Highlights from the Funders' Forum and Fund Council Meeting

The inaugural CGIAR Funders’ Forum and second Fund Council meeting took place in Rome, Italy, on July 14-16, 2010. Katherine Sierra, Chair of both the Funders' Forum and the Fund Council, described the Forum as a pillar of the new CGIAR that provides an opportunity for all donors to come together with the Consortium Board, Center leadership and other stakeholders to discuss strategy and common issues.

The Forum accepted the Strategy and Results Framework submitted by the Consortium Board as a work in progress, which will be revised under the Board’s leadership within the next six months and resubmitted to donors for final endorsement once it's ready. Sierra noted that the Forum’s very deep discussion of the Strategy and Results Framework reflected the donors and Consortium’s commitment to getting the strategy right. Consortium Board Chair Carlos Pérez del Castillo said that the Strategy and Results Framework is a crucial document that represents the identity of the reform process, and emphasized the Consortium Board’s resolve to revise the strategy to ensure it meets expectations.

While the strategy is being revised, development of the Mega Program portfolio will continue, with approval contingent on the endorsement of the Strategy and Results Framework. The first fast-tracked Mega Program, the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), was presented to the Fund Council for its consideration. In video interviews, Sierra and Pérez del Castillo share their views on the discussion on the Strategy and Results Framework and Mega Programs and other outcomes from the Rome meetings:

Box1: What is the Role of the Funders' Forum?

The Funders' Forum is a biennial event that is open to all countries and organizations that are CGIAR Fund Donors, Members of the Fund Council, host countries of CGIAR Center and Consortium headquarters, and bilateral donors that contribute a minimum of US$500,000 per year to support implementation of the Strategy and Results Framework. The Funders' Forum Chair may invite stakeholders to attend Forum sessions. Fund Council Chair Katherine Sierra chaired the inaugural meeting of the Forum.

The Funders' Forum provides an open platform where participants can discuss and exchange their views about the CGIAR, consider and endorse the Strategy and Results Framework proposed by the Consortium, and provide feedback to the Consortium and the Fund Council on the progress in implementing the Strategy and Results Framework. The Forum also reviews and endorses proposals on cost structure and financing plans for the system and reviews shortfalls or imbalances in resources available for Mega Programs, so that individual donors may consider adjusting their allocations.

Click here for the agenda and documentation for the Funders' Forum and Fund Council Meetings.

Strategy and Results Framework

In introducing the draft Strategy and Results Framework to the Funders' Forum, Carlos Pérez del Castillo, noted that the Consortium Board had accepted the draft Strategy developed by the Alliance of the CGIAR Centers, but recommended that it be revised. Emile Frison, director general of Bioversity International and leader of the team that developed the strategy, presented an overview of the SRF, highlighting changes made since the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD), held in Montpellier, France, in March.  To learn more about the Strategy presented, see an interview with Frison here. The SRF presented to the Forum is available here.

Fast-tracked Mega Programs: Four fast-track MP proposals were submitted to the Consortium Board on a Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), maize, wheat, and climate change in May 2010.  The Board commissioned external reviewers and a gender expert to evaluate the proposals on the basis of the Consortium Board’s criteria. Specific recommendations of the Board based on the reviews were provided to the proponent centers for improving each proposal and producing a more realistic budget.  The Board decided to submit the  revised GRiSP proposal to the Fund Council. The revised climate change proposal is currently being considered by the Board.  The GRiSP proposal was not submitted adequately in advance of the Fund Council meeting to allow for the Council to make a decision on the proposal. Nonetheless, the Council discussed the proposal and will take a decision on it at the Council’s next meeting in November 2010. 

Additional Mega Program proposals: The Consortium Board has agreed that an additional 11 concept notes will be developed into Mega Program proposals.  Proposal development grants have been awarded to the lead Centers developing these Mega Programs to facilitate an inclusive process of stakeholder consultations, including donors.  The full proposals for these 11 MPs will be submitted to the Board during the first week of September.

Cross-cutting issues: The Consortium Board has commissioned two scoping studies on gender and cross-cutting genetic resources issues. The Gender study will establish a baseline by analyzing the gender research that the CGIAR has been implementing and will make a recommendation to the Consortium Board on the most effective mechanisms for embedding gender research in the MPs, including the fast-tracked Mega Programs. The genetic resources study will engage the Global Crop Diversity Trust and will assess what would be the best mechanism to address such key issues as the costing and finance of gene bank operations,  and policies relating to genetic resource conservation, use and exchange. 

Fund
Progress continues to be made toward establishing the legal framework for the CGIAR Fund through the founding documents: the CGIAR Fund Governance Framework, which addresses a number of accountability and operational aspects; and the Contribution Agreement between each donor and the trustee (the World Bank), a template that sets forth the specific modalities of donor contributions and trustee services for the CGIAR Fund as they affect the respective signatories. An overarching legal document linking the various elements of the new CGIAR system will also be explored in the coming weeks.

Funding for the CGIAR in 2011 is anticipated to build on the historical trajectory of contributions, with total funding to the CGIAR in 2010 and 2011 increasing steadily beyond the 2009 level of US$606,000,000. In 2011, an estimated US$360,000,000 will be channeled through the new CGIAR Fund.

Consortium Establishment
The search and selection process for the Consortium CEO is advancing. A number of candidates have been identified, and the target date for selecting the CEO is early September. The process for determining the Consortium Office location is ongoing, and the governments of the five prospective host countries have been invited to submit a bid. A decision on the location is anticipated for late August or early September. The Consortium is also seeking to establish international organization status with its own legal personality under international law and hopes that this status can be secured in 3-6 months.

Independent Science and Partnership Council
Recruitment of the formal Independent Science and Partnership Council, the standing panel of world-class scientific experts in the new CGIAR, is still open with a July 30 deadline for nominations. For further information visit: http://www.cgiar.org/cgnominations/index.cfm  The Council will consist of a Chair and four members (plus the chair of the standing panel on impact assessment as an ex-officio member), who will provide independent advice and expertise to the funders of the CGIAR through services to the Fund Council and the Funders Forum. The Council will also play a vital role in strengthening the productivity and quality of science in the new CGIAR, catalyzing scientific partnerships with other agricultural research institutions and supporting the important function of the CGIAR as an honest broker in global debates.

Date

Event

October 4-5

Consortium Board meeting, Aleppo, Syria

November 4-5

Fund Council meeting, Washington, DC, USA