Staff of FAO
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Commemorating 60Y E A R S of the work of the Staff of FAO Former FAO and Other UN Staff Association Table of contents Introduction . 1 The.origins.of .the.idea. 2 The.beginning. 7 Six.Directors-General.1945–1993. 8 Before.the.move.from.Washington. 12 The.transfer.on.the.“Saturnia”. 12 The.arrival.in.Rome. The first years. 15 The.start.of .the.Freedom.from.Hunger.Campaign. 16 Man’s.Right.to.Freedom.from.Hunger. 18 Sixty years of FAO’s Constitution Sixty years of FAO’s Constitution and of FAO’s activities in the legal field . .20 FAO’s Fisheries Department, 1945–2005. 22 Sixty years of FAO’s Forestry Department. 25 A new UN Programme comes into being. 26 The World Food Programme and FAO. The early years. 28 The beginning of ICT in FAO. 31 The Senior Agricultural Adviser/. FAO Country Representative. 34 The.Great.Sahelian.Drought FAO coordinates UN system’s emergency response . .36 Le.problème.du.Sahel. 38 Bio Warfare in the Sky The NWS eradication programme in North Africa 1988–1992 . .40 Seconded to IFAD. 46 Postscript. 47 Introduction Rome, March 2006 his brochure was produced through the World War and during the following period when new combined efforts of the retired staff of FAO, nations were created and others became independent TIFAD and WFP. It took shape thanks to the countries. For many of them it was the best period of generous assistance of the Information Division of FAO their lives which gave meaning and added value to the whose dedicated cooperation and valuable expertise we years they spent serving FAO, IFAD and WFP. gratefully acknowledge. Furthermore, the Administrative It seemed to us that this anniversary of FAO Services Division of IFAD made an important and effective represented a unique opportunity, not to be missed, contribution by printing 3000 copies of the Brochure. because if we didn’t do it now there would, at a future This booklet spans the period beginning with the anniversary, be only a very few left who could still creation of the “International Institute of Agriculture”, remember what had happened and how it was done and FAO’s predecessor, until today and it contains the by whom. The story is far from complete; writing a history recollections of some of the men and women who believed of FAO has been done before and would in any case have in their ideal of a world without been beyond our abilities and hunger and who transformed resources. Unfortunately, some their ideas, their long hours of ...to meet the challenges important aspects of FAO’s dedicated work, their beliefs in of serving the new world activities.have.remained.untold. and.their.commitments.to.the. that pushed at the doors through.lack.of .contributions .. humanitarian cause of the United of the United Nations However, this is the first Nations into the virtual brick after the end of the collection.of .historical.accounts. and.mortar.of .the.achievements. Second World War... written by former staff members. realized over the years by the We.hope.that.the.reminiscences. staff of the Food and Agriculture and the significant events of Organization of the United Nations. Many of them joined FAO’s recent past that are described in the following pages IFAD and WFP when those organizations were created strike a chord in the hearts of those who were there and and others transferred to different UN Organizations did the work that had to be done. when the development of their career took them there. Together with the other members of the Executive Whatever their background, however, they are now all Committee I would like to express our appreciation for the members of the United Nations family of senior citizens. efforts made by the authors of this booklet and hope that It.appeared.appropriate.to.the.Executive.Committee. many of our members will recognize the events and the of FFOA that it should ask its members to contribute atmosphere described herein and say to themselves: “Yes, their reminiscences and to put in writing what the years that is how it was done and I was there when it happened”! spent in the service of FAO. IFAD and WFP had meant We can all be proud of our careers and the time we to them. Because the story of the first sixty years of served FAO, IFAD and WFP. FAO is also and foremost their story, for many of them it was a significant part of their life. It was a period that With my best wishes for your future, brought.forth.the.best.of .their.skills.and.talents.to.meet. Anton Doeve the challenges of serving the new world that pushed at the President of the Executive Committee FFOA doors of the United Nations after the end of the Second 1 The origins of the idea1 t is worth while to explore a bit further the Impressed by Lubin’s sincere conviction, the king wrote background