Consortium
CGIAR Transition Management Team Member and Alliance Executive Chair Steve Hall reported to ExCo on progress in establishing a Consortium of the CGIAR Centers. Hall said there is “genuine excitement” about the potential development impacts the Centers can achieve through this strengthened way of working together.
In May, the Alliance unanimously agreed on a draft constitution providing for a lean Consortium with leadership and fiduciary responsibilities. The Consortium would coordinate the work of member Centers, which would remain responsible for CGIAR research results.
The draft constitution sets out the Consortium’s vision, purpose, activities, support offices, financing, structure, governance, board composition and responsibilities, and terms of membership. It clarifies matters such as decision-making related to strategy development and fund allocation, Mega Program proposals, the Consortium Office and CEO, and advice and assistance to members Centers on organizational structures.
Commending the Alliance for its design and development of the Consortium, ExCo emphasized the need to provide the Consortium Board and Chief Executive Officer with the authority and tools required for them to lead the Consortium effectively. |
What is “ExCo”?
The Executive Council (ExCo) is a subsidiary body of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research that acts on behalf of the CGIAR on matters delegated to it between its annual general meetings. ExCo consists of non-rotating members (CGIAR Chair, Co-sponsors hosting a CGIAR governance unit, Chair of the Alliance Executive, the Science Council, and Global Forum for Agricultural Research), and rotating members representing geographic and functional constituencies. The CGIAR Chair serves as ExCo Chair, with a Co-Chair elected by ExCo for each of its meetings. In December 2008, CGIAR Members delegated decision-making authority during the transition period to ExCo. |
It requested a redrafting of the Consortium constitution to clarify relations among the bodies of the Consortium and relations between the Consortium and other parts of the new CGIAR. ExCo urged Center Boards, who have not yet considered the draft constitution, to undertake due diligence on the legal implications of the Consortium soon. An advisory group of ExCo Members will provide input into the further development of the constitution.
The next steps in establishing the Consortium, which should be fully operational by early 2010, include nominating and selecting members of its board, assessing the Consortium’s cost, designing its office, developing a proposal for shared services for the Centers, and developing a transition plan and timeline.
Strategy and Results Framework and Mega Programs
Tom Lumpkin, Director General of CIMMYT, updated ExCo on development of the Strategy and Results Framework and Mega Programs. Lumpkin is a member of a strategy team** developing both. He explained that the 6-year Framework will be based on the new CGIAR Vision and Strategic Objectives and apply to the entire system.
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The strategy team will develop the Framework over the next few months in an iterative evidence-based approach combining analysis and modeling of key drivers of the current and future context for CGIAR work, such as population, poverty, hunger, governance and climate change. The team will consult science leaders and researchers and CGIAR partners and other stakeholders.
The portfolio of Mega Programs will be chosen using criteria and indicators for outcomes and impacts that are in line with the Strategy and Results Framework and expected to be delivered by Centers and their partners. The list of possible Mega Programs will be refined as the process unfolds, with lessons learned from the Mega Program “Mock Up” (See article in Embracing Change, June 2, 2009) exercise conducted in April informing the process.
ExCo said work on the Strategy and Results Framework is moving in the right direction while emphasizing the importance of involving partners and beneficiaries in upcoming consultations. It cautioned against trying to fit all existing CGIAR research into the Mega Programs, saying there is need to prioritize research topics in a coherent portfolio most likely to meet the three strategic objectives of the new CGIAR. Initial drafts of the Strategy and Results Framework will be developed for the consultations that will take place in July and August. A revised draft Framework, along with a first draft of the Mega Program portfolio, will be available in September. Consultations on both will link closely with the processes leading up to the GCARD in March 2010. |
**The Alliance-established team leading development of the Strategy and Results Framework and Mega Programs comprises: Joachim von Braun (Chair), Derek Byerlee, Colin Chartres, Tom Lumpkin, Norah Olembo, and Jeff Waage.
