| United Nations | A/50/340/Add.1 |
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
11 September 1995
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
Fiftieth session
Item 99 (b) of the provisional agenda*
OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT: ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL
COOPERATION AMONG DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
State of South-South cooperation
Report of the Secretary-General
CONTENTS
Chapter Paragraphs Page
Foreword .....................................................1 - 44
I. ECDC/TCDC: A PRIORITY THEME IN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM ......................5 - 225
A. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations ............................................6 - 75
B. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for
Desertification ....................................8 - 96
C. International Labour Organization .................. 106
D. International Trade Centre ......................... 117
E. United Nations Centre for Human Settlements
(Habitat) .......................................... 127
F. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development .13 - 158
* A/50/150.
95-27809 (E) 131095/...
*9527809*
CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter Paragraphs Page
G. United Nations Development Programme ............... 168
H. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization ....................................... 179
I. United Nations Environment Programme ............... 189
J. United Nations Industrial Development Organization . 1910
K. United Nations Population Fund .....................20 - 2110
L. United Nations regional commissions ................ 2211
II. SUPPORT TO SUBREGIONAL, REGIONAL AND GLOBAL COOPERATION
INITIATIVES AND ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING TRADE AND
MONETARY AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION .....................23 - 6211
A. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations ............................................23 - 2511
B. International Trade Centre .........................26 - 3112
C. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development .32 - 3715
D. United Nations Development Programme ...............38 - 4117
E. United Nations regional commissions ................42 - 6019
F. World Bank .........................................61 - 6224
III. SUPPORT TO ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY COOPERATION .........63 - 7825
A. International Trade Centre .........................63 - 6425
B. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development .65 - 6625
C. United Nations Development Programme ...............67 - 6926
D. United Nations Industrial Development Organization .70 - 7327
E. World Bank ......................................... 7428
F. International Labour Organization ..................75 - 7828
IV. SUPPORT TO FOOD SECURITY AND AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION ..79 - 8829
A. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations ............................................79 - 8529
CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter Paragraphs Page
B. United Nations Development Programme .............86 - 8732
C. World Bank ....................................... 8832
V. SUPPORT TO COOPERATION IN CULTURE, EDUCATION, SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY .......................................89 - 12233
A. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations ..........................................89 - 9033
B. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 9133
C. United Nations Development Programme .............92 - 9334
D. United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization ............................94 - 12134
E. United Nations Population Fund ................... 12242
VI. SUPPORT TO COOPERATION IN ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT123 - 14342
A. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for
Desertification ..................................123 - 12642
B. United Nations Environment Programme .............127 - 13743
C. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations ..........................................138 - 14246
D. United Nations Development Programme ............. 14347
VII. SUPPORT TO COOPERATION IN POPULATION DEVELOPMENT .....144 - 16048
VIII. SUPPORT TO COOPERATION FOR SOUTH CONSCIOUSNESS .......161 - 16552
A. United Nations Development Programme .............162 - 16452
B. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations ..........................................165 - 16653
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A/50/340/Add.1
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Foreword
1. The promotion and strengthening of economic cooperation among
developing countries/technical cooperation among developing countries
(ECDC/TCDC) is a priority in the United Nations development system, working
closely with Governments, intergovernmental organizations for ECDC/TCDC and
other ECDC actors. Significantly, South-South cooperation is probably one
of the areas in which the United Nations has particular relevance and
potential, and where the proposed United Nations conference on South-South
cooperation will offer a major opportunity for the system as a whole to
display its ability to adapt to new and emerging challenges and to come up
with practical solutions to increased ECDC/TCDC.
2. The policy commitment of the United Nations to ECDC/TCDC is reviewed in
the first chapter of the present report. In keeping with its policy
commitment to ECDC/TCDC, the United Nations development system has in the
past supported a wide range of initiatives designed to promote increased
South-South cooperation. Examples of such activities are provided in the
subsequent chapters.
3. The review of policy commitment and activities in support of South-
South cooperation is organized by major subject area and/or by
agencies/organizations, listed alphabetically. It is by no means an
exhaustive review, but rather an illustrative one. In citing these
examples, one would not wish to lose sight of the fact that it is the
developing countries themselves which are the prime movers of ECDC/TCDC.
The United Nations development system perceives its role as being of a
catalytic and supportive nature as well as, to the extent feasible, dynamic
and innovative in developing new concepts and approaches. It will have to
be recognized that in many of the United Nations agencies and
organizations, activities in support of ECDC/TCDC are implemented with
technical and financial support from the developed countries (such as
contributions to trust funds). Support to South-South cooperation by the
United Nations therefore has an element of North-South cooperation as well.
4. Broadly speaking, the ECDC/TCDC support activities executed by the
United Nations system include compilation and dissemination of information
on TCDC capacities and needs as well as their matching; orientation of
national and United Nations staff on TCDC/ECDC mechanisms and procedures;
identification of "success stories" and unique experiences and promotion of
their adoption and adaptation elsewhere; use of developing countries'
inputs (experts, training facilities, equipment) in programmes and
projects; promotion of linkages between professionals and institutions as
well as close collaboration with regional and subregional organizations;
support for subregional and regional integration initiatives and
organizations; promoting South-South trade expansion by way of improving
trade and monetary and financial cooperation and related services; and,
through the ECDC/TCDC modality, promote sectoral development objectives
like food security and agriculture, education and culture, communications
and technology, environment and population.
I. ECDC/TCDC: A PRIORITY THEME IN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM
5. The United Nations development system has incorporated South-South
cooperation activities in its work as recommended by various meetings/
conferences/declarations including: the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for
Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries
(1978); the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly such as 44/211 of
22 December 1989 stressing the need to increase and strengthen the
promotion and implementation of technical cooperation among developing
countries on a priority basis; decisions of the Economic and Social
Council; recommendations of the legislative bodies of the various United
Nations development agencies; and the Report of the South Commission (1990)
which gave strong support to ECDC/TCDC. The promotion of ECDC/TCDC is a
central mandate and feature of the development activities of many United
Nations development agencies, while in others development programmes at the
regional level are implemented which contribute to enhancing ECDC and TCDC.
This can be gleaned from the discussion in this chapter on the policy
commitment and approach to ECDC/TCDC of a selected number of organizations
of the United Nations system (listed alphabetically).
A. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
6. FAO regards South-South cooperation as a key element in the developing
countries' search for collective self-reliance and an essential
contribution to the necessary structural changes required for a balanced
and equitable process of world economic development. Accordingly, ECDC and
TCDC are among the priorities of FAO's activities under its regular and
field programmes, with FAO's governing bodies, the FAO General Conference
and Council, and the respective FAO regional conferences giving continued
attention to the matter. The Medium Term Plan 1994-1999, approved by the
Twenty-seventh session of the FAO Conference (November 1993), provides a
general framework for FAO's future support to TCDC/ECDC as cross-sectoral
thematic priorities. The Conference underlined the need for support to
both TCDC and ECDC to be continued and intensified.
7. FAO's support to TCDC has concentrated on key areas in the broad fields
of land and water development, dairy and animal production, crop production
and protection, fisheries, forestry, nutrition and rural development. The
support has encompassed several means: inter-country consultations,
training workshops, seminars and study tours designed to promote the
exchange of experience and technical knowledge; expansion of information
systems to disseminate TCDC data; and support to regional organizations and
networks. FAO established a TCDC focal point in January 1979; as of
January 1992 the focal point had assumed the coordinating role for ECDC as
well and is assisted by a network of focal points in the various divisions
and regional offices as well as by the FAO representatives at the country
level. A TCDC agreement on the use of experts is among the new initiatives
launched by FAO to increase the effectiveness and impact of programmes in
developing countries. The scheme calls for a sharing of expenses between
the country providing the experts, the beneficiary country and FAO. By
June 1995, more than 60 countries had signed the agreement with FAO and a
large number of other countries have expressed interest and are completing
their internal consultative procedures to join the scheme. A similar
scheme has been launched by FAO to promote technical cooperation in the use
of the experts among countries in transition in Central and Eastern Europe.
Both agreements provide for the use of an expert from a country in
transition by a developing country and vice versa.
B. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Desertification
8. INCD adopted on 17 June 1994 the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or
Desertification, particularly in Africa. The Convention was opened for
signature in Paris, on 14 and 15 October 1994. The Convention contains
four regional implementation annexes: the African, the Asian, the Latin
American and Caribbean and the Northern Mediterranean annex.
9. The benefits to be derived from cooperation among affected developing
countries, and the importance of such cooperation, were recognized from the
early days of the negotiations. Accordingly, the Convention now provides
for such cooperation in many areas including: (i) environmental protection
and the conservation of land and water resources; (ii) preparation of
subregional and/or action programmes; (iii) transfer, acquisition,
adaptation and development of environmentally sound, economically viable
and socially acceptable technologies; (iv) protection and use of relevant
traditional local technology, knowledge, know-how and practices; (v)
exchange of information on local and traditional knowledge; (vi) joint
research for the development of technologies for sustainable development;
and (vii) public awareness and education programmes. Generally, the
Convention corrupts developed countries to support the efforts of affected
developing countries in combating desertification and mitigating the
effects of drought, including through the mobilization of financial
resources. However, at the same time, the Convention (art. 20.6) encourages
other Parties to provide, on a voluntary basis, knowledge, know-how and
techniques related to desertification and/or financial resources to these
affected developing countries. The wording "other Parties" covers
developing countries which are in a position to provide assistance of a
financial or technical nature in all or some of the areas of cooperation
outline above.
C. International Labour Organization
10. The 80th Session (1993) of the International Labour Conference
reaffirmed the commitment of the organization to further fostering
technical cooperation among developing countries. The Governing Body, in
its turn, re-endorsed this policy when it examined, at its 261st Session
(November 1994), the future strategy for ILO's technical cooperation
programmes. ILO attaches particular importance to the promotion of
TCDC/ECDC, in particular through funds made available under its regular
budget technical cooperation. These have contributed to the creation and
activities of a network of regional programmes and centres which have
recently been replaced by 14 multidisciplinary teams operating on a
subregional basis. Additionally, because of its tripartite character,
efforts are made by ILO to promote TCDC among the "social partners": worker
and employer organizations. The thrust of the effort is towards creating
an enabling capacity within these organizations in developing countries,
principally through provision of grants, fellowships and training
activities. Lately, ILO has been intensifying efforts to involve the social
partners and other local NGOs in activities for the elimination of child
labour. It is expected that the organizations participating in these
activities will extend services to other organizations in need of support
in the same country or subregion.
D. International Trade Centre
11. ITC supports South-South cooperation at the operational level, rather
than through analysis and policy advice. ITC's approach to trade promotion
between developing countries is based on three pillars: (i) the
identification of trading opportunities, particularly at the subregional
and regional levels; (ii) assistance to economic operators to take
advantage of those opportunities; and (iii) support for the improvement of
trade promotion infrastructure, such as trade information systems and
institutional networks at the subregional, regional and interregional
levels. The low level of trade among developing countries in general, and
sometimes between countries in the same geographical area in particular, is
often interpreted to signify the absence of South-South trade potential.
ITC is of a different view and has in many instances been able to identify
and quantify trading opportunities, pointing to trade potentials that
exceed current trade levels by several times. The importance ITC attaches
to South-South trade promotion, ECDC and TCDC is illustrated clearly in the
composition of inputs to, and inputs of, its technical cooperation
activities. A large percentage of the experts hired by ITC are nationals of
developing countries - 38 per cent in 1993 - and account for 45 per cent of
all related work-months during the year. A growing number of developing
countries provide direct trust fund contributions; these contributions more
than doubled between 1991 and 1993.
E. United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)
12. ECDC/TCDC is central to the mandate and functions of UNCHS, and has
been promoted in a number of ways. In the selection of consultants and
project personnel, UNCHS takes into account their technical capacity and
working experience in developing countries. UNCHS operates with an
extensive roster of experts, many of whom come from developing countries.
Consequently, the vast majority of its consultants and project personnel
are drawn from developing country expertise. In addition, close to 60 per
cent of the equipment and subcontracts in its projects are procured from
developing countries. The fact that UNCHS has its headquarters in a
developing country (Kenya) greatly facilitates the promotion of economic
and technical cooperation among developing countries.
F. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
13. UNCTAD has been associated with ECDC as far back as 1968 when it
established a special programme on trade expansion and economic integration
among developing countries. The activities carried out by UNCTAD fall into
two major categories: first, intellectual underpinning for ECDC is
provided through research, analysis and suggestions which have played a
role in shaping the ECDC debate over the past decades; second, advisory and
technical assistance is provided to help establish ECDC programmes and
institutions and implement cooperation activities in Africa, Asia and Latin
America and the Caribbean. The activities are aimed primarily at
strengthening subregional and regional economic integration and at
facilitating and expanding South-South trade, as well as contributing to
strengthening monetary and financial cooperation among developing
countries, encouraging and facilitating cooperation among developing
country enterprises in support of South-South trade expansion and
technology cooperation programmes.
14. The eighth session of UNCTAD held in 1992 at Cartagena, Colombia,
placed ECDC firmly as one of the core activities of UNCTAD in the period
ahead and established a Standing Committee on Economic Cooperation among
Developing Countries. The Standing Committee held three sessions (1993,
1994 and 1995). At its first session the Standing Committee established its
programme of work dealing with the promotion and expansion of trade among
developing countries, the encouragement of enterprise cooperation, the
strengthening of subregional and regional integration and the fostering of
interregional cooperation, the enlargement and deepening of monetary,
financial and investment cooperation among developing countries, the
establishment of regular consultations between participants in ECDC
programmes and projects and the donor community, as well as the review of
technical support, assistance and skill development.
15. At its second and third sessions, the Standing Committee, as a policy-
making intergovernmental body, reviewed and monitored the different
components of its work programme and made recommendations for their
implementation. To deal with regular consultations, an intergovernmental
group of experts met in 1994 and made recommendations which were endorsed
by the Standing Committee at its second session the same year. The third
session was held from 19 to 23 June 1995 and, as requested by the General
Assembly in resolution 49/96, its outcome was taken into account by the
intergovernmental meeting of experts which met in New York from 31 July to
4 August 1995, in order to formulate recommendations for expanding South-
South cooperation. For its part, the UNCTAD secretariat has been
implementing the work programme through research and studies, advisory
missions, seminars, technical assistance and other suitable means.
G. United Nations Development Programme
16. The promotion of ECDC/TCDC has been a priority of UNDP since the mid-
1970s following the adoption by the UNDP Governing Council of the "new
dimensions" decision in 1975. The United Nations Conference on TCDC
(September 1978) assigned a special role to UNDP for the promotion of TCDC
(while also supporting ECDC initiatives). Since then UNDP has sought to
pursue a systematic programme of TCDC in support of the development
objectives of the developing countries. At the same time emphasis has been
placed on increased utilization of the technical resources of the
developing countries in traditional technical cooperation activities and
building up centres of excellence in the South. In its decision 90/34 of
June 1990, the Governing Council of UNDP identified TCDC as one of the six
priority themes for technical cooperation in its Fifth Programming Cycle
(1992-1996). The Special Unit on TCDC was created within UNDP which has
prime responsibility for promoting TCDC. In addition to providing direct
support to South-South cooperation through promoting TCDC, UNDP, as the
major funding organization of the United Nations, plays a crucial role in
the technical assistance provided by all the United Nations development
bodies for development activities including those pertaining to ECDC/TCDC.
A particularly significant development in the area of TCDC during 1995 was
the endorsement by the ninth session of the High-level Committee on the
Review of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (New York, 30
May-2 June 1995) of the recommendations as contained in the report on new
directions for technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC/9/3)
which calls for a more strategic focus for technical cooperation among
developing countries and on selecting priority issues, such as trade and
investment, debt, the environment, poverty alleviation, production and
employment, macroeconomic policy coordination, as well as eduction, health,
transfer of technology and rural development, other institutions and
entities in both the public and private sectors, particularly in developed
countries, to incorporate the new directions for technical cooperation
among developing countries into their programmes for technical cooperation.
