Office of the Secretary (SEC)
IFAD Member States
IFAD’s Governance Structure
The Office of the Secretary (SEC) supports the Secretary in carrying out these main roles:
- IFAD Membership (applications for membership and relations with IFAD Member States)
- Preparation and organization of Governing Bodies meetings and related events
- Protocol
- Quality control of Governing Bodies documentation (editing and translation)
- List A – 25 members (contributing developed countries)
- List B – 12 members (contributing developing countries)
- List C – 139 members (potential recipient countries)
- sub-list C1 – Africa
- sub-list C2 – Europe, Asia & Pacific
- sub-list C3 – Latin America & Caribbean
IFAD's Purpose
- Enable poor rural people to improve their food and nutrition security, increase their incomes and strengthen their resilience.
Office of the Secretary of IFAD (SEC)
Voting Rights at IFAD
- IFAD's vote allocation system reflects the unique nature of both UN agenices and IFIs.
- The system combines membership votes and contribution votes.
- New votes are allocated every three years based on replenishment contributions.
Membership Votes
- All Member States are allocated an equal number of individual membership votes
- Membership votes are redistributed upon changes in the membership of the Fund
The Secretary of IFAD
Role of the Secretary
Serve as:
- The bridge between Member States and IFAD Management.
- The Secretary to the Fund's Governing Council (GC)
- The Secretary to the Executive Board (EB) and its subsidiary bodies
Contribution votes
- Remaining votes are allocated as contribution votes, as a further incentive for Members to contribute to IFAD’s resources.
- Contribution votes are allocated on the basis of full or part payments (in cash or promissory notes) to a replenishment, and
- They are redistributed each time there is a payment to a replenishment.
Governing Council
Executive Board Responsibilities
- IFAD’s highest decision-making authority
- Composed of all IFAD Member States
- Meets annually
- Current Bureau: Chair: Gabon (List B), Vice-Chairs: Switzerland (List A) and Angola (List C) elected in February 2014 at GC 37, for a mandate of two years.
- Chaired by the President
- Composition (total of 18 Members and 18 Alternates)
- List A – 8 Members + 8 Alternates
- List B – 4 Members + 4 Alternates
- List C – 6 Members + 6 Alternates
- Official languages are Arabic, English, French and Spanish
- Typically meets in April, September and December
Governing Bodies List Composition
Executive Board - 36 Members
- List A – 8 Members + 8 Alternates
- List B – 4 Members + 4 Alternates
- List C – 6 Members + 6 Alternates
Replenishment Consultation
- List A – All Members
- List B – All Members
- List C – 18 Members
Subsidiary bodies of the EB & GC
(Audit Committee, Evaluation Committee, PBAS Working Group, Working Group on Governance) - 9 Members each
- List A – 4 Members
- List B – 2 Members
- List C – 3 Members
Election of Executive Board Representatives
- Elections held every three years at the Governing Council.
- Next election in February 2018.
- Schedule II of the Agreement Establishing IFAD.
- Each List transmits their nominations to Secretary of IFAD.
- A specialized agency of the United Nations, established as an international financial institution
- The only one of its kind working exclusively in rural areas and partnering with some of the world's poorest people