Distr.: General
14 June 1999
Original: English
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Fifty-fourth session
Item
46 of the preliminary list*
Causes
of conflict and the promotion
of
durable peace and sustainable
development
in Africa
Economic
and Social Council
Substantive
session of 1999
Geneva,
5–30 July 1999
Item
4 of the provisional agenda**
Coordination
of the policies and
activities
of the specialized agencies
and
other bodies of the United Nations
system
related to the following theme:
Development
of Africa: implementation
and
coordinated follow-up by the
United
Nations system of initiatives
on
African development
* A/54/50.
** E/1999/100 and Add.1.
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Development
of Africa: implementation of the recommendations in the report of the Secretary-General
to the Security Council and the General Assembly, specifically the implementation and
coordinated follow-up by the United Nations system of initiatives on Africa
Contents
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Page
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I. Introduction............................................................................................................
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1–3 |
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3 |
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II. Overview...............................................................................................................
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4–9 |
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3 |
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III. Measures related to the implementation of the recommendations in the
report |
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10–56 |
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4 |
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A. Strengthening good governance................................................................ |
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11–18 |
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4 |
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B. Social
development......................................................................................
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19–26 |
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5 |
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C. Elimination
of all forms of discrimination against women..........................
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27–32 |
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7 |
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D. Improving
trade flows...................................................................................
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33–39 |
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7 |
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E. Improving financial resource flows............................................................. |
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40–50 |
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8 |
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F. Support for regional cooperation and integration..................................... |
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51–56 |
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10 |
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IV. Priority areas
under the current initiatives on Africa and possible priorities
in |
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57–75 |
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11 |
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V. Coordinated follow-up by the United Nations system of initiatives on
Africa............. |
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76–108 |
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13 |
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A. Coordination
of United Nations system initiatives...................................
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77–103 |
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14 |
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B. Harmonization of non-United Nations initiatives on Africa.................... |
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104–108 |
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18 |
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I. Introduction
1. Following its
consideration of the report of the Secretary-General on the causes of conflict and the
promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa (A/52/871-S/1998/318),
the Economic and Social Council, at its substantive session of 1998, decided to undertake
substantive discussions on the implementation of the relevant recommendations at its
substantive session of 1999 (decision 1998/283). The Council further decided that the
coordination segment of its 1999 substantive session would be devoted to the consideration
of the theme: “Development of Africa: implementation and coordinated follow-up by the
United Nations system of initiatives on African development” (decision 1998/298).
2. The General Assembly
invited African countries and their partners during the coordination segment of the 1999
substantive session of the Economic and Social Council to identify and rank priorities in
partnership, to define respective responsibilities and to agree on realistic and
measurable targets in priority areas (resolution 53/92).
3. In accordance with
those decisions the present report is divided into three substantive sections dealing with
measures taken relating to the recommendations in the Secretary-General’s report
(section III); priority areas (section IV); and coordination by the United Nations system
of initiatives on Africa (section V). The report draws on information provided by the
organizations of the United Nations system and donor countries, both developed and
developing.1
II. Overview
4. In order to enhance
the prospects for durable peace, the Secretary-General, in his report on the causes of
conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa, calls
for and highlights the importance of a substantial and sustained pace of economic growth
and social development in Africa. For a brief period in the mid-1990s, African countries
were able to reverse the years of stagnation and negative growth, and achieved growth
rates of more than 5 per cent per year. Since then, growth has declined and was only 2.7
per cent in 1997 and 2.5 per cent in 1998. This marked two years of virtual stagnation in
the region’s per capita output, since population grows at 2.6 per cent per year.
There was significant variation at the subregional level in 1998, with North and Central
Africa experiencing improvements over 1997 while growth rates in gross domestic product
(GDP) declined in eastern, western and southern subregions vis-à-vis 1997. Growth is
expected to accelerate to about 3 per cent in 1999 and to 3.5 per cent in 2000 as a result
of higher oil prices and higher demand for the exports of Africa. Moreover, growth in
Nigeria and South Africa, the two largest economies in Africa, is expected to improve in
1999.
5. The slower growth in
1998 can largely be attributed to the sharp drop in export earnings, amounting to $18
billion. This was a result of lower oil and commodity prices and lower demand for African
exports, which were both associated with the financial crises of 1997/98. A combination of
good weather, which led to significant improvements in agricultural output, and an
improved policy environment as evidenced, inter alia, by low fiscal deficits and
inflation has been responsible for increased economic growth in a number of countries.
6. Growth in gross
domestic product has not been strong or sustained enough to increase per capita income or
make an impact on the levels of poverty in the sub-Saharan region. It has been estimated
that 44 per cent of Africans as a whole and 51 per cent of those in Africa south of the
Sahara live in absolute poverty. A recent report by the Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA) also suggests that the goal set by the World Summit for Social Development in 1995
of halving poverty by 2015 would require a 4 per cent reduction in the number of people
living in poverty each year, either through increased economic growth or through income
redistribution. This would require a 7 per cent growth in GDP per year for Africa as a
whole until 2015.
7. In this context,
financing Africa’s development is crucial. Improving primary, secondary and tertiary
education, providing adequate health care, improving infrastructure, reducing poverty,
reintegrating refugees and displaced persons from conflicts and catalysing structural
transformation requires massive investment. The prospects for domestic resource
mobilization continue to be limited by low savings ratios due to mass poverty and the
subsistence income levels of the majority of Africans. While some room exists for
reallocation of resources out of unproductive expenditure to build capacity, Africa’s
external debt continues to be a drag on its potential as the resources utilized to service
its debt could otherwise be diverted to these important tasks. Africa’s debt stock
increased from $344 billion in 1997 to $350 billion in 1998 and is equivalent to over 300
per cent of exports of goods and services.
8. Beyond domestic
resources, other sources of external finance, including foreign direct investment and
official development assistance (ODA), have to increase to the levels required to
transform African economies and reduce poverty. Africa received $4.76 billion of foreign
direct investment in 1997, representing 3 per cent of global flows. These inflows are
highly concentrated in a few countries and are largely in gas, petroleum and other mining
activities. Official development assistance remains critical to building capacity in the
countries of sub-Saharan Africa, especially when strengthening human, institutional and
infrastructural capacities. However, ODA to Africa from countries members of the
Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) continues to decline, falling from its peak of $23 billion in 1992 to
$18.7 billion in 1997.
9. It is in this overall
context that the subsequent sections of this report need to be examined, the measures
taken evaluated, priorities defined and recommendations on coordination of initiatives by
the United Nations system made more specific.
III. Measures related to the implementation of the
recommendations in the report of the Secretary-General
10. Since the submission of the report
of the Secretary-General to the Security Council and the General Assembly in April 1998, a
wide range of actions or programmes have been undertaken relating to the recommendations
contained in the report.
A. Strengthening
good governance
11. A number of activities have been
undertaken by the United Nations system in the area of governance to support African
countries in this area. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized, jointly
with ECA, with a contribution from the Regional Office of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the second Africa Governance Forum at Accra
(June 1998), on accountability and transparency. The Forum served as a platform to promote
the concept of an instrument of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on the conduct of
public affairs, which UNDP will also help to design.
12. One of the issues that has been
emphasized is accountability and transparency in public administration. In collaboration
with the Global Coalition for Africa, the World Bank has sent multidisciplinary missions
to help each country identify the causes and effects of corruption and to propose means to
address the causes. The World Bank’s recommendations include measures to strengthen
the capacity of parliaments to exercise their oversight roles; legal, judicial, financial
and public sector reforms; and strengthening the media and such watchdog agencies as the
offices of accountants-general. Six countries (Benin, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Uganda and
the United Republic of Tanzania) have requested assistance from the World Bank to
establish national anti-corruption programmes and, in many cases, the Economic Development
Institute’s integrity programmes are supporting those efforts.
