MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING

1 1 MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING 2nd 3rd DECEMBER 2006 WASHINGTON , USA MINUTES The presence of members attending the STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING is documented in Annex 1 The proposed agenda of the MEETING is attached in Annex 2 The MEETING was chaired by Dr. Adel El-Beltagy, GFAR Chair 1. Welcome Remarks The MEETING was opened by GFAR Chair. He welcomed STEERING COMMITTEE (SC) members to the MEETING and wished them fruitful deliberations. He informed the SC members that the new Chair of the CGIAR and CGIAR Director will join the MEETING on Sunday 03 December 2006 morning at 08h30 and requested members to convene for the STEERING COMMITTEE on December 3rd at 08h30 instead of 09h00 as originally indicated in the agenda. He then briefly talked about the need for and the importance of synergies between GFAR and CGIAR.

2 2. Adoption of Agenda for the 18th STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING After his opening remarks, the Chair tabled the MEETING agenda for adoption or modifications. The agenda was modified (See annex 3). 3. Approval of MINUTES of the 17th STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING There was discussion on the MINUTES of the 17th STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING related to: i) GFAR management related issues: Dr. Jean-Fran ois Giovannetti, MEA-France Representative, sought clarification on the outcomes of the GFAR External Review. He indicated that the consensus reached during the COMMITTEE s 17th MEETING to postpone the outcomes of the GFAR External Review was not consistent with the outcomes of the COMMITTEE s 16th MEETING in Marrakech. He also inquired whether the MINUTES of 17th SC MEETING was shared with the Donor Support Group (DSG). Dr. Ola Smith, GFAR Executive Secretary, reported that the MINUTES are not shared with all DSG members but only with members of the SC.

3 However, he indicated that efforts will be made to share the STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES more widely. GFARFMRAFGIALOBAL ORUM ON GRICULTURAL ESEARCHORUM ONDIAL DE LA ECHERCHE GRICOLEORO LOBAL DE NVESTIGACION GROPECUARIA 2 Mr. Marc deBois, EC representative, suggested that the DSG Chairmanship has been occupied by IFAD since the inception of GFAR and suggested that the SC to look into this issue and discuss the rules for rotation of the DSG chairmanship. He also informed the SC hat the European Commission had suspended its financial contribution to the CGIAR in 2006. This may have implications on GFAR. Action point: The Secretariat to circulate STEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES to DSG ii) GFAR-CGIAR Interaction The Chair informed SC members that the CGIAR will launch the 2nd call for Challenge Programs during the AGM and requested GFAR to activity contribute to the process.

4 He also suggested that GFAR, particularly the Regional Forums, to contribute to the implementation of the CGIAR system Priorities recently concluded by the CGIAR Science Council. He acknowledged GFAR contribution to the development of these priorities and the need to contribute to their implementations. He also acknowledged the fact that GFAR-CGIAR partnerships are rarely talked about, if not at all, at CGIAR Business Meetings, and urged the SC to come up with a formula to enhance GFAR-CGIAR partnerships, CGIAR-GFAR consortium on specific issue/topic. Ms. Monica Kapiriri, GFAR vice-Chair, said GFAR is working with the CGIAR Secretariat in the preparation and organization of the CSO-CGIAR Forum to be held at the AGM. She also mentioned CGIAR competitive grant and sought clarification on the role DURAS Project could play in this regard.

5 Dr. Enrique Alarcon, FORAGRO Executive Secretary, said GFAR Regional Forums are currently participating in the CGIAR Executive COMMITTEE (ExCo) and should have more proactive role to reinforce and strengthen GFAR-CGIAR partnerships. He noted that FORAGRO is active at the centre level and closely works with the Centres in the region. He added that CGIAR priorities should be aligned with the regional priorities, an issue that was raised during the GFAR Conference in New Delhi. Mr. Marc deBois, EC representative, commended the positive collaboration between GFAR and CGIAR on the Generation Challenge Programme. He said the EC received a positive feedback on this approach and wondered if the SC could use this as a model to forge partnerships with the CGIAR.

