Task Force on Funding System Priorities Coordinated Action by CGIAR Members : Final Report for the Annual General Meeting 2005

At AGM2004, Denmark initiated a discussion on the topic of funding CGIAR priorities and proposed that a task force be commissioned to examine the possibility of developing a mechanism to allocate unrestricted funds in the context of the priorities recommended by the Science Council (SC). The Terms of reference for the task force were approved in March 2005 with objectives: 1) To assess and evaluate opportunities for financing System Priorities and, separately, for financing the SC and its Secretariat; and 2) To propose one or more new financing mechanisms in support of CGIAR priorities recommended by the SC. This report looks at funding trends, funding system priorities, a proposed "way forward", several funding mechanism options, and recommendations. It contains the following annexes: the task force terms of reference, the trends in financing the CGIAR, and the summary of donor survey to explore changing restricted funding to unrestricted. The task force was led by Finn Norman Christensen from Denmark. This document was discussed at the Business Meeting at AGM2005.