From Africa Recovery, New Relaeases, October 2003

United Nations, New York, 10 October 2003 -- Over the past year, there has been progress by both African countries and the international community in implementing the continent's development plan, reports United Nations Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari. African countries have increased spending for health and education, are coordinating efforts to promote regional transportation and communications links and have set up a peer review mechanism to improve standards of political governance, economic management and respect for human rights. Meanwhile, the donor countries, including the industrialized nations' Group of Eight, have modestly increased aid flows to Africa, reversing a decade-long decline to the continent.

These actions have been taken in support of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). First adopted by African leaders in 2001 and endorsed by the General Assembly the following year, it is a comprehensive programme for Africa's economic, social and political advancement.

Photo : ©Africa Recovery / Ernest Harsch

"There is progress being made in the implementation of NEPAD," reports Mr. Gambari, who is also the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Africa. "However, the efforts are still not enough." African economies are not growing fast enough, while external aid flows remain far below what is needed to achieve the targets for human well-being projected by the world community's Millennium Development Goals. "It is urgent to find innovative ways to address the debt overhang, the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the macro-economic environment," he says.

Mr. Gambari will provide an update on the New Partnership's accomplishments on 14 October, at the regular noon press briefing at UN Headquarters in New York. The update comes a day before the General Assembly's first annual review of NEPAD's achievements and challenges. The delegates will have before them two recent reports of the Secretary-General, one on the implementation of NEPAD (A/58/254, also see the following press summary) and the other on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace in Africa (A/58/352). The two topics are closely linked, Mr. Gambari points out: "Without peace there can be no development. And without development there can be no sustainable peace."

The initial steps taken so far in furthering NEPAD's ambitious goals contrast with the overall failure of previous African development plans. Those earlier programmes failed, Mr. Gambari points out, "because they were not owned by Africans." NEPAD, instead, is based on the "twin concepts" of ownership and partnership, by which Africans take the lead and the continent's external partners back their efforts.

The Secretary-General formally established the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), headed by Mr. Gambari, in May 2003. It is responsible for coordinating global advocacy in support of NEPAD and acts as the focal point for NEPAD within the UN Secretariat in New York. It also coordinates the preparation of Africa-related reports and guides the work of an interdepartmental task force on African affairs to ensure coherent and integrated UN support for Africa.

Mr. Gambari previously served as Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN in the 1990s and was Nigeria's Minister for External Affairs in 1983-85. He reports directly to the Secretary-General and also undertakes special assignments related to Africa.

Highlights of Secretary-General's report on NEPAD One year after the UN General Assembly endorsed the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and urged the international community to organize support for African countries in accordance with its priorities, there has been a modest increase in donor support, according to a report released by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 7 August, "New Partnership for Africa's Development: First consolidated report on progress in the implementation and international support" (A/58/254). Although official development assistance to Africa declined throughout the 1990s, falling from a total of $26.6 bn in 1990 to $16.4 bn in 2000, it has now begun to recover, rising to $17.8 bn in 2001 and $18.6 bn the following year. This rebound reflects the pledges of increased assistance made at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, in early 2002. However, adds Mr. Annan, even these raised levels will not be enough for Africa to meet the Millennium Development Goals adopted by world leaders in 2000. "This is disquieting," Mr. Annan says, "considering the huge challenge that Africa is confronted with in meeting the MDGs." Moreover, total aid to Africa, the Secretary-General observes, pales in comparison with "the huge agricultural subsidies paid to farmers in the developed countries." Those subsidies, he explains, "depress commodity prices, hindering Africa's ability to increase exports and escape from poverty and dependence on aid." By April 2003, a total of $32.3 bn in debt relief had been committed to 22 African countries under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC). However, there have been delays in reaching full cancellation for a number of countries, while some of those that already benefited from cancellation "have witnessed deterioration in their debt indicators," Mr. Annan reports. This was largely because of a decline in their export earnings, due to volatile commodity prices. While external support is valued, NEPAD is based on African ownership and leadership, Mr. Annan notes. Therefore, African countries have taken a number of steps to push forward with their continental vision. These have included: -- The creation of the African Peer Review Mechanism, through which participating African countries will monitor, review and learn from each other's experiences in promoting good political and corporate governance, sound economic management and respect for human rights. -- The elaboration of a comprehensive African agricultural development plan, which will form the basis for concrete projects in specific countries and regions. -- The preparation of a NEPAD health programme, which reaffirms African countries' commitment to allocate at least 15 per cent of their budgets to health and calls on Africa's external partners to contribute $22 bn annually. -- A NEPAD education programme that "fast tracks" expansion of primary education.

The full reports are also available online at: www.un.org/esa/africa/reports.html

For more information contact:

Mr. Ernest Harsch, Africa Section
Tel: (212) 963-4513
Fax: (212) 963-4556
Email: harsch@un.org

or
Mr. Gumisai Mutume, Africa Section
Tel: (917) 367-2302
Fax: (212) 963-4556
Email: mutume@un.org

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