13. The Department of Economic and
Social Affairs of the Secretariat focused on two specific areas of activity, governance
and ethics. In the former, it provided assistance to several African countries, including
Burundi, Liberia, Mozambique and South Africa, in the development of national capacity for
the promotion of good governance. The assistance covered three main issues, namely, human
rights, justice and the participation of civil society. In the latter, a major Pan-African
Conference of Ministers of the Civil Service was organized in Morocco in December 1998,
attended by ministers of the civil service from several African countries. Key
deliberations at that Conference concerned the promotion of professionalism and ethical
standards in the civil service in African countries. The Conference culminated in the
adoption of the Rabat Declaration.
14. Enhancing administrative capacity
is also a critical part of promoting good governance. The World Bank is assisting in
building capacity for decentralization and local governance in sub-Saharan Africa. The
Bank is of the view that the pervasive weakness of local governments and the lack of
capacity of municipal institutions in the region are major impediments to social and
economic development. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has
approved projects, inter alia, in Ghana, Guinea and Senegal, which build on this
approach. It stressed that support for rural decentralization has become an important tool
for strengthening the capacities of the local populations and promoting participation in
the decision-making process. IFAD is considering the possibility of expanding its support
for decentralization to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
15. The report calls on African
countries that have not done so to ratify United Nations and African instruments on human
rights. By and large, the majority of African countries have signed and ratified the major
international human rights instruments. As at 21 May 1999, 42 of 53 African countries have
ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and 40 have
ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Forty-two countries
have ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, while 48 have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women. Twenty-seven countries have signed the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and 30 have ratified the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Fifty-two
countries have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, making it the most
widely ratified treaty.
16. The Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNDP have been active in establishing regional and
country-level support for Governments in the elaboration of human rights action plans. As
a member of the United Nations Inter-Agency Group on Gender and Development, the Office is
planning to launch a legal and human rights literacy programme geared towards women during
the second half of 1999.
17. Various United Nations
organizations provided assistance in the drafting of national legislation as well as
technical advisory services in their respective areas of competence. The Office of the
United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provided assistance in the drafting
of national refugee legislation in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, the
Gambia, the Niger, Uganda and South Africa. Efforts are being made to have similar
legislation adopted in other African countries, such as Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya and
Rwanda, with a view to covering the whole continent. The International Labour Organization
(ILO) gave technical advice on human rights questions and labour law revision, as well as
on subregional training programmes for labour law judges on equity issues based upon an
ILO manual for labour judges on the same subject. Its advocacy activities, among others,
facilitated the support of African member States for the adoption in 1998 of the ILO
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provides high-level experts to assist in the
drafting of media legislation. It is also carrying out two major projects, one on
strengthening democracy and governance through development of the media in Mozambique, and
another on communication and good governance in 10 West and Central African countries
(Benin, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Sao Tome
and Principe and Togo).
18. Bilateral donors continue to
support several governance-related projects in Africa. The Government of Australia is
providing support in a number of areas, including capacity-building or the reform of
public institutions in Mozambique and South Africa. A special visit programme to Australia
was also arranged for a group of High Court judges from Zimbabwe. The Government of
Australia has also given a number of small grants for the development of civil
organizations. France supports governance programmes, particularly in the area of human
rights, and has allocated FF5 million for projects to support activities, including
holding elections in a number of countries. The Government of Norway has established a
Trust Fund for Good Governance in Africa and the Norwegian Resource Bank for Democracy and
Human Rights, which provides experts in the field of democracy and human rights, is also
available for use by the United Nations and others to support activities in Africa.
B. Social
development
19. The United Nations and its
agencies are involved in a number of activities geared towards creating an enabling
environment for enhancing the effectiveness of the informal sector in both rural and urban
areas. As lead organization for the priority area of the System-wide Special Initiative
concerning poverty reduction through the promotion of the informal sector and
employment-generating opportunities, ILO is promoting a series of interventions that
include drafting appropriate macroeconomic policies; reforming government regulations,
policies and institutions; providing appropriate incentives; developing market networks
linking the formal and informal sectors; and providing physical and administrative
infrastructures. Serious attempts are being made to maintain a gender focus in this
component. ILO is also involved in strengthening the national capacities of constituents
in the formulation of vocational training policies for both the formal and the informal
sectors.
20. At a regional level, the ILO
Biennial African Employment Planners Meeting has become a regular forum for reviewing the
overall employment situation in Africa and recommending policies and strategies for
employment promotion and poverty reduction. One major programme being implemented since
July 1998 is the Jobs for Africa programme. Set up as a part of the Special Initiative and
as follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, this regional programme provides
an alternative policy framework for employment-intensive growth and formulates diversified
and comprehensive programmes of action for job creation. The immediate objective of the
programme is to develop and strengthen the capacity of national and regional institutions
and networks in 10 participating countries (phase one) to design and advocate alternative
policies for poverty reduction through generating productive employment.
21. The report urges increased
investment in human resources in recognition of its role as a driving force for
development. The activities of the United Nations system under the Special Initiative in
the field of education focused on improving primary education in 16 low primary enrolment
countries, namely, Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, the Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia and Sierra
Leone, and on advancing basic education for all African children. United Nations
organizations have also been involved in improving the quality of education in Cameroon,
Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda and the United Republic of
Tanzania.
22. There has been a steady progress
in the area of primary education enrolment and advancing basic education for all African
children. However, despite the progress, the low enrolment in primary education and the
low literacy rate in the 16 selected countries is a matter of great concern. The
proportion of the school-age population out of school remains high in many countries. It
is observed that the efficiency is much greater when international institutions work
together with the countries concerned.
23. Notwithstanding the improvement in
the average life expectancy, infant mortality reduction and progress in the control of
diseases, the overall health situation in Africa still gives cause for concern.
Particularly, the prevalence of HIV/ AIDS has already undone or threatens to undo many of
the gains in child survival and quality of life achieved. HIV/ AIDS has created a major
development crisis, with 6 million new infections globally per year, or 16,000 a day, and
35 million persons living with HIV and AIDS. In 1998 there were 2.5 million AIDS-related
deaths, even more than from malaria. In fact, evidence increasingly shows that in the more
seriously affected countries AIDS is resulting in decreased life expectancy and increased
child mortality. Furthermore, there is lost productivity, and the effects on the economy
and development are starting to be more and more visible. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for
9 of 10 new infections in 1998. The epidemic is not only a major health concern, it
affects all sectors of the economy and society and thus is of relevance to all United
Nations organizations. The United Nations system is uniquely placed to make a difference
through its political and its development work. The Joint and Co-sponsored United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has intensified its action in Africa, in partnership with
African Governments, regional bodies, bilateral development agencies, multilateral
organizations, the corporate sector (with commitments from large pharmaceutical
corporations, the entertainment industry and a Global Business Council on AIDS) and
non-governmental organizations. The partnership will seek to develop, in participating
countries, joint multisectoral action plans prepared with major national and international
stakeholders and mobilize resources to fund them. Work is starting through country-based
groups on HIV/AIDS.
24. Malaria prevention and control is
another significant area where the efforts of the United Nations system are directed. The
roll back malaria campaign led by the World Health Organization (WHO) aims to cut the
number of deaths from malaria by 50 per cent by 2010 and 75 per cent by 2015. United
Nations organizations continue to work together on the reduction of maternal mortality,
which is closely related to HIV/AIDS and malaria in Africa, as well as to female genital
mutilation.
25. As a follow-up to the World Summit
for Social Development, particularly relating to the commitment on Africa and the least
developed countries, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs is giving special
attention to social policy issues of particular concern and the needs of specific
population groups, including persons with disabilities, youth and the ageing. In various
African countries it supports over 100 projects in the areas of social policy, poverty
eradication and management of social change, and also provides advisory services in these
areas. In March, 1999 ECA organized subregional follow-up conferences on the World Summit
for Social Development, which provided opportunities for African countries to share
experiences, including best practices, on the implementation of the Copenhagen Programme
of Action. More importantly, the conferences adopted a number of recommendations to impart
new momentum to the implementation of the commitments made at the Summit, emphasizing, for
example, that poverty eradication and alleviation policies and strategies should be
holistic, well targeted and participatory. Governments should review macroeconomic reform
measures to ensure that they reflect social objectives, and should assess their impact on
employment.
