Rajendra S. Paroda, Chairman of GFAR, welcomed the participants in the meeting. The list of
participants is attached as Annex 1. In his opening remarks, Dr. Paroda noted changes taking place at
the regional and sub-regional level. He also cited the CGIAR change process, which, he said, is
crucial in the development of NARS. He also made reference to the GFAR/IFAD Workshop on
Global Partnership Programmes (GPPs) which was held in Rome in early October 2001. He apprised
the members about the meeting that the GFAR Management Team had with the Director General of
FAO, Dr. Jacques Diouf, in late September 2001 as well as the new team of the GFAR Secretariat
which has been recently completed.