Rome, Italy
January 29, 2008
Dear Colleague,
 The
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) has been assessing national plant breeding and associated
biotechnology capacity worldwide to determine the needs and
opportunities for defining development policies and strategies
to strengthen national plant breeding capacity in developing
countries, thus complementing and adding value to efforts
related to conservation of plant genetic resources for food and
agriculture (PGRFA).
With the implementation of the FAO facilitated International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture,
there is an important and timely opportunity to improve the
balance between the support to conservation of PGRFA and that
directed to its effective use to meet producer and consumer
needs, to address food security and livelihood concerns and to
contribute to the Millennium Development Goals.
In light of the above and taking into account several
international declarations and national and international
efforts, a Global Partnership
Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity Building (GIPB) was
launched at a stakeholder meeting in Madrid, in June 2006, at
the time of the First Governing Body Meeting of the
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture. Essentially, GIPB is a multi-party Initiative of
knowledge institutions around the world that have a track record
in supporting agricultural research and development, working in
partnership with country programmes committed to developing
stronger and effective plant breeding capacity. As a partnership
of stakeholders from the public, private and civil society
sectors, the Initiative is aimed at catalyzing and supporting
national, regional and global action among relevant
international organizations, foundations, universities and
research institutes, corporate and business sector, civil
society associations, and national and regional bodies. FAO's
role is that of a host convener to facilitate concrete
partnership action at national and international levels.
A stakeholder consultation process was initiated in July 2007 to
help define the longer-term strategy and 5-year (2009-2013)
operational plan of GIPB. The Task Force 1 consultation was
carried out between July and September 2007 and defined the
longer-term strategies, outputs, outcomes and priority
activities to be pursued by GIPB. A Task Force 2 is being
initiated now to build upon the results of Task Force 1 and
define the parameters and content of the operational plan of
GIPB for the period 2009-2013.
We invite you to join this strategy formulation process, which
will involve stakeholder interaction, through a Web-based
application, to allow individuals to share ideas and information
to help define the organization and implementation framework for
GIPB. If you agree to participate, kindly review the enclosed
document and follow the instructions for registration for the
Task Force 2 e-consultation.
We look forward to your commitment and partnership, as together
we seize opportunities to promote plant breeding and the
sustainable use of PGRFA.
Yours sincerely,
Eric A. Kueneman
FAO Crop and Grassland Service
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome
Italy
E-mail: gipb@fao.org
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTRATION TO THE GIPB TASK FORCE
2 |
Thank you for your commitment to the consultation
process that will guide the formulation of the
organizational and implementation framework of the
Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding
Capacity Building (GIPB). In order get more detailed
information about the GIPB Task Force 2 and to
register for the electronic consultation, kindly
follow the simple procedures listed below:
- Visit the GIPB
Web site at
http://km.fao.org/gipb/. This link provides
general baseline information about the
Initiative, which we strongly encourage you to
review, so we can maximize the effectiveness of
the consultation;
- After
reviewing GIPB’s information, click in the link
“Enter the GIPB Task Force 2 consultation” at
the beginning of the home page;
- Please, review
the summary of the stakeholder consultation
process that will help define the longer-term
strategy and 5-year (2009-2013) operational plan
of GIPB. In this page you will get information
about operation of Task Force 2, which is the
second step in the broader GIPB stakeholder
consultation process;
- In the same
web link there is a link to a PDF file
containing a Background Note with information to
facilitate the process of discussion. A second
hyperlink provides access to the guidelines for
the virtual consultation. Please, note that your
participation in the consultation is contingent
upon and constitutes your acceptance of these
guidelines;
- At this point
you are ready to register for the discussion,
which will use Dgroups, a tool that allows
participants to easily communicate with one
another using a Web interface as well as their
email address. Clicking in the Dgroups logo in
this page will bring you to
http://www.dgroups.org/groups/fao/gipb/index.cfm
for registration;
- Please,
provide your e-mail address, a password, and
complete a very simple form before submitting
your registration. When you receive a message
with confirmation of your registration you will
be ready to use the Dgroups link, which will
have all the information needed for the
discussion.
We will serve as facilitators, to
help increase effectiveness of the consultation, assisting
participants in any matter arising as the process progresses. If
you have difficulties accessing and navigating the GIPB site, or
subscribing and using Dgroups, please do not hesitate to contact
us at gipb@fao.org.
Also, we may provide moderation to guarantee that the objectives
set in the Terms of Reference are achieved at the end of this
consultation process. If you feel that other colleagues or
professionals might want to contribute to this discussion,
please forward to us name and address for invitation.
Again, we thank you for your commitment and look forward to your
contribution to the important mission of promoting plant
breeding and the sustainable use of plant genetic resources for
food and agriculture.
Sincerely,
Elcio Guimaraes
Mauricio Lopes
GIPB Task Force 2 Facilitators
FAO Crop and Grassland Service
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome
Italy
E-mail: gipb@fao.org |
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