26. Some bilateral donors have taken
steps to collaborate in the health sector with the organizations of the United Nations
system. The Government of Japan plans to establish centres for parasitic disease control
in Asia and Africa in close collaboration with WHO. The centres will provide training
courses and operational research for parasitic disease control and contribute to regional
cooperation, especially South-South cooperation among African and Asian countries. Japan
and the United States of America plan to contribute towards ending the scourge of polio in
Africa by expanding cooperative eradication efforts at the grass-roots level by the Japan
Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and the United States Peace Corps Volunteers.
C. Elimination
of all forms of discrimination against women
27. In 1998, ECA prepared “Status
of women in Africa, 1998: 53 country profiles”, a compilation of sex-disaggregated
data on the status of women in the 53 ECA member States published in brochure format. The
data contain selected indicators in some areas of concern contained in the Beijing
Platform for Action, such as women in decision-making, education, health, the economic
contribution of women and the rights of women and the girl child. The brochures are
intended to serve as information, sensitization and advocacy tools by providing a clear
picture of the extent to which Governments and other sectors of African society have
succeeded in implementing international instruments aimed at achieving gender equality.
28. The Division for the Advancement
of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs is organizing a subregional
workshop at Cotonou, Benin, in the latter part of 1999, on reporting under the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which will be followed by
in-country training components. The Division is also involved in efforts to encourage
African States to ratify or accede to the Convention and to encourage those States which
are parties to the Convention to submit the reports required under article 18 of the
Convention.
29. The United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO) contributes to the elimination of discrimination against
women especially through awareness-building programmes and training programmes, especially
in agro-industries. One of the most successful examples is an integrated training
programme for the development of women’s entrepreneurship in food-processing in the
United Republic of Tanzania. Another example is a project aimed at assisting women
manufacturers of textiles and garments to make the transition from the informal to the
formal business sector in Kenya.
30. The Action for the Rights of
Children training programme is a UNHCR initiative which is expected to be implemented in
1999. It includes a specific age-gender perspective and aims at increasing the capacity of
UNHCR, government and non-governmental organization field staff to protect and care for
children and adolescents in refugee situations. The initiative also aims at ensuring that
girls and boys benefit equally from all protection and assistance efforts.
31. The United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has conducted a series of studies on enhancing the
participation of women entrepreneurs in economies of least developed countries, in order
to assess the impact of policies on promoting entrepreneurship among women and to identify
those measures adopted at international conferences which have not been implemented but
which need to be in place for women to become and remain entrepreneurs in the formal
sector. The African least developed countries selected for the project are Burkina Faso,
Ethiopia, the Gambia, Madagascar, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia.
32. Through its Strategy for Women and
Gender Equality in Development Cooperation programme, the Government of Norway seeks to
strengthen the position of women, particularly with regard to the areas of poverty
eradication and education. Working through the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), Norway has contributed $15 million to basic education for girls in 19 African
countries.
D. Improving
trade flows
33. The organizations of the United
Nations system and the donor community have taken some steps to assist African countries
in enhancing their diversification efforts. UNCTAD and the World Trade Organization (WTO)
and the International Trade Centre (ITC) have launched the joint integrated technical
assistance programme, for which a trust fund has been established. Of an estimated
requirement of $10.3 million, $7.1 million have already been pledged. The implementation
of the programme started in May 1998 on the basis of specific country projects in eight
African countries, organized into 15 clusters of closely related activities so as to
achieve synergies and economies of scale. It also helps African countries to identify and
take advantage of opportunities provided by the multilateral trading system as well as
access through WTO to implement the provisions thereof.
34. In cooperation with five other
agencies, UNCTAD is actively involved in the Integrated Framework for Trade-related
Technical Assistance, including for Human and Institutional Capacity-building, to Support
Least Developed Countries in Their Trade and Trade-related Activities, which was endorsed
in October 1997. Twenty-two least developed countries, 16 of them in Africa, are currently
in various stages of preparation for trade-related round-table meetings. Together with the
International Chamber of Commerce, UNCTAD has undertaken a project on investment guides
and capacity-building for least developed countries.
35. At a meeting of the
Secretary-General with representatives of Development Assistance Committee countries, held
in September 1998 to urge the implementation of his recommendations on debt, ODA, market
access and foreign direct investment, participants reaffirmed that, although efforts have
been made to increase the market access for African exports in the framework of WTO and in
the Lomé Convention, there is a need for greater access to the markets of industrialized
countries. The Panel of High-level Personalities on African Development convened by the
Secretary-General on 15 October 1998 also stressed the need to address high tariffs and
tariff escalation that continue to exist in certain sectors of interest to African
countries, such as agricultural products, textiles and clothing, and leather products. The
issue of market access and the need for special and differential treatment for African
countries will be addressed at an upcoming ad hoc expert group meeting on raising
Africa’s competitiveness in the changing global economy of the twenty-first century,
organized by ECA.
36. In response to the
Secretary-General’s recommendation that improved South-South cooperation be used to
reinforce export-led growth in Africa, the Republic of Korea organized, jointly with the
Office of the Special Coordinator for Africa and the Least Developed Countries of the
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Forum on Asia-Africa Cooperation in Export
Promotion at Seoul in December 1998. The Forum, which was attended by 22 African countries
and 9 Asian countries and United Nations organizations involved in trade and investment
activities, provided the opportunity to review both the Asian experience and the
challenges facing Africa in export promotion and diversification, and adopted the Seoul
Framework for Cooperation. The Government of India announced in 1998 the establishment of
a $30 million revolving fund for Africa for promoting trade, investment and technology
sharing, and for revitalizing bilateral trade with and investment in Africa.
37. Traditional donor countries are
responding positively to the trade and investment opportunities available in African
countries. The Government of Norway has established the Norwegian Risk Fund for Developing
Countries to promote participation in the establishment of sustainable and profitable
businesses in developing countries. In 1998, the first year of operation, 47 per cent of
the Nkr 400 million allocated to the Fund was used to support investment in African
countries.
38. The United States African Growth
and Opportunity Act seeks to expand duty-free access to the United States market for goods
now excluded under the generalized system of preferences and eliminates quotas on imports
of textiles and apparel for countries which are pursuing economic and political reforms.
The Act also calls for the creation of a United States-Africa economic forum to discuss
economic matters of mutual concern and a United States-sub-Saharan Africa free trade
agreement by 2020.
39. The rapidly changing global
environment offers African countries an opportunity and a challenge to expand exports as
an essential element in raising resources to finance development. However, much remains to
be done to improve the competitiveness of African products in the international market and
also with regard to the access to international markets for African products. The ECA
Joint Conference of Ministers of Finance and Ministers Responsible for Economic and Social
Development and Planning, held at Addis Ababa from 6 to 8 May 1999, called for the
establishment of a special international fund to permit the restructuring of enterprises
to enhance value added and competitiveness, so as to cope with globalization.
E. Improving
financial resource flows
40. In spite of the general decline in
the level of ODA to Africa, some donor countries have increased development assistance to
Africa. For example, the United Kingdom increased its ODA budget in 1999 by almost one
third, while the United States increased its assistance to Africa by 4.5 per cent in 1999
and proposed a further increase of 10 per cent for 2000. According to the Swedish
Government bill for fiscal year 1999, ODA will increase from 0.7 per cent of gross
national product (GNP) in 1998 to 0.73 per cent in 2001. Norway stepped up its ODA budget
in 1998 to 0.91 per cent of GNP. The goal of Norway is to re-establish its ODA level to
the previous level of 1 per cent and to increase its bilateral assistance to Africa from
46.2 per cent of its aid budget in 1998 to 50 per cent. Denmark has exceeded the target of
ODA to developing countries and is contributing 1 per cent of GNP. Over 40 per cent goes
to Africa.
41. The level of international expert
technical assistance in official development assistance continues to be rather high, a
concern noted in the Secretary-General’s report. In an effort to redesign technical
assistance to close the technical capacity gap between industrial and developing countries
by accelerating the transfer of knowledge, skills and expertise, emphasis is placed on
national execution of projects, pioneered by UNDP. UNDP, in cooperation with the
Federation of African Consultants, is involved in designing a sound framework to tackle
this issue. The United Nations advocacy role is critical to the long-term solution of
these issues.
