Posted June 2001

Country Thematic Groups

The key objective of the ACC Network affliated Committee is to co-ordinate donor activities on agriculture, food security and rural development. It was created to facilitate the exchange of information and to support donor collaboration on policy and operational issues. At the same time, in keeping with the decisions made at World Food Summit (WFS), the Committee acts as a country Thematic Group to support government efforts in WFS follow-up.

The Committee is now establishing a Secretariat to act as a clearing house for the exchange of information on activities, studies, and missions, as well as to provide a forum for development of ideas, and policy initiatives so as to reduce duplication and enable stronger donor cohesion in interventions.

The Secretariat will set up an information exchange on two levels. The first level will focus on programmes and current events and take the form of a bulletin to be prepared and sent by e-mail on a regular basis. It is to include data on: current and planned events; timing and objectives of agency missions; mission outcomes; global/local emerging issues, and follow-up; and inventory of concerns, new issues. The second level is to establish an electronic database containing information related to on-going programme objectives, activities, approaches, duration and budget. It will also include abstracts of consulting contracts and a bibliography of projects/studies that are current or have been completed by the various agencies over the past years.

The Secretariat is also to provide the necessary secretarial/organizational support to the Committee. Included in this function would be a pro-active following up of activities, plans and common actions by the Committee and its sub-committees in order to ensure progress, and to draft letters and short research notes as requested.

For further information, contact: FAO-MWI@field.fao.org