ICARDA News

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org
4 March 2004
For more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
Belgian Parliamentary Delegation Visits ICARDA
Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy gave an overview of the mandate and mission of ICARDA and the CGIAR to Senator Anne-Marie Lizin, Delegation Leader, and the delegation members.
ICARDA was privileged to host a distinguished delegation from the Belgian Parliament on 10 February 2004. Led by Honorable Senator Anne-Marie Lizin, President, Senate Commission for Foreign Affairs and Defense, the delegation included Senator Jean-Marie Dedecker, three Belgian journalists, and Mr Andy Detaille, First Secretary at the Belgian Embassy in Damascus. Mr Abdallah Moussalli, Member, People’s Assembly of Syria, accompanied the delegation.
Welcoming Senator Lizin and her delegation to ICARDA, Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, presented an overview of the CGIAR System and the role of the International Agricultural Research Centers, including ICARDA, working under its umbrella. He briefed the delegation on the mission and mandate of ICARDA and highlighted some of the impacts of the Center's work on enhancing agricultural productivity and improving the economic well-being of the people in the dry areas of the CWANA region. The work being carried out by ICARDA in collaboration with its partners in rehabilitating agriculture in the conflict-affected countries in the region—Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine—attracted much attention of the delegation.
Senator Lizin took note of the efforts being made by the Center in enhancing the sustainable use of limited water resources in the region and in the collection, characterization and utilization of the genetic resources of ICARDA's mandate crops, which originated in the region. She showed strong support for increased investment in research for the development of agriculture in dry areas. The DG thanked the Belgian Government for supporting ICARDA's research activities.
The Belgian delegation viewed a video presentation of ICARDA's research and training activities. They then visited different laboratories and units and interacted with ICARDA scientists to obtain first-hand information on the Center's research activities and achievements.
Senator Lizin and her delegation expressed great interest in ICARDA’s work in contributing to increased food security, reducing poverty, and protecting the natural resources in the dry areas in the developing world, and appreciated the opportunity to become familiar with the work of the CGIAR System as a whole. Senator Lizin recorded the following comments in ICARDA's Visitors' Book: "With all our admiration for your competence and your commitment. You have in hands the future of humanity."

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org) serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of 62 members and 16 Future Harvest Centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment
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