42. The Executive Committee on
Economic and Social Affairs2 in a recent report entitled “Finding
solutions to the debt problems of developing countries”3 has made a number
of proposals for an enhanced initiative on debt relief for highly indebted poor countries.
The proposals include (a) extending the list of poor indebted countries eligible for
debt relief; (b) shortening the length of the debt relief process from six to three years;
(c) while sustainable levels of debt should be repaid, relaxation of the definition of
what is sustainable so as to ensure that the levels set are realistic; (d) cancellation of
all ODA debts of heavily indebted poor countries, while reducing other official bilateral
debts by a minimum of 80 per cent, with full cancellation for post-conflict countries,
countries affected by serious natural disasters and countries with very low social and
human indicators; (e) meeting the cost of relief from partial sales of gold held by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), a fresh allocation of special drawing rights, and
additional bilateral contributions to multilateral trust funds for debt relief; and (f)
beyond debt relief, with new concessional resource transfers to poor countries to achieve
sustainable growth. Debt relief, therefore, should not be given at the expense of ODA. In
addition, the report notes that 11 highly indebted poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa4
have been identified as having exceptional needs for post-conflict economic rehabilitation
assistance. For these countries, measures beyond the framework of the Highly Indebted Poor
Countries Debt Initiative may be required, including new approaches for providing early
assistance and lending into or providing assistance under arrears.
43. In response to the growing concern
about the limitations of the Debt Initiative to effectively deal with the debt burden of
highly indebted poorest countries, the majority of which are in Africa, the World Bank and
IMF undertook a comprehensive review of the Initiative in February 1999 with a view to
possible improvements thereto. Since the review, the World Bank has established a review
consultation Web page, and consultative meetings have been held in Germany, Honduras,
Mozambique, Norway, Togo, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the
United States of America, which brought together dozens of organizations and more than 500
participants.
44. In its 1998 Trade and Development
Report, UNCTAD proposed the establishment of a body composed of high-level personalities
and experts in finance and development, appointed jointly by creditors and debtors, to
undertake an independent assessment of the debt sustainability of African countries, with
an undertaking by creditors to write off debt considered unpayable. The ECA Joint
Conference of Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Economic and Social Development and
Planning, held in May 1999 on the theme “The challenges of financing development in
Africa”, adopted a joint ministerial statement that articulated Africa’s views
on a variety of international financial issues. The Ministers urged the industrialized
countries, in particular the group of seven major industrialized countries, to take the
lead in agreeing to complete cancellation of debts arising from bilateral aid for the
poorest countries and reduction of all other bilateral debts of the poorest countries by
at least 90 per cent, emphasized the need to foster a new donor-beneficiary relationship
in which multi-donor programmes would focus on an Africa-driven agenda, and stressed the
importance of adequate representation of Africa and its views in all international
intergovernmental bodies that might be set up to consider reforms of the international
financial architecture.
45. UNDP/Africa has also prepared a
policy paper which contributes to the formulation of a UNDP institutional position on debt
abatement with respect to the Debt Initiative, and explores the capacity-building
implications of such a position. The approach is to outline a framework for a
debt-for-sustainable-human-development window which would enable eligible countries to
secure additional debt relief as an incentive to accelerate poverty alleviation and
sustainable human development programmes and make some headway towards achieving the major
goals of the international community in these important activities.
46. In recent months, France and other
G-7 countries have formulated proposals for debt relief for the heavily indebted poor
countries, including improvements to the current Initiative, for discussion at the
economic summit (Cologne, June 1999). The proposals have in common a recognition of the
need for further debt reduction, forgiveness of bilateral debt for the poorest countries,
and flexibility in the Debt Initiative. The Cologne meeting is expected to endorse some
concrete actions for debt relief for the indebted poor countries that go beyond past
initiatives.
47. There seems to be an emerging
consensus on the need to lower the threshold and target values for debt indicators. A
number of proposals, including proposals from major donor countries, have been made to
this effect, for example, the Mauritius mandate by the British Government in September
1997; the Cologne debt initiative of the German Government of January 1999; and proposed
actions for deeper and faster debt reduction by the President of the United States of
America at a conference on a United States-Africa partnership for the twenty-first century
in March 1999. Other proposals have been made by Canada, France, Italy and Japan.
48. There have been a number of
positive developments recently at the bilateral level in relation to debt relief for
African countries. In 1998, the Government of Norway launched the Norwegian Debt Relief
Strategy, which aims at reducing the debt burden of the poorest and heavily indebted
countries and enabling them to embark on the next millennium with a debt situation that
will not be an impediment to sustained economic and social development. In addition to
increasing its contribution to the IMF operations in favour of the poorest countries by
granting an additional loan of $300 million for the period from July 1999 to December
2000, the Government of Belgium has committed itself to cancelling the debt of the last 40
years for countries that are not eligible under the Debt Initiative. These countries will
be selected for debt relief subject to criteria such as good governance, respect of human
rights and the rule of law. Already 12 African countries, including Benin, Comoros, Côte
d’Ivoire, the Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia,
have benefited from cancellation of their debt under bilateral arrangements.
49. In the context of the
recommendations relating to attracting investment for stimulating growth and the
importance of investing in infrastructure development, under a UNDP/national long-term
perspective studies project, a forum to review the competitiveness of African economies
was organized in Dakar in March 1999 in cooperation with the Government of Senegal, also
involving UNCTAD, WTO, UNIDO, the African Development Bank, OAU, ECA and UNESCO. Its
objective was to agree on steps to be taken to create a positive environment for
investment and to enhance competitiveness. The review helped to take stock of the openness
to trade, rationalized tax structures, adequate infrastructure, transparency and
accountability as well as protection of property rights. That forum and other activities
on investment and growth under way in the context of the Special Initiative trade cluster
can provide a good basis for the Secretary-General’s joint action with the
Secretary-General of OAU to promote large-scale long-term investment, including
multi-country infrastructure projects and exploitation of shared natural resources. UNIDO
is also involved in promoting investment in Africa, convening investment promotion
conferences for Guinea and Uganda and for the southern Africa region in 1998 and 1999.
Additional activities are to be held in Burkina Faso and Madagascar.
50. In the context of attracting
investment, the Secretary-General recommended the need to draw the attention of investors
to progress and new opportunities in Africa. In this regard, the Internet is an effective
mechanism for rapidly disseminated information to aid investment decisions. To promote
privatization in Africa, the World Bank and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
(MIGA) created a specialized window within IPAnet, MIGA’s Internet-based marketplace
for investment opportunities, to launch Privatization Link, profiling investment
opportunities arising from privatization. MIGA also supported private investment by
issuing guarantees totalling $126 million covering projects in Angola, Cape Verde,
Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda, which facilitated $2.3 billion in foreign
direct investment.
F. Support
for regional cooperation
and integration
51. United Nations organizations
continue to support activities aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and
integration. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), in cooperation with UNIDO,
organized in 1998 at Windhoek a workshop with a view to defining or formulating industrial
policy and strategies for SADC. The workshop was attended by approximately 40 high-level
officials from the public and private sectors.
52. Significant support has been
provided by UNIDO for the leather sector in Eastern Africa through a regional project
involving nine countries, namely, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, the Sudan, Uganda, the
United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The programme’s strategy is centred
on the establishment of the Eastern and Southern Africa Leather Industries Association,
which promotes skill development and technology upgrading across the entire range of
operations in the leather cycle and provides direct support to business in the field of
quality enhancement and pollution control, and facilitates partnerships with foreign
firms. Projects implemented so far under this programme totalled $27 million.
53. UNESCO is working towards
promoting regional and subregional cooperation in the area of telematics and the
information society through a Regional Informatics Network for Africa which links focal
points in 42 Member States concerned with promoting the use of information and
communication technologies in development. Activities include coordination meetings and
electronic discussions on the planning of cooperative activities and sharing of
experience, support for subregional training courses, pilot projects on the application of
telematics for development in sectors of public concern, and promotion of the African
content of the World Wide Web for educational, scientific, social and cultural
development.
