International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD)
New challenges and opportunities for revitalizing rural communities
Steering Committee Meeting
Friday 30 September 10:30
FAO Room B-540

Chairman’s Record of the Meeting

Attendance:
Host Country representatives:
H.E. Flávio Perri, Ambassador to FAO, Permanent Representative of Brazil to FAO
Mr. Aurimar Nuñes, Permanent Representation of Brazil to FAO

Regional Representatives:
Africa :
Mr. Yasser Abdel Rahman Sorour, Alternate Permanent Representative of Egypt to FAO
LAC:
Mr. Sergio Insunza Becker, Deputy Permanent Representative of Chile to FAO
Mrs. Ileana Rivera, Deputy Permanent Representative of Guatemala to FAO
Asia:Mr. Noel D. De Luna, Chairman of the Steering Committee, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of the PhilippinesEuropean Union: Mrs. Soline de Villard, Alternate Permanent Representative of the Delegation of the European Commission to FAONear East:H.E. Akram H. Al-Jaff, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Iraq to FAOMr. Fathi Abu Abed, League of Arab StatesNorth America: Mr. Richard Newberg, Alternate Permanent Representative of the United States Mission to FAO.FAO-ICARRD Executive Secretariat:Parviz Koohafkan, Director, SDA,

Executive Secretary of the ICARRD Secretariat: Thomas Price, Senior Programme Officer, Civil Society Cooperation, TCDS; S. Ring, Senior Coordination Officer, OCDC; Denis Fadda, Chief, GICO; Stephen Dowd, Conference Council and Liaison Officer, GICO; German Rojas, Senior Officer, GIIM; Jeffrey Hatcher, TCEO; Paul Mathieu, Senior Officer, SDAA; Paolo Groppo, Land Tenure System Analysis Officer, SDAA; Christian Mazzei, SDAA; Catherine Gaury, Secretary, SDAD.

1 Introductions and welcome

a) The Executive Secretary welcomed the delegates, gave a short background summary of ICARRD progress and asked for the adoption of the agenda;
b) Agenda was adopted and the members of the Steering Committee elected M. Noel D. De Luna, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Philippines as the Chairman of Steering Committee;
c) The election of Vice-chairperson of Steering Committee was postponed until the next meeting;
d) It was agreed that the Chairman of the Steering Committee will be responsible for preparing and circulating a summary record of future Steering Committee meetings with assistance of Executive Secretary.

2 Progress and activities on technical, administrative and financial matters

a) Results of contacts with Civil Society Organizations (CSO):
a. The Executive Secretariat held a meeting with the International Planning Committee and Action Aid International where the CSOs expressed an interest to write an Issue Paper on Food Sovereignty and Access to Resources;
b. The Executive Secretariat is consulting many types of FAO accredited CSOs including universities, international institutions; CSOs will have observer status and will not be eligible to vote in ICARRD, agreed;
c. The Executive Secretariat will prepare a paper outlining the role and position of Civil Society in ICARRD, agreed;
d. The Executive Secretariat will circulate the list of names of people and CSOs being consulted for the preparation of ICARRD, agreed.

b) Issue papers and Case Studies: - (for clarification – Papers will be FAO papers, not Steering Committee papers.)
a. The authors of Issue Paper 4 “Agrarian Reform, Social Justice and Sustainable Development” have not been selected, and Brazil asked for more time to choose the candidates;
b. The list of possible Case Studies was read and distributed to the Steering Committee;
c. The Executive Secretariat informed the Steering Committee that ActionAid International has agreed to write and finance several Case Studies;
d. USA asked for more time to review the Terms of Reference for the Issue Papers and Case Studies. It made a self imposed deadline for submission of comments.
e. The Members of the Steering Committee will send their comments on the Issue Papers as soon as possible, agreed.

c) Communications with the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD):
a. IFAD offered $200 000 towards ICARRD and is interested in participating in the Steering Committee and in the Conference. The Steering Committee welcomes the participation of IFAD in ICARRD;
b. Participation of IFAD in the meetings of the Steering Committee is accepted, with the status of an observer. A non-voting representative of IFAD will be invited to the next Steering Committee meeting, agreed.

d) Rules of Procedure
a. ICARRD will develop its own Rules of Procedure, agreed;
b. Draft Rules of Procedure based on the WCARRD Rules (circulated prior to the Steering Committee meeting) was discussed. Executive Secretary requested more time to submit a more elaborate draft in the next SC;
c. A credentials committee could be created for the Conference, particularly if the Conference results in a declaration, agreed;
d. The issue of having a Rapporteur or Drafting Committee was discussed and decision was differed to next meeting.

e) Special session on ICARRD at the FAO Conference and Side event:
a. The Executive Secretariat informed the Steering Committee that the FAO Conference will hold a special event on Gender Equality and access to production factors (land, water and other rural resources). During this session ICARRD will be also presented.

3 Decisions to be taken on technical matters

a) The Steering Committee will serve as the Editorial Committee for Issue Papers and Case Studies, agreed.

b) Conference Logo and Website:
a. The logo of the Conference and the Webpage design were approved;
b. Brazil encouraged ICARRD website to be open as possible and to include information on progress of the organization of the Conference;
c. The Logo text will be available in all FAO languages including Chinese and Arabic, agreed;
d. The Executive Secretariat confirmed that the Website could be online within the next two weeks.

c) Letters of invitation:
a. The letter of invitation should be prepared as soon as possible for Steering Committee consideration and approval;
b. The letter of invitation should include an annex detailing the rules of participation for NGOs at the Conference;
c. A flyer promoting the Conference should be distributed at the upcoming FAO Conference, agreed;
d. The participation in the Conference should be open to all States recognized by the United Nations as a Sovereign State, agreed;
e. The letter of invitation should include an annex on Credentials, agreed;
f. All of the information present in the letter of invitation should be present on the Conference Website, agreed.

4 Any other business

a) Eminent guest speakers at ICARRD:
a. The Steering Committee will decide on the number of eminent speakers. The Secretariat proposes a minimum of 3 to 5 names;
b. A list of potential candidates should be provided to the Steering Committee for comments.

b) The next Steering Committee Meeting will be held within one month.