Monday, September 24, 2007 Ex-Benguet U professor chairs UN desertification body
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- The Benguet State University (BSU) hailed the election of former agriculture secretary William Dar, a former student and instructor, as chairman of the science and technology committee of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Dar was chosen by the convention’s Conference of Parties last September 3 in Madrid, Spain after he was unanimously nominated by the Asian States Group as their distinguished representative for Cordillera.
“His appointment brings honor to BSU and to the Philippines as a whole,” said BSU president Rogelio Colting.
Colting said Dar’s chairmanship of the committee “would provide an opportunity for enhancing our engagement and working relationship with other countries in the global effort to address the problem on desertification.”
Dar’s committee would play a crucial role in advising the UNCCD on all scientific issues concerning the convention’s mission to fight desertification, land degradation and drought in a global scale.
The UNCCD was formed after holding of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992.
Dr. Felipe Comila, a BSU professor, said Dar “has the integrity and credibility” to lead the UN committee.
Presiding his first meeting as committee chairperson, Dar urged the committee to immediately open reforms and engage all stakeholders involved with fighting desertification.
“We must breathe new intellectual life by opening our doors to the best brains we can find anywhere in the world, and to those at the grassroots and on the front lines of sustainable dry land development,” Dar was quoted a saying.
Dar, 54, hails from Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur. He finished his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree at BSU and became a teacher in the same school on June 2, 1975.
He championed the concept of inter-agency collaboration in promoting research and development initiatives when he was named as vice president for research and development and director of BSU's Highland Agricultural Research Center.
He later worked for the Bureau of Agriculture Research of the Department of Agriculture.
He served briefly as agriculture secretary of the Estrada administration.
At present, Dar is the director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) based in India. (DC)