54. South-South cooperation has
enormous potential for tapping the vast resources and experiences available in the
developing world as well as forging subregional and regional cooperation. UNIDO has
utilized the framework of the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development
as a vehicle for promoting South-South and triangular cooperation. UNIDO, in collaboration
with Japan and UNCTAD, plans to implement a project to establish an Asia-Africa Investment
and Technology Promotion Centre at Kuala Lumpur, which aims to facilitate partnership
between Asian and African entrepreneurs and attract investment flows between the two
regions. Similarly, ITC is currently implementing a South-South trade development and
cooperation programme which is designed to strengthen the ties between the business
sectors in Africa and other regions. UNCTAD organized an Asia-Africa Business Networking
Forum at Kuala Lumpur in March 1999, with the participation of some 100 entrepreneurs from
10 African and 13 Asian countries, which led to over 15 cooperation and marketing
agreements. Japan, in collaboration with UNDP, will also support the launching of the
Asia-Africa Business Forum, where business people from the two regions will meet late in
1999 to discuss trade and investment promotion between Asia and Africa.
55. ECA provides a range of technical
support, through its regional advisory services and subregional development centres, for
institutional strengthening of the various regional economic communities in Africa. It has
for instance assisted in the restructuring of the secretariats of the Economic Community
of West African States and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). ECA
has also undertaken feasibility studies on self-financing mechanisms for COMESA, which, in
due course, will be extended to SADC. At the request of the Conference of Heads of State
and Government of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), ECA is
assisting in relaunching regional cooperation and integration in that subregion. In
pursuance of that effort, ECA has produced several major studies on the following
subjects: strategic framework on regional integration and subregional cooperation;
rethinking development in Central Africa in the twenty-first century; making regional
integration the engine for sustained growth and sustainable development at the national
level; programme for relaunching regional integration in the Central African subregion;
and renewing ECCAS: 1999–2001.
56. Significant progress in the area
of regional cooperation and integration requires a more genuine supportive attitude on the
part of donors and international trading partners, particularly with regard to the
development of common standards and equipment among neighbouring countries. African
countries, with the support of their development partners, should examine ways in which
support for regional and subregional integration can be used to promote economic
discipline and sound macroeconomic policies, and facilitate the establishment of solid
institutional confidence-building links between neighbouring countries.
IV. Priority areas under the current initiatives on Africa and
possible priorities in partnership
57. The United Nations New Agenda for
the Development of Africa in the 1990s, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution
46/151 of 18 December 1991, sets priority areas with the goal of promoting Africa’s
economic recovery and development. African countries agreed to implement economic reforms;
intensify the democratization process; strengthen regional cooperation and integration;
develop human resources, in particular science and technology; integrate population
concerns into development planning; improve agricultural and rural development to achieve
food security; protect the environment and promote sustainable development; promote
investment and increase the role of civil society in national decision-making while
intensifying South-South cooperation. Development partners committed themselves to
supporting the implementation of these priorities and to facilitate a solution of the debt
problem; increase resources flows; increase market access; support economic
diversification; and encourage foreign direct investment in Africa while supporting
regional integration.
58. Since the adoption of the New
Agenda by the General Assembly, many intergovernmental initiatives have been launched in
efforts to tackle the development challenges facing the continent. The most prominent of
the initiatives defined by African countries themselves are the OAU Mechanism for Conflict
Prevention, Management and Resolution and the Cairo Agenda for Action: Relaunching
Africa’s Economic and Social Development.
59. Adopted by the Assembly of Heads
of State and Government of OAU on 28 June 1995, the Cairo Agenda for Action was formulated
against the backdrop of the economic crisis facing the majority of African countries and
can serve as a good starting point for prioritization (see para. 70 below).
60. Among the initiatives for African
development there are bilateral and multilateral ones, initiatives taken for the
coordination of United Nations system-wide activities and initiatives taken by individual
donor countries. They include the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative, the
implementing arm of the New Agenda; several initiatives in the context of the United
Nations, its agencies and the Bretton Woods institutions, such as coordination initiatives
at the regional level which are part of thematic or sectoral programmes on Africa launched
by a number of organizations. Significant examples are (a) the African Information Society
Initiative (AISI) led by ECA and including UNESCO, the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU), UNDP, FAO, UNIDO, the World Bank and the International Research Center of
Canada; (b) the United Nations Transport and Communications Decade in Africa, involving
ECA, UNCTAD, ILO, UNDP, the World Bank, the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and ITU; (c) the Alliance for
Africa’s Industrialization led by UNIDO and supported by ECA, UNDP, and the African
Development Bank; and (d) UNESCO support for national news agencies and the Pan-African
News Agency.
61. Donor initiatives include the
Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the United States Partnership for
Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa, the Swedish Partnership with Africa, and the
United Kingdom Initiative on Eliminating World Poverty.
62. The United Nations System-wide
Special Initiative, launched in March 1996, aims to achieve greater impact at the country
level, focusing on a number of selected areas, within the priorities identified in the New
Agenda and the Cairo Agenda, which would benefit most from greater collaboration among
organizations of the United Nations system. The focus areas for joint action included
water for household use and food production; food security with emphasis on combating
desertification and land degradation; governance, including peace-building; strengthening
civil society and harnessing information technology for development; social and human
development with emphasis on education and health; and resource mobilization focusing on
debt relief, effective aid coordination, market access and domestic savings.
Diversification of Africa’s economies and regional cooperation and integration were
added later.
63. Organized with the United Nations
and the Global Coalition for Africa, the Tokyo Conference hosted by Japan in October 1993
identified the development of the private sector; regional cooperation and integration;
emergency relief and development; international cooperation with emphasis on increased
development assistance; international advocacy for debt relief; market access; and
diversification of Africa’s commodities as the key priorities for African
development. The Tokyo Agenda for Action, adopted by the Second Tokyo International
Conference on African Development, held in October 1998, also established a number of
priorities based on widespread consultation among African and Asian Governments and the
private sector, donor countries and international and regional organizations in a series
of preparatory activities prior to the Conference. The priority areas include social
development and poverty reduction, with the focus on education and health; economic
development and the promotion of the private sector, with the focus on trade, investment
and infrastructure; and good governance, conflict prevention and post-conflict
development.
64. The United States Partnership for
Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa, launched in June 1997, contains a number of
priorities that were selected to reinforce Africa’s economic recovery. Its main
elements are increased market access; the promotion of private investment; forgiveness of
bilateral debt with support for maximum relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
Debt Initiative; food security through market liberalization, export development and
agri-business development; the modernization of airports; energy development; and support
for regional integration through promoting investment policy harmonization, regional
business linkages, financial sector development and privatization.
65. Sweden’s Partnership with
Africa initiative, adopted by its Parliament in 1998, also seeks to help African countries
to realize their untapped growth potential and become more closely integrated into the
global economy. The priorities were established in consultation with a number of African
Governments and civil society organizations. The initiative covers trade development; debt
relief; domestic resource mobilization, in particular strengthening of the financial
sector; support for economic reforms; strengthening civil society organizations; and good
governance, human rights and conflict prevention.
66. While not specifically for Africa,
the United Kingdom’s Initiative on Eliminating World Poverty will primarily benefit
the world’s poorest region. Its goal is to contribute to the elimination of poverty
by seeking to implement international development targets on the basis of United Nations
resolutions and major conferences. It aims to achieve this goal by implementing a series
of programmes and projects around the following priorities: trade development, increased
ODA, debt relief, promotion of investment, improved governance, respect for human rights
and the rule of law and conflict prevention.
67. A successor agreement to the Lomé
Convention is currently being negotiated. The framework for negotiations includes
priorities such as more effective use of ODA; diversification of production and exports;
human resource development, including science and technology development; private sector
development and investment; regional integration; good governance, democracy and human
rights; and the involvement of civil society in decision-making.
68. While initially focused solely on
providing quick-disbursing funds to fill the gaps in the national budgets of low-income,
debt-distressed countries undertaking economic reforms, the Special Programme for Africa
launched by the World Bank in 1988 has shifted its focus on economic growth. Beginning
with the third cycle (1994–1996), the Programme has been moving towards sector
investment programmes in areas such as education, health, infrastructure and agriculture,
with increased focus on poverty reduction.
