.
13. The Conference adopted the agenda, which is given in Appendix A. Documents submitted to the Conference are listed in Appendix C.
14. In his statement, Dr Jacques Diouf noted that the Conference was taking place in a global economic, social and political context that is undergoing rapid change. As a result of the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), held in Doha in November 2001, globalisation and liberalisation of trade for agricultural products, the movement of capital and the transfer of technology should occur in ways that enhance the living of people in both developed and developing countries.
15. The Director-General pointed out there were still nearly 777 million undernourished people in developing countries, and that global efforts to reduce the numbers were falling far short of the targets that had been set at the World Food Summit in 1996. He stressed the need for increased rural investment to generate higher employment, income, productivity and production.
16. The Director-General noted that while global agricultural performance had been modest in the past two years, the record in Asia and the Pacific had been relatively strong. He highlighted, in particular, the outstanding growth in dairy, livestock, vegetables, fruits, aquaculture, oil crops and rubber in the region over the past decade.
17. Drawing attention to the upcoming World Food Summit: five years later, the Director-General urged delegates to prepare for WFS:fyl by focusing their deliberations on strategies and actions for accelerating implementation of the decisions taken in 1996. He drew particular attention to the concept of a “Global Alliance Against Hunger,” which could be a tangible expression of reinforced political will as well as an important step towards removing the despair and anger that are so favourable to extremism.
18. A complete text of the Director-General's statement is given in Appendix E.
