FAO: the challenge of renewal - report of the Independent External Evaluation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

This report presents the conclusions and recommendations of the first-ever independent external evaluation (IEE) of FAO in its sixty-year history. Although the evaluation looks at the evolution of FAO over six decades, it focuses mainly on the period 1990 to the present. The evaluation argues that while the services of the FAO are essential there is an urgent need for vast reform. <br /><br />The evaluation covers for main areas: the FAO&rsquo;s role in the multilateral system the FAO&rsquo;s technical work the FAO&rsquo;s management, administration and organisation, including planning, programming and budget, administrative and financial systems and organisational culture and structure global governance of food and agriculture and governance of the work of the FAO <br />Secretariat The report&nbsp;&nbsp;finds that the FAO is in a serious state of crisis which imperils the future of the organisation. This crisis is due mainly to low levels of trust and mutual understanding between Member Nations themselves and between some Member Nations and the Secretariat . The report&nbsp;argues that,&nbsp;in order to remain relevant to the needs of its Members and to fulfill its mandate,&nbsp; the&nbsp;FAO will need to make major and sweeping reforms.Key findings and recommendations&nbsp;include: FAO must become a more flexible organisation while continuing to be a responsible manager of public funds <br /> as a knowledge organisation, FAO should support Members in ensuring that the needs of the world in its area of mandate are fully met <br /> FAO must strengthen its global governance role, as a convener, a facilitator and a source of reference for global policy coherence and in the development of global codes, conventions and agreements <br /> FAO governance has not ensured an adequate corporate strategy with realistic priorities, has not assured that means are aligned with ends and has not been measuring the Secretariat&rsquo;s performance against agreed goals <br /> FAO's&nbsp;staff are stifled by the fragmented structures of FAO and rigidly centralised management systems <br /> there is a widespread thirst and readiness within FAO for major and fundamental change, but an almost equal cynicism about whether senior management and the Governing Bodies can make this happen <br />