Coordination

OSAA’s coordination function is central to ensuring system-wide coherence in the United Nations’ support to Africa. Far beyond organizing the four statutory meetings of the Interdepartmental Task Force on African Affairs (IDTFAA), OSAA has transformed this platform into a high-level strategic forum that fosters substantive dialogue across the UN system on the continent’s most urgent and complex transitions.

As Chair of the IDTFAA, OSAA convenes senior UN officials, African institutions, and policy experts around six critical transitions that are reshaping Africa’s development trajectory: energy, education, food systems, digital transformation, decent jobs and social protection, and climate adaptation. These transitions are not treated as thematic silos but as interdependent levers for accelerating the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.

Each annual cycle of the IDTFAA has created space for African voices, governments, regional organisations, and non-state actors to directly engage with UN leadership and articulate their priorities, policy dilemmas, and demands. OSAA has brought analytical depth, evidence, and foresight into these discussions, significantly elevating the quality, utility, and credibility of the debates. By introducing data-driven insights and structured foresight, OSAA has shifted the IDTFAA from a coordination tool into a policy-shaping mechanism within the UN system.

This enhanced role has allowed the IDTFAA to serve as an internal engine of reflection, helping to align UN interventions with Africa’s development imperatives and to identify gaps in programming, narrative, and partnership.

In sum, OSAA’s coordination function is no longer transactional, it is transformational. It is a knowledge-powered platform for system-wide alignment, policy integration, and African-driven dialogue at the highest level.