Report of the Nineteenth Meeting of the CGIAR Oversight Committee

Report of the nineteenth meeting of the CGIAR Oversight Committee, held in Dresden, Germany between May 20 and 25, in conjunction with the CGIAR Mid Term Meeting 2000. The work of the Committee was reported to MTM2000 by Committee Chairman Andrew Bennett. The formal minutes were circulated as an annex to the summary of the CGIAR meeting.At MTM 2000 the Oversight Committee was charged with convening a Synthesis Group to prepare a paper on possible structural changes for discussion at ICW 2000. The paper was to be based on work by TAC and the CDC/CBC on a vision for the CGIAR, TAC's seven pillars, IPR issues, and System and Center governance. Committee members met with team that would carry out a review of the System Review, and issued a revised terms of reference to the Group.The Committee considered a number of due diligence issues for both centers and the System. It noted the decision by UNEP to withdraw from its role as cosponsor for financial reasons and expressed concern about UNDP's ability to continue in its cosponsor role. The World Bank's intention to seek other donors to share funding of the CGIAR Secretariat might influence the size and functions of the Secretariat.