Assessment of progress and strategic direction Read the final report:  Conference Report Platform General Meeting 2006, Brussels
Short summary (with audio files and presentations to download) NOTE: Want to download the complete 'Annual General Meeting' audio files?
 Download (202MB file) On April 26 – 28, 2006, our Annual General Meeting was jointly held with the Directorate General for Development of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. The event counted over 60 participants constituting 25 multi- and bilateral donor institutions, development research think tanks and government and donor representatives from the Platform’s four pilot countries. The participants therefore “represented” about 80% of the ODA for rural development and agriculture. The event focused on assessing the progress, discussing the strategic direction and jointly setting the agenda of the Platform’s future activities. The overall spirit was very positive and engaging — the opportunity to exchange point of views and experiences with main decision makers of the global rural development sector and with country level representatives was seen as a cornerstone in the efforts of harmonisation and alignment for increased aid effectiveness in rural development. Mr Bernard Petit, Director of Directorate B “Development Policy and Sectoral Issues” of the Directorate General for Development of the European Commission, opened the event on April 26 with a speech outlining the EC's steps to improve development cooperation through better coordination and harmonisation. Mr Petit emphasised that rural development remains a priority for development assistance for the European Commission. - Welcome Words and Opening Speech of the Annual General Meeting 2006 in Brussels.
Welcome Words by the Platform Co-Chair Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ) and Opening Speech by Bernard Petit (Director of Directorate B ‘Development Policy and Sectoral Issues’ of the Directorate General for Development of the European Commission).
17:30 min (Speeches in English and French),  Audio file 1 of 22, mono The morning of April 26 was focused on informing all participants about: - the four pilot countries' context of Harmonisation & Alignment (H&A), the main achievements and lessons learnt so far, the role of Platform activities and the future challenges and recommended activities regarding the Platform’s in-country facilitation of H&A efforts, and
- the status of two important Platform products.
Country presentations
- Introduction to the Country Presentations of Cambodia, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Nicaragua by the two Platform Chairs Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ) and Michael Wales (FAO).
6:37 min, Audio file 2 of 22, mono Nicaragua:  Presentation by Mr Rogerio Cuadra, Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MAGFOR), representing the Government side of the Sector Round Table for Rural Development (also available in Spanish)- Presentation by Ms María Antonia Zelaya (SDC), representing the donor side of the Sector Round Table for Rural Development (also available in Spanish)
- Presentations of the Nicaraguan Delegation by Rogerio Cuadra (Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Nicaragua), Maria Antonia Zelaya (SDC, Nicaragua) and Richard Anson (External Facilitator, Nicaragua).
32:37 min (Speeches in English and Spanish), Audio file 6 of 22, mono Burkina Faso: - Presentation (in English) by Mr André Moïse Traoré-Nignan, Permanent Secretariat for the Coordination of Agricultural Sector Policies (SP/CPSA), representing the Government side of the Sector Round Table for Rural Development (also available in French)
- Presentation (in English) by Ms Andrea Bahm (GTZ), representing the donor side of the Sector Round Table for Rural Development (also available in French)
- Presentations of the Burkina Faso Delegation by André Moïse Traoré-Nignan (Permanent Secretariat for the Coordination of Agricultural Sector Policies, Burkina Faso) and Andrea Bahm (GTZ, Burkina Faso).
23:20 min (Speeches in English and French), Audio file 4 of 22, mono Cambodia: - Presentation by Mr Sar Sovann, Director of the Land Management and Administration Project, representing the Government side of the Technical Working Group on Land
- Presentation of the Cambodian Delegation by Sar Sovann with comments from Franz-Volker Müller (GTZ, Cambodia) and Steven Schonberger (World Bank).
16:36 min, Audio file 3 of 22, mono Tanzania:
- Summary of the Four Country Presentations by Richard Anson (External Facilitator Nicaragua).
2:00 min, Audio file 7 of 22, mono Status of upcoming Platform products SWAps for Agriculture and Rural Development - Presentation by Ms Alison Evans (IDS) and Mr Dan Vadnjal (FAO)
- Global SWAp Analysis — Presentation by Dan Vadnjal (FAO), Alison Evans (ODI) and comments by Michael Wales (FAO).
26:10 min, Audio file 8 of 22, mono - Global SWAp Analysis — Discussion with contributions from Dan Vadnjal (FAO), Alison Evans ((ODI), Christian Mersmann (UNCCD-GM), Steven Schonberger (World Bank), Willi Graf (SDC), Norman Messer (IFAD), Jan Vlaar (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs)…
17:25 min, Audio file 9 of 22, mono The Rural Focus of PRSPs - Presentation by Mr Cheikh Sourang (IFAD)
- Rural Focus of PRSPs — Presentation by Cheickh Sourang (IFAD) and comments by Brian Baldwin (IFAD) and Sonja Bartelt (Platform Secretariat).
20:35 min, Audio file 10 of 22, mono - Rural Focus of PRSPs — Discussion with Cheickh Sourang (IFAD), Christian Henckes (World Bank), Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ), Guy Evers (FAO), Sunhilt Schumacher (OECD)...
