These proposals are posted for Executive Board representatives' review in accordance with rule 24 of the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Board, which sets out the lapse-of-time procedure for the approval of IFAD-funded projects and programmes, approved by the Executive Board in December 2009 (EB 2009/98/R.15/Rev.1) and further revised in September 2010 (EB 2010/100/R.41/Rev.1), 2012 (EB 2012/106/R.9) and May 2019 (EB 2019/126/R.48/Rev.2).

Resource coverage would be ensured for these proposals as attested in the Resources Available for Commitment document presented at each December session.

In particular, rule 24 stipulates the following:

“Proposals for projects and programmes submitted by the President pursuant to article 7, section 2(c) of the Agreement [Establishing IFAD] shall be considered approved by the Executive Board if no request for consideration during a session of the Executive Board is received from any member within thirty days of the delivery to the members. For the purposes of this rule, delivery shall mean posting on the Fund’s website and notification to members by e-mail.”

Thus, in view of rule 24, in the absence of a request from an Executive Board representative for a proposal to be discussed at the forthcoming session of the Board, the proposals are considered approved after the lapse of a period of 21 calendar days from the date of posting of the document and transmission of the communication announcing its posting.

Grant proposals under IFAD policy for grant financing

The goal of IFAD grants is to significantly broaden and add value to the support provided to smallholder farming and rural transformation, thereby contributing to rural poverty eradication, sustainable agricultural development, and global food security and nutrition. In order to achieve these goals, IFAD grants should adhere to three basic principles: (i) make a significant contribution to a global, regional or national public good related to IFAD's mandate; (ii) focus on interventions where grant financing has clear added value and a comparative advantage over regular loans; and (iii) not be used as asubstitute for resources from IFAD’s administrative budget.

The objectives of IFAD grant financing are to: (i) promote innovative, pro-poor approaches and technologies with the potential to be scaled up for greater impact; (ii) strengthen partners’ institutional and policy capacities; (iii) enhance advocacy and policy engagement; and (iv) generate and share knowledge for development impact. Rural poor people and their organizations should be squarely positioned at the centre of each grant submission to fulfill IFAD’s mandate to enable poor rural people to improve their food security and nutrition, raise their incomes and strengthen their resilience.