Towards the Launch of Arab Forum for Rural Advisory Services
Virtual Event, 06/12/2023
©FAO
Background
The General Meeting of the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services is organized on a yearly basis to foster exchange on approaches and experiences in agriculture and rural advisory services (RAS) between diverse stakeholders and across regions. The meeting represents an opportunity to discuss the strategic directions and functioning of GFRAS and its regional fora and offers a space for learning and for providing a voice for RAS at the international level. This year the annual meeting took place from 17 to 19 October 2023 in Denver, Colorado USA under the theme ‘Building the Next Generation of Leader in Agriculture.’ The organizing fora was the North American Agricultural Advisory Network (NAAAN), hosted by the Colorado State University System (CSUS) in Denver. The meeting gathered around 190 participants from 41 countries including experts and professionals from around the world on extension, agricultural education, and rural advisory services discussing ways to attract and prepare the next generation of leaders in agriculture and improve global food security. The recently established Arab Forum for Rural Advisory Services (AFRAS) operates under the umbrella of GFRAS. A few members of AFARS attended the GFRAS general annual meeting in person including Ms Wafaa el Dikah Hamzé, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture of Lebanon, Dr. Nizar Jamal Haddad, Director General of the National Agricultural Research Center in Jordan and Ms Valentina Sommacal, Rural institutions and Services Expert at the FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa.
In its efforts to support AFRAS, FAO organized at the end of GFRAS annual meeting an in-person roundtable discussion to clarify a set of critical issues related to AFRAS establishment process spanning governance structure, relationship with GFRAS, membership criteria, establishment of country fora.
The roundtable discussion engaged AFRAS members and the leadership of GFRAS and its regional networks benefiting from their insights and experience in relation to the above-mentioned issues.
The Virtual Meeting
FAO Regional Office for the Near East is organizing a virtual meeting on 6 December 2023 from 11:00 to 13:00 Cairo time (GMT +2) with the following objectives:
- Share highlights of the General Annual Meeting (GAM) of the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) which took place in Denver from 17 to 19 October
- Communicate the outcomes of the roundtable discussion on AFRAS organized at the end of the GFRAS GAM with GFRAS leadership and regional networks representatives to clarify key institutional and organizational aspects of AFRAS (i.e. institutional relations with GFRAS; institutional and organizational set up, hosting institution, legal identity, membership and staffing, country fora). See attached concept note and report of the roundtable discussion on AFRAS.
- Discuss the above outcomes and seek consensus on the way forward and next steps towards the launch of AFRAS
This meeting will feature the following programme
- Highlights from the GFRAS General Annual Meeting
- Key messages on the conference theme ‘building the next generation of leaders in agriculture’;
- How AFRAS featured in the event and reactions by the wider GFRAS community;
- Reflections on the GFRAS community and overall atmosphere.
- Outcomes of the Roundtable Discussion
- Guidance provided by GFRAS leadership and regional networks in relation to: institutional relations with GFRAS; institutional and organizational set up, hosting institution, legal identity, membership and staffing, country fora.
- Discussion with members and seeking consensus on the way forward.
- Seeking consensus
- Next steps towards the launch of AFRAS
- Forming a technical committee
- The role of the nominated focal points
Moderation & Speakers
The meeting will be moderated by May Hani, Senior Programme Officer and Lead on Rural Transformation and Inclusive Value Chains at the FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (FAO-RNE), and will feature as speakers the three members of our community who participated in the GFRAS General Annual Meeting, including Ms Wafaa El Dikah Hamzé, Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture of Lebanon for International cooperation and Policy Development, Dr Nizar Haddad, Director General of the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) of Jordan and Ms Valentina Sommacal, Rural Institutions and Services Expert at the FAO-RNE.