Steering committee for onchocerciasis control in the Volta River Basin Area : report of its tenth session, Rome 17-18 October 1974

U L{.Tuq LsANq vvt RESTRICTED STEERING COMMITTEE FOR ONCHOCERCIASIS CONTROL IN THE VOLTA RIVER BASIN AREA REPORT OF ITS TH{TH SESSION Rome 17-18 October 1974 3- A. OPENING OF SESSION - ELECTION OF CHAIRJ'{AN I. The tenth session of the Steerlng Conmittee was held at FAO headquarters, Rome, from 17-18 October 1974. Mr T. S. B. Aribisala, as Chairman of the ninth session, declared the meeting open and proposed Dr A. Bellerive (WHO) as Chairman. Dr Bellerive took the chair. 2. Mr Bazin lntroduced to the Steering Committee Mr A. EI Maaroufi, IBRD Resldent Representative in Ouagadougou, who witl be closely associated wlth the Onchocerciasls Control Programme. 3. Dr M. G. Candau attended part of the session and was introduced to the members of the Commlttee on his arrival by Dr Bellerive. ADOPTION OF THE AGH{DA The following agenda was adopted Opening of session Election of Chairman Adoption of the agenda Matters arising from previous sessions B 4 L 2 J 4 5. 6. 7. 8. q 10. r1. L2. r3. L4. (a) PubIic information(b) Country protocols(c) Contribution of Government of Ghana(d) Economist and Economic Development Unit(e) Nutrition Survey Progress Reports for second and third quarters of 1974 Economic Development Advance arrangements for the first session of the Joint Coordinating Committee Special Fund Agreement and Memorandum of Understandlng Budgetary and financiaL matters Report of Ecological Panel Other matters Arrangements for the next sessi.on Adoption of the report Closure of the session C. MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS SESSIONS 5. Public Information: The Wor1d Bank informed the Steerlng Committee that more copies of the film "A Plague on the Land" wlll be produced but observed that funds wiII have to be found for this purpose. FAO requested one copy each in Engtish and French for Headquarters and two copies each 1n Btglish and French for its Regional Office in Accra. WHO requested nine copies in French and four in Engllsh for Headquarters, its RegionaL Office in Brazzaville, and the Programme headquarters. 6. With regard to the post of Informationr/Comrnunications Officer, WHO rnformed the Steering Committee of the recrui.tment of Mr Fatoyinbo whose seLection was warmly supported by the Information Officers of the four agencies. 7. As a result of discussions between the Senior Information Officers of the agencies, the need for the development of communications support was again stressed and 1t was agreed that consideration wouLd be given to this at a later date when the Programme Director and the Information Officer had assessed the situation in the field. The WHO Regional Office for Africa offered support at various levels from its Information Office. -5- I6. Concerning the logistics of the meeting, the Steering Committee agreed that the World Bank, having the largest local representation in Abidjan, should be charged with the arrangements for the meeting with support from the local offices of the other sponsoring agencies. 17. The question of the chairmanship of the JCC was discussed. The Commlttee recaLled that at the Paris meeting Dr Candau was proposed by the Upper Volta delegation to serve as Independent Chairman of the JCC; this proposal was seconded by the United States delegation and unanj.mously approved by the meeti,ng which requested the Wor1d Bank to approach Dr Candau ln this respeet. The Bank subsequently wrote to Dr Candau who accepted the appointment. It was therefore agreed that the JCC meeting would be opened by an lnterim Chairman who would introduce Dr Candau after the opening address; Dr Candau would then take the chair of the meeting. It was also agreed that in the meantime the World Bank would write to all prospective participants, forwarding a copy o'f the revised Memorandum of Understanding and informing them.that-Dr Candau had been contacted as requested by them, and has indicated hls wlllingness to undertake this task. G. SPECIAL FUND AGREEMEI.IT AND MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING 18. Onchocerciasis tr\rnd Agreement: FoLlowing discusslons on the draft document dated 30 September 1974, the Onchocerciasis F\rnd Agreement was approved with the following amendments: Artlcle I, Section I.01 (i) The date of "4 October L974" to be inserted as the date of accession by Iraq to the 1974 F\rnd Agreement. Article III, Section 3.O5 (a) to read as follows "The Bank shall, within 90 days after 31 Deeember L974 and each 31 December thereafter send to each of the Contributing Parties and to the Steering Committee a statement of contributions to, receipts of, and disbursements from the Fund. The Bank shall send, as soon as posslble thereafter, to such Contributing Parties and to the Steering Committee, a supplementary statement certifled by the Bankrs externaL auditors." In reply to a question, the Bank explained that disbursement in this context refers to advances to WHO from the hrnd. Artlcle IV, Secllop 4.OQ "For the year in question" was deleted. Article V Section 5 01 to read as follows "UNDP