Chairman/Chairwoman, Mr. President, Distinguished Governors, Ladies and Gentlemen

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

Let me begin with a warm welcome to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Since the establishment of the Fund thirty years ago, the close dialogue between member countries and IFAD, and the financing from members, has been mutually beneficial.

This anniversary also gives us an opportunity to reflect on the present status and policies of the Fund. Looking back, history has proven the foresight of those who advocated the importance of agricultural development. Now, agriculture and investment in agriculture are increasingly recognized as a crucial element in addressing poverty and food security. Given IFAD’s limits in terms of size and mandate it is crucial that the Fund establishes good cooperation with other institutions, and increased efforts to define and make better use of its comparative advantages.

The Nordic Countries wholeheartedly support the six specific objectives of the Strategic Framework and IFAD’s targeting of the poorest and the most vulnerable among rural people, and in particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. IFAD should continue to give gender equality and women’s empowerment a central role in its work, as well as to take into account recently emerged external factors affecting agricultural development, such as climate change and increased demand for biofuels. Eradicating poverty is possible only if progress made in developing countries is economically, socially and ecologically sustainable.

We strongly support IFAD’s special focussing on the empowerment of women, gender mainstreaming and the integration of gender issues in all phases of the project cycle. IFAD has good policies for addressing inequalities and strengthening the capacity of rural women, but they need to be better applied in practise. The standard tools are there, but their application seems to be uneven. Lessons learned need to be fed into new project design, and there should be accountability to ensure that the gender dimension does not disappear on the way from project design to implementation.

Effective implementation of IFAD’s policies is dependent on adequate funding. We need to make sure that IFAD has the necessary resources at its disposal to achieve the goals we set up. In this respect, allow me to mention the positive development of an increase in contributions to the Replenishments from the developing countries. Honouring pledges is of vital importance for the work of the organization. This, and the urgent need for focus on the problems of Sub-Saharan Africa, should be kept in mind when we prepare for the consultations on the Eighth Replenishment.

The Nordic Countries note with satisfaction that the universal call for reform of the UN system has been met with a positive response at the UN organisations in Rome, resulting in Independent External Evaluations, both of IFAD and the FAO. The several programmes IFAD has developed in order to increase effectiveness, such as the Action Plan for Improving IFAD’s Development Effectiveness, has proven to be successful. It is imperative that IFAD now consolidates this progress.

IFAD should venture further and strengthen its performance and enhance the sustainability of its impact at country level. Increased competition and coordination with other institutions is a key to improve the field of presence of IFAD.

We welcome that IFAD is participating in the One UN pilot programmes in several countries. We urge the Rome based agencies to explore further possibilities of participating in the projects, and thus contribute to the success of the reform proposals made by the High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence.

Increased cooperation with other players, such as the World Bank and the regional development banks, would enhance IFAD’s effectiveness. The ongoing joint evaluation of the cooperation of IFAD and the African Development Bank is an example of good cooperation.

The Nordic countries also support initiatives to strengthen cooperation of the Rome-based UN agencies. A coordinated approach also at the country level would lead to greater impact in responding to food security imperatives and prevent overlaps.

IN recent years climate change has emerged as on of the most complicated problems and greatest challenges facing the global community. The issue is closely linked to development and poverty eradication because unless appropriately addressed, climate change will continue to undermine what has been achieved through development efforts. The Nordic Countries therefore welcome the joint statement of the three Rome based agencies at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali last December. Climate change is a major challenge to world food security and threatens the existence of vulnerable rural people.

Chairman/Chairwoman,

The Nordic countries congratulate IFAD upon thirty years of dedicated and undaunted work in the service of the rural poor. When faced with the mammoth problem of fighting poverty and hunger, the world community should keep in mind Nelson Mandela’s words: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”