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News and Views From the Chair—CDC
The Center Directors Committee:
New Horizons in 2004
As Chairman of the Center Directors Committee (CDC)
for 2004, I am delighted to provide an update of the
new challenges and opportunities faced by CDC. For the
past two years, CDC has undergone significant changes
in the way in which it conducts its business, and has
worked to successfully streamline and better implement
its decisions. The drafting of a Code of Conduct for
the CDC under the direction of my predecessor, Adel
El-Beltagy (ICARDA) as CDC Chair, was just one of the
ways in which the Centers focused on how to better improve
their work together.
During 2003, together with the Center Board Chairs (CBC),
to further unlock
the full potential of investments and the knowledge
capital of the Centers, we began to discuss the concept
of an Alliance and the Future Harvest Alliance was born,
an alliance of the then 16 Centers. An Alliance Office
(FHAO), headed by an Executive Officer would support
the Centers in the day to day work of shared programs
and in the co-leadership of the various units and programs
that make up the System Office.
Meryl Williams, retiring DG of WorldFish, has been selected
to fill the position of Executive Officer, beginning
May 1, 2004. She will serve on a part-time basis. The
Executive Officer will report to the CDC Chair, and
will work hand in hand with the Executive Committee
of the CDC and the CDC Executive Secretary, to build
on and strengthen existing collaborative efforts in
research and corporate management, enhance Center contributions
to the CGIAR Executive Council, and add value to the
strategic agenda of the CDC and CBC.
The CDC continues to support many of the programs and
joint ventures among the Centers including the Chief
Information Officer, the Gender and Diversity Program,
and the Corporate Advisory Service. Following up on
our decision to further streamline the work of the Centers,
the CDC will no longer fund multiple activities in public
awareness but will continue to support the work of the
Marketing Group, made up of representatives from each
of the Centers and
the Secretariat.
Personally I believe we are in the midst of one of the
most challenging and exciting periods in the life of
the CGIAR and the Centers. As a group, I look forward
to the CGIAR moving from action plans to "actionable
plans" and to taking bold decisions more quickly
and efficiently. As part of the overarching effort of
helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), we will work towards transforming our different
mandates into a powerful and comprehensive R&D system
that transcends the prejudices of individual Centers,
sub-regional, and regional boundaries-in a system that
will bring hope to the hopeless, food to the hungry,
wealth to the poor, and above all, help end the cycle
of despair by giving the rural poor opportunities to
participate in the global economy and build sustainable
pathways out of poverty.
Kanayo F. Nwanze
Chairman, CDC
Director General, WARDA
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