H. United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization
17. UNESCO has undertaken a number of activities and initiatives within
the framework of South-South cooperation in the areas of education, natural
sciences, culture and communication. With respect to natural sciences, for
example, the first of a newsletter of the South-South cooperation programme
on environmentally sound socio-economic development in the humid tropics,
entitled "South-South Perspectives", was launched in October 1994. The
newsletter is a joint effort of UNESCO, the Man and the Biosphere
programme, the United Nations University and the Third World Academy.
UNESCO is executing over 50 national and regional projects within the
framework of South-South cooperation. These projects, which concern mainly
education and which are executed in the least developed countries, financed
mainly from funds provided by regional development banks or from funds-in-
trust, represent a total budget of US$ 8,194,000 of which US$ 4,149,000
were foreseen for execution during 1994.
I. United Nations Environment Programme
18. UNEP does not have many activities which can be categorized as TCDC in
the traditional sense. UNEP, however, has quite extensive programmes at
the regional level, many of which would enhance the direct and mutual
collaboration among developing countries or foster the generation of
regional common positions on important political agenda issues. UNEP is
also undergoing a transition with a view to becoming more proactive and
responsive to the needs of countries. One of the most important changes is
what could be called regional integration: strengthening of UNEP's regional
offices, integration of programming between the regional offices and
headquarters and increased regional delivery of UNEP's activities. Through
their daily contacts with Governments, UNEP's regional offices provide
information and, whenever relevant, liaise with the programme units at
headquarters for information and assistance. In addition, regional offices
have a limited amount of scholarships and consultancy funds available to
Governments upon their request. Normally, such assistance is provided
through bilateral negotiation/discussion between the environmental ministry
and the regional director.
J. United Nations Industrial Development Organization
19. Given the prevailing limited resources for development purposes, the
value of ECDC/TCDC as a vehicle for the industrial advancement of
developing countries is fully recognized by UNIDO. Its Medium-Term Plan
(1996-2001) places considerable emphasis on ECDC/TCDC programmes and
activities. The programme draws its inspiration from the need to develop
capacity and self-reliance in developing countries. To that end, it
attempts to stimulate and support industrial development through the use of
ECDC and TCDC mechanisms such as cooperation at the enterprise level, the
development and implementation of investment promotion programmes, transfer
of technology and fostering of mutually beneficial relations among
entrepreneurs from the South. Most ECDC/TCDC promotional and supportive
programmes/activities involve twinning of industrial research institutions;
identification and strengthening of centres of excellence in developing
countries to provide industrial training and expert advice; promotion of
joint research and development programmes and linking of chambers of
commerce and industry, industrial associations and other relevant
institutions in various developing countries.
K. United Nations Population Fund
20. UNFPA has incorporated TCDC activities throughout the programme areas
of its mandate. UNFPA finds itself in a fortunate situation in that it has
a world-wide network of field offices: one in almost every developing
country, either through the posting of a UNFPA national programme officer
within the UNDP office, or by a separate UNFPA Office headed by at least
one international staff member (country director); there are 68 such
offices. More then half the country directors are recruited from
developing countries. To ensure the quality of the implementation of the
country programme it supervises, the UNFPA field office can count on
technical backstopping from a country support team located in the
subregion. UNFPA finances eight such field offices strategically spread
out over the world.
21. General monitoring and supervision of TCDC activities is provided by
UNFPA's geographical divisions and its Technical and Evaluation Division,
located at its headquarters in New York, supplemented by the technical
support services established in a number of United Nations agencies such as
WHO, ILO, UNESCO, FAO and in the Department for Economic and Social
Information and Policy Analysis of the Secretariat. For more effective
monitoring of TCDC activities, UNFPA has appointed since June 1994 a full-
time senior programme officer for South-South cooperation, who is
responsible for the formulation and monitoring of the new South-South
programme in support of "center of excellence" activities, and at the same
time is UNFPA's focal point for South-South activities. In addition, UNFPA
also has nominated TCDC contact officers in each geographical division and
in each branch of the Technical and Evaluation Division. Currently, UNFPA
is in the process of devising ways and means for more effective recording
of TCDC-related programmatic and financial information from UNFPA-assisted
activities; this information needs in fact to be adequately incorporated in
the UNFPA management information system database.
L. United Nations regional commissions
22. The promotion of ECDC/TCDC could be characterized as the raison d'etre
of the United Nations regional commissions, namely the Economic Commission
for Africa (ECA), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
(ESCWA). The Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) also supports activities
directed at promoting regional cooperation for development in Europe.
Since their establishment, the regional commissions have shaped their
structures in order to cope with the implementation of various action
programmes adopted by their governing bodies. As will be seen in the
following sections, the support of the regional commissions to ECDC/TCDC
covers a wide range of activities including support to subregional/regional
economic integration and to specific sectors such as trade, investment,
agriculture and industry, transport and communications through studies,
meetings, technical assistance, workshops, etc. in cooperation with other
organizations of the United Nations system.
II. SUPPORT TO SUBREGIONAL, REGIONAL AND GLOBAL COOPERATION
INITIATIVES AND ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING TRADE AND
MONETARY AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION
A. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
23. FAO's work on global and regional strategies and policies emphasizes
production complementarities, trade possibilities and programmes and
policies designed to overcome resource and institutional constraints and
promote collective and regional self-reliance. FAO is cooperating with the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) in the preparation of a common African
agricultural programme which is to provide the basis for the preparation of
a protocol on food and agriculture for the African Economic Community being
established by OAU. FAO has also collaborated with the Preferential Trade
Area for Eastern and Southern Africa (PTA), the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought
and Development (IGADD) on subregional food security and related food
information systems, harmonizing their action programmes and avoiding
duplication.
24. In Asia and the Pacific, FAO activities in agribusiness policy and
analysis have been organized jointly with the Agricultural Planning
Development Centre of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN),
and FAO maintains a constant dialogue with various committees/subgroups of
ASEAN concerned with agriculture, livestock and fisheries. FAO has
continuing ties with the South Pacific Commission, especially in the fields
of pest control and forestry development.
25. In Latin America assistance was provided by FAO to the Common Market
of the Southern Zone (MERCOSUR) for analysis of competitiveness,
complementarity and cooperation projects in agricultural products with
export potential. Also, an important regional food security project with
activities at the national and regional levels is being implemented through
the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA).
B. International Trade Centre
26. ITC has traditionally supported the process of economic integration at
the pan-African level, in particular through technical cooperation with OAU
in the organization of the all-African trade fairs and other activities.
ITC formulated detailed technical proposals for the establishment of a pan-
African trade information system (PANAFTIS) and prepared a comprehensive
proposal for the establishment of a pan-African company register at the
request of the African Development Bank. Such a computerized facility
would contain data of the most important economic operators in Africa and
would assist the African Export/Import Bank in the effective execution of
its trade financing and trade promotion functions. In addition, ITC is
implementing a programme for the quantification and promotion of pan-
African trading opportunities, in support of the establishment of the
African Economic Community. The programme serves the dual purpose of
assisting African enterprises in their intra-African trade development
efforts, and of demonstrating the economic benefits of creating a regional
African market. The ITC concept for the promotion of intra-African trade
is based on the sequential undertaking of supply and demand analysis,
enterprise selection and the organization of buyers/sellers meetings.
Since 1987, 20 buyers/sellers meetings have been held on 17 product groups;
a total of 800 buyers and sellers have participated, of whom over 10 per
cent were women. (A regional programme of buyers/sellers meetings for women
entrepreneurs and women in business in Africa has been developed and its
implementation is contingent on securing financing.) These meetings have
generated over US$ 230 million in new business transactions, clearly
demonstrating the untapped potential of intraregional business
opportunities. To give an example, the ITC-organized pan-African meeting
of manufacturers and buyers of medical supplies and hospital equipment in
Nairobi (December 1993) initiated significant new trade and contributed to
the development of business relations among African traders, manufacturers
and investors. Similarly, numerous high-level workshops and expert group
meetings have led to better exchanges of experience in trade promotion
among participating developing countries.
27. At the subregional level in Africa ITC completed in 1993 the initial
phase of an integrated programme for countries of the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) which aimed at supporting the process of
economic cooperation and integration in West Africa through the development
of a subregional market. The main element of the project regarding
"promotion of commerce-oriented production and trade development in ECOWAS"
was the systematic undertaking of supply and demand surveys for products
identified as representing attractive intra-ECOWAS trading opportunities.
The project, financed by the Government of Italy, carried out 36 surveys on
sawn timber, veneer and plywood, paper and paper products and manufactured
fertilizers; organized buyers/sellers meetings on these product groups and
undertook specific follow-up activities; systematically collected
information on products, companies and markets to form the basis for the
future ECOWAS Trade Information Network; and published handbooks on the
legal, financial and economic framework for intra-ECOWAS trade for a number
of member States. In 1994, a programming mission was undertaken to the
countries of the subregion for the formulation of a follow-up phase.
Similarly, another programming mission was undertaken to the countries of
the Central African subregion with a view to assessing the scope for
fostering regional cooperation through trade and production development in
the subregion within the framework of the Economic Community of Central
African States (ECCAS). It is anticipated that a technical cooperation
programme for this purpose will become operational in 1995.
28. In mid-1993, ITC embarked on a new phase of technical cooperation with
PTA (now the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)) under
a four-year project on "trade development and promotion programme in the
PTA". It provides for an expansion of the PTA Trade Information Network
(TINET) to incorporate chambers of commerce and other business
representative organizations. In 1993, 10 business-sector organizations in
eight PTA countries were provided with equipment, computer software and
data; the information officers of these organizations were trained in TINET
operations. The programme also addresses issues of product and market
development through supply and demand surveys, buyers/sellers meetings and
direct support to selected PTA enterprises. In 1994, the first
buyers/sellers meeting for women in business was organized, support was
provided to the organization of the Fifth PTA Trade Fair and to the
launching of the Eastern and Southern Africa Business Organization (ESABO).
The programme will, moreover, assist the PTA Bank in introducing
appropriate export financial services to member States, in particular for
financing of intra-PTA trade. The programme is funded by UNDP, with cost-
sharing contributions from the Governments of Belgium and the Netherlands.
In addition, under a UNDP-financed joint pilot project of UNCTAD and ITC
called "TRAINFORTRADE", ITC organized two workshops on "How to do business
in the PTA", in cooperation with the PTA secretariat and the Eastern and
Southern Africa Trade Promotion and Training Centre. The first workshop
was attended by PTA business operators and the second one by trainers from
selected institutions of the PTA member States.
29. ITC has been cooperating with SADC since its inception and has
followed closely its programmes in relation to industry and trade
development designed to achieve a harmonious development of the SADC member
States. In this context, through projects entitled "direct assistance in
packaging to selected enterprises in SADC member States" and "development
of effective quality-control standards and testing services for export
products and packaging in SADC member States", financed by the Governments
of Finland and Italy respectively, ITC has assisted at two specific levels:
(i) to provide direct technical advice and guidance to packaging
manufacturers to assist them to better serve the export sector; and (ii) to
help establish national standards bureaux in those countries of the SADC
subregion which do not yet have such services. The programme of assistance
in export packaging and quality control terminated at the end of March
1994.
30. In the Arab region in 1992 and 1993, ITC implemented a project of
technical cooperation on "establishment of systems and procedures for
financing intra-Arab trade" in collaboration with the Arab Trade Financing
Programme (ATFP). This project aimed at contributing to the establishment
of an Intra-Arab Trade Information Network (IATIN) at ATFP headquarters in
Abu Dhabi, under cost-sharing between UNDP and ATFP. Phases I and II were
successfully completed in 1994 and resulted in the setting up of the
central core of IATIN at ARFP headquarters. Phase III of the project has
recently been approved by UNDP and ATFP and work on the development of a
regional network covering all Arab States is scheduled to start soon. This
will be carried out by ATFP in cooperation with ITC as part of a 1995-1997
regional programme of technical cooperation activities supported by UNDP
and ATFP on a cost-sharing basis. IATIN is expected to provide Arab
business enterprises and their trading partners in other countries with
relevant trade, economic and financial information thus promoting the
development of trade and accelerating the Arab market integration process.
31. In Latin America and the Caribbean, ITC undertook in 1993 a
programming mission to the headquarters of the Permanent Secretariat of the
General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) in
Guatemala, at the latter's request, with a view to determining possible
support for fostering regional cooperation through trade promotion and
export development among member countries. A project profile was
formulated and sources of financing are now being sought. In addition,
between July 1990 and October 1994, ITC implemented a project on "export
promotion and development assistance to selected enterprises exporting wood
manufactures from Bolivia". Among its objectives, the project aimed at the
increase of trade (in wood manufactures) between Bolivia and neighbouring
regional markets, by fostering industrial and marketing cooperation and
complementarity. For this purpose field supply/demand surveys were
conducted in 1990 in Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The
approach adopted was to concentrate on areas with natural trade prospects
due to their geographic location and better communications and transport.
The surveys and contacts established paved the way for trade missions
carried out by enterprises between 1991 and 1992; besides opening new
relations, these contacts contributed to the finalization of an agreement
on industrial cooperation and marketing complementarity between Bolivian
and Uruguayan wood manufacturing enterprises. The experience of the
project in Bolivia, which attained the objective of an export increase of
over 15 per cent starting in 1993, obtained through a rationalization of
the production chain and a stronger export reorientation of the sector,
generated interest in the region. Several information workshops were
organized in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador, the latter two as
TCDC activities financed by the Chambers of Industry and LAIA respectively.
C. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
32. In addition to a number of activities undertaken jointly with other
United Nations organizations (see the discussion under UNDP, for example),
UNCTAD delivers assistance supporting subregional and regional integration
and interregional cooperation for the development of trade in particular.
With respect to economic integration UNCTAD is assisting SADC in designing
a trade cooperation programme and, in particular, the drafting of a trade
cooperation protocol to the SADC treaty. A first reading of the draft
protocol was undertaken by the SADC Council of Ministers. As part of a
programme of assistance to the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), UNCTAD finalized a
study on mechanisms of compensation of losses resulting from the
application of the tariff and trade convention of UMA. UNCTAD continued
providing technical support towards the implementation of the Central
American Integration System (SICA), particularly with respect to the
participation of the private sector in the integration process. UNCTAD
provides advisory services (including participation in a technical capacity
at meetings), upon request, to many subregional and regional organizations
of developing countries such as ASEAN, Bangkok Agreement, COMESA, OAU, SADC
and SICA.
33. With respect to South-South trade the second round of negotiations
under the Global System of Trade Preferences among developing countries
(GSTP) which was launched in November 1991 has entered into an active
phase. Negotiations among participating countries are continuing in all
areas for which negotiating groups have been established: facilitation of
access, product-by-product negotiations, across-the-board tariff
negotiations, direct trade measures, and non-tariff and sectoral
agreements. The servicing of negotiations and technical assistance were
provided through the GSTP project located in and supported by UNCTAD.
34. UNCTAD also supports the promotion of services relating to trade
development in the following sectors:
(a) Ports:
(i)Training in a subregion with limited populations in each port can be
centralized in one port which would benefit all ports. Training courses
can be developed and delivered centrally or instructors from the centre can
travel to ports in the region to deliver courses. UNCTAD has been actively
promoting this concept through the development of national and subregional
training capacity with its TRAINMAR programme; regional TRAINMAR centres
exist in Cote d'Ivoire, Nicaragua, Guadeloupe, Uruguay, Malaysia and
Morocco with additional centres planned for Peru, Fiji and Viet Nam;
(ii)A recent UNDP/UNCTAD port management rehabilitation project for
Somalia provided for a team of mangers from Indian ports to be involved in
the running and management of the ports of Mogadishu and Kismayu. This is
an example whereby port organizations could set up a roster of experts that
could be utilized on a cost-plus basis by others, for example the United
Nations or commercial parties, for managing other ports. This expertise,
which is well aware of conditions in developing countries, could cover, for
instance, cargo handling, equipment management, environmental protection,
liability questions, cost accounting, port statistics and port pricing;
(b) Maritime transport. In connection with the formulation and
implementation of programmes under the Transport and Communications Decades
UNCTAD, in collaboration with the regional commissions concerned, has been
actively involved in formulating objectives and strategies of programmes on
maritime transport for the execution of specific projects under regional
action programmes for the Decades.
