المعرفة

Learn about IFAD's work and results in the 2005 Annual Report. This includes stories about the rural people we invest in, and covers our advocacy to keep the needs of rural communities at the top of the international development agenda. The Report also provides the facts and figures we regularly share with our Member States and partners.

The IFAD Oversight Committee (OVC) was established by the President of IFAD in May 2000 to coordinate investigations into alleged irregular practices as a means of ensuring consistent, prompt and appropriate responses to allegations. The OVC investigates allegations of irregular practices pertaining to activities within IFAD or in connection with operations and contracts financed by IFAD, decides on the investigative actions to be taken, determines the role of IFAD in investigations involving external parties (such as national authorities or cooperating institutions), and reports to the President the facts that have emerged from the investigation.

FAO, IFAD and WFP are accelerating their efforts to help countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More than 1 billion people live in extreme poverty, suffering hunger or undernourishment. The vast majority – about 810 million women, men and children – live in rural areas, where they depend on agriculture and related activities for their survival. The three Rome-based agencies agree that none of the Goals can be achieved unless extremely poor people, especially those living in rural areas, are supported in their struggle to emerge from poverty and hunger. Consequently, the agencies are focusing their efforts on the targets of the first Goal, to reduce by half by 2015 the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger.

Good communication is vital to small farmers who
need better access to markets and to reliable information about
prices, product quality and market conditions. Can new
information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially
the Internet, help? The First Mile is a two-year pilot project
supported by the Government of Switzerland. It is
implemented in collaboration with the Agricultural Marketing
Systems Development Programme of the Government of the
United Republic of Tanzania. Technical assistance is being
provided by the International Support Group.

Over the past 25 years, there have been at least 80 wars around the world. While the places may vary, today’s violent conflicts have some striking similarities: almost all are civil wars and the majority of victims are civilians, not combatants.
Most of these internal conflicts have taken place in poor countries, impeding their development. In fact, more than half the
countries where international development agencies currently operate are affected by war.
Unfortunately, the majority of these conflicts are ongoing events, not temporary emergencies.
Today’s average conflict lasts about eight years – twice as long as conflicts before 1980. And many
more people are killed in conflicts by hunger and disease than by actual fighting.

In 2004, together with its partners across the globe, IFAD continued to step up its commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As the United Nations agency dedicated solely to the eradication of rural poverty, IFAD has sought during the year to bring attention to the crucial importance of agriculture and rural development to achieving the MDGs. Three-quarters of the world’s extremely poor people, about 800 million men, women and children, live in rural areas of developing countries, where they depend on agriculture and related activities for survival. While some countries are making good progress towards achieving the MDGs, most of the poorest countries are not on track to meeting the targets by 2015. Rural people make up the largest proportion of the population in most of these countries. Simply put, the MDGs will not be met unless we put agriculture and rural development at the very top of our development agenda.