69. The initiatives described above
cover a wide range of priorities that could be considered by the Economic and Social
Council at its substantive session of 1999 as the basis for discussion between African
countries and their development partners aimed at identifying and ranking priorities in
partnership, in compliance with the request of the General Assembly in its resolution
53/92.
70. While the priorities in the
various initiatives differ in specificity, they can be generally grouped under the broader
priorities established by Africans themselves in the Cairo Agenda, namely, democracy,
governance, peace, security, stability and sustainable development; food security;
capacity-building and human resources development; structural transformation of African
economies; effective mobilization and efficient utilization of resources; and regional
cooperation and integration.
71. While there is agreement on the
broader priorities there are differences in emphasis placed on specific priorities, both
at the level of African countries and at the level of bilateral donors. The Economic and
Social Council may wish to consider how the array of priorities for African development,
defined in different contexts, can be ranked as requested by the General Assembly to help
in the process of harmonization of the various initiatives.
72. While it is clear that African
development is the primary responsibility of the African countries themselves, as
demonstrated by the many initiatives outlined above, development partners are committed to
supporting the efforts of the region in the spirit of shared responsibility and
partnership. In order to ensure that goals are met and progress achieved, it is important
to consider measurable targets in priority areas, as requested by the General Assembly.
73. At the more general level, the
United Nations has adopted a target of 0.7 per cent of the GNP of developed countries for
official development assistance. A target of 0.15 per cent of GNP was similarly
established for ODA to the least developed countries, 33 of which (of a total of 48) are
in Africa. The United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s,
established a target growth rate of 6 per cent per annum for African countries and a
minimum of $30 billion in net ODA by donor countries in 1992, which would increase at an
annual average of 4 per cent thereafter.
74. Recent United Nations global
conferences, including the World Conference on Education for All (1990), the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992), the International Conference on
Population and Development (1994), the World Summit for Social Development (1995) and the
Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), have also established landmark targets in a
number of areas.
75. Many of the targets agreed upon
relate to the social sector, in particular to poverty eradication, education and health,
including reproductive health. While many of these targets are not specific to Africa,
meeting them is critical in establishing and reinforcing the basic foundation for
development. The Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (Paris,
1990) set separate targets for the development of least developed countries. In the
light of the recommendation made by the General Assembly and in view of the more general
targets also applicable to Africa which have been highlighted above, the Economic and
Social Council may wish to consider the linkages between targets, the establishment of
specific new targets and their utility in the context of prioritizing, monitoring and
evaluating the progress of initiatives and the development of Africa.
V. Coordinated
follow-up by the United Nations system of initiatives on Africa
76. The complexity and variety of
economic and social situations prevailing in the African countries, and the diversity of
their peace and security conditions (see A/52/871–S/1998/318), have been met by a
variety of responses from the United Nations system in areas such as peacemaking and
peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and development cooperation. Africa continues to
witness a significant expansion in the operations of the United Nations system.
A. Coordination
of United Nations
system initiatives
1.
At the global and regional level
77. The Secretary-General’s
report on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable
development in Africa, and the United Nations system’s response to that report
through the Administrative Committee on Coordination, should be regarded as an integral
part of the effort to strengthen inter-agency coordination in support of African
development. The Deputy Secretary-General has been entrusted with the follow-up and
monitoring of the implementation of the recommendations of the Secretary-General contained
in the report.
78. In considering the system’s
response to the Secretary-General’s report, the executive heads of the United Nations
system, meeting in the Administrative Committee on Coordination in the autumn of 1998,
fully shared the emphasis placed by the Secretary-General on the need for a comprehensive
and holistic approach by the international community and the United Nations system in
addressing the multifaceted problems confronting Africa. The Secretary-General emphasized
the importance of linkages between security and sustainable development, on the one hand,
and of interrelationships between the actions of Governments, the United Nations system
and civil society actors on the other. The Committee endorsed the call in the
Secretary-General’s report for the United Nations system, the international community
and the African countries to frame their actions within a broad common agenda. In the same
context, the Secretary-General informed the Committee of the outcome of a recent meeting
he had convened with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Development Assistance Committee
countries and of the response of African heads of State or Government, as expressed, for
example, at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, both affirming
commitment and support for the overall approaches set out in the report.
79. As part of the common effort to
mobilize political will and to achieve convergence in the system’s actions in support
of African development, the executive heads agreed to bring the Secretary-General’s
report to the attention of the various governing bodies of the system. To the same ends,
the members of the Administrative Committee on Coordination stressed the importance of the
full involvement of ECA and close interaction with OAU. They agreed that strategic and
policy analysis relevant to the peace-building and development objectives set out in the
report would be more systematically shared among them, and directed all the
Committee’s subsidiary bodies and other relevant inter-agency mechanisms to give
special attention to ways of pursuing the objectives set in the report. Committee members
also committed themselves to strengthening inter-agency consultations with a view to
facilitating the harmonization of Africa-related initiatives, including in connection with
the preparation of and follow-up to international and bilateral donor initiatives relating
to Africa undertaken in collaboration with the organizations of the system.
80. At the intergovernmental level,
the arrangements put in place for the implementation and the coordinated follow-up of
initiatives on Africa are mainly those adopted for the coordination of the implementation
of the New Agenda. Before its adoption in December 1991, the Committee for Programme and
Coordination had introduced, in the medium-term plan for the period 1992–1997, a new
programme entitled “Africa: critical economic situation, recovery and
development” (programme 45), requesting the Secretary-General to prepare a
system-wide plan of action for African economic recovery and development, in collaboration
with the executive heads of the organizations of the United Nations system as the basis
for system-wide coordination. When the New Agenda was adopted, all organizations were
requested to establish, in their respective areas, specific programmes consistent with the
orientations of the Agenda, devoting adequate resources to their implementation.
81. In response to those two requests,
the Secretary-General elaborated in 1992 a system-wide plan of action, which was adopted
by the Committee for Programme and Coordination and subsequently revised in 1994,
including specific administrative arrangements to enhance coordination and advocacy work
on Africa.5 In 1997 the Committee replaced the Plan of Action with the
System-wide Special Initiative.
82. The follow-up, monitoring and
evaluation machinery set up at the intergovernmental level for the implementation of the
New Agenda has since made an important contribution to enhancing the coordination of the
activities of the United Nations system on Africa, as in the case of the review by the
Committee for Programme and Coordination of system-wide activities on Africa and the
mid-term review of the New Agenda conducted in 1996 by the General Assembly. The Committee
has carried out an in-depth evaluation of programme 45 of the medium-term plan for the
period 1992–1997, and set up a new programme (programme 6 of the medium-term plan for
the period 1998–2001) linking the Special Initiative and the New Agenda.
83. Sharpening the role of the Special
Initiative as an instrument to advance the New Agenda, and strengthening the linkages
between the two, have been a constant concern of the Administrative Committee on
Coordination since the launch of the Initiative. The Committee has also endeavoured to
promote closer linkage between the Special Initiative and other development cooperation
undertakings, such as the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative, the Alliance for Africa’s
Industrialization and ongoing and new programmes in the health sector as well as
programmes for skills improvement and the informal sector. Through its subsidiary
machinery the Committee has also worked to promote closer interactions between the Special
Initiative and inter-agency activities related to the coordinated follow-up to global
conferences.
84. In the same context the
Administrative Committee on Coordination has encouraged and supported efforts at the
country level by the resident coordinators and the United Nations country teams as well as
representatives of the Bretton Woods institutions, to intensify their collaboration within
the framework of the Special Initiative. The development of benchmarks designed to measure
progress at the country level produced intensive inter-agency work, which was more
advanced in the areas of education and governance than in other areas such as trade
access, debt, and investment and employment promotion, although progress in this respect
is also being registered.
