November 2012: Participating in recent meetings in Punta del Este, Uruguay, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has reaffirmed commitments related to its vision. The commitments were highlighted at the closing session of the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2), held from 29 October-1 November 2012. In addition to GCARD2, CGIAR participated in the tenth CGIAR Consortium Board meeting, the eighth CGIAR Fund Council Meeting, and the second CGIAR Funders Forum.

Stressing that commitments only count if they are truly owned, CGIAR provided an overview of its commitments on foresight, knowledge, capacity building, partnership, and governance and management. On foresight, CGIAR committed to focusing on trends related to farm size dynamics, moving from sustainable production to sustainable consumption, urbanization, and investment in foresight capacity within the CGIAR. On knowledge, CGIAR committed to making the organization an Open Access organization with more key data freely available online. On capacity, CGIAR committed to developing an institutional and personal capacity strengthening strategy, and fast-tracking quick wins on capacity development. On partnerships, CGIAR committed to stronger participation of stakeholders in strategy development, and alignment of research priorities with national and regional investment priorities. On governance and management, CGIAR committed to undertaking a governance review across the CGIAR, as well as management updates for the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework. CGIAR expects the technical and governance commitments to be addressed over the coming year.

At the meeting, Uruguay became the first Latin American country to sign the agreement establishing the CGIAR Consortium as an International Organization. [CGIAR Commitments] [CGIAR Funders Forum] [CGIAR Press Release on Uruguay Support]