2008 General Assembly Resolutions

 

7 resolutions and 5 votes of thanks

Dr. Joel Beassem, Coordinator of the Regional Food Security Programme of the Economic Community of Central Africa States (ECCAS), presided over the Eighth General Assembly which covered the following issues: adoption of the report of the Governing Board, adoption of the activity reports, adoption of revised statutes, renewal of membership of the Board of Directors, election of the Chairman of the Governing Board, and the selection of venue for the Ninth General Assembly.
Thirteen out of the 21 representatives of the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) were present. With the quorum formed, the Assembly, in accordance with the statutes, could begin deliberations legitimately. At the end of the deliberations it came out with seven resolutions, adopted five motions and recorded two statements from the scientific and technical as well as the development partners.

Resolutions
The first four resolutions related to the adoption of the report of the Governing Board, adoption of the activity report, recording of Liberia’s request for membership (and the recommendation made by the Executive Secretariat to deal with this request) and the adoption of the revised statutes in order to adapt them to the Strategic Plan for 2007-2016 and the Operational Plan for 2008-2013.
Resolution 4 highlighted the recommendation made to the Executive Secretariat to incorporate all the changes and to get them revised by an expert specialist, while seeing to it that there is coherence between the English and French versions of the statutes.
The renewal of the membership of the Governing Board was the topic for Resolution 5. The outgoing members -- Dr. Gregoire Bani from Congo, Mrs. Gisele d’Almeida, representing the private sector and Prof. Owusu-Bennoah, former Chairman of the Board of Directors -- were replaced by new members.
Resolution 6 was devoted to the election of the new Chairman of the Governing Board and a new Vice Chairman. The General Assembly approved the Board’s proposal to elect Dr. Simon Zok from Cameroon as the new Board Chairman and Prof. Yusuf Abubaka, Executive Secretary of the ARCN in Nigeria as Vice Chairman.
Finally, under Resolution 7, Benin was selected to host the Ninth General Assembly in 2010.

 

VOTE OF THANKS

The General Assembly presented five votes of thanks. The first was addressed to the former members of the Governing Board. With regard to the progress made by the Institution in the past two years -- especially the increased visibility of CORAF/WECARD in the sub-region and internationally -- and for the diversification of its partnerships particularly with development partners -- congratulatory messages were sent out to Prof. Emmanuel Owusu-Bennoah, (outgoing Board Chairman), Dr. Gregoire Bani (outgoing Vice Chairman) and Mrs Gisele d’Almeida (outgoing Board member) for the efforts and successes recorded throughout their terms of office.
The second vote of thanks was addressed to the scientific and technical partners, as well as the development partners for their support to CORAF/WECARD, notably through the preparation and implementation of the Strategic and Operational Plans, and also for the level of mobilisation of the financial resources needed for the execution of the plans. The partners were thus congratulated for their financial support and their involvement in the implementation of the new programmes.
The third vote of thanks congratulated the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) for their excellent partnership which has improved the recognition of CORAF/WECARD, through support in advocacy for resource mobilisation and for the institution’s new programmes.
The fourth vote of thanks, addressed to the Agricultural Research and Development Institute, CIRAD of Cameroon, congratulated the Director-General of IRAD, his collaborators and the entire National Agricultural Research System of Cameroon for the excellent organization of the 1st West & Central African Agricultural Science Week and the Eighth General Assembly of CORAF/WECARD.
Finally, a special vote of thanks, the fifth, was addressed to the Government and people of Cameroon. The General Assembly expressed its sincere gratitude to His Excellency Mr. Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon, to Mrs Madeleine Tchuinte, Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, the entire Government and people of Cameroon for their hospitality and the assistance they gave throughout the period of the occasion. At the end of the General Assembly, the Development Partners as well as the Scientific and Technical Partners, in turns, presented their statements.

STATEMENT BY THE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

The Development Partners expressed their satisfaction with the progress made by CORAF/WECARD during the past two years, especially in its administration and the transparency in its financial management; it appreciates the work done by the governing bodies of CORAF/WECARD; draws the attention of CORAF/WECARD to the need to carry out the appropriate institutional changes to increase its management capacity, a necessary condition for the smooth execution of its Operational Plan; encourages CORAF/WECARD to get involved in organizing national roundtable meetings for a greater ownership of CAADP and for more coherence in its application; reiterates their willingness to maintain their partnership with CORAF/WECARD.

STATEMENT BY THE SCIENTIFIC PARTNERS

The Scientific and Technical Partners expressed their satisfaction with the dynamic progress made by CORAF/WECARD in the past two years thanks to its participatory approach; it praised the involvement at higher levels of the Regional Economic Communities, as well as the good governance and the diversity of the Technical and Development Partners; it congratulated and thanked CORAF/WECARD for accepting to open up the membership of its Governing Board to all stakeholders and for the position given them in this body; recommended that it carries out the necessary institutional reforms to improve its management and to strengthen its partnerships with the universities or faculties of agriculture; encouraged CORAF/WECARD to redouble its efforts to strengthen the NARS by helping them notably to mobilise additional resources; renewed their desire to continue the cooperation with CORAF/WECARD and its stakeholders for the implementation of its Operational Plan.