Director General’s Report on CIRDAP Activities

(June 2007 – April 2008) 

1.      It is my pleasure to welcome the Distinguished Members of the Twenty Fourth Technical Committee (TC-24) and observers from several organizations in this beautiful city of Kathmandu, Nepal.  This meeting is important, as it is being held just before the special GC meetings and the Ministerial Retreat to be held in New Delhi, India from 24 – 26 June 2008.    

2.      It is my duty to convey on behalf of all of you, our appreciation for the outgoing Chairperson of TC-23 of Thailand for his excellent support. I also would like to thank the Government of Nepal for holding TC-24 meeting and making all necessary arrangements. 

3.      As you know, this is going to be the most important year in the history of CIRDAP, as we are contemplating some of the far reaching activities. The Special GC in New Delhi will select the new leadership of CIRDAP for the period of 2008-12 periods. The CIRDAP Evaluation Committee (CEC), constituted by EC-15/GC-16 in Manila, will start its work later this year. Prior to the evaluation, the RD policies and strategies in CMCs are being reviewed to identify the context of CIRDAP. All these activities will set the background for the Second Ministerial Meeting in 2009, which will provide new direction and political support to CIRDAP. Therefore, as the professional think-tank of CIRDAP you are requested to give us technical advice on several agenda items to make these events more purposeful and far reaching.  

4.      On the programme side of the divisions at CIRDAP, several new initiatives are underway. The new initiative for identifying useful areas, to attract collaborative partners for funding and logistic support, has been one of many important concerns, as mentioned in the strategic framework document of CIRDAP endorsed by EC and GC. Let me highlight some of the activities performed during the year under different divisions: 

5.      Research Division

5.1 The RDR 2007 is completed and presented during the Regional Policy Dialogue held on 30th May 2007 at Manila. As per the suggestion of TC 23, RDR 2009 will be prepared on Changing Livelihoods……

5.2  The report of the second Regional Policy Dialogue on “Agrarian Reform and Rural Development “was circulated to all CMCs.  It has been well received. The Government of Malaysia has agreed to hold the Third Policy Dialogue on “Success of Malaysia” in January 2009. We are identifying the paper writers for the preparation of technical papers.  

6. Training Division 

The main focus of training Division is to promote regional cooperation through capacity building of IRD functionaries. Several activities were held under training division with the cooperation of our link institutions in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Nepal, etc. Major activities include: 

6.1    CIRDAP’s Training Division had conducted regional and country-level training programmes during the reporting period on themes such as:  Good Governance/Local Governance; Participatory Project Planning, M & E; GIS and ICT Applications for RD; Participatory Community Development; Watershed Management; Micro-Finance; Women Empowerment; Small & Medium Enterprise Development; Poverty Alleviation, etc.

6.2    CIRDAP and NAM CSSTC have agreed to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for further two years. In the past three years several training workshops have been arranged. Recently, a Training Workshop on Renewable Energy was organized in Bali, Indonesia from 24 Feb. – March 1 2008. In this regard, I would also like to convey our sincere thanks to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Government of Indonesia, for mentioning CIRDAP – NAM linkage as an effort in promoting South-South cooperation and capacity building programmes, in his statements in several Ministerial meetings at the United Nations. 

6.3    CIRDAP in collaboration with the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), organized several collaborative training and workshop which were attended by senior level policy makers from CMCs. It is but proper to once again acknowledge the support of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India and its institution (NIRD at   Hyderabad) for supporting the regional training programs.  

6.4    Similarly, exposure visit program is getting more popular in CMCs. Two exposure visits to Bangladesh from India and Nepal were organized to study the micro-credit programs and micro-enterprises. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has shown interest to arrange exposure visit program through CIRDAP on several areas.  

7.      Pilot Project Division

7.1 The Pilot Project Division [PPD] has just completed the IFAD funded project to, “Strengthen Capacities of the Organizations of the Poor” [SCOPE].

7.2 In association with CIRDAP’s IRD Expert, a project for coordination of good practices of four selected IRD projects in Bangladesh has been taken up from March, 2007.   

8.       Information and Communication Division       

8.1       Through the IC Division, CIRDAP is getting connected than ever before not only to its CMCs but to the different development partners. The website, http://www.cirdap.org.sg is being maintained and upgraded. The hits of the CIRDAP webpage have considerably gone up in numbers and coverage in the recent times.

8.2      The ICD collates, disseminates, and manages different types of relevant   rural development and poverty alleviation data and information generated within the divisions of the Centre, its link institutions, contact ministries and
other relevant institutions. These are shared through CIRDAP publications, periodicals, reports, books, booklets, bulletins, brochures, audio-visuals including library and ICT-based resources [electronic media]. CIRDAP Member Countries appreciated the release of CIRDAP E-bulletin and introduction of on-line newspaper clippings from the CMCs. A new CIRDAP video documentary was also produced and used during conferences.  