against which FAO was created. This on 24 January 1905 to his Prime Minister, Giovanni Ishould.be.seen.both.in.the.short.term.and.over.the. Giolitti, pointing out that “it might be extremely useful much longer term, in relation to how man and agriculture to set up an international institute which, without any have.evolved . political designs, would study the conditions of agriculture Many people contributed to the thinking that led in the various countries of the world and periodically issue eventually to the creation of FAO, but the thoughts and information on the quantity and quality of crops”. This actions of half-a-dozen were critical to the development led to the convening of a Conference in Rome, and, on of the idea and to the final outcome, either because they 7 June 1905, the signing by 40 countries of a Convention contributed importantly to the idea itself, or because they establishing the International Institute of Agriculture with were in the right position, at the right time, to take action. Headquarters in Villa Umberto, donated by the King, in A brief account of their contributions will therefore serve Villa Borghese, in Rome. to indicate how the idea emerged Frank L. McDougall, of and eventually took shape in the Australia, in the summer of form.of .the.present.international. David Lubin became 1935, wrote his memorandum on intergovernmental.organization . concerned over the The Agricultural and the Health David Lubin a Polish-born plight of farmers during Problems, in which he stated that American citizen, who had the depression of the “it would argue a bankruptcy of achieved.considerable.success. I880s and 1890s... statesmanship.if .it.should.prove. as a merchant in California, impossible.to.bring.together.a. became.concerned.over.the. great unsatisfied need for highly plight.of .farmers.during.the.depression.of .the.I880s. nutritious.food.and.the.immense.potential.production.of . and 1890s, which had also created difficulties for him modern agriculture”. McDougall drew upon the findings in his own farming enterprises. Setting out to develop of leading nutritionists in the United States and the United some.mechanism.at.the.international.level.for.bettering. Kingdom, and upon the views of his colleagues at the the farmers’ lot, and through single- mindedness and League of Nations, and his memorandum served as a first persistence, he persuaded Ministers in several countries to step towards bringing before an international forum the heed his ideas, and despite many obstacles an organization findings of nutritionists that a large portion of the world’s along the lines he had in mind was created in 1905: the population.did.not.get.enough.of .the.right.sort.of .food.to. “International Institute of Agriculture” (IIA). This first eat, and the view that food production should be expanded international intergovernmental organization to deal with to meet nutritional requirements, rather than restricted. problems of agriculture generally functioned, within the Stanley Bruce, at that time Australian High limitations of its mandate, without serious interruption Commissioner in London and previously Prime Minister until World War II, after which its assets were absorbed by of Australia, (later Viscount Bruce or Melbourne, FAO. A major asset was the library, which is now housed and also first Independent Chairman of the FAO in FAO as part of the David Lubin Memorial Library. Council), addressing the League of Nations Assembly King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.proved.to.be.the. on.11.September.1935.and.basing.his.comments.upon. key person David Lubin contacted during his crusade. McDougall’s memorandum, made a strong case for 2 1 Source document: “FAO: its origins, formation and evolution 1945–1981” by Ralph W. Phillips, seventh Deputy Director-General of FAO, 1978–1981 what became known as “the marriage of health and certainly a problem common to all, even if the world seems agriculture”, in the hope that the League, then being to have “discovered” it as an issue only during the 1970s. thwarted by insoluble political problems, might be President Framklin D. Roosevelt was attentive, persuaded to turn constructively to economic and but gave no indication at the time as to what action, if social.issues ..The.favourable.reaction.to.this.speech.led. any, he might take. McDougall heard nothing more until McDougall to cable to Sir John Boyd Orr, who ten years he read a newspaper announcement that the President later became the first Director-General of FAO, “We have was going to invite allied governments to participate in this day lighted such a candle, by God’s grace, in Geneva, a United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture, as we trust shall never be put out.” During October in Hot Springs, Virginia.