85. In general the Special Initiative
has already recorded good progress at the country level, particularly in clusters where
lead agencies have a major role. This is the case in education, with UNESCO, the World
Bank, UNICEF and UNDP; health with WHO and the World Bank; population and gender with the
United Nations Population Fund; harnessing information for development with ECA;
governance with UNDP and ECA, which have initiated an annual Africa Governance Forum
series to exchange information and experience among Governments and civil society
organizations; trade with UNCTAD, which, in collaboration with WTO and ITC, has developed
an integrated framework for trade-related technical assistance for least developed and
other countries; UNCTAD is also cooperating with UNDP in assisting the African countries
in trade promotion and negotiations. Similarly, ILO, in cooperation with ECA, has played
an important role in poverty reduction through the promotion of the informal sector and
employment generation. As an integrated part of the Africa Governance Forum process, the
joint UNDP/ Department of Economic and Social Affairs comprehensive databases and analysis
of governance activities are expected to enhance the in-country capacity for coordination
and lead to sustainability.
86. In April 1998, at the first annual
meeting of the Ministerial Follow-up Committee of the Conference of African Ministers
Responsible for Economic and Social Development and Planning, ECA was requested to prepare
a report on collaboration and coordination among the organizations of the United Nations
system at the regional and subregional levels, to be submitted to the Conference at its
1999 session. Subsequently, the Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 1998/46,
endorsed the recommendation of the Secretary-General to convene, on an annual basis,
regional coordination meetings of the United Nations agencies engaged in regional and
intercountry activities.
87. The first annual regional
coordination meeting of the United Nations system in Africa convened pursuant to the
Council’s resolution was held at Nairobi in March 1999, chaired by the Deputy
Secretary-General. Addressing the effectiveness of existing coordination mechanisms, that
meeting agreed that the creation of new structures of coordination at the country level
should be avoided and that existing coordination arrangements should be streamlined and
strengthened. It was also agreed that the Special Initiative could provisionally
constitute an appropriate mechanism for the coordination of the United Nations
system’s work in Africa and that additional sub-themes or clusters could be included
for that purpose in the programme.6
2.
At the country level
88. The activities of the United
Nations system are coordinated at the country level in various ways, according to the
diversity of prevailing circumstances. Basic coordination mechanisms are established
within the resident coordinator system, with the aim of harmonizing programmes and
interfacing with the Government for a constructive policy dialogue. In all cases, the
ultimate responsibility for coordination lies with the Government.
89. A few of those mechanisms will be
highlighted here: strategic and programmatic frameworks such as the country strategy note,
the common country assessment, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF)
and thematic groups.
90. The country strategy note,
established by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/199, has been adopted as a
coordinating framework in 16 African countries7 out of 33 countries worldwide
(48.5 per cent of the total for Africa).8 In several cases,9 the
country strategy note has substantially contributed to a policy dialogue with the
Government, providing a coherent frame of reference for programming. In the last four
years, country strategy notes have increasingly focused on the outcome of global
conferences and the national commitments to implement them.
91. The United Nations Development
Assistance Framework was introduced only in 1998 in a limited number of countries as part
of the Secretary-General’s reform proposals of 14 July 1997, and benefited from the
policy guidance of the General Assembly (see resolution 53/192). Ten African countries
participated in the pilot phase10 and in eight of them the process of
formulation has been completed.11 Where the country strategy note was
available, the UNDAF was harmonized with it, complementing that process and intensifying
the coordinated and integrated response of the United Nations system to national
priorities. In one country (Mali), an attempt was made to harmonize the formulation of the
UNDAF with the preparation of the country assistance strategy of the World Bank. The
initial stage of the pilot does not allow any assessment of its impact on coordination,
especially since the UNDAF, during its pilot experience, was often prepared after country
cooperation programmes were already formulated and approved. There are clear signals
(e.g., in Morocco) that the UNDAF process is not only a planning tool but also a way to
identify both the areas of convergence among funds, programmes and specialized agencies
and possible gaps to be filled in order to maximize the impact of United Nations system
activities in the host country.
92. The common country assessment,
initially launched by the Joint Consultative Group on Policy in 1996, benefited from a
renewed impulse since the new guidelines adopted by the United Nations Development Group
in 1999, endorsed by the Consultative Committee on Programme and Operational Questions,
stressed its role as a first step for the formulation of an UNDAF. The common country
assessment is conceived as a fundamental input to the formulation of future UNDAFs and a
useful contribution to the formulation or revision of country strategy notes. While the
common country assessments undertaken within the UNDAF pilot are limited in number,12
it is expected that the assessment will become a much stronger coordination instrument in
all countries of the region.
93. Humanitarian assistance is an
important component of the support provided by the United Nations system in several
African countries. Its coordination has required, in nine African countries, the adoption
of a specialized mechanism, the consolidated appeals process.13 Although none
of those countries has formulated an UNDAF, it is expected that the harmonization of the
UNDAF and common country assessment processes with the consolidated appeals process will
be further explored and analysed, in order to complement emergency relief with recovery,
rehabilitation and reconstruction activities, as well as promotion of sustainable
development.
94. Another coordination tool for
countries affected by special circumstances is the strategic framework. The Administrative
Committee on Coordination adopted the generic guidelines for a strategic framework as a
response to, and recovery from, crisis in exceptional cases, on the basis of the first
experience attempted for Afghanistan. The framework has the potential to be a useful tool
in Africa.
95. All the above-mentioned strategic
and programming frameworks are potentially very powerful instruments for enhancing the
coordination of United Nations system support to the African region, but their application
to a limited, even if significant, number of countries indicates that much more needs to
be done. It is expected that the generalized application of the common country assessment
to most countries of the region will soon enhance collaboration among various partners, in
the delicate phase of the identification of strategic issues. A key feature of the common
country assessment is that it potentially involves not only the United Nations system but
also other donors and a variety of national interlocutors.
96. Whether or not these strategic
programming tools have been implemented in each country of the region, the primary
coordinating role for the operational activities for development of the United Nations
system continues to be played by the resident coordinator system, which works through the
field-level committee,14 with the participation of representatives of all
organizations of the United Nations system with country offices. In most cases, the
resident coordinator system also covers the coordination of humanitarian assistance and
its harmonization with development cooperation activities of the United Nations system.
97. In those cases where peacekeeping
dimensions are particularly relevant, the coordination function is often played by a
special representative of the Secretary-General in the country or in the subregion, or a
special envoy of the Secretary-General. Similarly, where humanitarian assistance is
crucial, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs may appoint a
humanitarian coordinator. Often the special representatives of the Secretary-General are
also appointed as humanitarian coordinators, while in other cases the functions of
resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator are carried out by the same person. In
some cases the resident coordinator serves as the deputy special representative of the
Secretary-General. This variety of arrangements is indicative of the complexity of
coordination in countries where different problems arise concerning the relations among
peace and security, humanitarian assistance, post-emergency or post-conflict situations
and development.
98. Thematic groups, which usually
report to the field-level committee, are crucial to enhancing system-wide coordination and
policy dialogue with the Government, and as regular consultation mechanisms and
interaction for the integrated follow-up to global conferences. They have been established
in all those African countries which have regular development cooperation activities. They
function according to the lead agency principle, reflecting the mandate of each
organization. Other multilateral and regional institutions and bilateral donors often take
part in these thematic groups. The participation of national authorities is often
encouraged, and in many cases the Government has a lead role in chairing the groups. Civil
society and non-governmental organizations are increasingly involved as important
partners.
99. Thematic groups played an
important role in the formulation of country strategy notes. They had an even more durable
and significant impact where they were established as a follow-up to global conferences,
although their effectiveness is uneven.15 They are crucial in the formulation
of the UNDAF. A preliminary review of the annual reports of resident coordinators for 1998
shows that the linkage between thematic groups, follow-up to global conferences and the
formulation and monitoring of an UNDAF may represent an effective way of enhancing
coordination, not only within the system, but also with other stakeholders.16
100. In several African countries, the thematic groups on
HIV/AIDS represent one of the most successful examples of what this tool can do, involving
major donors and civil society, often resulting in national plans or coordinating
frameworks, and facilitating resource mobilization to support the implementation of
specific programmes. Another example is the thematic groups established within the
resident coordinator system as part of the ACC Network on Rural Development and Food
Security, which was launched by the Administrative Committee on Coordination in 1997 with
the aim of promoting specific initiatives for the follow-up to the World Food Summit. The
Network is managed by FAO and IFAD, in close cooperation with the World Food Programme,
and aims, inter alia, at fostering complementarities and synergies between United
Nations organizations and other stakeholders and promoting information on best practices,
also by making extensive use of information technology.
