I am honored to deliver this statement on behalf of the Nordic Countries: Norway, Iceland and EU members Denmark, Finland and Sweden, who align with the EU statement.
We appreciate the revision of the Strategic Framework 2022-31 and the conclusions in the reports of the Committees.
FAO’s mission remains crucial, given the increase in hunger, food insecurity and undernutrition. Our response must be multifaceted. Active multilateralism and strengthened institutional capacity must be integral parts of the solution.
We expect FAO to continue its normative work and enhance its role as a center of excellence within the areas of its mandate. This includes advising and supporting its members on best practices on policy and capacity building, and providing standards setting, data and statistics. We emphasize the need to maintain and improve this work, and the funding for it.
We welcome that the Framework incorporates an updated analysis of the global context and challenges. We emphasize the need to provide an analysis anchored in the 2030 Agenda, providing status on all areas within FAOs mandate, including nutrition, natural resources and biodiversity, and underline the importance of a rules-based global trade with WTO at its core.
The Framework confirms FAOs key strength as a global knowledge organization. We note that the PPAs cover many thematic areas but lack concrete information about what FAO hopes to accomplish in each of them.
We recognize the improvements done in results reporting, but more is needed. The two indicators per PPA – (i) number of countries supported and (ii) proportion of stakeholders that is satisfied – are quite weak.
For FAO to track concrete efforts, the overall logic of the framework should be enhanced, by introducing a corporate theory of change that links what FAO does with the results it hopes to achieve at different levels. Many of the elements are already present in the Strategic and Results Framework, but they need to be coherently connected.
With the current results framework, it is also difficult to understand which activities are well funded, and where there are funding gaps. A results framework with clear baselines and defined targets will enable FAO to measure its interventions and efficiency. We look forward to continued work on this, noting that a strengthened results-based management framework in line with UN best practice is also necessary for FAO to attract more voluntary and flexible contributions and move to a more programmatic approach.
FAO has received high levels of voluntary funds in the last biennium, given the important needs under FAOs mandate, but from what we have seen this trend could be changing with several big donors decreasing their ODA.
The Nordic countries underline the importance for FAO to have a continuous and systematic method of risk-analysis so that the organization can monitor and evaluate over time how this impacts the strategic framework and the PWB. We encourage FAO to keep members informed and involved in an inclusive and transparent way.
Finally, for a knowledge organization like FAO its staff is essential to deliver the best possible result. We expect FAO to provide an ethical, safe and inspiring work environment for its management and staff at all levels. There is a need for improvements in implementing an HR policy to improve the work environment and ensure compliance with the quantitative and qualitative performance indicators, for instance on recruitment. In this context we encourage Management to work closely and respectfully with its staff to implement the HR Strategy and Action plan across the organization, making sure that there is a wide support to and commitment from leaders and staff at all levels.
Thank you.