35. UNCTAD has long supported efforts aimed at strengthening monetary and
financial cooperation. For example, assistance is provided to multilateral
clearing and payments arrangements of developing countries. Thus, the
Asian Clearing Union (ACU) was assisted in the preparation of a study
dealing with the prospects of broadening, deepening and diversifying the
ACU's functions in the light of current and prospective changes in the
economies of the members and the global economy. The paper, entitled "The
ACU: an Assessment and Prospects", was presented to the twenty-second
annual meeting of the Board of Directors in Yangon (August 1994). At the
request of the West African Clearing House (WACH), a technical paper on the
conversion of the WACH into the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) is
being prepared by UNCTAD. In its capacity as the technical secretariat for
the Coordination Committee on Multilateral Payments Arrangements and
Monetary Cooperation among Developing Countries, UNCTAD provided technical
support for its eighth session held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, from
28 February to 1 March 1994. UNCTAD also provided assistance to the second
Conference of Governors and Senior Officials of Central Banks of Latin
American and African Countries which took place from 2 to 3 March 1994, and
to the meeting of the Follow-up Committee of this Conference held on 3
October 1994 in Madrid.
36. In response to emerging needs and requests, UNCTAD is undertaking
analytical studies on the development of regional capital markets and
trade-financing facilities of developing countries.
37. Since 1975 UNCTAD has provided technical support to the Group of 24,
mostly in the form of research papers on issues under discussion and
negotiation at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. The
purpose of the projects, which have been financed by UNDP and by a number
of Governments, has been to assist developing countries to strengthen their
technical preparedness and ability to participate in and contribute to all
phases of discussion and negotiation within the framework of the Fund and
the Bank. A five-volume set of these research studies was published (by
North Holland Publishers) between 1987 and 1989. Six new volumes have been
published since 1990 (by the United Nations) and a seventh is under
preparation. The proceedings of a major conference (April 1994) organized
by the G-24 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Bretton
Woods conference was published as Volume IV (special issues) of
International Monetary and Financial Issues for the 1990s. The emphasis of
current research activities is on the new implications of the integration
of developing countries into the international financial system, including
the effects of the macroeconomic policies of the major industrial
countries.
D. United Nations Development Programme
38. In respect of global cooperation initiatives, UNDP (Special Unit on
TCDC) has supported activities aimed at arriving at solutions for dealing
with common problems faced by the developing countries by way of the
preparation of casestudies, subject-specific workshops, joint negotiations
strategies and collaborative research. These activities have proved to be
a very efficient method of dealing with common problems through the
exchange of relevant experience and appropriate technology. For example,
UNDP supported efforts to bring developing countries and countries in
transition together to exchange views and experiences and, on this basis,
to identify replicable practices pertaining to: (i) management of aid
between Arab-African countries (workshop in Jordan, January 1994), Latin
American countries and between Eastern European countries (workshop in
Turkey, October 1994); (ii) management of foreign ministries for countries
in Eastern European and the Commonwealth of Independent States together
with Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and Malta (June 1993), resulting in the setting
up of a programme for diplomatic training; (iii) identification of
innovative approaches for tackling poverty; and (iv) collaborative
programmes on economic reforms such as privatization (TCDC workshops held
in Ethiopia and Poland), macroeconomic issues in transitional economies
(symposium in China), external debt management (swap arrangement discussion
in Honduras), policy issues related to structural adjustment (African case-
studies and Cotonou workshop).
39. UNDP is also implementing technical assistance programmes directed at
assisting developing countries in addressing common problems. For example,
UNDP is assisting in the implementation of the programme of action adopted
at the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing Countries (Barbados, April-May 1994). It is, moreover, involved
in promoting technical cooperation between African and Asian countries as a
follow-up to the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. A
seminar was held in Indonesia (December 1994) which identified concrete
opportunities for Asian-African cooperation in such areas as improved
agricultural productivity, human capital formation and institutional
development.
40. In addition, in South-East Asia UNDP is backing the two important
joint initiatives for evolving common solutions. The first one, a
collaborative effort in respect of the Tumen River Basin, brings together
five countries in a shared strategy for the development of areas in North-
East Asia along the Tumen River. The programme provides a forum for
discussion and agreement on a set of legal and institutional arrangements
between China, the Democratic People's Republic and the Republic of Korea,
Russia and Mongolia. A programme management committee was established in
July 1994 and agreements are being worked out to set up a consultative
commission, a coordinating committee and a secretariat. UNDP serves as a
neutral chair for the negotiations. The preparation of investment
profiles, pre-feasibility studies, an environmental policy, resource
mobilization strategies and border and customs procedures is envisaged in
the future. The second is the Mekong Committee, which manages the Mekong
River Basin water resources. Despite the conflicts in the subregion, the
Committee has functioned successfully and a new comprehensive agreement was
signed in 1994. UNDP has been providing the executive agent for the
Committee and in the past 37 years has provided $45 million in assistance
which has resulted in an investment of approximately $600 million. Some of
the innovative activities carried out under the programme include: (i)
work on a natural resource accounting system for the planning of the
utilization of water resources; (ii) preparations for setting up a
sustainable development network for the river basin; and (iii) a scheme for
future self-financing of the core functions of the Mekong secretariat.
41. In respect of subregional and regional cooperation UNDP's regional
programmes, in cooperation with regional institutions in the various
regions, have undertaken activities in support of ECDC/TCDC. In some cases
regional institutions, including regional commissions, have received
financial support from UNDP in carrying out their activities and, in many
cases, act as executing agents.
(a) The Regional Directorate for Europe and the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) is supporting initiatives in regional trade
promotion. The programme for the development of trade in the CIS and Baltic
States, for example, involves four United Nations organizations: UNCTAD,
ITC, ECE and UNDP. The objective of the programme is to expand trade within
the region and to strengthen the external trade of these countries. The
programme was launched with a regional workshop in the Republic of Moldova
in January 1994;
(b) The Regional Bureau for Africa has supported initiatives relating to
the establishment of the African Economic Community. New initiatives
include the establishment of mechanisms for intra-African trade promotion,
including trade and investment information systems, and regional and
subregional trade organizations, including business associations and
clearing houses. One of the major programmes supported by the Regional
Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean deals with trade policy and
preparations for multilateral trade negotiations. The programme, which was
launched in August 1993, supports studies, training programmes, setting of
standards, quality control mechanisms and finalization of negotiating
briefs. These activities involve government trade negotiators and
legislators, as well as private sector representatives and others
interested in foreign trade. This is a collaborative effort of UNCTAD,
ECLAC, UNDP, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Latin
American Economic System (SELA);
(c) One of the three thematic programmes under the regional IPF
(indicative planning figures) and the Regional Bureau for Arab States is
economic integration and trade. A number of activities are being supported
under this programme including support for the setting up of a trade
information network by the Arab Trade Financing Programme (also discussed
under ITC); support for a symposium in Abu Dhabi (April 1993); follow-up
action on economic and trade integration which is proceeding with support
from the regional programme and also involves UNCTAD, ITC and the
Department of Development Support and Management Services of the
Secretariat; and capacity-building in the secretariat of the Arab Maghreb
Union;
(d) The Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific has supported a large
programme on international trade and investment in which all United Nations
organizations are participants. This programme has carried out a number of
activities relating to standardization, market exploration, training,
harmonization of practices and the preparation of negotiating positions in
respect of the promotion of integration arrangements. Two other major
initiatives relate to trade cooperation in ASEAN countries and the
expansion of trade and investment in the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
E. United Nations regional commissions
Economic Commission for Africa
42. The ECA has been providing continuous assistance to most of the
African subregional economic integration groupings, in terms of
institutional support, formulation of policies and strategies and their
implementation, preparation of projects for resource mobilization,
undertaking of studies, organization of meetings/workshops and provision of
a wide range of advisory services. In support of its subregional efforts,
ECA has decentralized staff to Multinational Programming and Operational
Centres (MULPOCs) in five subregions. ECA's activities have been
implemented jointly with other United Nations agencies such as UNDP and
with bilateral donor countries.
43. Since the inception of the UNDP-financed ECA-executed project entitled
"Multisectoral assistance to ECCAS" in 1989 and until its termination in
1993, several master plans and programmes were delivered to ECCAS member
States. These included a food security programme; interconnection of roads
and telecommunications networks; sectoral industrial master plans for the
development of steel, petrochemicals and forest-based activities; and
provision of machinery and hand tools. In the Economic Community of the
Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL), the ECA secretariat, through its MULPOC in
Gisenyi, Rwanda, embarked upon a comprehensive programme of economic
cooperation and integration among member States which achieved some success
in the areas of energy, agronomic research and transport. ECA's assistance
to ECOWAS spans 20 years. The results achieved by the ECA-implemented UNDP-
financed project "Multisectoral assistance project to ECOWAS (RAF/88/047)"
include: (i) an industrial master plan for West Africa; (ii) a food
security programme; and (iii) a monetary integration scheme and a trade
liberalization scheme. It is expected that the recommendations of the
study on rationalization of the West African intergovernmental
organizations produced in 1994 will be considered by member States and the
organizations themselves. ECA has been assisting COMESA and SADC to
intensify their subregional cooperation and integration. In order to help
these institutions coordinate, harmonize and rationalize their activities,
ECA has already initiated consultations with the secretariats of COMESA and
SADC in order to organize a joint special summit on its issue.
44. ECA and OAU have been working closely to promote economic cooperation,
and integration of African countries. The signing of the Abuja Treaty
establishing the African Economic Community can be seen as a culmination of
these joint efforts. A joint secretariat has been established among OAU,
ECA and ADB to play a key role in the implementation of the Treaty which
came into full force in June 1994 after its ratification by two thirds of
the signatory countries.
45. The South-South cooperation in the field of transport and
communications among the countries of Africa has been carried out under the
umbrella of the Second United Nations Transport and Communications Decade
in Africa (UNTACDA II). In general, the accent of the programmes of
UNTACDA II is on implementation of subregional and regional projects. Two
important regional projects are presently under way: the development of a
regional transport database, and human resources and institutional
development in African transport and communications. ECA actively provided
technical support to various regional and subregional transport and
communications organizations, dealing with individual modes. These are the
Pan-African Telecommunication Union in telecommunications, the Pan-African
Postal Union in postal services, ports and maritime agencies, the
Ministerial Conference of West and Central African countries in maritime
transport (MINCONMAR) the African Civil Aviation Council in civil aviation,
the Union of African Railways in railways, etc. In shipping, an ongoing
project on development of coastal shipping among the States of West/Central
Africa involves ECCAS and ECOWAS and is sponsored by ECA. ECA is also
cooperating with UAR and National Railways Authorities with a view to
restructuring African railways, including rehabilitation and modernization
of railways, rolling stock, equipment, telecommunications and signalling,
human resources development, exchange of information, studies, equipment
and spare parts.
46. With regard to cooperation among the developing regions, in 1989 ECA,
together with ESCAP, organized a joint seminar on port organization and
management in Leningrad, Russia, funded by the former Soviet Union through
UNDP. In 1994 ECA was represented at the Third Ad Hoc Intergovernmental
Meeting on Phase II of the Transport and Communications Decade for Asia and
the Pacific.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
47. In general ECLAC's activities to support and promote ECDC/TCDC are
implemented through specific technical assistance projects, a few examples
of which are given below.
48. In the area of financial, investment and enterprise cooperation, ECLAC
participates with UNDP (project RAL/89/001) in the implementation of a
regional programme with regard to the supply and production of capital
goods. The project aims at strengthening the cooperation of economic
agents in technological management, marketing and quality control.
Activities include the establishment of national coordination centres for
the supply and production of capital goods; evaluation of self-sustained
operation of the information networks; publication of a catalogue on the
production capabilities of LAIA members; and analysis of the procedures and
conditions of bidding in the region. Within the framework of the programme
of technical cooperation financed by IDB, ECLAC and the Latin American and
Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning undertook to encourage
exchange of regional experiences on investment opportunities. Under the
project "Strategy of investment programmes in Central America", ECLAC, in
collaboration with IDB and the Central American Economic Integration Bank,
carried out activities aimed at supporting cooperation in the field of
investment in the production of edible oils and fats. ECLAC also completed
a project designed to promote closer ties among Central American
federations of savings and loan cooperatives.
49. In the area of infrastructure, ECLAC carried out projects on
planning and management of water resources in the Andean region; economic
cooperation among Latin American countries in the establishment of inland
freight terminals; and development of urban planning in selected countries.
50. With regard to information, ECLAC, in collaboration with UNESCO,
completed the formulation of a regional information programme to strengthen
cooperation among national information networks and systems for development
in the region. ECLAC also carried out projects to support networks for
cooperation in the field of information in the Caribbean countries.
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
51. TCDC activities implemented by ESCAP in recent years involve effecting
transfer and exchange of equipment and technology, experience, expertise,
information, etc. and cover a wide range of subject areas within ESCAP's
programme of work, including: development research and policy analysis;
environment and natural resources management; industry and technology;
international trade and economic cooperation including transnational
corporations; population; rural and urban development; social development;
statistics and transport; communications and tourism. It is generally
accepted that such sharing of experience and expertise among the developing
countries using the TCDC modality often develop into ECDC arrangements,
which comprise practical and collective economic actions among developing
countries, requiring for the most part capital investment and/or major
joint ventures.
52. Through relatively modest funding support, from January 1993 to
January 1994, 33 operational TCDC activities were financed by the ESCAP
TCDC supplementary fund; of those activities, 25 were implemented
specifically for the benefit of the least developed, land-locked and island
developing countries as well as the disadvantaged economies in transition.
In each of these activities, the fund financed the cost of international
travel, while the local costs were borne either by the host Government
and/or institution or were financed from other sources, such as the UNDP
country IPFs. The primary objective of the ESCAP fund was to facilitate
the representation and participation of the least developed, land-locked
and island developing countries and the disadvantaged economies in
transition in various seminars, study visits, training workshops and
bilateral and multilateral exchanges of experience organized by Governments
and institutions, including NGOs, of the developing countries in the ESCAP
region. The fund's operations were made possible through generous
financial contributions from donors including the Governments of China, the
Netherlands, Norway and the Republic of Korea. Together they contributed
US$ 170,000 in 1993. 1/
53. Under the Thematic Committee on Regional Economic Cooperation, ESCAP
has been implementing the Action Programme for Regional Economic
Cooperation in Trade and Investment, which was adopted by the Commission in
1993. Under the terms of the Action Programme, particular emphasis has
been accorded to the study and analysis of regional and subregional trade
flows, strengthening of the regional trade information network, networking
of trade-related research institutions, review of sectoral foreign direct
investment inflows and policies, establishment of a regional investment
information and promotion service, regional commodity problems,
environmental issues related to trade and investment, and cooperation
between subregions. The Action Programme also addresses the role of
regional cooperation in stimulating the development of small and medium
export-oriented enterprises and the integration of its new members,
especially the Central Asian republics, into the region. Since trade and
investment is the core of all integration initiatives, the activities of
ESCAP also encompass the organization of trade fairs, publication and
dissemination of trade manuals, and issues relating to agricultural
commodities of importance in the region's trade. ESCAP is, moreover,
pursuing activities in support of harmonization of foreign direct
investment policies within subregions.
54. For example, ESCAP prepared a macro-study which focuses on
disaggregated information on trade flows in the region and the analysis of
macroeconomic policies for increasing productivity. The lack of such data
and information had impeded analytical work on intraregional trade
expansion in the past. With regard to exchange of trade information among
countries of the region, the secretariat is seeking to enhance the
usefulness of the Regional Trade Information Network of ESCAP through the
introduction of the Electronic Data Interchange. The Action Plan places
emphasis on greater interaction between private sectors, the national
chambers of commerce and industry and trade-related institutions. The
secretariat has initiated activities to pursue these objectives which would
provide further impetus to promoting ECDC. In fact, in the planned
activities for the trade-related research institutions network, special
focus is being given to promotion of intraregional trade and investment.