shall, subject to its internal policies and procedures, to the availability of funds and pursuant to an agreement to be concluded with the Participating Governments, provide and bear the cost of expenditures for training and chemotherapeutic research. UNDPTs partlclpation during the first three years of the project is at present evaluated at about one million two hundred thousand dollars (US$ 1 2OO OOO)." Article XI Section 11.01 The date for signature and acceptance by the parties named in the preamble to the Fund Agreement was discussed. It was agreed that this would be inserted by the Bank. 19. Memorandum of Understanding The draft Memorandum of Understanding was examined and approved with amendments. Copies of the revised version will be sent to INDP, FAO and WHO by the Bank. -t/a' 29. FAO stressed that the problem of animal trypanosomiasis should not be underestimated particularly in the planning of economic development proiects with livestock components. 30. The Steering Committee expressed its appreciation of the report of the Ecological Panel. WHO was requested on behalf of the Committee to convey its thanks to the Ecological Panel for the report and at the same time to remind the Panel that its reports are made to the Steering Committee on1y. It was observed that in some cases the Steering Committee might decide to transmit to other agencies, governments or donors aII or part of these reports. WHO undertook to convey these views in detaiL to the Ecological Panel. J. OTHER MATTERS 31. the hol in Technical Advi sorv Commi t tee TAC had been selected and a list ding the first meeting of the Tec February 1975 would be explored. WHO advised the Steering Committee that the members of was circulated. It was agreed that the possibility of hnicat Advisory Committee before the meeting of the JCC 32. Participati.on o f UNEP in the Prosramme The question of the participation of UNEP in the Programme was considered. It was pointed out that the Steering Committee had been established by the heads of the four sponsoring agencies and its existence and membership ratlfied by the Operational Agreement signed by the seven Participating Governments on 1 November 1973 at Accra as well as by the Administrative Agreement (which w1lI be replaced by the Memorandum of Understanding). Consequently such an action could not be taken without changes in the formal tegat framework under which the Steering Committee functions, and in any event there appeared to be no justification at present to increase the membership of the Steering Committee. 33. Insecticide: WHO informed the Committee that 90 OOO litres of Abate insecticide are required for 19?5. Evaluation trials currently being carried out in West Africa may result in a more accurate definition of the specification of the formulation thus opening up the possibility for international tendering. However, to ensure that a sufficient reserve of insectlcide is maintained in the Programme area, the Conmittee agreed that an additional 20 OOO litres of the formulation currently used be ordered. When the results of the trlals are known, probably at the end of November L974, tt:,e renainder will be ordered by inter- national tender, if appropriate. K. ARRANGEMH.ITS FOR THE NEXT SESSION 34. It was agreed that the efeventh session of the Steering Committee would take place in Washington from IO-12 December 1974. 35. The possibility of holding a future session of the Steering Committee at the Programme headquarters in Ouagadougou was discussed and will be reconsidered at the next session. L. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT 36. The Steering Committee reviewed and adopted the present report. M. CLOSURE OF THE SESSION 37. In closing the session the Chairman, on behalf of the other members, thanked FAO for the hospitality shown to the Committee. Mr Aribisala was requested to transmit to the FAO secretariat the Committeets appreciation of the assistance rendered. 9- PARTICIPANTS Members of the Steering Committee Mr T. S. B. Aribisala, FAO Headquarters, Rome Mr M. Ls. Bazin, IBRD Headquarters, Washington Dr A. Bellerive, WHO Headquarters, Geneva (Chairman) Mr C. H La Muni6re, UNDP Headquarters, New York Secretariat FAO Headqtarters IBRD Headquarters ANNEX Mr C. G. Groom, Agricultural Services Divlsion Mr G. Delaume, Legal Advlser Mr D. Garff, Western Afrlca Division Mr A. Groenendijk, Dj.vision of Budget and Finance Mr F. Gutteridge, Legal Dlvislon Mr J. D. Marr, Onchocerciasis Control Programme Dr G. Qu6lennec, Onchocerciasis ControL Programrne Mlss R. Vi11ars, Onchocerciasis Control Programme Dr J. Mahoney, Assistant Director of Health Services WHO Headquarters WHO Regional Office for Africa Onchocerciasis Control Programme Headquarters, Ouagadougou: Dr P. Ziegler, Programme Director World Bank Resident Mission, Upper Volta Mr A. El Maaroufi, Resident Representative Dr W. Beckman, Fisheries Resources and Environment Dlvision, FAO, Mr. A. Jones, FAO/World Bank, Mr A. de HauIleville, FAO/t{orld Bank, Mrs K. Kr.llingsworth, Inforrnation Division, FAO, and Miss J. McNaughton, Food Policy and Nutritlon Division, FAO, also attended part of the session. I I I