6 Dr. Monty Jones, FARA Executive Secretary, expressed RF strong desire to better engage with the CGIAR at the systems level, especially in decision making processes. He said FARA was not invited to the CGIAR ExCo MEETING that discussed the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme and the RF could not defend its proposal. He suggested that at any given ExCo MEETING where an issue concerning a particular RF is being discussed the concerned RF should be invited to the MEETING to provide clarifications and interact with ExCo members. Mme. Nduli, FARA Chair, requested that whoever represents GFAR RF on the ExCo to report back to the STEERING COMMITTEE so that we have common understanding and position on issues that are being discussed at the ExCo. She also requested SC to develop standard mechanism that would allow effective communication and information sharing among the members.

7 3 Action point: The Chair to follow up on GFAR representation on the CGIAR ExCo with the CGIAR Secretariat and provide feedback to the COMMITTEE MINUTES of the 17th STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING were unanimously approved without any changes. 4. Action points report from the previous MEETING Dr. Ola Smith presented actions taken following a number of outputs of discussion during the 17th GFAR SC MEETING held in 23-24 June 2006. The report is included as Annexure 4. During the discussion that followed this agenda item, Dr. Christian Hoste, EFARD Representative, mentioned that the turn over within the members of the SC is very low, in particular those representing the RF. While recognizing that the decision remains with the RF, he highlighted the benefits of involving new actors from the different constituencies in the SC.

8 The Chair provided a clarification by indicating that the alternate representatives from the RF to the STEERING COMMITTEE are up to the constituencies to decide. Mr. Marc deBois, said at the 17th SC MEETING the GFAR Secretariat was requested to separate commitments from pledges in the financial reports. He stated that this is not reflected in the Financial Report circulated prior to the MEETING . He added that EC will continuo to support GFAR but is awaiting the outcomes of the on-going GFAR External Review and the recruitment of the new Executive Secretary. Dr. Jean-Fran ois Giovannetti reminded the SC that at the December 2004 December MEETING of the SC held in Rome, it was decided that IFAD support the Secretariat to ensure financial accountability of GFAR accounts. He said he will raise this issue at the DSG MEETING .

9 Mr. Jack Wilkinson, Farmers representative, said GFAR should not become a bureaucratic institution. He added there is no reason why GFAR should not address the financial issues in a more appropriate way. The Chair, by agreeing with the above, said the financial reporting should be worked out with FAO finance department. It has been increasingly difficult to harmonise the GFAR reporting structure with that of FAO system. However, he added, this issue must be resolved as soon as possible. The Chair reminded members that this issue is on the agenda and will be discussed at due time. 5. GFAR Secretariat Activity Report 2006 Dr. Rupert Best, GFAR Secretariat staff, presented the annual progress report for 2006. Activities carried out and the outputs under each of the four business plan pillars as well as management issues were presented following brief descriptive highlights of major outputs which were: Almost all RF, except CACAARI, achieved inclusiveness in their decision making processes as all stakeholders are now represented on AARINENA, APAARI, FARA and FORAGRO executive committees .

10 4 The Review of the Global Partnership Programme mechanism has been completed and the draft report is available. The Review Team confirmed the continuing relevance of the GPP mechanism and identified a series of actions to improve its functioning The sub Saharan Africa NGO Consortium consolidated its institutional integrity by establishing a code of conduct, initiating the process for developing an NGO database and for undertaking case studies to characterize proven technologies for scaling out, and the development of a communications strategy. Further efforts were made to strengthen IFAP ARD COMMITTEE by providing them with financial resources to implement its 2006 program of work and convene its second MEETING which was held during IFAP Congress in May 2006 In collaboration with APAARI, Asian and Pacific NGOs were support to start establishing a region-wide NGO consortium on ARD A new enhanced EGFAR was launched to improve its versatility and functionality for users.