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3. Standing Advisory Committees 96. In order to keep the Organization in close touch with current scientific and economic thought and practice, the Conference should appoint standing committees which would have continuing responsibility to advise the Conference on the various aspects of the Organization's work. Such advisory committees should consist of persons selected on the basis of their qualifications as scientists, technical experts, or economists, or because of special experience, and may include representatives of international organizations working in related fields. [Art. Vl.] 97. These committees should meet several times a year. They would be invited to comment on any subjects referred to them by the Conference or the Director-General and would also be entitled to initiate proposals. Their reports would be submitted to the Conference and would frequently be published. 98. It may ultimately be found necessary to establish a standing advisory committee corresponding to each main division of the Organization. At the beginning, however, it is proposed that advisory committees should be established for nutrition, for the scientific and technical aspects of agricultural production, for economic and social questions, including agricultural co-operation and social welfare, and for statistics. 4. General and Special Conferences 99. The Commission considers it important that machinery should be provided whereby the Organization could be in close touch with public opinion, receive suggestions in regard to its work, and obtain the support of representative bodies actively concerned with food and agricultural questions. The Constitution provides, therefore, that the Organization should convene general, technical, regional, or other special conferences for the purpose of bringing together representatives of responsible groups concerned with the fields of activity of the Organization. A general conference might be in the nature of a forum in which problems, experience, and points of view would be discussed, suggestions brought forward, and recommendations made which the Organization would take into account in shaping its programmes of work. Governments would see that the delegations from their countries to such a general conference were fully representative of the interests involved ; indeed, it might be possible in some countries for national conferences to be held at which the delegations would be nominated. The Conference might itself invite representatives from international bodies. The Conference would make the preparatory arrangements for such conferences. [Art. F/.] 5. Director-General 100. The Director-General will be the responsible head of the Organization. He will be responsible for selecting and organizing the staff, and will direct it in the carrying-out of the functions of the Organization, and in the execution of the policies adopted by the Conference. [Art. VII, VIII. \ 6. Staff 101. The staff should be competent in all of the branches of knowledge required to give a solid foundation to the work of the Organization. It should be drawn from different regions and, subject to the overriding* consideration of competence, should collectively represent as many geographical areas as possible. In making initial appointments, due regard should be had to the importance of retaining freedom of action to enable the Organization to include in its staff, at a later date, personnel from areas not yet liberated from enemy occupation. Members of the staff should receive their instructions exclusively from the Organization. In the past a few Governments have followed the highly undesirable practice of supplementing the salaries of their nationals on the staffs of certain international institutions. Governments should refrain from offering remuneration to any of their nationals on the staff of the Organization, except for services previously rendered, such as pensions. Senior members of the staff should receive diplomatic privileges and immunities, and other members of the staff should be accorded all the facilities and immunities accorded to non-diplomatic personnel attached to diplomatic missions, or, alternatively, those facilities and immunities which may hereafter be accorded to equivalent members of the staffs of other public international organizations. [Art. VIII.] 102. An Organization of this nature must grow and adapt itself to changing circumstances. From one point of view it is desirable that the Organization should move with caution. It must make its weight felt by the excellence of its work and the high standard of its contributions. It should play a great part in guiding policies relating to nutrition and agriculture throughout the world, but it cannot do this with its own staff on a- big scale all at once ; for a fully functioning and efficient organization cannot be built in a day. The Organization will have a difficult course to steer. It must on the one hand be in a position to take vigorous action in the critical jjeriod just after the war when conditions are fluid and before vested interests have become established. On the other hand, it must follow a policy of careful development, involving the painstaking study of its complicated problems. Those concerned with its creation must be fully alive to these considerations. The solution may be found initially in calling temporarily to the aid of the Organization experts from universities and from national organizations who would be unable or unwilling to devote more than a relatively brief period to international work. 103. The Organization would therefore be well advised to make a number of temporary appointments at the outset while taking ample time to choose the permanent staff carefully and awaiting the release from war service of persons of the ability and training needed for its work. 7. Regional and Liaison Offices 104. To facilitate much of the work described it would be desirable for the Organization to have liaison offices in convenient centres in various parts of the world to keep in touch with conditions in a single country or a region including several countries. In some cases it might be desirable to establish regional offices. Such partial decentralization would better enable the Organization to take full account of the diversity of conditions with which it must deal and to maintain close association with public authorities and scientific and other organizations whose co-operation in its work will be required. [Art. X.]

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