There are two types of global programmes that are developing in a complementary way in the Global
ARD Community: the CGIAR-sponsored Challenge Programmes (CPs) and the GFAR-sponsored
Global Partnership Programmes (GPPs). The purpose of this write-up is not to discuss the nature and
characteristics of each one, nor the similarities and differences between them. There are documents
available that describe each one in great detail. There is also a brief two-page paper that describes the
similarities and differences between GPPs and CPs, and how they both complement each other.1 The
objective of this paper is merely to describe the role the GFAR Secretariat can play in facilitating the
participation of stakeholders in the process of formulation and development of CPs, and how this relates
to the work it is doing in facilitating the development of GPPs that stakeholders are developing.