55. With regard to promotion and assistance of existing ECDC networks and
other cooperative arrangements, ESCAP has established and supported several
arrangements in the fields of preferential tariff agreements, clearing and
reinsurance arrangements and commodity forums among the developing
countries. These include the Bangkok Agreement, the Asian Clearing Union
and the Asian Reinsurance Corporation as well as four commodities
arrangements regarding coffee, jute, silk and tropical timber. In respect
of the commodity arrangements, a number of technical assistance programmes
have been developed and implemented by ESCAP as follow-up to the
recommendations made by the intergovernmental bodies with the assistance of
extrabudgetary funding from donor countries.
56. In addition, ESCAP is fostering dialogues between various subregional
organizations in Asia and the Pacific with a view to promoting greater
inter-subregional cooperation by identifying the complementarities among
them and encouraging exchange and mutual assistance in various fields. As
part of this process memorandums of understanding (MOU) have been signed
between ESCAP and the following: Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)
(July 1993), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
(February 1994), South Pacific Forum (SPF) (May 1994), South Pacific
Commission (SPC) (December 1994). A similar agreement is being proposed to
ASEAN. Through the MOU, ESCAP and the integration institution concerned
agree to cooperate and collaborate, to the extent possible, on development
issues and concerns of mutual interest. Furthermore, a consultative meeting
between the executive heads of the secretariats of the four major
subregional organizations, ECO, SAARC and SPF was held at Bangkok (February
1994), at the initiative of ESCAP. The meeting was beneficial and fruitful
in fostering free-flowing discussions on the ways and means of
strengthening substantive cooperation between ESCAP and the subregional
organizations on the basis of their relative expertise and interests. It
is envisaged that this meeting could become a regular event. Thus, the
ASEAN secretariat hosted the second meeting at Jakarta, in January 1995,
with the executive heads of ESCAP, ASEAN, SAARC, ECO, SPC and SPF present.
A third meeting will be hosted by the ECO secretariat, tentatively in May
1996.
57. The role of transport and communications in promoting ECDC is self-
evident. Modernization and upgrading of the region's transport and
communications infrastructure is the primary objective under the Regional
Action Programme for Phase II (1992-1996) of the Transport and
Communication Decade for Asia and the Pacific. 2/ It may be noted that as
recommended by the Intergovernmental Meeting of Highway and Railway
Officials (December 1991), ESCAP at its fortyeighth session in April 1992
endorsed as a priority a special integrated project on Asian land transport
infrastructure development comprising the Asian highway, the trans-Asian
railway and facilitation of land transport. ESCAP continues its efforts to
implement the project. Moreover, ESCAP's efforts at assisting the land-
locked and in transition developing countries to overcome some of the
constraints arising out of their geographical handicap have been focused
mainly on the fields of land transport, transit arrangements, environment
and natural resources management, technological development and trade
promotion.
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
58. ESCWA has been working to strengthen its role in technical cooperation
at the regional level by improving regional advisory services and
intensifying attempts to secure more funds for technical cooperation
projects. It has carried out numerous activities to strengthen collective
efforts at the regional and interregional levels. In general these
activities have taken the form of preparation of technical studies;
implementation of technical cooperation projects; convening of meetings of
experts, seminars and training workshops; and participating in
intergovernmental meetings. These activities are often implemented jointly
with other United Nations agencies/organizations, donor countries and/or
other organizations such as the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Outreach
Consultation Project at the University of Jordan and the Arab Gulf
Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND).
59. These activities are being implemented in the following sectors: (i)
energy (a study was prepared on the prospects for regional cooperation in
solar energy and presented to the Fifth Arab Energy Conference (Cairo, May
1994)); (ii) water resources development and management (ESCWA has convened
a number of meetings on this issue and the Commission is implementing
several projects including one financed jointly with UNEP on the assessment
of water resources in the ESCWA region using remote-sensing techniques and
another supported by the Government of Germany; (iii) sustainable
development activities relating to combating desertification and
establishing environmentally sustainable settlements and to the management
and sustainable development of drylands in the Arab region; (iv) industrial
development activities regarding software industry activities, assistance
to countries in diagnosing and alleviating problems facing existing
industries, upgrading entrepreneurial skills of managers, implementation of
a project with the Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization on
the establishment of engineering infrastructure in Arab countries, and
participating (as associated agency) with UNDP and the Programme of
Assistance to the Palestinian People in implementing the "Start your own
business" training programme; (v) science, technology and education
activities; transport, such as following up on the implementation in the
region of Phase II (1992-1996) of the Transport and Communications Decade
for Asia and the Pacific; social development such as the implementation of
a project to produce the Arab Declaration for Social Development to the
World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, March 1995),
implementation of a UNDP-funded project called "The autonomous village"
that promotes appropriate techniques for building houses, local community
development, promotion of activities on the role of women in development;
and implementation of projects in the sector of statistics.
60. ESCWA cooperates with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
and the League of Arab States (LAS) in implementing a number of activities.
For example, ESCWA and OIC in December 1994 signed a memorandum of
understanding on water resources development and management and ESCWA
cooperates with LAS and its subsidiary bodies (the Council of Arab
Ministers Responsible for Environment (CAMRE), for example) in the
coordination, promotion and selection of activities for joint
implementation of sustainable development projects in the Arab region (such
as those relating to the regional priorities of Agenda 21).
F. World Bank
61. The World Bank actively encourages trade, including through financing
mechanisms. Although the Bank does not fund regional projects directly, it
has been actively involved in MERCOSUR and the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) with Colombia and Venezuela, and other initiatives. The Bank has
lent in fiscal year 1994 $20 million from the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and $11 million from the
International Development Association (IDA) to the Caribbean Regional Bank
for on-lending to countries in the Caribbean. The Bank also has seconded
staff to SADC in support of its regional efforts on transportation and
other cooperative efforts for the southern African region.
62. In its publication Guidelines: Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA
Credits (World Bank, 1992), the World Bank provides guidelines for
procurement that may support South-South cooperation within the context of
international competitive bidding. Regarding domestic and regional
preferences, at the request of the borrowing country and under conditions
to be agreed with the Bank and set forth in the bidding documents, a margin
of preference may be accepted under international competitive bidding for:
(i) goods manufactured in the borrowing country when comparing domestic
bids with those from foreign manufacturers; (ii) goods manufactured in
other member countries which have joined with the borrowing country in a
regional preferential tariff agreement among developing countries designed
to foster their economic integration by a customs union or free trade area,
when comparing bids from such manufacturers with other foreign bids; and
(iii) civil works, in member countries below a specified level of GNP per
capita, when comparing bids from eligible domestic contractors with those
from foreign contractors. In 1994, 46 per cent of the value of and 65 per
cent of the number of the contracts for consultant services were disbursed
to developing country firms.
III. SUPPORT TO ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY COOPERATION
A. International Trade Centre
63. The ITC programme in support of South-South cooperation is, by
definition, enterprise centred. Following the systematic identification of
trading opportunities in the subregional, regional and interregional
contexts, enterprises in different developing countries are stimulated to
establish business relationships and are assisted in doing so through
buyers/sellers meetings. As these initiatives are frequently product-and
sector-specific, they also make an important contribution to South-South
cooperation at the industry level. Business sector organizations such as
chambers of commerce and industry and manufacturers' associations are
provided with trade development tools and assisted in South-South
networking, in particular through trade information systems. Examples are
the COMESA Trade Information Network (TINET), the ECOWAS Trade
Opportunities Information System (TOPS) and the Intra-Arab Trade
Information Network (IATIN). Trade support services aimed at improving
enterprises' trading performance in such areas as quality management and
packaging have been provided particularly at the subregional level.
64. In view of the importance trade fairs can play in the development and
strengthening of economic trade and investment activities, ITC has
traditionally supported the all-African trade fairs and participated in the
first Afro-Arab trade fair (Tunis, 1993). Equally, ITC contributed to a
round-table discussion held in connection with the first Afro-Arab business
week (Cairo, March 1995). Moreover, several activities were carried out in
the context of improvement of logistics management at the enterprise and
institutional level in intra-Latin American trade within regional projects
on improvement in the management of international physical distribution
strategies at the enterprise level during the period 1989-1992, and
efficient management of international trade logistics in Latin American
foreign trade transactions since 1993. The latter is an ongoing programme
ending in 1996.
B. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
65. Within the overall context of support for increased South-South trade
UNCTAD promotes cooperation among enterprises of developing countries and
their associations (chambers of commerce and industry, trading enterprises)
with a view to developing contacts, cooperation and business as well as
stimulating joint investment. Thus, UNCTAD and Promociones Exteriores
Canarias of Spain will jointly organize a forum in 1995 of African, Arab
and Latin American trading enterprises to explore the possibilities of
cooperation among these enterprises and provide an opportunity for them to
enter into new trade relations. UNCTAD attended the first Afro-Arab trade
fair (Tunis, 1993) and participated in a symposium on trade expansion
between African and Arab countries as well as presented a paper on the
subject. The second fair is scheduled to be held in South Africa (1995)
and UNCTAD expects to make a similar contribution. UNCTAD also organized
jointly with OAU and LAS a symposium on economic cooperation and investment
between African and Arab countries during the first Afro-Arab business week
(March 1995), held in conjunction with the Cairo International Fair.
66. With assistance from UNCTAD a meeting of ministers of Latin American
and Asian and Pacific developing countries will be organized in 1995 to
provide a political framework for supporting efforts aimed at expanding
trade and other economic relations between these countries, in particular
through the involvement of enterprises. It is envisaged that prior to the
interregional ministerial meeting, a meeting of ministers of Latin American
countries will be organized to adopt a common policy on economic
cooperation in the Pacific basin.
C. United Nations Development Programme
67. In the context of supporting bilateral economic and technical
cooperation between enterprises of developing countries, UNDP assists
developing countries in the organization of capacities and needs matching
exercises (CNMs) at which bilateral agreements are reached on collaborative
TCDC activities. A compendium of needs and capacities of one or several
countries is prepared and exchanged between the participants. Country
missions are sometimes undertaken for briefing and sensitization purposes
and to promote agreements on needs and capacities. Finally, the
participating countries gather for several days for comprehensive bilateral
and multilateral negotiations. Several CNMs have been held with UNDP
support since December 1993 in Africa (Uganda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe) and Asia
(Bangladesh, Myanmar). Some of these TCDC activities have led to joint
investments or twinning of institutions and enterprises as well as the
establishment of networks and joint ventures. In addition, technology
based on cooperation between enterprises has facilitated the exchange of
experts, training, the convening of symposiums and workshops and the
granting of awards. For example, cooperation in ethno-botany between Africa
and Asia is supported by an award programme. A workshop on spare parts
reconditioning held in Cuba in 1993 has resulted in the mounting of
training courses in Venezuela, and agreements between enterprises in
Brazil, Egypt, India, Mexico and Venezuela.
68. Since 1989 UNDP has supported an initiative of the Group of 77 for the
establishment of a South chamber of commerce and industry. A recent
Egyptian initiative on this subject is designed to set up an elaborate
information network. With UNDP, regional centres have been established in
Benin, Colombia and Pakistan. The broad objective of the programme is to
contribute to the promotion of trade and investment and the establishment
of an information network on trade opportunities and capacities of the
developing countries (see also discussion under UNIDO). The development of
skills for international trade negotiations and preparation of a master
plan for South-South trade are also targeted. The long-term objective is
the establishment of a comprehensive third world information network.
Similarly, UNDP is also supporting an initiative for multi-sectoral
cooperation and integration involving Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru.
A meeting of mayors held in the last quarter of 1993 launched a programme
to set up an information network to promote collaboration mainly between
private sector enterprises in trade as well as other sectors such as
education, tourism, health and culture. Another noteworthy information-
related activity is the establishment of a regional subcontracting exchange
system to promote economic integration and improved efficiency of small and
medium industries in the Arab region.
69. In respect of investment promotion and consultation UNDP, in
collaboration with UNIDO, held the first investment round table in central
Asia (March 1994). At this round table, which was held in Uzbekistan, 14
countries participated and relations were established between a number of
enterprises.
D. United Nations Industrial Development Organization
70. UNIDO's ECDC/TCDC programme for industrial development gave special
attention to the development of interregional, regional and subregional
programmes including continued collaboration with regional
intergovernmental organizations and the regional commissions. In 1993
several regional training programmes were implemented, including those
provided by India to other Asian countries on environment-friendly
pesticides; by the Philippines and the Republic of Korea on quality control
in pesticides; and workshops in Malaysia on pesticide application
technology and in the Republic of Korea on impurities in technical-grade
pesticide materials. A seminar was organized on refractories production
for the West African region in Ghana (Accra, October 1994) in order to
promote development of the refractory industry based on abundant local
materials and to foster subregional cooperation through establishment of a
subregional information network. The regional cooperation programme for
the industrial recovery of Latin America and the Caribbean included a
number of activities such as: (i) a bio-technology programme whereby
special assistance was offered to both the public and the private sectors
for the industrial application of research outputs and assimilation of
techniques and experiences achieved in industrialized countries; (ii) an
agro-industries programme beginning with a subregional programme for the
identification, development and promotion of fruit- and vegetable-
processing industries; and (iii) a regional programme for industrial
modernization of the capital goods sector in Latin America under which a
techno-economic study to define specific areas of action was completed with
participating research and development institutions.
71. One of the main comparative strengths of UNIDO is its wealth of
information sources, networks and statistical data banks on all aspects of
industrial development. Mention can be made of a number of recent and
ongoing activities aimed at strengthening ECDC/TCDC-related aspects of
information sources, including the assignment of the TCDC-INRES
(Information Referral System) database to the industrial information
section as a logical extension of its information work in support of South-
South cooperation. In order to enhance the information flow within, to and
from the African countries, including the possible establishment of
national and subregional INTIB (Industrial and Technological Information
Bank) networks with linkages to international information systems, a
project is being implemented for the development of an INTIB industrial and
technological information network for Africa. The project includes the
preparation of an assessment report covering 10 African countries
(Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, United Republic of
Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) through its cooperation with the Solidarity
and Assistance Fund for the Development of the West African Economic
Community.
72. Great efforts have been made to ensure the maximum utilization of
the relevant activities and services of UNIDO for the promotion of
investment among developing countries, such as consultation meetings and
investment forums. An investors' forum for Central Africa was held in
Yaounde (November 1993) together with the European Union and the Centre for
Development of Industry. Potential investors from the 11 ECCAS countries
participated at the forum, giving it a very distinct ECDC/TCDC flavour.
Bilateral discussions resulted in the conclusion of 3 preliminary
agreements and 22 letters of intent, including cooperation agreements among
developing countries. As a result of previous promotion activities in
north-west China, Nepal and Viet Nam, several investment licences were
issued and investment projects with high investment values started to
become operational. For the third time, the Viet Nam programme was
extended and the project budget increased accordingly with plans for an
investment forum at Hanoi. It is worth noticing in this context that there
is an increasing trend towards investment between developing countries and,
in particular, in the east and south Asian regions. A workshop on country
and investment project promotion was held in Dubai (November 1993) with
more than 100 participants from 17 Arab countries to discuss the roles,
functions, structure and work methods of investment promotion agencies in
the region.
73. Renewed efforts were made by UNIDO to increase the utilization of
experts, services and equipment from developing countries in UNIDO's
technical cooperation projects in 1993. A total of 1,200 experts from
developing countries were appointed, including 544 national experts, who
represent 45.3 per cent of all experts appointed. Even though data for the
year 1994 will only be available in 1995, it was determined that in the
first ten months of the year a total of 734 experts from developing
countries were recruited. In 1993, equipment and supplies totalling US$
26.6 million were purchased for technical cooperation projects, of which
US$ 5 million (19 per cent) were provided by developing countries. In the
same year 239 new contracts for technical cooperation projects with a total
value of US$ 12.8 million were awarded, of which US$ 5.4 million (42 per
cent) were awarded to developing countries.
