CGIAR System Office Workshop

As a global alliance, the CGIAR must operate as an integrated, cohesive and coherent system to be effective in delivering its mandate of mobilizing science in the service of poor farmers.

At the 2nd System Office (SO) meeting held in Washington, DC, efforts to develop complementary business plans and implement a performance management system received a boost. Representatives of SO units gathered to report on the implementation of the Integrated Operating Plan 2003, and to streamline and develop unit work plans for 2004.

All System Office units were represented. The System Office Steering Committee was represented by Meryl Williams, Director General, WorldFish Center and Francisco Reifschneider, CGIAR Director. Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, ICARDA will represent the Center Directors Committee (CDC) on the System Office Steering Committee in 2004.

The SO Steering Committee and the CDC Chair guided the discussion and helped to further clarify the vision for a future SO governance structure. On the second day, participants dealt with the question of how to move ahead with performance management of the System Office. A number of targets were set and processes established, including a common budgeting and reporting format for 2003 and 2004.

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