Who is here?

Group photo of participants at the informal donor workshop in London!

Key points of discussion on the Fund

The discussion focused on two main points: accountability and governance.
Regarding accountability, people felt this should be seen not only as an issue of roles and responsibilities, which at present has a rather ‘punitive’ bias, but also as a value that should be important to everybody, from Centre local staff, scientists and directors to donors and [...]

How will the Fund work?

Today’s discussions are focused on funding and accountability. Ren Wang, CGIAR Director, outlined current proposals for the new CGIAR Fund. This is going to be a central, pooled fund providing multi-year support for the Mega Programs – under the Strategic Results Framework – and the Centres and their partners implementing the Programs. It intends to [...]

A view from the South

Yusuf Abubakar, Executive Secretary of Nigeria’s Agricultural Research Council, puts the discussions in an African perspective:
My hope for the new CGIAR is that it will give sub-Saharan African institutions the opportunity to participate more actively in CG activities. Particularly the increased focus on partnerships and the new format of the Global Conference should encourage broader [...]

Progress so far…

Kathy Sierra sums up the day:

Testing ideas for Consortium design

The new CGIAR Consortium has many potential benefits in terms of delivering greater development impact. These include opportunities for a more coordinated research agenda, increased research collaboration, a stronger voice in world affairs, increased funding and improved cost-efficiency. However, it is impossible to develop a model that delivers all the benefits equally. The Consortium Planning [...]

Message from Rudy Rabbinge

Rudy Rabbinge, Science Council Chair, gave an overview. He said it was great to see the high level of momentum for change created at the AGM in Maputo continuing with a good level of willingness to participate from donors. As he sees it, there are five critical factors that will ensure the change process is [...]

Why a donor workshop?

It is vital to involve donors in the process of designing the new CGIAR. Only when donors feel excited and engaged in what we are doing, and suggest how we can do it better, will we get the support we need to make it happen.
During this meeting, we want to develop a shared understanding of [...]

Your window on the Donor Workshop

It’s a bright and sunny spring day in London as people arrive at the Church House Conference Centre (right next door to Westminster Abbey) for the first of two days of informal consultation on CGIAR reform implementation.
Items on the agenda include developing a shared understanding on what the new Consortium will look like and how [...]

TMT Journal Update #2 – Not Business as Usual – from Jonathan Wadsworth

Dear All,
As Steve Hall mentioned in our first Transition Management Team (TMT) Journal Update last week, we are aiming to send more frequent and informal updates. This week it’s my turn to give you the latest developments.
This Wednesday (23rd April) the TMT met by telephone and the agenda focused on three items: 1) how we [...]