Closely linked to improvements in the economic and social sectors, the quality of governance is increasingly recognized as a major factor influencing Africa's prospects for sustainable human development. The Special Initiative on Africa accordingly attaches a high priority to democratic institutions, peace, accountability and the ability of states to effectively implement policies and provide basic services. Support for African efforts to improve governance includes helping to strengthen the developmental role of civil society, an area in which the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is very active, building on culture and peace with UNESCO, and promoting sustainable capacity-building with the World Bank and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Under a $10 mn trust fund agreement with the Norwegian government signed in 1996, UNDP's Regional Bureau for Africa approved 12 governance projects. These include building leadership skills among women and youth in post-conflict countries; strengthening mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and resolution; rehabilitation and restructuring of war-torn societies; assistance to governments to formulate governance programmes and projects; civil society empowerment; and providing a forum for African parliamentarians. While some of the projects are regional or subregional in scope, others are national, directed towards conflict resolution and peace-building in Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mali and Sierra Leone, and towards good governance in Cameroon and Swaziland.
Through the Special Programme of Assistance to Africa (SPA), chaired by the World Bank, training materials and packages are being developed by a Civil Service Reform Working Group, in order to help national civil services become more effective and responsive. This group is coordinated by UNDP.
In Africa, "the traditional roles of the state are being increasingly transformed in pursuit of greater transparency, with civil society and individuals playing more active and important roles in decision-making." This observation occurs in the "Regional Cooperation Framework for Africa, 1997-2001," a new approach to strategic cooperation with Africa approved by UNDP's Executive Board in March 1997.
The framework identifies better governance as one of the critical "entry points" for assistance and seeks to specify areas in which support for enhanced governance would converge with other development priorities, for example strengthening the capability of civil society to engage in policy dialogue, participatory approaches to community-based management of environmental resources and enhancement of women's leadership capabilities.
Similar governance priorities are reflected in the corresponding Country Cooperation Frameworks, the first five of which were approved at the same Executive Board meeting (for Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Namibia and Uganda). Other national programmes are also being developed.
Preparations are under way in both African and selected donor countries for the first of a series of African Governance Forums, to be organized by the ECA and UNDP in July. They will involve representatives of African governments, the Organization of African Unity, African Development Bank, donor countries, UN agencies working on governance issues through the Special Initiative, and a mix of African and non-African non-governmental organizations (NGOs). To help NGOs develop a common priority agenda on governance, a preparatory workshop is scheduled for May at ECA headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Organizers of the Forum note that while the principle of good governance is now universally accepted, no overall consensus has yet emerged on how best to build good governance practices throughout Africa. The African Governance Forum will aim to help build such a consensus.