8.3       CIRDAP is trying to improve its IT base at Headquarters in order to render a better service to its member countries. During the last three years, the professional capability of CIRDAP Headquarters was upgraded with 30 computers, 2 laptops, 16 dot matrix printer, 9 laser printers and 2 scanners. One Internet Gateway Server is running to serve the Internet Service. The Local Area Network (LAN) system connects all computers through structured cabling with 25 nodes. Almost all the users now have access to the core facilities e.g. Internet browsing, e-mail, web mail, e-learning, web discussion, and e-journal. CIRDAP website has been reorganised and several new features, for example CMC Census and Statistics, Central Bank database, PRSP plan documents, newspaper clipping accesses, training opportunities etc. have been introduced. CIRDAP website is continuously updated with information, events and opportunities. 

8.4 The Asia-Pacific Journal of Rural Development (APJORD) gained a new stature internationally. With popular international academic websites such as CAB International, Oxford, UK and EBSCO Publishing, USA uploading full text on their websites, the number of good quality articles received from Asia and Africa has increased more than tenfold.  The library internship programme under the ICD, is revived to provide access to work with ICD for short period. 

8.5 The Division has been involved in publishing reports, news letters/journals, offering training courses on information technology, organizing audio-visual documentation and providing library and information services. ICD regularly disseminates information on research, action research, pilot projects, and training activities of CIRDAP via print, audio-visual and electronic media. Also, regional and cross-country data are generated through regular and periodic publications, and other information services like library and online services are provided.

9.  SOCSEA 

9.1.  The Sub-Regional Office, which was established in 1997 to link CIRDAP with East Asian and Pacific countries and generate resources and knowledge of rural development and poverty alleviation from successful experiences of South-East Asian Countries for the benefit of CMCs, has been centre-staged over the past two years. It has played a key role in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation between the Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation (NAM-CSSTC) and implementing various regional programmes and projects.

10  In House Planning 

10.1 Planning and Resource Mobilization Unit (PMRU) was created   in 1996 with an objective to convene, organize and coordinate policy body meetings, planning  the activities and monitoring CIRDAP’s ongoing work. The Unit is providing required professional support as envisioned. 

10.2    CIRDAP In-House Annual Review and Planning Seminar (CIARPS) was long forgotten at CIRDAP which was revived to evaluate and reflect on the past work program and set a new work plan for the next year. The 2007 CIARPS Report was circulated to CMCs, and 2008 meeting has provided the materials for finalizing future vision of CIRDAP. 

11 Other activities                

11.1   Keeping in view the new vision of CIRDAP, the Government of Bangladesh has provided the financial support (about US$ 2.3 Million) for the construction of the International Conference Centre in CIRDAP Campus. The construction work has already started, which is expected to be completed by 2009. The International Conference Centre will be the venue of the Second Ministerial Meeting in 2009 to be held at Dhaka. The Government of Bangladesh will host the meeting while the funding support will be provided by the Government of Japan.  All countries listed in Annex 1 of CIRDAP Agreement as well as the international donors who have taken interest in CIRDAP activities will be invited the meeting.  

11.2 As mentioned earlier, the EC-25/GC-16 constituted an Evaluation Team consisting of - Iran from West Asia, India from South Asia, and Malaysia from South East Asia, was constituted. It was also decided to request FAO, IFAD ,Government of Japan to second one expert each as a member. A senior professional of CIRDAP will also work as a member of the team. We are hoping that the CEC will provide us guidelines for organizational development, networking and resource generation, among others.    

11.3  The Government of India will be hosting the Special GC meeting and Ministerial retreat from 24-26 June, 2008. The Special GC will select the new leadership of CIRDAP for the period of 2008 -2012 and approve all arrangements for organizing the Ministerial Meeting in 2009. On the other hand, the Ministerial Retreat will focus on application of IT in rural development, land administration, tele-medicine, primary education, that would ultimately lead to good governance. It is thus most appropriate and timely for the policy making bodies (secretaries/Ministers) of CIRDAP to sit in a retreat, hear the experts, discuss policy issues, visit sites and come up with a statement towards sharing of knowledge and enhancing regional cooperation between CIRDAP member countries.

11.4  Finally, several recent reports of CMCs as well as international agencies show a dismal picture in the areas of food security, employment generation, poverty alleviation and sustainable environmental management. Needless to say that rural poor are suffering the most. In this scenario, the role of CIRDAP is very important to assist national action, promote regional cooperation and provide services to rural development, in the countries of Asia-Pacific region. With all your advice and support, I am confident that, CIRDAP can make a meaningful contribution to achieve its mission. 

Thank you very much.