15:46 min, Audio file 11 of 22, mono Working Groups on Platform pillars The afternoon of April 26 continued with working groups focusing on the assessment of the three Platform pillars “Advocacy”, “Shared Learning” and “In-Country Facilitation”. Only the proceedings of the Working Group on "In-Country Facilitation" were recorded: - Working Group 3 on Improving the Platform's In-country Facilitation Services – Introduction
24:15 min. (contributions in English and Spanish), Audio file 12 of 22, mono - Working Group 3 on Improving the Platform's In-country Facilitation Services – Burkina Faso and Cambodia
56:45 min. (some contributions in Spanish or French), Audio file 13 of 22, mono - Working Group 3 on Improving the Platform's In-country Facilitation Services – Nicaragua and Tanzania
56:44 min. (some contributions in Spanish), Audio file 14 of 22, mono moderated by Christian Henckes (World Bank) with contributions from Rogerio Cuadra (Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Nicaragua), Guy Evers (FAO), Steven Schonberger (World Bank), Odd Arnesen (NORAD), Richard Anson (External Facilitator, Nicaragua), Maria Antonia Zelaya (SDC Nicaragua), Manfred van Eckert (GTZ), Klaus Talvela (External Facilitator, Cambodia)...
To view or listen the results of the working groups, which were presented the same day, please click on the following links: - Results of working group on “Advocacy”
- Working Group 1 Results on Advocacy moderated by Catherine Hill with Michael Wales (FAO), Philip Mikos (EC-DG DEV), Jan Vlaar (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Daniel Asplund (SIDA) and Willi Graf (SDC).
16:14 min, Audio file 15 of 22, mono - Results of working group on “Shared Learning”
- Working Group 2 Results on Shared Learning moderated by Catherine Hill with contributions from Jan Vlaar (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Jim Harvey (DFID), Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ), Willi Graf (SDC), Mushtaq Ahmed (CIDA)…
33:47 min, Audio file 16 of 22, mono  Results of working group on “In-Country Facilitation”- Working Group 3 Results on Improving In-Country Facilitation moderated by Catherine Hill with contributions from Daniel Asplund (SIDA), Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ), Jan Vlaar (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Laura Garagnani (EC-DG DEV), Maria Antonia Zelaya (SDC Nicaragua)…
30:49 min, Audio file 17 of 22, mono On Thursday, April 27 the meeting continued with: - Platform Progress Report
- Progress Report 2005 presented by Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ) with contributions from Michael Wales (FAO), Odd Arnesen (NORAD), Nils Meyer (KfW), Shenggen Fan (IFPRI), Hanne Carus (DANIDA), Sunhilt Schumacher (OECD)…
45:05 min, Audio file 18 of 22, mono and the general meeting of the Platform. The meeting focused on the strategic direction of Platform activities to endorse into over 2006 and 2007 and the criteria for new cooperations. - Identifying Further Platform Activities moderated by Michael Wales (FAO) with contributions from Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ), Jan Vlaar (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Susan Thompson (USAID), Laura Garagnani (EC-DG DEV), Willi Graf (SDC) and Jim Harvey (DFID).
25:42 min, Audio file 19 of 22, mono - Criteria for New Cooperation with contributions from Andrew Kidd (DFID), Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ), Florence van Houtte (EC), Christian Henckes (World Bank), Guy Evers (FAO), Michael Wales (FAO), Manfred van Eckert (GTZ), Mushtaq Ahmed (CIDA)…
50:12 min, Audio file 20 of 22, mono The afternoon session of Thursday and the morning session of Friday, April 28, continued with a workshop on establishing a Joint Donor Rural Concept, which will be a product of the Platform’s work programme and is to become a foundation of all future Platform advocacy and policymaking in rural development. It will contribute to the establishment of a common basis on which individual donor rural strategies can be built in the future. - Workshop on Joint Donor Rural Concept moderated by Catherine Hill with contributions from Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ), Willi Graf (SDC), Christian Henckes (World Bank), Jan Vlaar (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Susan Thompson (USAID), Jim Harvey (DFID), Daniel Asplund (SIDA)…
54:57 min, Audio file 22 of 22, mono
- Closing words by Michael Wales (FAO), Christoph Kohlmeyer (BMZ), Sonja Bartelt (Platform Secretariat), Laura Garagnani (EC-DG DEV).
4:00 min, Audio file 21 of 22, mono
On Thursday evening, the Platform organised a joint session with the AgriBusiness Forum 2006, which took place at the same time in Brussels as the Platform’s Annual Meeting. Taking up this excellent opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences with the private sector and PPP initiatives committed to the same goal, the event focused on “How to render PPP more efficient and increase investment to fight poverty in rural areas”. The Platform members welcomed this opportunity to gain an insight into the work area of the private sector and intend to organise a follow-up. Overall, the Annual General Meeting 2006 was a great success in terms of consolidating and reaffirming the work priorities of the Platform. Although just 1½ years active, the Platform has been able to establish a work programme which supports its members in its efforts to fight poverty in rural areas and offers great potential to intensify its service to its members. Increased communication and exploring possibilities for more collaboration with regional initiatives dedicated to the same goal constituted priority areas to discuss within the following Steering Committee Meeting taking place in Paris on June 13, 2006. We would like to thank all participants for their very constructive and insightful input to the event. |