E. World Bank
74. The privatization of enterprise is often designed to make countries
competitive in investment and trade activities. The World Bank is active
in the area of private sector development, including through South-South
cooperation. World Bank adjustment loans and credits help produce a
competitive and attractive business environment as well as help reform in
the financial sector. In addition, the Bank Group is supporting private
investment activities estimated at $25 billion annually.
F. International Labour Organization
75. In the past ILO's global network of 14 regional centres and programmes
in the fields of training, labour administration and employment was
particularly successful in promoting genuine TCDC approaches that often
benefited from contributions from the more advanced countries in the
region, mostly through twinning and networking arrangements. The
activities of some of these regional centres/programmes have lately been
taken over by 14 new multidisciplinary teams, located in the different
developing regions, in the framework of a newly introduced policy of active
partnership. It is expected that this new policy will progressively serve
as a catalyst and enhance TCDC approaches in fields central to ILO's
mandate. The geographic coverage of each multidisciplinary team is a
subregion where the extent of "like-mindedness" between the countries is
obviously higher.
76. In regions that have a tradition of TCDC - Latin America, for instance
the willingness and ability to share is more in evidence. In that region,
training programmes in container operations and handling for port workers,
for instance, have drawn upon the experiences and resources of the
comparatively better-endowed countries in the region since 1986.
Currently, 17 countries are involved. Such successful experiments along
TCDC lines are currently being pursued in East Africa and the Asia and
Pacific region as well.
77. In Africa, ILO implements a project which aims at strengthening
management training institutions and associations, drawing heavily on the
expertise available within the network of participating organizations.
Twinning is at the heart of this system. Also, in cooperation with the
West African Central Bank, an ILO-executed programme in the region promotes
harmonized approaches to village banks through, inter alia, the creation of
data banks and the use of experts from the same region. ILO was also
active, initially, in the Asian and Pacific region and subsequently, on a
global basis, in promoting, under its INTERCOOP programme, commercial
exchanges, business partnerships and exchange of know-how among
cooperatives in developing countries and their counterparts in developed
ones. Another successful experiment, INTERMAN, ensures, on a global basis,
transfer of experience in entrepreneurship and management development to
countries and institutions that stand to benefit from it. Efforts by ILO
in the same field led to the creation of the Pan African Productivity
Association.
78. In the Asian and Pacific region, examples include the regional
programme on the Asian network of human resource development planning
institutes and the Asian networking of national institutes of labour
studies. In both cases, the participating institutions meet part of the
costs involved in mounting jointly agreed projects.
IV. SUPPORT TO FOOD SECURITY AND AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION
A. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
79. In respect of the promotion of food security, FAO has continued its
collaboration with several groups of countries. In addition to IGADD, SADC
and PTA, technical support was provided to the Permanent Inter-State
Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) in the establishment of a
regional unit for food security. FAO also provided assistance in the
formulation of subregional food security programmes for ECOWAS, ECCAS and
the Union douaniere et economique de l'Afrique centrale (UDEAC). These
strategies aim at dissemination of research results for traditional
agriculture and fisheries as a priority for achieving food security. In
Latin America, 10 LAIA member countries and four Central American countries
are being assisted in identification and characterization of the population
at risk of food insecurity, analysis of the main causes and problem-solving
action. Three Latin American workshops on food security programming
analysed methodological work in assisted countries and consolidated
experiences in a methodological compendium. In Asia FAO cooperated with
the Food Security Reserve Board of ASEAN in exchanging early-warning
information, providing technical assistance in research and development and
mobilizing international assistance. A recent joint activity resulted in
the preparation of a project proposal on a comprehensive study of ASEAN
food security. FAO continues to cooperate with ASEAN in the development of
a policy-driven model to assess food security policy alternatives to attain
shortand long-term food security objectives at the national and subregional
levels. FAO also provided technical support to SAARC in establishing a food
security reserve for use in emergencies. Again in the Asian and Pacific
region FAO provides assistance to countries through regional and national
projects to make food production safer for human health and the environment
while ensuring yield increases through the implementation of integrated
pest management.
80. In early 1995, FAO launched the Special Programme on Food Production
in Support of Food Security in Low-income Food-Deficit Countries which at
present number 88, with an estimated total population of 3.5 billion. The
main objective of the programme is to assist these countries, particularly
those where the food security situation is becoming increasingly critical,
to increase food production rapidly in order to stem the growing incidence
of under- nutrition among their populations. TCDC will be a key instrument
to achieve the objectives of the special programme. At the global level,
this will involve the identification of successful technologies which can
be transferred from one country to another with similar agro-ecological and
socio-economic conditions, as well as making available the know-how and
experience in the process of technological change itself. This will
concern different categories of actors (such as high-level decision makers,
extensionists, research workers, farmers' groups, NGOs, private sector
groups) who could, through workshops, exchange visits, study tours and
apprenticeship programmes for fellow farmers, cooperative managers and
trainers, share their practical experiences and "success stories" and
demonstrate concrete examples of management know-how, techniques and
practices. Consultations with Governments have already started.
81. Activities for the development of agriculture generally that are
delivered by FAO through TCDC/ECDC mechanisms cover agricultural trade,
nutrition, fisheries and forestry. Regarding agricultural trade and
commodities, FAO, in collaboration with subregional and regional
organizations, supports numerous activities aimed at promoting economic
cooperation in agricultural trade. Also, in this regard, following the
conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations (April
1994), which included agriculture for the first time in a substantive
fashion, there has been a growing interest by developing countries in
coming to grips with the changed international trading environment for
agriculture and FAO has been developing a programme to respond to this
need. Additionally, the FAO Committee on Commodity Problems and the
intergovernmental commodity groups continue to provide forums for exchange
of information, consensus-building on emerging problems and flexibility for
remedial action. Often in collaboration with subregional and regional
organizations, FAO supports numerous activities aimed at promoting economic
cooperation in agricultural trade. Examples include an expert consultation
and a study on the impact of structural adjustment programmes on rice
economies in selected countries in West Africa with a view to assisting the
countries in assessing the future outlook of their rice industry.
82. Regarding nutrition, food quality control and food safety the
harmonization of food quality control requirements and procedures is an
important requisite for eliminating non-tariff barriers and promoting
intra-regional and interregional food trade. For example, FAO supported a
workshop for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on food additives
and contaminants in which 55 professionals from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates participated. The
workshop permitted those professionals to review the subregion's situation
with regard to the control of food additives and contaminants and to define
a common strategy and action plan to strengthen their capabilities and
exchange information in this field. In Latin America, laboratories from 11
countries were assisted in a study on mycotoxin standards and food
contamination monitoring and control. Assistance was given to MERCOSUR
countries in setting up harmonized procedures for the registration of food
and food industries, classification of food, standardization of priority
commodities and harmonized procedures for the inspection/certification of
products.
83. Concerning fisheries, FAO has been collaborating with developing
countries in realizing the potential arising out of the new legal regime of
the seas. Of particular relevance are activities in support of FAO's
network of regional fishery bodies which provide a well-established
mechanism for cooperation in fisheries research, management and
development. The subcommittee on fish trade acts as a global consultative
mechanism on international trade matters. It further aims at promoting
collaboration among developing countries in improving their share of
international trade in fish and fishery products. Also in respect of fish,
the global fish marketing information system set up by FAO is a
comprehensive network consisting of four regional fish marketing
information and technical advisory services. These assist participating
countries with international fish trade matters within and between regions.
The system includes INFOFISH for Asia and the Pacific, INFORPESCA for Latin
America and the Caribbean, INFOPECHE for Africa and INFOSAMAK for the Arab
region. GLOBEFISH is another key element of the FAO fish marketing
information system. It collects and regularly updates information on the
medium and long-term outlook for fishery commodities and distributes and
disseminates it among developing countries through the regional information
services.
84. As concerns forestry, interregional and regional forestry projects of
particular importance to ECDC/TCDC are being implemented by FAO in all
developing regions. Examples are projects on forest industries, production
and marketing of timber, wood-energy development, forest policy and
planning, management of forest resources for environmental protection and
arid zone sand dune stabilization. The tropical forests action programme
promotes intercountry cooperation through the exchange of information and
expertise for developing and strengthening national capacity to formulate
and implement policies, strategies and action programmes.
85. Other activities with an ECDC/TCDC dimension are being pursued by FAO
in various areas. One such area concerns cooperative research in food
crops, plant protection and post-harvest losses, cooperation in animal
health measures, and plant and animal biotechnology. A second area is the
development of a sound information base on the capacities and needs of the
developing countries for systematic and well-organized TCDC programmes in
the area of food and agriculture, such as assistance provided to member
countries in the preparation of inventories in various fields (agriculture,
forestry and fisheries) and in dissemination of related information. A
third area relates to the use of institutions in the developing world for
inter-country training of technicians, such as the use of institutions of
the Republic of Korea in intercountry training in the fields of sericulture
and tidal land reclamation. The project also typifies the cost-sharing
concept of TCDC. The Government of the Republic of Korea covered all local
costs including board, lodging and internal transport. FAO assisted with
technical advice and covered international trade and essential equipment.
B. United Nations Development Programme
86. UNDP is also lending support to food security efforts. The Arab
regional programme includes several activities relating to cooperative
efforts in food production. The network for supplementary irrigation and
improved water management at the farm level is aimed at enhancing
collective research and extension capacity in five North African and four
Middle Eastern Arab countries which are heavily dependent on irrigation.
The programmes for the productivity increase of barley, pastures and sheep
in Iraq, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic and the programme for the
oilseeds crop in the Sudan, Somalia and Yemen are all directed at the
promotion of collective measures for research and improvement in food
production.
87. In Africa, a highly innovative TCDC activity is being supported by
UNDP. The aim of food technology transfer and the promotion of private
investment is to bring together entrepreneurs, researchers, financiers and
policy-makers to transform research results into commercial ventures. An
NGO in Kenya has prepared a source book of successful technologies which
will be used to mobilize venture capital. The programme envisages the
exhibition of consumer products, a workshop for entrepreneurs and
researchers, and training sessions on intellectual property rights relating
to joint ventures.
C. World Bank
88. The World Bank played an important and active role in coordinating
food security needs in southern Africa during the period when the region
was threatened by food scarcity because of the prolonged drought. The Bank
worked closely with the various affected countries and with the United
Nations agencies involved to monitor needs and support efforts to make food
available in the appropriate areas. The parties which worked on this
effort agree that serious shortages and possible famine were in great
measure averted through such regional coordination.
V. SUPPORT TO COOPERATION IN CULTURE, EDUCATION,
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 3/
A. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
89. Technical workshops and group training, which are among the
traditional modes of TCDC promotion, concentrate on dissemination of
successful technologies. Examples of such technologies include fish
smoking, low-cost meat preservation, rural household bio-gas, fertilizer
block demonstration, small-scale cheese processing in mountainous areas and
rural milk cooperatives. A TCDC workshop hosted by Senegal on simple and
cost-effective methods of meat preservation and attended by participants
from some 15 African countries typifies this approach and demonstrates the
potential of learning from experiences.
90. FAO has, within its fields of competence, used networks to foster
research and technical collaboration, upgrade national research
capabilities and facilitate information exchange and transfer of
technology. Networking takes various forms and approaches depending on the
problems to be solved, the capacities of the institutions involved and the
funding mechanisms. FAO has so far promoted over 140 networks in the
developing regions of the world. Twinning arrangements between similar
organizations and institutions are also promoted, where feasible, with a
view to increasing their management capabilities, training their staff or
improving their operational procedures. For example, the Asian Network on
Forestry Education, the Asian-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research
Institutions and the Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in
the Near East and North Africa, the plant quarantine networks in southern
and eastern Africa and the Latin American citrus network link renowned
institutions in a collaborative framework, very much along the lines of the
"South network of centres of excellence" recommended in the South
Commission's report. The network approach employed by FAO reflects the
conviction that TCDC initiatives should not only institute collections of
ad hoc activities but should have a strong institutional framework, within
which dialogue and cooperation among groups of institutions or countries
can be carried out on a sustained and continuing basis.
B. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
91. In the field of technology, a workshop was held at New Delhi (November
1994) to address three main issues, namely (i) the increasing complexity
and rising costs of research and development; (ii) the rapid obsolescence
of technologies and of products; and (iii) the difficulties in blending
technologies and start-up finance for ensuring sustained and sustainable
economic growth and development. Senior executives coming from enterprises
and from research and development organizations from 12 countries
(Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Sri
Lanka and Viet Nam) met with policy makers in order to discuss the ways in
which multi-enterprise and multi-country initiatives could help address
these concerns. The Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology
(APCTT) of ESCAP, with UNCTAD and UNDP, actively participated in all phases
of preparation and the actual holding of the workshop. Subsequently,
UNCTAD made available to APCTT a draft proposal concerning follow-up
activities. University-industry relations have also been considered in the
Latin American and Caribbean context.
C. United Nations Development Programme
92. Commercialization of the results of research and development is an
issue receiving attention in many developing countries and TCDC is
considered an appropriate modality for promoting this objective. The
establishment of linkages between the scientific community and the private
sector for the commercialization of research and development was the
subject of an interregional gathering supported by UNDP in Argentina (March
1993). Similarly, in Africa another interesting initiative launched with
the support of UNDP is inter-university collaboration in research on
development policy. The programme was launched in July 1993 under the
sponsorship of Addis Ababa University and will be completed by the end of
this year. This is the first African initiative in this field and it is
likely to generate ideas for solution of common problems as perceived by a
group of collaborators from the South.
93. TCDC-INRES (information referral system) has been developed as a
valuable resource on capacities in developing countries. A careful
screening process has been followed in order to compile and update
information from 31 countries. The coverage will be expanded at the rate
of 20 countries each year. At the same time a system of continuous
updating has been instituted. Also important is the ease of access that
has been built into the data-processing technology. INRES-LITE will provide
diskettes to UNDP country offices, national TCDC focal points and agency
TCDC focal points in order to make the information readily available to end
users. The other agencies, in turn, contribute to expanding and improving
the information database. This will revolutionize the scope for South-
South cooperation by making information more readily available at the
national level.
D. United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization
94. In the area of education UNESCO is implementing a comprehensive
programme encompassing basic education, education innovation for
development and higher education. Moreover, activities in the foregoing
fields are executed at the regional level by the UNESCO Principal Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific at Bangkok.
95. In the field of basic education, particular attention is paid to a
number of important issues such as: cost-effectiveness; education
opportunities for girls and women and for other disadvantaged groups;
improvement of relevance and quality of education and learning
achievements; promotion of innovative approaches; linking school with
community to obtain its support; and linking school with the world of work.
In this spirit UNESCO attempts to develop international cooperation in
education including both North-South and South-South cooperation. The
programme "Education for all, making it work" is a pragmatic and action-
oriented strategy to support and promote innovations in basic education.
The following are some illustrative examples of the innovations programme
concerning South-South cooperation:
(a) Inter-project workshops and visits. The innovations programme
organized four inter-project basic education workshops in 1994 in
Bangladesh, China, Senegal and Zimbabwe. Besides being important platforms
for the exchange of experiences from the grass-roots to ministries, another
important function of the workshops and their follow-up is the
establishment or reinvigoration of networks for educationists to enhance
regional and subregional collaboration in the field. A UNDP-funded project
is operated by UNESCO for and with NGOs, local education experts and
government counterparts in the Asian region. A similar project in Africa,
also funded by UNDP, is implemented by UNESCO-Harare for and with NGOs,
local educationists and government counterparts from southern and eastern
Africa;
(b) Innovations series. The programme aims to collect, analyse and
promote successful basic education projects in the developing world. By
October 1994 five issues had been published covering projects in
Bangladesh, India, Mali and Trinidad and Tobago, and distributed widely to
disseminate worthwhile basic education experiences from third world
countries to a wide range of educationists, from decision makers/planners
in ministries to grassroots people, thus contributing to South-South
dialogue.
