Questions & Answers
March 1996
What is the UN System-wide Special Initiative on Africa?
Led by the entire UN system, the Special Initiative is an unprecedented
set of concrete and coordinated actions designed to maximize support
for African development efforts. It begins with a year-long political
mobilization campaign to raise Africa's priority status on the
international agenda and to provide a new stimulus to African
development. This Initiative is historic because, for the first
time, the UN system has committed itself to working in a synergistic
manner to support the development of a continent's people.
What are the objectives of the Special Initiative?
The Special Initiative's objectives are to add momentum to Africa's
development at a time when prospects for economic recovery are
greater than they have been in recent years. Many African countries
are creating an enabling environment of accountability and better
governance. Growth rates are picking up and conditions for investment
and production are improving rapidly for local and foreign entrepreneurs.
These are all positive indicators for accelerating development
efforts.
The Initiative will strengthen the capacity of African men and
women to take charge of the development process and promote the
minimum conditions for civil tranquillity, good governance and
socio-economic progress in order to give development a chance.
It will also seek to give more hope to upcoming generations through
the provision of better education, health care and employment
opportunities.
What are the main components of the Special Initiative?
The Special Initiative has 14 components concentrated in the following
sectors: basic education, basic health, governance, food security,
water and sanitation, peace-building and informatics. To facilitate
implementation of these components, innovative ways to improve
development cooperation and increase aid effectiveness have been
devised.
How much will the Special Initiative cost and where will
the money come from?
Up to $25 billion will be required to finance the Special Initiative
over a
10-year period. Financing will come mainly from a redirection
of existing resources at national and international levels, as
well as from new resources. The exact mix will be determined through
a series of consultations at the regional and national levels.
The Initiative proposes three mechanisms for resource mobilization. First, multilateral and bilateral donors are to create goal-oriented regional forums to raise resources for key sectors. Second, African governments are to prepare goal-oriented country investment programmes to maximize the impact of internal and external resource mobilization. Third, participation in Consultative Group and Roundtable meetings is to be broadened to encourage involvement and participation of non-traditional partners, such as leaders of business and civil society. The Initiative recommends other ways of releasing funds for development, including deeper debt relief, an expansion of Africa's trade opportunities and enhanced South-South cooperation.
Can the UN deliver its part of the Initiative during its
budgetary crisis?
The current financial difficulties of the UN do not justify any
reduction in its activities in Africa, a continent it has identified
as the world's foremost development challenge. The financial implications
for the Secretariat, the most hard-pressed part of the system,
are quite small. Operating agencies, including the World Bank
and other multilateral and bilateral donors, are expected to meet
the external financial resource requirements for the various components
of the Initiative. With the UN playing a catalytic role, the commitment
of the heads of all UN agencies ensures an unprecedented level
of concerted action.
Will Member States support the Special Initiative?
Since 1986, Member States have directed the UN to give special
attention to Africa. In various UN programmes unanimously adopted
by Member States, they have jointly identified the most significant
challenges facing the continent and the most appropriate ways
of addressing them. The Special Initiative begins with a one-year
campaign to mobilize the political and financial support required
for successful implementation. Early consultations with a number
of countries indicate that this Initiative is welcomed, and further
intensive consultations are planned at the national, sub-regional
and regional levels. The participation of the chairman of the
Organization of African Unity in the launching of the Special
Initiative demonstrates the official recognition and support given
to it by the leadership of Africa. A major meeting of Africa's
ministers of finance and planning reviewed the Initiative in depth,
and other ministerial meetings on the continent have also endorsed
it.
How does this Initiative differ from past UN programmes
for Africa?
The Initiative is innovative because it aims to give practical
expression to the policy commitments made in the past, such as
the UN New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF)
and the UN System-wide Plan of Action for African Recovery and
Development. Second, financial mobilization will take place with
the full cooperation of the World Bank. Third, specific leadership
roles are taken by agencies across the UN system for each of the
14 major components of the Initiative. Fourth, the heads of UN
agencies will hold themselves mutually accountable for achieving
results.
Who will be in charge of the Special Initiative and how
will it be managed?
For each of the major components of the Initiative, a lead UN
agency or agencies will be responsible for resource mobilization
and for coordinating implementation. All 14 major components of
the Initiative respond to priorities established by African leaders,
and almost all the programme implementation will be based on requests
from African governments. The UN Administrative Committee on Coordination,
composed of the heads of all UN agencies, will monitor implementation
of the Special Initiative through a Steering Committee co-chaired
by the Administrator of the UN Development Programme and the Executive
Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
What is the World Bank's role in the Special Initiative?
The Bank has agreed to lead in the resource mobilization for the
two largest components of the Special Initiative: basic education
and health reform. It is also expected to play an active role
in all other components of the Special Initiative.
Why is so much emphasis being given to basic education?
In recent years consistent evidence has shown that basic education,
particularly for girls and women, is the best possible development
investment. Basic education is strongly correlated with a number
of desirable outcomes: greater participation in democracy, more
productive farmers, better family planning and higher incomes.
The Special Initiative intends to help Africa meet the goal of
universal basic education adopted at the UN's Education for All
Conference in 1990. Strengthening and expanding access to basic
education may also give some impetus to expanding opportunities
in higher and tertiary education.
Why is there so much emphasis on social development?
The international community has agreed, most recently at the 1995
World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, that improved
social conditions are of critical importance for balanced development.
It is also recognized that Africa's economic crisis has led to
cutbacks in social spending in recent years and a reversal in
some countries of the gains made in social development since political
independence. The Special Initiative, therefore, addresses the
backlog of unfulfilled needs through social investment programmes
which will be prepared by African governments with the assistance
of the international community.
How will the Initiative help Africa surmount its development
crisis?
With its differentiated and flexible approach, the Initiative
aims to help African countries that are affected by conflict as
well as boost development efforts in the majority of African countries.
The Initiative will help Africa strengthen its capacity to build
peace and resolve conflicts through the Organization of African
Unity and also through a stronger civil society. With its emphasis
on basic education and health, the Initiative will support African
efforts to accelerate the creation of the basic conditions for
more rapid development. With its activities in such areas as food
and water security, resource mobilization and governance, the
Initiative will also help African countries improve the livelihoods
of their people, increase their productivity, enhance the climate
for investment and establish the necessary conditions for sustainable
economic and social development.
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