News from the Alliance

Alliance Leadership Opens New Dialogue: roundtable discussions herald closer engagement among CGIAR Members, research Centers and partners.

The Alliance Board and Alliance Executive of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) were joined by a group of Members and partners for roundtable discussions at Bioversity International in Rome on 26-28 April 2007. The purposes of the meeting were to explore new ways of working together, tackle the emerging issues facing the international agricultural research Centers supported by the CGIAR, and engage in open, frank and informal discussions.

Alliance members and members from the donor community during the one day roundtable meeting.

The meeting followed up on suggestions made by a number of Members during the 2006 Annual General Meeting to create an opportunity for them to exchange views and ideas with the Centers directly. The plan was set in motion to hold an informal, open and transparent dialogue on some key strategic issues for the Alliance and the CGIAR System. As the Alliance was meeting in Rome, this initial dialogue was held with interested European Members and members of the Executive Council (ExCo) Ad Hoc Committee on Funding System Priorities.

Approximately 50 people attended. Many participants viewed the day as constituting a watershed in open dialogue among various parts of the CGIAR System. The roundtable discussions were chaired by Dr. Jonathan Wadsworth, chair of the ad hoc committee, and Dr. Marina Puccioni, chair of the European Initiative for Agricultural Research for Development. Particularly concerning the work of the ExCo Ad Hoc Committee on Funding System Priorities, two main areas were tabled: (1) lessons, issues and implications from the pilot framework plans prepared by the Alliance at the request of the ad hoc Committee and (2) broader strategic and operational challenges in developing innovative mechanisms to facilitate collective action with lower transaction costs.

In addition, Dr. Rudy Rabbinge, the new Science Council chair, joined the dialogue and shared his thoughts as to where the Centers and the Science Council could form stronger partnerships in the months and years ahead.

During the course of the day, the participants divided into discussion groups to address the following: (1) how to improve funding predictability and stability, (2) how to rebuild trust in the CGIAR System and change attitudes, (3) how System priorities map out as potential areas of interest and investment for Members and other donors, and (4) what kinds of funding mechanisms are appropriate for the different elements in the 20 System priorities and, more broadly, what kind of models for the CGIAR.

In summing up the day's discussions, Dr. Emile Frison, Alliance Executive chair, called the meeting as a "mold-breaking" event and commented that the roundtable had created a new space for dialogue. The meeting achieved more than expected; it built trust and was a first step in a second wave of reforms across the CGIAR System. The Alliance leadership reported on the roundtable outcomes during the ExCo12 meeting in Madrid and expressed its desire to establish the groundwork for continued engagement with the CGIAR Secretariat, Science Council and Members in the months ahead.