Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
 
Today’s High-level Panel has stressed the need of advancing an agenda in favour of the rural poor. Let me highlight some key elements of such a strategy that can be related to the activities of IFAD.

IFAD and global food security architecture

For the last years we have witnessed the devastating impacts of food prices increase on the weakest segments of the world population. Rural poor living in low income food insecure countries have been among the hardest hit. Fortunately, we have also seen that decision-makers have increasingly endorsed the view that smallholders can be protagonists in the battle for food security. We commend IFAD for having relentlessly advocated for these rural actors, IFAD president would speak of rural entrepreneurs, at global and country levels. IFAD’s active participation in the efforts of UN and IFI institutions to better coordinate their response to the global food security crisis is critical and must be sustained

IFAD's main operational challenges

2010 is going to be an important year for IFAD.

Changes must continue, but IFAD’s operational identity must be preserved. This organization is relevant to the poverty reduction initiatives of the international community only if it remains close to and listens to the beneficiaries of its projects and programs. IFAD representatives in partner countries exercise an important function in this respect. They are active in the dialogue with the local authorities and the civil servants in charge of rural development. We are satisfied to hear from the President that the field presence of IFAD will increase in the coming years,

Faced with the pressing demands of middle income countries for IFAD involvement, we understand the intention of management to find new ways to increase the available resources for investments. The development purposes of this possible expansion must be clearly defined. We see two possible rationales that deserve to be explored. First, IFAD should engage more in middle income countries and assume additional risks in doing so only if this furthers rural policies that are favorable to smallholders, pastoralists and landless peasants. Second, IFAD should combine in a creative way its resources with companies and financial institution investing in agriculture worldwide with the intention to protect the interests of poor rural settlers and improve the income of small producers. For this endeavor, IFAD should actively engage in testing and developing new business models.

Institutional issues

Let us turn to few institutional issues facing our organization:

In managing IFAD’s human resources, it will be important to strike the right balance between developing operational capacities - primarily in the field, following a decentralized operating model --, and strengthening all functions of the institution. This will require that support and attention be equally granted to all IFAD staff. 

Regarding the role and capacities of IFAD Governing bodies, the recent introduction of streamlined approval procedures for projects is a first important step forward. More work is still needed to strengthen the Executive Board’s role in the preparation of IFAD's main programming tools, the Country Strategic Opportunity Programs (COSOPs).

Furthermore, we share the recommendations of the draft report of the External Peer Review of IFAD Office of Evaluation indicating the need to consolidate the independence of IFAD’s evaluation function, while improving the efficiency of the institutional arrangements.

Thanks for your attention.

17 February 2010