96. The project "Education for all in the nine high population countries"
includes Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico,
Nigeria and Pakistan, which together account for over 70 per cent of the
world's adult illiterates and more than half of the world's out-of-school
children. Under this project, many activities took place such as the
Education for All Summit (New Delhi, December 1993) and the meeting at
Geneva of Ministers of Education as a follow-up to the Summit. Other
activities are being implemented or elaborated such as the use of distance
education to reach people living in remote areas.
97. UNESCO executes four regional programmes for renewal of primary
education and elimination of illiteracy in Africa, the Arab States, Asia
and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean that are mainly based
on South-South cooperation in terms of substance and technical issues.
98. In the field of education innovation for development UNESCO has five
networks of which four are concerned with developing regions (Africa, Arab
States, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean). South-
South cooperation develops within the framework of these four regional
networks, while interregional cooperation involves both North-South and
South-South cooperation.
99. In the field of higher education, UNESCO launched in 1991 the
UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Cooperative Programme in Higher Education with the
objective of promoting and strengthening inter-university cooperation.
Although North-South linkages are given particular importance, South-South
cooperation has been given a high priority within the framework of this
programme. A number of UNITWIN networks have been already established.
Among these, the following examples of inter-university networks involve
cooperative and joint activities undertaken by universities from the South:
(i) UNAMAZ, a network in environmental studies involving 30 universities in
the countries of the Amazon region; (ii) the Utrecht/Southern African
University network, which links institutions in the Netherlands, Germany,
Sweden, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia and focuses on
health, environment, science and human rights; (iii) the PEACE programme
network, which associates Palestinian and European universities of the
Coimbra group; (iv) the UNESCO/NATURA network, linking agricultural
universities in Europe and Africa; and (v) the UNITWIN project with the
Santander group of universities which networks European and Latin American
institutions and will include six UNESCO Chairs.
100. The activities executed at the regional level by the UNESCO Principal
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (PROAP) at Bangkok serve 40 member
States. 4/ The national commissions of UNESCO in the member States
themselves form a network of cooperation which is further supported by a
number of networks of specialized educational institutions and several
thousand key educators in Asia and the Pacific participating in South-South
cooperation through a number of mechanisms. One is the Advisory Committee
on Regional Cooperation in Education in Asia and the Pacific, set up by
UNESCO in 1980 to provide advice, consultation and guidance to UNESCO on
regional cooperation in education through the highest level of intellectual
expertise available in the region in the field of education. The Committee
has held several sessions. It also oversees the implementation of
education projects and programmes based on North-South and South-South
cooperation and makes recommendations to the periodic conferences of
Ministers of Education and those responsible for economic planning in Asia
and the Pacific.
101. Another mechanism is the Asia and the Pacific Programme of Education
Innovation for Development, which encourages educational innovation in
response to the felt needs and emerging priorities. Activities under this
programme encompass all levels and forms of education from primary to
tertiary as well as educational technology, distance learning, education
and employment, science and technology education and environment education,
to mention only the important ones.
102. A third mechanism is the Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All
(APPEAL). 5/ APPEAL has been specially formulated by UNESCO on the
recommendation of the Fifth Regional Conference of Ministers of Education
and those Responsible for Economic Planning and was launched in 1987.
APPEAL is responsible for implementing activities generally to facilitate
the achievement of "Education for All" and particularly to promote
universal primary education, eradicate illiteracy and provide continuing
education especially to adult illiterates and out-of-school children, with
special provision for women and other disadvantaged groups. APPEAL is
fully operational in 29 States of the region through national coordinating
committees of APPEAL and a number of participating institutions. A
regional coordinating mechanism of APPEAL has also been set up to promote
South-South cooperation for improving the education and literacy in the
region. For the first time since the beginning of 1994 the absolute number
of adult illiterates in the region has started to decline as a result of
sharing of knowledge between participating institutions.
103. A fourth mechanism is the Regional Cooperative Programme in Higher
Education for Development. The programme, which became operational in
1982, was developed by PROAP. It succeeded in creating a network of 110
universities and other institutions of higher learning in 16 countries of
the region. The basic aim is to improve the quality of higher education
through training of higher education administrators and managers,
curriculum planners and higher education management information systems
specialists. UNESCO was also instrumental in the setting up of the
Association of Asian Open Universities as well as the Distance Education
Regional Resource Centre to promote the networking of institutions of
higher education specializing in distance education programmes to improve
the outreach of higher education programmes. UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs
Cooperative Programme has been launched in this region. Furthermore, PROAP
cooperates extensively with ESCAP to strengthen regional cooperation in
education.
104. A fifth mechanism is technical and vocational education. UNEVOC is
the acronym for the new "international project on technical and vocational
education" launched by UNESCO in 1992. In the Asian and Pacific region the
project was successfully launched in 1993 and 15 key institutions of
technical and vocational education are now participating in a collaborative
exchange of ideas, experiences and studies on policy issues, strengthening
international research and development capabilities, facilitating access to
databases and promoting innovations in staff development. UNEVOC is
basically a cooperative endeavour of the member States sharing a common
need to further develop and improve their systems of technical and
vocational education and training, taking due account of the changes in
science and technology affecting the workplace. The most important
objective of this project is to network technical and vocational education
policy planners, teacher training and technical institutions, schools and
students throughout each region as well as globally to assist in the
sharing of experiences for the reform of technical and vocational
education.
105. A sixth mechanism is educational planning and management, an area
where PROAP has been active for over two decades in assisting member States
in policy formulation and implementation of monitoring, particularly using
educational management information systems. A network of about 60
institutions in 20 member States has been established under a regional
programme of educational planning and management. In this area also PROAP
cooperates with ESCAP in a regional project on resource development
perspectives in education planning under the Jakarta Plan of Action on
Human Resource Development, mainly in a South-South cooperation modality.
This project alone has so far trained about 50 persons in two years. The
network is assisting the member States in improving their planning for
Education for All and its implementation and monitoring. A related field
where PROAP has been active is education facilities development. The
lowcost school building and furniture designed by PROAP have already been
adopted/adapted by a number of countries in the region, with particular
emphasis on the use of local materials. PROAP has also been active in the
field of environment and population education and information for human
development and has developed a regional conceptual framework for inter-
agency cooperation (comprising different United Nations
agencies/organizations and other regional and national institutions). The
framework emphasizes cooperative development of project proposals for
action and resource generation, narrowing the knowledge gaps and devising
strategies to do so through action focusing on South-South dialogue.
106. A seventh mechanism is the Asia-Pacific Information Network in Social
Science (APINESS). APINESS was set up in 1986 with a view to providing
national-level academic groups in the social sciences field appropriate,
relevant and pertinent international as well as indigenous data,
documentation and information, so that professionals in the field of social
sciences may meaningfully contribute to national development. National
social science councils and other academic organizations were encouraged to
take action to create and strengthen infrastructures for social sciences
information and documentation, essential for both research and teaching.
107. An eighth mechanism is the Association of Asian Social Science
Councils Research (AASSREC). AASSREC was launched in 1973 and has at
present a membership of 16 national councils. AASSREC's main tasks are to
help develop national social sciences policies, to canvass support for the
social sciences and the social scientists and to promote intra-regional
cooperation. The most recent activities of AASSREC were: its tenth
biennial conference, held at Kawasaki, Japan (September 1994), in
conjunction with the AASSREC symposium on environment and sustainable
development (September 1994) and a regional symposium on the new strategies
for social development in Asia and the Pacific (Manila, November 1994)
where social scientists discussed national papers highlighting specific
national problems relating to social development, with a view to preparing
a paper integrating issues on alleviating and reducing poverty, expanding
productive employment and enhancing social integration. The paper
constituted AASSREC's contribution to the World Summit for Social
Development (Copenhagen, March 1995).
108. A ninth mechanism is the General Information Programme (PGI). In the
context of improving the flow and use of information for development, PGI
has for several years been implementing in the Asian and Pacific region two
information networks, namely ASTINFO (Regional Network for the Exchange of
Information and Experiences in Science and Technology in Asia and the
Pacific), with 18 countries in the region actively participating, and
APINMAP (Asian Pacific Information Network for Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants), with 14 participating countries. Participating countries are
helping each other through TCDC and resource-sharing arrangements, promoted
and catalysed by UNESCO/PGI and ASTINFO, specially among developing
countries. For example, India has provided expertise to Nepal, Malaysia
and Bangladesh and China has provided technical and financial assistance to
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Mongolia. Through ASTINFO
and APINMAP, bilateral programmes of several participating countries have
included information and library services as an area eligible for technical
cooperation, bringing information closer to being included in the priority
areas of national development programmes of developing countries in the
region.
109. In the area of culture UNESCO executes activities through the South-
South cooperation modality primarily in the fields of physical cultural
heritage and books and reading. Examples of physical cultural heritage
cooperation are not very frequent. However, developments are being noticed
in this regard and it is one of the objectives of several programmes and
projects in UNESCO to develop and enhance regional cooperation.
110. In Africa the Niamey Regional Training Institute for Museology
(Niger), created in 1986 under an international convention concerning the
French-speaking countries, has functioned under the auspices of UNDP,
UNESCO and the Agence de cooperation culturelle et technique. The
Institute has trained many museum technicians. Unfortunately, the training
was interrupted due to funding difficulties; it is important to find new
funding sources so that the Institute can resume its activities.
111. Among Arab States a very important project, in terms of regional
cooperation, is being initiated in Tunisia at the National Institute for
Cultural Heritage, where a special two-year course is open for architects
from the countries of the Maghreb, who benefit from fellowships. In
another activity UNESCO sent a legal consultant from Algeria to assist the
Moroccan authorities in redrafting the legislation for the protection of
cultural heritage.
112. In Asia regional cooperation is notably effective in South-East Asia
where the Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts organizes training
sessions, study tours and exchanges of experts and of information for
member States. UNESCO collaborates regularly with this institution.
Another important example of cooperation is the one which has been
provided, on an exclusive bilateral basis, by India to Cambodia for the
restoration of the temple of Angkor Wat.
113. In Latin America and the Caribbean within the overall UNDP/UNESCO
project for cultural, urban and environmental heritage, cooperation has
been developed among the countries of the region. The University of Bahia
in Brazil has become a training institution for specialists in the field of
architectural heritage, with the support of UNESCO. Also, expertise was
provided to assist Mozambique under this project. The project of the
National Centre for Conservation, Restoration and Museology at Havana,
financed by UNDP and executed by UNESCO, has permitted notably the
provision of technical assistance for the creation of the museum of Belize
and for the preservation of immovable cultural property in the Dominican
Republic. It should also be noted that within the context of the
international safeguarding campaigns, financial assistance has been
provided by South countries to other South countries, for example the
United Republic of Tanzania to Yemen and Pakistan, Thailand and Nigeria to
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia to Mauritania. In the field of the intangible
cultural heritage, a regional network of traditional musical institutions
for Africa was established and the first coordination meeting was held at
Niamey in December 1994. Similar networks will be created in the Latin
American and Arab regions during the 1996-1997 biennium.
114. The promotion and development of South-South cooperation are key
elements in the drafting and implementation of policies and programmes
undertaken by UNESCO in the field of books and reading. This approach is
also adopted by regional representatives in the allocation of the relevant
decentralized funds. Within the framework of the various activities
coordinated by UNESCO's programme for books and reading (namely those
relating to national book policies, training, stimulating young people to
read and the free flow of books), regional and national executing agencies
are encouraged, whenever possible and appropriate, to ensure a high level
of involvement of partners from the South. The following presents and
exemplifies a regional outline of initiatives involving South-South
cooperation:
(a) The establishment of the Asia-Pacific Cooperative Programme in
Reading Promotion and Book Development (APPREB), an information network to
which 20 of UNESCO's member States have joined to date, has greatly
enhanced UNESCO's capability to meet the challenge to promote meaningful
exchanges among partners of the South. The activities of APPREB are
coordinated through the Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO which is
based at Tokyo. A regional consultation with member States of the APPREB
network will be held from 1 to 5 August 1995 at Bangkok to discuss the
development and follow-up strategies of activities relating to South-South
cooperation;
(b) The Regional Centre for Book Promotion in Latin America and the
Caribbean (CERLALC), UNESCO's regional coordinating partner in this area,
has effectively carried out a number of activities which have involved the
participation and input of the 15 States members of CERLALC in the region.
Particularly noteworthy are the development of prototypes of national book
policies, which have been successfully adopted by eight countries of the
region, and the Acuerdo de Alcance Parcial, relating to the free flow of
books. Based in Mexico, a unique and highly successful project entitled
"Periolibros" aims to promote reading by utilizing local newspapers as the
medium. The project, which continues to be financed largely by
extrabudgetary contributions from Iberia Airlines, represents a creative
and motivating approach to encouraging reading and the dissemination of
information. In view of its success, the "Periolibros" model is in the
process of being developed in the Arab States. Entitled "Al-Kitab al-
Jarida", the project will avail itself of the experiences gained with
"Periolibros" and aim to duplicate its success. Funds allocated for the
development of "Al-Kitab al-Jarida" amounted to US$ 10,000 in 1994;
(c) Within the framework of the 1994-1995 "Reading for All" campaign for
Africa, developed by UNESCO in order to respond to the challenge of
encouraging reading and the promotion of books, the following South-South
initiatives can be cited: (i) convening of a consultation of publishers
and education specialists in Abidjan to develop practical and concrete
steps to stimulate the book market in francophone Africa; and (ii) in
anglophone Africa, significant partnerships have been developed with
organizations that promote exchanges among and training for African
publishers and stimulate the marketing of African books in the region and
overseas. UNESCO's support to the African Publishers Network (APNET) and
book marketing schemes such as the African Books Collective is expected to
continue and possibly to grow into cooperative efforts which involve both
French- and Portuguese-speaking partners. On the occasion of the 1995
Zimbabwe International Book Fair, UNESCO provided financial support to
APNET for the organization of an international seminar "Books for the
Millions" dealing with the social dimensions of human rights, including the
right of access to affordable, locally produced books and to development of
a national publishing industry.
115. In respect of communication UNESCO has consistently contributed to
the reinforcement of regional communication institutions, including those
for broadcasting, research, training, audio-visual production and news
agency exchanges. Through these institutions, UNESCO has developed a wide
network of experts and consultants from the developing countries and these
have served in most UNESCO-initiated programmes and activities. Only for
highly technical advice (design of computer networks or major communication
development planning or high-level policy missions) are consultants
recruited from outside the developing regions, but in most cases they are
accompanied by consultants from the South.
116. In Africa, considerable efforts have been made to develop and
strengthen the technical and human capacity of national news agencies in 35
countries through projects in West, Central, East and southern Africa.
Assistance has also been given to restructuring and strengthening the Pan-
African News Agency. The news agency development projects have contributed
to improved collection and dissemination of news and information among
African countries and between Africa and developing countries in other
regions.
117. Among the Arab States, the Radio and Television Training Centre of
the Arab States Broadcasting Corporation has been assisted in its programme
of training radio and television personnel from the region. The training
activities have contributed to enhancing networking and collaboration among
media professionals in the region. The exchange of news and feature
programmes among national television stations has been supported.
118. In Latin America and the Caribbean, a concrete example of action to
address the specific communication needs of the region and promote South-
South cooperation is the Communication for Integration project. This
recent joint initiative by UNESCO and the Latin American Economic System
(SELA) aims at the setting up of a regional network of newspapers
specializing in economic and financial matters, as a contribution to the
overall integration of the region.
119. In Asia and the Pacific, the Pacific Women's Television Programme
Exchange project aims at encouraging collaboration among television
stations in four Pacific Island States in the production, evaluation and
exchange of local programmes, especially by women television producers.
The Pacific Video Training Project helped to develop communication skills
in the Pacific Islands and strengthen cooperation among those States in
organizing training programmes in radio broadcasting, print media and video
at the subregional and regional levels. Assistance has been given to the
Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting
Union and the Asia Mass Communication Research and Information Centre.
