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

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and my own country Norway.

First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Mr. President, on IFAD’s new management team, and also to welcome the four new Vice-Presidents of the organisation. We are very pleased to see such highly qualified and experienced  professionals at the head of IFAD. We need professional and innovative staff at all levels in the organisation, and the new appointments promisewell for IFAD`s ability to deal with the challenges ahead of us.

The Seventh Replenishment is the largest since the Fund’s First Replenishment. However, the programme of  work can only be implemented if resources are actually available when needed. Thus, it is of the utmost importance that all member states make good their pledges without undue delay.

In 2006, IFAD has made good progress in reshaping its future role, business processes and institutional capacity, and in sharpening its programme focus on the basis of lessons learned and the results of the Independent External Evaluation. We are pleased to note the management responses and the fact that you are building on the result-oriented Action Plan and the Strategic Framework in improving IFAD`s development effectiveness. We believe that an emphasis on innovation and upscaling, empowerment, partnerships and sustainability will all be critical if IFAD is to attain its goals.

The Nordic countries would like to stress again how important it is for IFAD to identify its strategic niche as clearly as possible and make use of its comparative advantage over other international actors engaged in rural development. Progress in doing this will help to build a more solid foundation for IFAD’s activities

The Nordic countries strongly endorse the new targeting policy with its sharper focus on aiding those of the rural poor who are able to take advantage of opportunities and addressing the specific needs of minorities and indigenous peoples. We are pleased to note the special focus on women within all identified target groups, particularly women who are heads of households. They play a crucial role in agricultural production and rural development. IFAD's Targeting Strategy will empower women and strengthen their access to productive resources, including micro-finance.

The new Result-based Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP) is welcomed  with its aims of ensuring strong country ownership, alignment with national poverty reduction strategies (PRSP) and harmonisation with the activities of other partners in development.

The Nordic countries strongly support IFAD’s foreseen shift to a result-based framework for budgeting, planning and for all its activities. This is part of the system-wide reform of business practices within the UN. We are confident that both performance and results will improve. This said, IFAD still has to travel the full road from intention to implementation, which will not always be an easy process.
  
The clear challenge today for IFAD and the two other Rome-based agencies is to improve cooperation and coordination both between themselves and across the whole multilateral development architecture. The High-level Panel on United Nations System-wide Coherence has tabled substantive proposals for how the UN can reposition itself to become more effective. We have learned about the very constructive role that you, Mr President, played as a member of the Panel. If the UN can deliver as one, it can become much more than the sum of its parts.

The first challenge in this process is to make a success of the proposed pilots.This is a bottom-up experiment, and all relevant UN agencies with a country presence should participate fully so that they can influence the project and gain experience. The Nordic countries are of the firm opinion that the three Rome-based agencies should extend their already substantial cooperation and take a joint approach to ensure that the pilot projects are relevant to their agenda and needs.

We would like to see the Rome-based agencies working better together for food security. We need a common approach to agricultural and rural development, and to long- and short-term food security, that is targeted to reach the poor. This approach should be backed by the different expertise of the three agencies, and should be used throughout the preparatory process for common country assessments, UNDAFs, PRSPs and not least the country pilots.

This approach should enable the three agencies to be more than the sum of their parts. It should also be more efficient and give better results in our endeavour to achieve Millennium Development Goal number 1, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

Finally, Mr. Chairman,

I would like to reiterate the strong Nordic support for the important work of IFAD. During the last two years we have seen great changes in strategies, targeting and business practices. We greatly value the improvements in efficiency and the results that have been achieved. But there is no room for complacency. We will work constructively with the management and our partners in the Executive Board and the Governing Council to make IFAD an even better instrument for improving the lives of the rural poor.

Thank you, Mr Chairman

Ms. Ingrid Glad,
Alternate Governor for Norway