During its annual meeting in Beijing, China, in December 2007, the Programme Steering Committee of the Generation Challenge Programme adopted a new Executive Board mechanism to ensure that the Programme is governed by a panel of experts who are independent of the consortium members implementing the Programme. 

The Programme Steering Committee has now invited the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (and other relevant bodies) to nominate qualified candidates to serve as members of the challenge programme Executive Board. A total of 7 positions are available.

Key requirements requested by the Program Steering Committee are that the members should be independent of the Program itself and that they should have expertise in relevant areas of science, finance and/or corporate governance.
They should also bring a strong understanding of the needs and perspectives of potential end users/beneficiaries of plant breeding outcomes in developing countries and be able to represent these needs effectively into the management of the Program.

Nominations must be received no later than the 9th of February 2008 and should be submitted using the nomination form attached to the Call for Nominations. Please see the Call for Nominations also for qualifications and responsibilities of the Executive Board members. 

During the meetings that were recently held in Bejing - GFAR Statutory Meetings 28/11-01/12 2007 and CGIAR AGM 03/12-07/12 2007 - the Global Forum on Agricultural Research was asked to mobilize stakeholder involvement in the global challenge programmes sponsored under the CGIAR.