120. In respect of information in Latin America and the Caribbean, all
UNESCO's information activities contribute to South-South cooperation in
the region. In 1994-1995 for example, four consultants from Chile, Cuba
and Venezuela worked in Argentina, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama. In
Asia and the Pacific, as referred to in paragraph 108, UNESCO assistance
for the regional information networks ASTINFO and APINMAP should be
mentioned. These are cooperative programmes which promote the exchange of
information and experience among countries in the region.
121. Regarding informatics the Intergovernmental Informatics Programme has
given high priority to the development of computer networks and their use
in the South. In Africa, this priority has materialized through the RINAF
project (Regional Informatics Network for Africa) which enables scientists
and practitioners to exchange information, knowledge and experience through
existing computer networks. Since computer networks involve link-ups with
institutions in both North and South, they are the starting-point for the
establishment of information highways in the South. It is hoped that such
an approach will reduce the existing imbalance in this field.
E. United Nations Population Fund
122. Since 1993 UNFPA is providing support to Indonesia for its South-
South training activities, with multi-bilateral assistance from Japan,
Australia and the Netherlands totalling US$ 1,760,000. In addition to this
ongoing support to, in particular, Indonesia, but also to Tunisia, UNFPA is
preparing an interregional programme of support of South-South cooperation
for a number of selected "centres of excellence", to be included in the
next four-year programme cycle (1995-1999). Criteria have been developed
according to which for the time being four countries (as well as
institutions) have been identified to become "centres of excellence". The
identified "centres of excellence" will receive special UNFPA support to
increase their capability to assist other countries in the field of
population and reproductive health. The support will be, inter alia, for
international training and exchange programmes, technical advisory
services, inter-country research and long-term partnership building.
VI. SUPPORT TO COOPERATION IN ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
A. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee
for Desertification
123. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those
Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly
in Africa (1994) was adopted by the INCD. Under article 4.2, all parties
to the Convention commit themselves first to "promote cooperation among
affected country Parties in the fields of environmental protection and the
conservation of land and water resources", as they relate to
desertification and drought.
124. Second, within the relevant regional implementation annexes of the
Convention, affected country parties are required to cooperate in the
preparation of subregional and/or regional action programmes (art. 11). In
particular, African country parties are responsible for cooperating in
preparing and implementing subregional action programmes for central,
eastern, northern, southern and western Africa. To that end, they may
delegate certain duties to relevant subregional intergovernmental
organizations which will act as focal points for preparatory activities and
as coordinators for the implementation of the subregional action
programmes. The general purpose of subregional and regional action
programmes is to harmonize, complement and increase the efficiency of the
most important obligation under the Convention, namely the implementation
of national action programmes. Cooperation in the context of subregional
and regional action programmes includes agreed joint programmes for the
sustainable management of transboundary natural resources, scientific and
technical cooperation and strengthening of relevant institutions.
125. Thirdly, all affected parties are compelled, under articles 18.1,
18.2 and 16 of the Convention, to undertake cooperation in the areas of
technology and traditional knowledge. Technologies that are
environmentally sound, economically viable and socially acceptable should
be developed and disseminated by way of cooperation in the transfer,
acquisition, adaptation and development of the technologies. The
cooperation entailed is of a financial and promotional nature and could be
carried out either bilaterally or multilaterally to, inter alia:
facilitate technology cooperation among affected country parties through
financial assistance or other appropriate means; extend technology
cooperation with affected developing country parties including, where
relevant, joint ventures, especially to sectors which foster alternative
livelihoods; and fully utilize relevant information systems and clearing-
houses at all levels for the dissemination of information on available
technologies, their sources, their environmental risks and the broad terms
under which they may be acquired. Perhaps for the first time in this sort
of legal instrument, the Convention recognizes the relevance of traditional
knowledge. The parties are required to cooperate in the protection,
promotion and use of traditional and local technologies. For example, the
parties may actively support the improvement and dissemination of local and
traditional technology, knowledge, know-how and practices or of the
development of new technology based on them.
126. Fourthly, the Convention requires cooperation among parties in the
areas of research and public awareness. The objective of research (art.
17.1) is the development of improved, affordable and accessible
technologies for sustainable development to be carried out in cooperation
with local populations and communities. To that end parties are required
to support research activities that promote the conduct of joint research
programmes by national, subregional, regional and international research
organizations, in both the public and private sectors. Regarding public
awareness, the Convention (art. 19.3) recognizes the urgent need to promote
an understanding of the causes and effects of desertification and drought
and, therefore, imposes upon parties the obligation to cooperate in
undertaking and supporting public awareness and educational programmes
which would promote the objectives of the Convention. Some ways of
achieving this include the development and exchange of educational and
public awareness material, where possible in local languages, and the
exchange and secondment of experts to train personnel of affected
developing countries parties in carrying out relevant education and
awareness programmes.
B. United Nations Environment Programme
127. UNEP's activities are devoted to protecting the environment. Some of
these are undertaken by UNEP's Regional Programme. Thus, in Latin America
and the Caribbean region, UNEP has an umbrella project for the
implementation of the Action Plan for the Environment in Latin America and
the Caribbean adopted at the 7th Ministerial Meeting (October 1990). This
project has 24 subprojects, including the provision of the secretariat, a
regional programme on development planning and the environmental
legislation and institutional framework, a regional programme on
environmental education, a regional environmental training network and a
regional environmental information service. FAO and the Organization of
American States (OAS) are major partners in this project.
128. In Asia and the Pacific, the following could be mentioned. As a
follow-up to the forty-seventh session of ESCAP, an Inter-Agency Committee
on Environment and Development was established under the chairmanship of
ESCAP's Executive Secretary with UNEP's Regional Director for Asia and the
Pacific as Vice-Chairman. The Committee has been active in information
exchange concerning the agencies' activities in the region, and has agreed
to explore the feasibility of establishing a regional funding mechanism.
Two sessions of the UNEP-ESCAP joint programming meeting have been held and
three joint projects (chemicals and wastes, development planning and
desertification) are being implemented. UNEP has also been supporting
subregional programmes, namely the Asian Subregional Environmental
Programme, the South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme and the South
Pacific Regional Environment Programme. UNEP is actively involved in the
elaboration of the North East Asia Regional Environment Programme. ESCAP,
UNDP, UNEP and the Asian Development Bank have agreed to co-sponsor the
1995 ministerial-level Conference on Environment and Development in Asia
and the Pacific.
129. In Africa the following could be mentioned. UNEP plays a central
role in the implementation of the African Ministerial Conference on the
Environment (AMCEN) programme. The secretariat is provided by UNEP in
close cooperation with ECA and OAU. When UNDP convened the African
Regional Workshop for the implementation of Agenda 21 at Abuja, which was
co-sponsored by UNEP, the African countries specifically recommended that
AMCEN be enabled to play a lead role in the African post-UNCED follow-up.
An African meeting of ministers on the Convention on Biological Diversity
was held under the auspices of AMCEN in October 1994 for consultation to
forge an African common position regarding the Convention. UNEP has
fruitful cooperation agreements with many African subregional organizations
and support is being provided, for example with respect to the SADC natural
resources policy for southern Africa, the southern African subregional
environment group and the SADC technical committee, the Zambezi Development
Action Plan, the ECOWAS masterplan on desertification and the PTA
environmental action plan for member countries. Additionally, the African
NGOs Environment Network was established by UNEP for the purpose of
enhancing the participation of African NGOs in environmental management in
Africa.
130. In Western Asia the following merits mentioning. After the UNEP-
ESCWA joint programming meeting in November 1989, several joint projects
were initiated, including formulation of national plans of action to combat
desertification and preparation and follow-up; assessment of water
resources in the ESCWA region; regional survey of production and
consumption of materials harmful to the ozone layer; and strengthening
environmental planning and management capabilities in Jordan. Cooperation
with the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE)
has led to the implementation of three projects in the fields of
desertification control, control of industrial pollution and environmental
education and awareness. In terms of cooperation with Arab regional
organizations, UNEP has cooperation projects with CAMRE and Arab League
Education, Culture and Science Organization (ALECSO).
131. In Europe, UNEP has participated in the development of multinational
projects for the Eastern European countries. The Lucerne Conference on
Environment for Europe in 1993 came up with concrete project proposals, and
UNEP will make appropriate contributions to them within its available
resources while making full use of information and expertise in the field
of the environment.
132. Activities delivered at the regional level comprise another category
of UNEP's activities. Regarding the management of tropical forests, UNEP
provides assistance through the International Centre on Forest Research to
assess the state of West African humid forests, with special emphasis on
sustainable management and forestry development practices. In this
project, important managerial gaps and practical methodologies on how to
practice sustainable management and development of forests in Africa would
be identified. UNEP also provides assistance through OAS for preparation
of a forest management plan in border areas, and to La Amistad Biosphere
Reserve, Costa Rica and Panama. Furthermore, in collaboration with FAO,
UNEP has initiated regional dialogues to review the implementation of the
forestry chapter of Agenda 21 and the Forest Principles. The dialogue has
taken place in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the
Caribbean. They reviewed available information on progress made in
implementing Agenda 21 and the Forest Principles and identified issues of
particular importance to the region to be reported to the third session of
the Commission on Sustainable Development.
133. Concerning desertification control, UNEP provides assistance, through
joint undertakings with the regional commissions (ESCWA, ESCAP) and with
FAO, to Governments for the formulation of national plans to combat
desertification. UNEP also supports, in cooperation with other agencies,
the establishment of networks and mechanisms for mobilizing other actions
for the implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action to Combat
Desertification (PACD), Agenda 21 (chap. 12), the Convention to Combat
Desertification and its urgent action for Africa (for example, research,
training and development of methodologies for the assessment of
desertification). The UNEP-UNDP joint venture (through the United Nations
Sudano-Sahelian Office, has been assisting Governments to implement PACD in
the Sudano-Sahelian region, channelling additional financial and technical
assistance from other sources. In addition, UNEP continues to cooperate
with subregional and regional organizations like SADC, IGADD, CAMRE, ALECSO
and the Arab Centre for the Study of Arid Drylands (ACSAD) in providing
assistance through them to their member countries for the implementation of
PACD and Agenda 21 (chap. 12).
134. In respect of the protection of wildlife, genetic resources and
ecosystems, UNEP provided support for the preparation of country studies on
costs, benefits and un-met needs of biological conservation within the
framework of negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity in
the Bahamas, Guyana, Nigeria, Poland, Peru and Thailand. At the national
level, the objective is to help the countries in the preparation of their
national strategies and action plans for effective conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity. At the global level, the support
was expected to facilitate agreement on the establishment of a fund in
support of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
135. Concerning the management of oceans and coastal areas, the Regional
Seas Programme, created in 1974 by the UNEP Governing Council and
coordinated by the Oceans and Coastal Areas Programme Activity Centre since
its formation in 1985, at present comprises 13 regional programmes world
wide, involving 140 States and cooperation with over 40 United Nations
agencies and regional organizations including NGOs and development banks.
Action plan secretariats coordinating regional activities have been
established at Athens (Greece), Kingston (Jamaica), Santiago (Chile), Apia
(Western Samoa), Kuwait, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Monaco and Bangkok
(Thailand).
136. In terms of environmental law and institutions, UNEP provided support
for a workshop on environmental legislation for countries in South Asia
sponsored jointly by UNEP and the South Asian Cooperative Environmental
Programme. UNEP also hosted a regional workshop for countries in Asia with
rapidly advancing economies on institutional capacity building for
industrial compliance and enforcement. In addition, initiatives were taken
to develop inter-agency cooperation in the area of national legislation and
institutions and training with UNDP and the World Bank. Those with UNDP
were further developed through consultations between UNEP and UNDP on the
strategy, scope and content of a joint programme of assistance to African
countries with financial support from the Government of the Netherlands.
137. Regarding environmental education and training, UNEP runs two
successful environmental training networks in Latin America and the
Caribbean and the Asian and Pacific regions. The main aims of these
networks are South-South cooperation, information exchange and curricula
and education materials development and policy. It is hoped to stimulate
and assist tertiary-level education institutions in those regions to
develop their centres of excellence for environmental education and
training. Similar networks are being developed for Africa and the West
Asian regions.
C. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
138. Through its normative and field programmes at the global, regional,
national and local levels in assessment and monitoring of land resources,
policy and planning assistance, development and transfer of technologies,
capacity building and demonstration in agriculture, livestock, forestry,
fisheries and rural development. FAO continues to contribute actively to
desertification control, drought preparedness and mitigation and integrated
dry land development in affected countries.
139. In addition to its Special Programme on Food Production in Support of
Food Security in Low-income Food-Deficit Countries, FAO has several major
programmes which contribute to desertification control and dry land
development and provide support to affected countries in implementing the
objectives of the Convention, particularly in Africa, notably the
International Scheme for the Conservation and Rehabilitation of African
Lands, the Global Information and Early Warning System for Food and
Agriculture and the Food Security Assistance Scheme, the Tropical Forests
Action Programme and the Forests, Trees and People Programme, the African
Real Time Environmental Monitoring using Imaging Satellites Project and the
African Land Cover Map and Digital Geographic Database Project, the Global
Forest Resources Assessment Programme.
140. FAO provides special assistance to the Government of Mali in
cooperation with UNDP and the Government of Germany for the formulation of
its national action programme which is to start by several subnational and
one national workshop (October 1995) involving local populations and NGOs
as well as international partners. FAO is to assist the IGADD secretariat
and member countries in the formulation of a subregional action programme
within the framework of the Convention. This cooperation will concentrate
on the formulation of the food security component of the programme and be
facilitated through the recently approved FAO-funded project "Assistance to
develop a drought and disaster preparedness strategy in the IGADD region".
141. FAO contributed to several workshops organized by member Governments
and subregional organizations to discuss the formulation of action
programmes within the framework of the Convention (e.g. Cape Verde, Egypt,
CILSS, IGADD) and will continue to do so.
142. The FAO Interregional Conference of Small Island Countries on
Sustainable Development and Environment in Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries (Barbados, 7-10 April 1992) gathered, for the first time,
developing island nations from across oceans. It provided a unique
opportunity for those countries to discuss their objectives and priorities
in agricultural development. Attended at ministerial level, it provided
the political framework within which collaboration for sustainable
development actions might be taken. The Ministerial Declaration endorsed
at this conference was subsequently presented to UNCED. In the follow-up
to this Conference, FAO is organizing two workshops for the South Pacific
and Caribbean regions (1996). The objective of the workshops is to assist
the Small Island Developing States in implementing the Programme of Action
on Sustainable Development of SIDS endorsed at the United Nations Global
Conference (Bridgetown, April-May 1994). Subregional programmes for
sustainable development in agriculture, forestry and fisheries will be
formulated. The implementation of subregional programmes will be based on
networking and cooperation of SIDS for capacity building in this field.
D. United Nations Development Programme
143. UNDP is involved in two regional programmes on the environment. One
is the North East Asia Subregional Programme covering China, the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea, Mongolia and the Republic of Korea initially
dealing with an environmental cooperation programme involving temperate
zone cropping, coal combustion and air pollution problems. Launched in
February 1993, 12 project proposals have now been developed in two areas,
namely capacity building and eco-system management. The issues for urgent
action have also been identified, namely, forest and grassland degradation,
sustainable development of Russian Far East forests, biodiversity loss,
watershed degradation and issues arising from economic integration. The
second programme is the Caspian initiative aimed at preparing a plan for
resource management and the conservation of biodiversity in the Caspian
Sea. UNDP played a catalytic role in a joint fact-finding mission
consisting of UNEP, the World Bank and UNDP. A concept paper for
intergovernmental cooperation on an integrated environmental management
plan for the Caspian Sea is currently being prepared. This initiative
represents a pioneering effort in the field and has the potential for
replicability elsewhere.