Fund
Transition Management Team Member and CGIAR Director Ren Wang presented a draft framework for the new Fund, which sets out guiding principles for how the Fund will operate, including the functions and roles of the Fund Council, Fund Forum and Fund Office. Overall, development of the Fund is on track. ExCo requested that representation on the Fund Council from the North and South be balanced and that stakeholders participate in the Council’s decision-making processes. It recommended that Fund Council decisions be reached by both consensus and voting options and that the inaugural Fund Council meeting be open to all funders. Deliberations on the roles of the Independent Science and Partnership Council were deferred until later, as a task group has been established to makes recommendations on this.
The draft framework for the Fund will be revised, and mock-ups made of donor agreements with the Fund and performance contracts between the Fund and the Consortium, to ensure a smooth transition when the Fund is established. Further consultations will be held with donors in the next few months to finalize issues on the design of the Fund and to firm up donor commitments to it. The Fund should be established by the end of 2009.
Accountability Framework
Jonathan Wadsworth, Transition Management Team Member and Senior Agricultural Research Advisor at the UK Department for International Development, provided an update on the Accountability Framework. Wadsworth described the new Framework as “a paradigm shift”, moving from the CGIAR founding principles of donor sovereignty, Center autonomy and consensus decision-making to a new operational mode based on empowerment, clear rules, contractual arrangements and controls. The draft Framework addresses governance and accountability from a system perspective, with the aim of “connecting the dots” so as to link all elements of the new CGIAR together. |
What is Accountability?
Owning responsibility for policies, decisions and actions, including governance, administration and implementation. It creates the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for consequences and results. |
It is intended to empower the Consortium and Centers to pursue high-impact results while guaranteeing to donors and stakeholders that the system is meeting legal, fiduciary, reporting and performance requirements. Wadsworth emphasized that the CGIAR will demonstrate compliance with its new Accountability Framework using methods and tools that are “necessary and sufficient, not burdensome.”
ExCo requested that the Framework be expanded to provide clear methods for accountability mapping and enforcement, while ensuring that the accountability tools simplify managerial work. It requested that the Framework provide means for ensuring accountability to beneficiaries and for conflict resolution. ExCo requested that the Framework elaborate on procedures for monitoring and evaluating research and also outline what independent evaluation is needed in addition to evaluation by the Consortium. An advisory panel will be established to ensure coherence of the Accountability Framework across all elements of the new CGIAR.
GCARD
A Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development will provide a forum for the CGIAR to interact with its partners in new ways that strengthen the relevance of its work for wider rural development processes driven by the needs of the beneficiaries of CGIAR research. Organized by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) on a biennial basis, the first Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development will be held in Montpellier, France, in March 2010.
In presenting the update, Mark Holderness, Transition Management Team Member and Executive Secretary of GFAR, said “The Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development is not a classical conference but rather a process to bring awareness to policy makers on research needs. It is an open discussion on frameworks for agricultural research for development that will bring together regional perspectives and priorities for discussion and validation.”
The GCARD approach is bottom-up. It will engage stakeholders, including regional and national research organizations, and farmer and civil society organizations, through electronic and face-to-face regional consultations in the lead up to the March event. |
Key questions from ExCo about GCARD
What are the outcomes expected from each of the processes this Conference is employing?
What are the incentives for partners to join the process?
How can we go beyond the “usual suspects” to get broader involvement?
How will the private sector be engaged?
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The Conference will provide a public forum for sharing information and providing inputs into the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework and Mega Programs. This process will be iterative, with learning and feedback continuing over a 6-year cycle. Consultations for both the Conference and the Strategy and Results Framework will be closely coordinated, with outcomes from the Science Council’s “Science Forum” 16–17 June feeding into the overall consultation process.
What’s Next?
With a “green light” from ExCo, implementation of the CGIAR reforms will continue. The coming months will be busy with consultations on the Strategy and Results Framework and Mega Programs, launch of the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development consultations, and refinement of the founding documents of the CGIAR mentioned above. ExCo will meet again in early November, the next milestone on the path to the December 2009 CGIAR Business Meeting. Click here for ExCo documentation and presentations.
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