101. Other coordinating mechanisms extensively used in African
countries are round tables, consultative group meetings and sectoral consultations, which
play a special role in consultation with donors and resource mobilization for development
assistance financing. Recently, the President of the World Bank proposed the formulation
of a comprehensive development framework, with the aim of providing a long-term, holistic
and strategic approach to the coordination of external efforts, integrating efforts of the
United Nations system with the World Bank under the leadership of the Government. It is
expected that linkages between the comprehensive development framework and UNDAF will be
further enhanced to harmonize the two tools and make them complementary.
102. In spite of the overall progress in coordination efforts
at the country level, several problems limit their effectiveness. First, the uneven
decentralization of authority among organizations of the United Nations system generates
imbalanced participation of each entity in the various mechanisms. Second, because of
resource constraints, some organizations, though represented in the country, are unable to
participate effectively in the coordination mechanisms. Third, Government capacity is at
times limited in terms of human and financial resources.
103. Taking note of the variety of country-specific
situations and needs in the African region, which is also reflected in the variety of
coordination mechanisms adopted by the United Nations system and host countries to ensure
a harmonized and integrated response to national priorities, the Economic and Social
Council may wish to request the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods
institutions, as well as other multilateral and regional organizations and bilateral
donors, to collaborate with the Government of each African country, and among themselves,
in order to ensure the consistency of the various coordination mechanisms, favouring
synergy, containing duplication, avoiding contradictions and simplifying, as appropriate,
the modalities and procedures required by the functioning of these mechanisms.
B. Harmonization
of non-United Nations initiatives on Africa
104. As mentioned in section III of this report, a number of
bilateral initiatives on Africa have emerged in recent years, including the Swedish
Partnership with Africa, the United States Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity
in Africa, the Tokyo Agenda for Action,17 the United Kingdom initiative on
poverty eradication and the initiative of the Republic of Korea on Asia-Africa cooperation
in export promotion.18 While these initiatives indicate that the United Nations
goal of putting Africa’s development at the top of the global agenda is receiving
active support from the international community, they need to be harmonized with each
other and with those undertaken by the United Nations system for maximum benefit to the
recipient countries of Africa.
105. In terms of operations, the activities of the United
Nations system represent a small proportion of the total flows of development cooperation
with African countries, which include an important component from other multilateral
institutions and bilateral donors. United Nations system coordination, to be truly
effective, must be linked with the overall coordination of development cooperation with
every specific African country.
106. Coordination of external assistance is a challenging task,
which is the responsibility of the Government of the host country. There are several
examples in Africa where the United Nations supports national efforts of the Government to
coordinate external assistance. While consultation between the United Nations system and
bilateral donors is generalized in all countries of the regions, there are cases where
this consultation process is supported by special institutional arrangements, that is,
donor contact groups, beyond the consultative group and round-table mechanisms, where the
Government may request the United Nations system, or the resident coordinator, to support
national efforts in this area.
107. Analysis of the bilateral initiatives discussed earlier in
this report shows that most of the initiatives share common objectives and goals. Selected
thematic consultations are frequently promoted in individual countries with a view to
encouraging donor agencies to converge efforts in support of national initiatives. Such
consultations also deal with mobilization of the resources required to implement
activities in common areas or subregions. The consultation between the United Nations
system and other donors could be intensified, under the leadership of the Government of
the host country. A potential opportunity to expand such a dialogue could be the expanded
implementation of the common country assessment exercises as an instrument not only for
analysis but also for policy dialogue.
108. In an effort to harmonize these initiatives, the United
Nations can organize selected thematic consultations to be attended by representatives of
donor countries and the host country to discuss common priorities at the policy and
operational levels with a view to encouraging donor agencies to streamline and rationalize
their respective development activities and bring them closer to those of the United
Nations system. Such consultations could also deal with the mobilization of the resources
required to implement activities in the common priority areas.
Notes
1 The following organizations and donor countries
responded to the questionnaire:
Organizations of
the United Nations system: UNIDO, UNESCO, UNEP, UNCTAD, UNHCR, UNDP, UNFPA, FAO, WFP, WHO,
UPU, IMF, World Bank, ECA, ITC, IFAD, IMO, ICAO, ILO, ITU.
Donor developed
countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands,
Norway, Sweden, United States of America, Denmark, Ireland.
Donor developing
countries: China, India.
2 The membership of the Committee comprises:
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Economic Commission for Europe, Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean, Economic Commission for Africa, Economic and Social Commission for Western
Asia, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Environment
Programme, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, United Nations Office for Drug
Control and Crime Prevention, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United
Nations Development Programme, United Nations University, International Research and
Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, United Nations Institute for Training and
Research and United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.
3 ECESA/99/22. This report can be found on the
Internet at www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecesa/eces99-2.htm.
4 Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra
Leone, Somalia and the Sudan.
5 These administrative arrangements include the
creation, within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, of the Office of the
Special Coordinator for Africa and the Least Developed Countries with the mandate to
support and expand the advocacy role for Africa of the Secretary-General, assist in global
coordination concerning African development and related issues throughout the United
Nations system, and provide substantive support to the intergovernmental machinery in its
deliberations on Africa; and the establishment of the Panel of High-level Personalities on
African Development with the mandate to address, inter alia, coordination issues.
6 The ACC Steering Committee on the Special Initiative
at its 8th meeting, held in New York in May 1999, endorsed the agreement reached at the
first annual regional coordination meeting.
7 Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, the Comoros, Eritrea,
Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, the Sudan
and Zambia.
8 As compared with other regions, the frequency with
which African countries have adopted this instrument is significant. In addition, four
other countries (Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia and the Niger) have produced final drafts.
Nevertheless, this shows that only a minority of African countries have adopted the
country strategy note as an instrument of coordination.
9 In all cases, the preparation of the country
strategy note has enhanced information exchange among United Nations organizations, has
increased their coordination and has been a team-building process. The leadership of the
Government in the preparation of the country strategy note and the participation of
national authorities have been effective in several countries. Typical examples where this
process was particularly productive are, inter alia, the cases of Morocco, Senegal
and Zambia. However, in other countries their involvement, especially at the level of line
authorities, has been inadequate. An assessment of the country strategy note process was
undertaken at the 1998 triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for
development (see A/53/226/Add.1).
10 Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique,
Namibia, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
11 This is the case of Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, and Zimbabwe.
12 Only five countries (Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar,
Mozambique and Zimbabwe) of the pilot group have already completed a common country
assessment. However, in many other African countries there are several other analytical
instruments already available, such as human development reports promoted by UNDP, poverty
assessments promoted by the World Bank, social situation assessments of various kinds
promoted by UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA, agricultural assessments launched by FAO or IFAD and
food security studies conducted by WFP, which represent a good foundation for the common
country assessment.
13 This is the case in Angola, Burundi, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Sudan, Uganda and the
United Republic of Tanzania.
14 See General Assembly resolution 47/199, para. 40 and
resolution 50/120, para. 41.
15 An example of best practice is that of Mauritania,
where a thematic group on rural development and food security was established in 1998,
under the leadership of FAO, with the participation of representatives of WFP and UNDP
and, from the national side, the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy, the Cabinet
of the Prime Minister, the Food Security Commission, the Commission for Human Rights and
Poverty Eradication, the Development for Women Affairs and several non-governmental
organizations. The group prepared a follow-up report on the World Food Summit, which
contains also a vulnerability assessment and mapping in terms of food security.
16 A good example is the case of Ghana, where a working
group on gender was formed, within the framework of UNDAF, drawing on gender focal points
of all organizations of the United Nations system, including Bretton Woods institutions.
17 The Government of Japan initiated the Tokyo
International Conference on African Development, which culminated, in October 1998, in the
adoption of the Tokyo Agenda for Action. The Agenda encompasses social development and
poverty reduction with focus on education and health; economic development and promotion
of the private sector, with focus on trade, investment and infrastructure; and good
governance, conflict prevention and post-conflict development.
18 The initiative is the result of the Forum on
Asia-Africa Cooperation in Export Promotion held at Seoul in December 1998.