VII. SUPPORT TO COOPERATION IN POPULATION DEVELOPMENT
144. The primary organization delivering support in the area of population
is UNFPA and its activities are the subject of this chapter. Observation
study tours and other types of exchange visits between developing countries
have been funded by UNFPA over the past 15 years or more, allowing the
participants to learn from the experiences of their colleagues in other
countries with similar conditions. The best known in this category of
activities are the observation study tours organized by the Indonesian
Family Planning Association for a multitude of countries from the East
Pacific, Asia, Africa and Latin America. UNFPA is providing support to this
programme with Australian multi-bilateral assistance for the Pacific, with
multi-bilateral assistance from the Governments of Japan and the
Netherlands for study tours (and training programmes) for other Asian and
African countries. In Latin America alone, a yearly average of 125 key
persons in the population programme of their country visit neighbouring
countries for the exchange of experiences and exposure to new ideas.
Mexico was the country that received the most visitors from other countries
from the Latin American region to learn from the Mexican family planning
programme and to study management integration processes in population and
development. In other continents also study tours have been a standard
activity in many projects: Zimbabwe and Kenya have received numerous
visitors to study their family planning programme activities, while
countries such as the United Republic of Tanzania and Botswana have
received project staff to study the long-term training in demography
established at their universities.
145. An important part of UNFPA's support for TCDC activities went to the
exchange of expertise and training of trainers. For example, with UNFPA
assistance: an education specialist from the Indian National Council of
Educational Research and Training assisted the Government of Bhutan in
organizing training in population education; an expert on income-generation
activities for women, from the Philippines, assisted a number of developing
countries to design special programmes for women; and a population
education expert from Trinidad and Tobago developed a curriculum and
teaching manual for family life education in school for Barbados. Another
example involved training of physicians from the Syrian Arab Republic in
Egypt and Tunisia. UNFPA also made use of consultants from China to train
medical staff in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in designing
clinical studies for contraceptive research.
146. UNFPA has provided support both to the production of contraceptive
supplies in developing countries, as well as to the testing and quality
control of contraceptives. For example, with UNFPA's support Viet Nam,
India and China have set up contraceptive production facilities; the Indian
Institute of Technology has been involved in testing and quality control;
and an expert from Mexico helped in devising quality-control measures for a
proposed Cuban contraceptive production plant.
147. World wide, UNFPA has provided support to institutions in developing
countries to offer substantial training programmes for participants from
other developing countries. This was for short-term as well as long-term
training. Care was taken that the training programmes were designed
according to the needs of the participants, keeping in mind the relative
strength of the host country or institution. Examples involving Asian
countries included Indonesia, Thailand and the Republic of Korea providing
TCDC-based training to participants from other countries of the region as
well as from Africa and Latin America. In Indonesia the International
Training Programme of the National Family Planning Board and, in the
Republic of Korea, the Institute of Population and Health, provided
training on family planning methods, communication and management. The
Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand hosted trainees from Zimbabwe to
acquire micro-computer skills. Thailand's Mahidol University provided
courses on reproductive health and family planning for other developing
country participants. In India the Centre for Development Studies in
Trivandrum and the Indian Institute for Population Sciences in Bombay have
continued to offer, with UNFPA's assistance, highly successful training
programmes in population and development and in demography. These two
Centres have brought together both trainees and experts from the developing
countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Cairo Demographic Centre
in Egypt, the recently started training programme in population and
development for Spanish-speaking participants in Chile, the Centre for
Regional Planning at the University of Mines Derais in Brazil (providing
training to students from Portuguese-speaking African countries) are among
some of the other important regional and global training centres actively
involved in TCDC-based training.
148. In Africa, the regional training institutes for demographic and
statistics training in Accra and Yaounde are supported by UNFPA, as is the
Mauritius Family Planning/Maternal and Child Health (FP/MCH) Training
Centre in Pamplemousse. The Statistics Training School in Abidjan receives
trainees from abroad with UNFPA support, while UNFPA has strengthened the
Institut africain de developpement economique et de planification in Dakar
in the area of population studies. The Centre for Research on Population
and Development in Mali has received institutional support for training and
to provide technical backstopping to population projects in the Sahelian
region.
149. UNFPA is in the process of arranging that all five components of the
Global Training on Population and Development will be located in developing
countries; the course at The Hague will be transferred to Morocco and the
course in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) to Botswana. The FP/MCH management
and information training courses currently organized at Canadian
universities will also be transferred to Africa.
150. The International Council on Management of Population Programmes in
Malaysia has played a very active role in training staff of population
programmes of English-speaking developing countries around the world in
family planning programme management.
151. Culturally acceptable information, education and communication (IEC)
programmes for family planning have been developed with the support of
local NGOs, the private sector and local expertise. One example involves
workshops in community-participation techniques for IEC workers organized
by the Republic of Korea. Locally produced films were purchased by UNFPA
for use in neighbouring culturally similar countries. "My daughter shall
not be circumcised" made in Burkina Faso, "Too late" made in Jamaica and
many other movies were made in developing countries. Culturally sensitive
IEC training courses have been mounted in Kenya and Cote d'Ivoire. Another
example consists of support provided to set up IEC training facilities with
culturally adapted curricula at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication
at Nairobi and Abidjan. A third example is the Centre for the African
Family based at Nairobi and Lome which has been supported through
fellowships for its innovative IEC/FP training programmes. A fourth
example is the publication of the book The Legacy of Family Planning in
Islam by Al Azhar University in Cairo which has become an important tool in
IEC campaigns in support of MCH/FP programmes in an increasing number of
African countries. The "travelling seminars" initiated by Al Azhar during
which the position of Islam vis-a-vis issues such as family health, family
planning and female circumcision are presented and debated have become a
very welcome innovation in IEC campaigns.
152. Extensive assistance has been provided for workshops, seminars,
conferences and similar gatherings which serve as forums for exchange of
technical information and experiences and further contacts among experts
and officials of developing countries. For example, the staff of the
demographic unit of the University of Lesotho visited similar units in
Botswana and Swaziland. High-level government officials from China,
Ethiopia and Yemen visited Egypt to discuss and observe population policy
and programmes. Physicians from the Syrian Arab Republic were trained on
how to use the contraceptive NORPLANT in Egypt and Tunisia. Women
programme managers from Yemen visited Jordan for training in the
administration of women's projects. TCDC-oriented training was also
supported in Morocco, the Syrian Arab Republic and Tunisia.
153. International training in developing countries and other activities
have been supported to enhance the status of women. For example, the
Organization of African Female Journalists was helped to organize a meeting
for its members on issues regarding population and reproductive health.
Another example is the Centre for Research, Documentation and Information
for Women based at Tunis, which is providing training and research with
support from UNFPA and the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations
Development Organizations (AGFUND).
154. Research is another area where South-South collaboration has been
taking place. For example, in cooperation with AGFUND and the League of
Arab States, the Pan-Arab Programme for Child Health has completed
demographic surveys in Egypt, Mauritania and Yemen. Another important
initiative was taken to encourage field-oriented training in research
methodologies in Bangladesh, utilizing the resources of the International
Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research. Trainees from Africa, Latin
America and other Asian countries have started participating in this
programme. In Latin America, Honduran and Colombian experts provided
research support to design socio-demographic indicators for studies in
Costa Rica. Similarly, a database for El Salvador's Population Secretariat
was developed with the assistance of experts from Costa Rica.
155. In case of emergency, in case of over-estimation of needs, for
example, countries have assisted each other in the provision of
contraceptive supplies through the intermediation of UNFPA field offices.
For example, the United Republic of Tanzania and Malawi received excess
IUDs from Cape Verde, GuineaBissau received oral contraceptives from the
Gambia and Mauritania received injectables from Senegal. These experiences
are typical of what is happening among developing countries in this field.
156. UNFPA field offices have undertaken since the early 1980s to assist
Governments and NGOs with the integration of TCDC elements when formulating
and implementing population policies and programmes. For example,
Profamilia, the family planning NGO in Colombia, served as a regional
centre for training in voluntary surgical contraceptive methods.
157. Assistance has been provided for the establishment of institutional
networks among developing countries for exchanging knowledge, expertise and
materials in mutually beneficial areas. For example, the Latin American
Population Documentation System and the Latin American Council of Social
Sciences used UNFPA assistance to promote information exchange, through a
computerized database, among national agencies. Experts from Costa Rica
helped to develop a database for the Population Secretariat in El Salvador.
Moreover, a number of South Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Nepal and Sri Lanka) have set up a working group to share experiences on
successes in population programme execution and to promote programme
cooperation. UNFPA will provide secretarial support to the working group
through the country support team (CST) based in Nepal. UNFPA also
continued to provide support to the Regional Population Information Centre
and Databank at ESCAP, Bangkok.
158. A start has been made with the promotion of cooperation and exchange
among NGOs in developing countries, with particular emphasis on transfer of
innovative concepts and techniques. For example:
(a) Prior to the regional conferences preparing for the International
Conference on Population and Development, seminars were held for NGOs of
each continent to sensitize them to population issues and TCDC. The Safe
Motherhood Initiative that started in Nairobi resulted in active national
programmes. The Planned Parenthood Federation of the Republic of Korea
organized regional training workshops in community-participation techniques
for women family planning programme managers. Regional meetings initiated
by Ministers of Women's Affairs on the subject of female circumcision and
locally initiated activities to combat circumcision in several West African
countries were supported by UNFPA;
(b) UNFPA also provides support to regional NGOs such as the Union of
African Population Studies, an organization which promotes African
expertise in the area of population, by subsidizing research, publications
and conferences on subjects of prime concern such as population and the
environment, and reproductive health.
159. UNFPA headquarters, with the collaboration of UNFPA country offices
and the UNFPA CSTs, has started to establish a roster of national experts
and institutions available for technical backstopping of projects. This
roster will also be useful for the TCDC-INRES (Information Referral System)
database for population-related information. TCDC-INRES is currently being
finalized by UNDP (Special Unit on TCDC). The UNFPA consultants roster is
already being used.
160. Developing countries and expertise are also extensively used by UNFPA
in its programme review and strategy development exercises and in the
design and evaluation of UNFPA-assisted projects ("peer-review"), while
training is being undertaken to strengthen the national capacity in
programme formulation, planning, management/administration and evaluation.
For example, experts from developing countries have been systematically
included in most of the teams undertaking evaluations and programme review
and strategy development exercises on behalf of UNFPA. Also, ILO, ESCAP,
FAO, the International Council on Management of Population (Malaysia), the
Center for Development and Population Activities (Washington, D.C.), the
Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning and
others have been very active in assisting developing countries in
developing skills for project design, management and evaluation. ILO, for
example, has carried out a comprehensive training programme for national
authorities, employers' organizations and other concerned NGOs on
population and family welfare in relation to labour.
VIII. SUPPORT TO COOPERATION FOR SOUTH CONSCIOUSNESS
161. The building of increased awareness in the South of the importance of
economic and technical cooperation is essentially the responsibility of the
developing countries themselves. Nevertheless, United Nations agencies and
organizations have made contributions to that effect as already alluded to,
for example, those activities geared to facilitating an exchange of
experiences and sensitization workshops/seminars/training.
A. United Nations Development Programme
162. In view of the importance of the report of the South Commission, UNDP
arranged for its widespread distribution to its country offices and
Governments of member countries. The meeting of the High-level Committee
on the Review of TCDC held in May/June 1993 invited developing countries
and United Nations organizations to examine, for possible inclusion in
their activities of technical cooperation among developing countries, the
recommendations of the South Commission, and also requested the
Administrator of UNDP to report to the next session of the High-level
Committee on this question. It should be added that the implementation of
the recommendations of the report of the South Commission is monitored by
the High-level Committee, which is to meet in May/June 1995. The Committee
at its meeting in 1993 endorsed the Strategy for TCDC for the 1990s wherein
guidelines on setting up TCDC national focal points and the articulation of
national policies on TCDC were systematized and which was widely
disseminated to all countries as well as United Nations agencies and
organizations. A review of progress on the subject will be made at the
Committee's next session.
163. UNDP has also assisted countries in organizing workshops and training
programmes aimed at the relevant personnel both within and outside the
Government on the need, value and opportunities for mutual cooperation.
Sensitization workshops were held in Nigeria (September 1993) and Zambia
(October 1993). In March 1994 a unique interregional conference was held
in Sierra Leone at which African NGOs sought to identify innovative
approaches for strengthening South-South cooperation. Regional meetings
were held in Bolivia (May 1994) and Turkey (July 1993) in which CIS
countries also participated. SELA also held meetings of TCDC focal points
of the region both in 1993 and 1994. As a matter of policy TCDC
sensitization activities have been largely decentralized and nationals have
been trained to undertake these activities. These initiatives have also
helped to strengthen the capacity of Governments to articulate national
policies on TCDC and ECDC.
164. Finally, UNDP has recently established, in consultation with the
Group of 77, the G-77/UNDP award for TCDC/ECDC to mark the thirtieth
anniversary of the G-77. The first award will be made in 1995 from among
proposals that will be invited from Governments and institutions in
developing countries. The award will be made to the proposal which is
likely to make the greatest contribution to TCDC and/or ECDC.
B. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
165. FAO's experience in its support to TCDC and ECDC activities are
regularly evaluated and analysed with a view to drawing lessons and
disseminating them for future application. A TCDC/ECDC newsletter, issued
twice a year, continues to sensitize FAO and inform government authorities
of innovative TCDC and ECDC approaches and opportunities and to disseminate
information on completed/planned activities (see also chap. III). In early
1995, FAO issued a substantive document entitled "Learning from experience:
technical cooperation among developing countries" analysing six experiences
and drawing lessons therefrom for wider adaptation and replicability.
166. The integration of TCDC with the technical cooperation processes
depends primarily on the familiarity of the national as well as United
Nations staff with the TCDC mechanisms, financing, and its use as a
modality in programme/project development and implementation. Three
orientation workshops had already been held for the FAO headquarters staff
besides briefing of regional offices and FAO representation staff during
their visits to headquarters or headquarters' staff missions to the field.
TCDC/ECDC is now a regular topic for the National Project Directors'
seminars organized at headquarters as well as on a regional and subregional
basis. Apart from other TCDC/ECDC publications, the FAO handbook on TCDC,
currently available in all the five official languages (Arabic, Chinese,
English, French and Spanish) of the organization, is a very useful tool in
enhancing awareness and understanding of TCDC concepts and procedures. To
promote its wider use at the local level, the production of the handbook in
local languages is also being encouraged and assisted. Several local
language versions have already been produced in cooperation with the
respective Governments and their institutions: Bengali, Hindi, Indonesian
Bahasa, Kiswahili, Korean, Persian and Portuguese.
Notes
1/ Furthermore, it may be noted that in 1993, ESCAP received US$
16,020,000 in cash from various sources within and outside the United
Nations system for the implementation of its overall economic and technical
cooperation activities. The donors that contributed to ESCAP's overall
activities in 1994 were: Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, China,
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Fiji, France, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Japan, Kiribati, Macau, Malaysia,
Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands,
Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian
Federation, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vanuatu.
2/ The Decade was proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution
39/227 of 18 December 1984 and its Phase II was adopted by the General
Assembly in decision 46/453 of 20 December 1991.
3/ For an up-to-date review of the activities of the United Nations
system undertaken in the area of science and technology for development
generally, see the UNCTAD report entitled "Activities of the United Nations
system in the field of science and technology for development, including
cooperation in technology assessment" (E/CN.16/1995/7). It should also be
mentioned that today technology is an important variable underpinning the
process of social and economic development. Accordingly, supportive
activities delivered by the various agencies and organizations of the
United Nations in their respective sphere of expertise invariably embrace
elements of joint scientific and technological cooperation to create
conditions for investing in, supporting and developing technological
capabilities and skills. This can be gleaned from the discussion under the
other chapters.
4/ It would be prudent to bear in mind that the Asian and Pacific region
is the most diverse in terms of economic and social indicators as well as
in culture, history and tradition. Some of the most populous and the least
populous, some of the richest and some of the poorest, the largest and the
smallest countries are to be found in this region.
5/ The background to the APPEAL programme is the fact that the biggest
asset of the Asian and Pacific region is its abundance of manpower;
unfortunately, for the moment, this is also its biggest liability in terms
of illiteracy. Successive regional conferences of Ministers of Education
have highlighted the importance of Basic Education for All for the region
as its absolute priority before the turn of the century.
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