An international conference for FAO reform

Doc. 9521

11 July 2002

An international conference for FAO reform

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mr Rivolta and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1. The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) is the UN body which is institutionally responsible for combating hunger and famine which currently affect 790 million people, to a large extent concentrated in Asia and Africa. In these two continents 28% of the population suffers from hunger and this percentage is expected to increase to 30% in the next decade.

2. Despite the intention, announced at the FAO Summit in 1996, to halve this percentage by 2015, no results have been achieved so far, as was acknowledged by FAO Director-General, Mr Jacques Diouf, during the June 2002 Summit.

3. It is therefore necessary to radically change the policies carried out so far to sustain development in the poorer countries and to improve the living conditions of such a large part of the world population.

4. In this perspective, it is also imperative to rethink the action strategies of the FAO and its organisational structure, consisting of 3,700 employees and a very large number of offices – 5 at regional level, 5 at sub-regional level, 5 liaison offices and 78 offices in as many countries, whose operation takes up 70% of available resources, i.e. an annual budget of over half a billion dollars.

5. Against this background the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers urge the governments of member states to convene an international conference to rationalise the FAO’s organisational structure and intervention strategies, so as to make its action more effective and better targeted to achieve its institutional aims.

Signed (see overleaf)

Signed : ¹

Rivolta, Italy, EPP

Aguiar, Portugal, EPP

Alis Font, Andorra, SOC

Aliyev, Azerbaijan, EDG

Atkinson, United Kingdom, EDG

Behrendt, Germany, SOC

Belohorská, Slovakia, EDG

Chikhradze, Georgia, EPP

Crema, Italy, SOC

Davis, United Kingdom, SOC

Griffiths, United Kingdom, SOC

Hancock, United Kingdom, LDR

Kvakkestad, Norway, EDG

Mutman, Turkey, SOC

Neguta, Moldova, UEL

Nessa, Italy, EPP

Pangalos, Greece, SOC

Provera, Italy, LDR

Rigoni, Italy, EPP

Sağlam, Turkey, EPP

Telek, Turkey, EDG

Tkáć, Slovakia, EDG

Van der Linden, Netherlands, EPP

Varela I Serra, Spain, LDR

Vesselbo, Denmark, LDR

Voog, Estonia, LDR

Wilkinson, United Kingdom, EDG

Yañez-Barnuevo, Spain, SOC

¹ SOC: Socialist Group

EPP: Group of the European People’s Party

EDG: European Democratic Group

LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

NR: not registered in a group