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but there were probably insufficient staff resources available to the ODM to do this on a comprehensive basis now. An alternative way, which CDM proposed to follow, was to try increasingly to concentrate the allocation of financial resources on poor countries, bearing in mind their willingness
The list of and capacity to bring about rural development. MSAS and LLDCs provided the starting point. But the application of aid within countries should of course be related to the poverty criterion, as far as this was practicable.
Policies needed to be realistically related to achievable rates of disbursement, and existing plans should not be prematurely abandoned in a way which caused a net slowing down in the rate of disbursement. Aid to poor countries would be beneficial and in general acceptable even if not specifically applied to rural poverty; it would not be desirable to act in such a way as to slow up disbursements whilst the "best" projects were found and mounted; a place should be found for them in future years.
Proper respect must necessarily continue to be paid to the wishes of the recipient governments. In some cases they would want balanced help rather than concentration on a few sectors, and they would have their own judgment of the most acceptable contribution from us.
F
There were problems of definition in rural development which were being looked into by an ODM Committee. Schemes in the natural resources area would not be the only ones to qualify: meanwhile the bidding prayer asked departments to use their own judgment about what would conduce to the strategy.
The effect on the ACP of the Lome Convention would need to be taken into account when replying to the Framework "bidding prayer", remembering that some existing framework figures were related to past assumptions about the size and distribution of the EDF. The Stabex proposals, which were not very important in overall distribution or volume terms, could be adequately taken into account in Country Policy Faners.
PROJECTS COMMITTEE
5. The Chairman drew attention to the Minister's rejection of two submissions from the Projects Committee on the grounds that they conflicted with current policy objectives and said that the inister had asked from now on to have a note about projects under consideration as soon as the Geographical Departments concerned formulated a suggestion, and before they were discussed with the recipient Government concerned. Projects originated in different ways, however,
Nevertheless and such a procedure might not always be practicable. Geographical Departments should survey all projects in the pipeline and inform their Under-Secretary of any that appeared not to conform with the new policy criteria.
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16.