Press release number: IFAD 12/06

Rome, 16 February 2005 - The Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) ended its 29th session today. The Council approved all the items on its agenda, including the membership application of the Pacific island of Niue.

The Governing Council is IFAD's highest decision-making authority. It meets once a year, bringing together delegates from the organization's 165 member countries.

The meeting's closing coincided with an announcement that IFAD's President, Lennart Båge, had been appointed as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General's Panel on UN System-wide Coherence, created to further strengthen the management and coordination of UN operational activities. The panel is a result of the 2005 World Summit, held in New York.

The panel comprises 15 members selected from UN member states, international aid organizations, multilateral UN organizations and others. It will recommend changes in the UN system to ensure that it contributes most effectively to achieving internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, with a special focus on the environment, humanitarian assistance and development. 

In his address to the opening session of the Governing Council, Båge highlighted IFAD's role within the United Nations system: “IFAD has a dual task before it. We must work to enhance the scale, the impact and the sustainability of the projects and programmes we fund. We must also harmonize and align these efforts, and make them fully complementary to those of our partners, other United Nations organizations, international financial institutions and bilateral development agencies.” The objective, he explained, was to multiply the impact of the entire system in partnership with the developing countries.
 
Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, the Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture of the Kingdom of Bhutan who delivered the meeting's inaugural address, stressed the importance of listening to the needs of rural poor people to ensure they are active participants in improving their own lives.

Michele Vietti, Under Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Italy, spoke on behalf of the host country and conveyed his country's support for IFAD's mission.

A panel discussion entitled “Innovation challenges for the rural poor” was moderated by Mishal Husain, journalist from BBC World News. Panellists included:

• Olaseinde Arigbede, Union of Small and Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria
• Julio Berdegue, President of the Latin American Centre for Rural Development
• Ravi Kanbur, world expert on development economics
• Reema Nanavaty, Director of Economic and Rural Development for the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India
• Matthew Wyatt, United Kingdom Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN organizations in Rome and Chair of the IFAD Governing Council

Three round-table discussions were also held  in conjunction with the Governing Council meeting:

• Securing Access to Land for the Rural Poor
• Strengthening Rural Institutions for the Poor: Opportunities and Constraints
• Adaptive Research in Support of Pro-Poor Innovations in Rural Development

Aggregate pledges to the Fund's Sixth Replenishment now represent 91 per cent of the target amount of US$560 million. The Council also welcomed the timely completion of the negotiations on the Seventh Replenishment of IFAD's Resources.

The Council approved an administrative budget for IFAD for 2006 of US$61.1 million, as well as US$4.79 million to finance IFAD's independent Office of Evaluation.

The theme of this year's Governing Council meeting was how innovation could help meet the challenges faced by rural poor people. The Farmers' Forum, which held a two-day meeting just prior to the Governing Council, was cited as an important innovation. The Farmers' Forum meeting brought together more than 50 leaders of farmers' organizations representing millions of small farmers and rural producers from around the world. The Farmers' Forum is a global process of consultation on rural development and poverty reduction.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, it develops and finances projects that enable rural poor people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 185 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.1 billion. IFAD has invested nearly US$2.9 billion in these initiatives. Cofinancing has been provided by governments, beneficiaries, multilateral and bilateral donors and other partners. At full development, these programmes will help nearly 80 million rural poor women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested almost US$9.0 billion in 707 programmes and projects that have helped nearly 300 million poor rural men and women achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Governments and other financing sources in the recipient countries, including project participants, have contributed almost US$8.8 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided another US$7.0 billion in cofinancing.