The Panel expresses its sincere appreciation to the Board, management and staff of IPGRI for their cooperation during the entire period of the Review. The Panel is particularly grateful to the management and staff for the frank and open attitude, and for all the assistance they provided whenever requested.
The arrangements made for the visits of the Panel to the IPGRI Headquarters and regional office (and Board meeting) at Cotonou, Benin, during the initial and main phases, and to INIBAP Headquarters at Montpellier and to its Transit Centre at Leuven, were excellent. The support provided by the regional staff during the Panel's visits to the regions is greatly appreciated. The Panel is also grateful to all the representatives of the national programmes, NGOs, CGIAR Centres and other international institutions for their valuable insights on a wide range of issues. In this regard, the Panel expresses its special appreciation to FAO for the helpful discussions on legal and technical aspects.
The Panel wishes to thank IPGRI for providing them with a comprehensive set of documents prior to the initial and main phases. All the documents were of a high standard and were given to the Panel on time. Additional documents requested by the Panel during the main phase were produced promptly, for which the Panel expresses its appreciation.
Geoffrey Hawtin, Director General, and Dick van Sloten, Assistant Director General, fully cooperated with the Panel and with the TAC and CGIAR Secretariats throughout the Review, from its planning stage through to completion of this Report. They were ably assisted by Sara Hutchinson, Senior Programme Assistant. To all of them the Panel expresses its most sincere thanks. We also thank the Hawtins for their warm hospitality.
The Panel wishes to express its most sincere thanks to Ann Drummond of the TAC Secretariat who assisted the Panel in the preparation of this Report. The Panel also acknowledges with thanks the editorial assistance from Paul Stapleton and Linda Sears of IPGRI, and the assistance received from Deborah Cortese and Sophie Dungey of IPGRI in compiling some of the material inserted into the Report. Philip Brown and Antonella Lo Cascio from IPGRI's computer services made sure that all our equipment functioned at an optimum level, and Serena Lovell and Giselle Liberto of IPGRI were kind enough to support the Panel's travel arrangements. The Panel expresses its appreciation to Fabio di Paolo of IPGRI for his assistance in the production of the Report.
The Panel received help from several staff of the TAC and CGIAR Secretariats during the course of the Review. We are specially thankful to: Irmi Braun-Castaldi from the TAC Secretariat, and to Selcuk Ozgediz and Timni Mahese, of the CGIAR Secretariat, for their valuable assistance during the planning and organization of the Review.
