8th IFAD/NGO Consultation, Rome, Itlay, 1997

Local Area Development Programmes for Sustainable Resource Management

The eighth Consultation, held in October 1997, was attended by 36 NGOs, 21 of which were from the South. Three case studies were discussed on (i) "Assessment of the Impact of Desertification on Local Economies Combating Desertification"; (ii) "Assessment of the Capacity of Local Iinstitutions to Respond to Challenges"; and (iii) "Improving Microfinance Capacity-Building".

The lessons drawn concentrated mainly on the role of NGOs as intermediaries in transmitting lessons of experience to local communities and peasants' organizations. The participants stressed the importance of new forms of organization and incentives to mobilize people. They emphasized the legislative problems that hinder NGOs from operating in development-oriented commercial activities such as rural financial markets. The issues of strengthening IFAD/NGO partnerships and NGO capacity-building were discussed.

On the basis of working group discussions, the NGOs recommended that the Fund should:

• appoint a number of NGOs as focal points to enhance information flows and extend linkages between IFAD's knowledge network and the NGO community;
• innovate mechanisms for ensuring NGO participation in the design, implementation and evaluation of the Fund's loans;
• support training programmes to build up NGOs project-design capacities;
• act as a catalyst for improved north-south partnerships that move away from the traditional donor-recipient model;
• conduct a critical analysis of best practices for use by NGOs and governments; and
• develop strategies and criteria for involving NGOs at different levels of policymaking in implementing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drough and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (CCD).

Finally, the Consultation agreed to extend the Advisory Group's (now Consultation Steering Committee's) mandate from two to three years on an experimental basis and to increase the number of NGOs in the group from four to six.