Geneva Minutes

In 2007 HIVOS launched a new initiative called the Knowledge Programme (KP), aimed at sharing knowledge within the organisation and with its partners. 2008 saw the start of a new phase in which the programme was expanded. Pioneering institutions from the global South and North were invited to participate and work together on issues such as the inclusion of civil society in closed societies, civil society building and consolidation, pluralism promotion,sustainable economic development and freedom of expression. The programme entitled “small producer agency in the globalised market” is part of this broader programme. It seeks to build bridges by setting up a knowledge network composed of individuals and groups, from the world of agriculture and food with a high capacity for criticism and analysis, including researchers, farmers and their organisations, private entrepreneurs from the agribusiness sector and others. After a series of roundtables in Africa, Latin America and Asia intended to establish the network and flesh out ideas for the potential themes to be addressed, the first global learning network meeting was convened near Geneva. The objectives of the meeting was as follows: allow members to familiarise themselves with each other; exchange views; define work of the programme and ways of working; develop thematic working groups and identify ways of working for the groups; define how the network will exchange information; how monitoring and evaluation should be taken forward and agreeing a communication strategy.~The meeting was conducted in English, though translators were present at all times to allow interaction in both English and Spanish.