Mr. Chairman,
Mr. President,
Distinguished Governors,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure for me to address the Governing Council of IFAD on behalf of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and my own country, Norway.

The Nordic countries welcome the new format of the Governing Council, which we believe will enable us to have more substantive discussions on important policy issues, and to be more operational in our advice to management. This year's theme for the Governing Council Financing Development - the Rural Dimension, is highly relevant in light of the upcoming Monterrey conference and the Millennium Development Goals. In this context we recognize the importance of the Strategic Framework for IFAD 2002-2006, which clarifies IFAD's role in the global effort to attain the Millenium Development Goals and at the same time focuses on results and impact at the field level.

There is now a consensus in the international development community for making poverty eradication the number one priority at both national and international level. Given the fact that the majority of poor people still live in rural areas, IFAD could be instrumental in promoting a renewed focus on rural populations and the unequal gender relations that contribute to the discrimination of women and to generating rural poverty.

Today the need for gender mainstreaming is widely acknowledged. It has been recognized that gender equality is not only a moral issue. It is also an issue of economic growth. And more importantly, it is an issue of rights. Women's right to own and to inherit land is particularly crucial in the agricultural sector. IFAD should play a key role in this respect.

IFAD has the right polices in place. Why then are the right policies and the good intentions not being adequately implemented in the field, where it matters most?

One important reason is the lack of incentive structures and monitoring systems for mainstreaming gender. This is the case not only in IFAD, but also in many other institutions. Very often, the standards are in place. But applying them is not mandatory. No one is held accountable if the gender dimension disappears on the way from project design to implementation.

Our work at field level is influenced by the culture of our own institutions. We can hardly do a good job with gender mainstreaming if we do not pay sufficient attention to gender equality internally. We question whether this is the case at IFAD. The statistics on staff diversity in the institution paint a fairly gloomy picture. Management must work towards concrete targets for getting more women into decision-making positions, and commit themselves to creating a climate where gender equality is respected and internalized by all staff. We welcome the steps that have recently been taken to address some of these concerns, and we urge management to report on progress to the board as soon as possible.

One of the most important outcomes of the 5th replenishment negotiations was the Plan of Action, with its special recommendations on enhanced impact assessment and partnership building. To increase its efficiency and relevance, an organisation must be able to benchmark and measure its activities and results. This will be essential in the run up to the 6th replenishment. Development cooperation has changed considerably over the past few years. Today we work on the basis of a common agenda - namely that of poverty eradication. We have developed new concepts of cooperation, new kind of partnerships between developing countries and donors in the form of PRSPs, budget support or sector wide approaches. We have moved from a project to a programme approach. Our focus is where it should be - on getting results on the ground. It is a question how IFAD with its special organizational set up should solve issues related to cooperation at the field level. We believe these points must be considered by IFAD and its member states in order for the institution to maintain its efficiency and relevance in a development process that is undergoing significant changes.

The Nordic countries support the initiative to begin the consultations on the 6th replenishment. We are among the largest donors to the Fund and have pledged to provide 16.3 per cent of the total funds for the 5th replenishment. There is, in our view, a serious need to address the issue of burden sharing. If IFAD is to be ensured a sustainable and adequate level of financing in the future, many more member countries need to match our joint ambitions for IFAD with the funds to fulfil them.

Thank you, Mr. chairman.