Rome, Italy
February 19, 2003

President Bage, Distinguished Governors, Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of Canada's Minister of International Cooperation, the Honourable Susan Whelan, I would like to extend congratulations to IFAD on its 25 Anniversary. Minister Whelan had planned to be here to join in the celebrations, but she had to remain in Ottawa because of this week's Federal Budget. I am happy to be able to say that the Budget has confirmed Canada's commitment to increased official development assistance as announced last year by Prime Minister Chretien. Minister Whelan is committed to ensuring that we take advantage of the momentum built up over the past year through meetings at Monterrey, Kananaskis and Johannesburg to put Canada's ODA program on a sustained growth path.

If we look back over the 25 years since IFAD's creation, it is clear that we have much to celebrate today. IFAD has become an important member of the international development community. It is highly respected for its catalytic role in efforts to enable the rural poor to overcome their poverty and for its focus on people or regions that have too-often been overlooked: areas with limited agricultural potential, poor rural women and indigenous populations. It is clear that if we in the international community are to make progress toward the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, IFAD has an important role to play in reaching the vulnerable and marginalized populations.
We can also celebrate today because IFAD is clearly on a sound footing. Under the leadership of President Bage, we are witnessing important changes in the organization to strengthen its efficiency and its development effectiveness. And these changes have elicited a positive response from member countries - as evidenced by the IFAD-VI replenishment negotiations that were successfully concluded in December last year. These negotiations illustrated another key strength of the organization - the vitality of its partnership with developed and developing countries. In no other international organization do developing countries provide such a substantial portion of total resources. I would also contend that in no other organization do we experience such open and frank discussion among all member countries on key institutional issues.

That is not to say that there are not challenges ahead. First, we must all follow-up on the pledges we made in December and ensure that IFAD has the resources required to carry out the mandate we have given it.

Second, we must work together with IFAD management to meet the ambitious policy agenda agreed to during the replenishment discussions. We need to develop a performance-based allocation system which establishes a link between performance and the amount and nature of IFAD funding. However, this system must be simple and suited to IFAD's administrative capacity and it must be adapted to IFAD's mandate and methods of operation. In addition, we need to strengthen IFAD's ability to monitor, measure and report on results. If Minister Whelan were here today I am certain she would emphasize how important it is for her to be able to tell the Canadian taxpayers what is being achieved through the resources they provide in support of international development efforts.

And third, IFAD must continue its process of internal reform. If we expect IFAD to play a catalytic role, it must focus on improving its capacity for innovation and replication, it must strengthen the management and sharing of the knowledge it has accumulated on building social capital and empowering marginalized groups and it must streamline its processes and procedures so that it can respond more promptly to the opportunities it identifies.

Now let me say a few words about Canada. As many of you may know, in September of 2002 my Minister released a Policy Statement entitled Canada Making a Difference in the World. In addition to setting out ways to strengthen the effectiveness of Canadian development assistance this document highlighted the important role of agriculture and rural development. It admitted that CIDA - like too many other development organizations - has not given sufficient attention to this sector in recent years and committed us to developing a new policy framework on agriculture and rural development and to strengthening our investments in this sector. Since that time the Minister has held numerous consultations on the issue - including one in which IFAD participated. We will soon be releasing a Policy Statement on Agriculture's role in Sustainable Rural Development which will highlight priority programming areas for CIDA. (These will certainly include strengthening national capacity, extending the knowledge base and enhancing agricultural productivity and incomes but will also address the importance of developing efficient agricultural markets. It is clear that subsidies, tariffs and non-tariff barriers in the agriculture sector continue to hamper the ability of poorer developing countries and small agriculture producers within such countries, to benefit from international trade opportunities. The policy will also address the need for better coordination among donors.)

Nous cherchons également à intensifier nos efforts dans la lutte contre la désertification et la dégradation des terres. En tant que président de la Conférence des Parties à la Convention des Nations Unies sur la lutte contre la désertification, j’ai moi-même participé aux activités sur le sujet au cours de la dernière année. À cette occasion, nous avons grandement bénéficié de notre collaboration avec le Mécanisme global de la CCD, hébergé par le FIDA. Nous sommes heureux de poursuivre cette relation, qui est à nos yeux un moyen novateur d’aider les pauvres en milieu rural.
En conclusion, permettez-moi de vous féliciter encore une fois à l’occasion des célébrations marquant votre anniversaire. Comme l’a démontré notre rôle actif dans les négociations pour la reconstitution des ressources, le FIDA est un partenaire précieux pour le Canada. Dans l’optique de l’intensification de notre participation dans les secteurs de l’agriculture et du développement rural, nous désirons renforcer ce partenariat.