Alliance Office

Newsletter - November 2005

Message from the Chairs of the CBC and Alliance Executive

For the Committee of Board Chairs, the 2006 CBC Executive Committee will consist of Jim Godfrey, Chair, plus two others to be elected at the December meetings. For the Alliance Executive, where succession is on the basis of seniority, the 2006 Executive Committee will be Joachim Voss, Chair, Frank Rijsberman and Willie Dar.

This will be our last quarterly e-newsletter message as Chairs of the Committee of Board Chairs and the Alliance Executive. We thank you all for your support for and partnerships with the Centers and wish the CGIAR and all of you a highly successful 2006.

Highlighted below are the key events that the Centers are helping to organize during AGM05. We look forward to seeing many of you in Marrakech and we thank our Moroccan hosts for their warm hospitality.

Centers and Members Day, 5 December 2005

Centers and Members Day is becoming the traditional first day of the CGIAR Annual General Meetings. The opening session will be presided over by Ian Johnson, CGIAR Chair, who will welcome all to AGM on behalf of the CGIAR members. This year, we have designed the opening plenary session to showcase the overall achievements of the Centers, featuring a presentation by the outgoing Alliance Executive Chair, William D. Dar, on the major milestones for 2004-05, and another by the incoming Alliance Executive Chair, Joachim Voss, on the expectations for 2006-07.

Following the plenary, two blocks of parallel sessions in smaller rooms will create the opportunity for lively dialogues among attendees, featuring topics on which Centers and members have important collaborations. The 16 topics in all range from the very specific, such as the global initiative to safeguard the world’s wheat harvest from stem rust and the launch of CGXchange – the CGIAR intranet, to the more general, such as water use efficiency, and the development of the CGIAR Medium Term Plans for east and southern Africa and west and central Africa. Attendees will have much to choose from.

The afternoon of December 5 th will be given over to bilateral meetings between Members and Centers directly, held in the open exhibition area of the AGM venue. This will be followed by the official opening of AGM05 by His Excellency Driss Jettou and the CGIAR Chairman, Ian Johnson.

 Many Other Side Events to Keep You Well Informed

 Starting from Sunday, December 4th, a great range of side events, organized by the Centers and partners, cater to fulfilling your information needs. Here is just a sample. Please look at the full list in the Schedule of Events

Update on the Central Advisory Service on Intellectual Property (4 December -12:30-14:30)

 This unit of the CGIAR System Office will update you on its growing work serving the Centers needs for intellectual property advice in the increasingly globalized and commercial world of agricultural research for development.

Seminar to Honour Professor Adel El-Beltagy and the late Dr Robert Havener (4 December -16:00-18:00)

 This 2 hour event will recognize the contributions to the CGIAR by Professor El-Beltagy, the Director General of ICARDA from 1995 until May 2006, and the late Dr Havener who played many roles in the CGIAR and related agricultural development agencies from near the inception of the CGIAR until his death in August 2005.

The Future of Natural Resource Management and Policy Research in the CGIAR (4 December - 18:00-20:00)

 Sponsored by SIDA, this dinner and event also creates the opportunity for attendees to hear from David Kaimowitz, Director General of CIFOR, an eminent and respected voice in natural resource management and policy research fields.

Generation Challenge Program Luncheon (6 December - 13:00-14:30)

 Come and learn the latest developments in this cutting edge genetics program.

Global Open Food and Agriculture University Luncheon (6 December - 13:00-14:30)

 As technology opens up real opportunities for distance education to deliver on food and agriculture, the CGIAR is seizing the initiative to partner with education institutions all over the world to further utilize the knowledge of the Centers.

Desert Margin Center for Sub Saharan Africa Luncheon (6 December - 13:00-14:30)

 Learn what the Centers are doing to help farmers and their environment at the desert margins cope with their challenging farming world.

CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program: Sharing Results with Investors, Centers and Partners Luncheon (6 December - 13:00-14:30)

 Always a lively and thought provoking presentation, the annual report of the G&D Program’s achievements and insights will appeal to an every-widening group of stakeholders as the Program reaches out to more and more Centers’ staff and partners.

CIMMYT Reception (December 8 – 18:30-20:00)

 CIMMYT presents an update to its stakeholders on ongoing reforms and progress within the Center.

This e-news has been prepared by the Future Harvest Alliance Office, a unit of the CGIAR System Office