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| Regional Stakeholders Consultation on New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
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| 6. Plan of Action and Follow-up Activities: |
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It was noted that CSOs will inevitably become more involved in NEPAD activities. Various meetings are already planned to take place as part of making contributions to the NEPAD process. These include regional Meetings planned in West Africa (CODESRIA and Third World Network), SADC (AFRODAD) and also in the Eastern region (CRDA).
CSOs need an entry point for making serious contribution through reflection and analysis. Many Networks and NGOs have already started the process of reflection and analysis. This needs to be channeled in a way that will contribute to reshaping the analysis and mode of implementation involving as many stakeholders as possible. The mechanisms and process of intervention also need to be clear so that their various discussions and conclusions can be channelled in a way that will be useful and helpful to the whole process.
The first and easier thing to do is simply Information dissemination on NEPAD. This will be done through mailing seminars and roundtables etc. as part of the ongoing NEPAD work in CSOs. The ADB/NGO Committee country focal points will need to play a role in this process. The ADB/NGO Committee will have to include this activity in its work programme.
In terms of content, NEPAD provides an opportunity for civil society to engage with the leadership and redefine the totality of NEPAD. This means that there is a need for more analysis and proposals to be made. This may result in a separate document, an alternative view on NEPAD, that would then be available for discussion.
It is important to define how the various processes will play out at the national, sub-regional and global levels. It is important that mechanisms for CSO input and ironing out the various disagreements on NEPAD should not happen at the highest levels when CSO will meet with Heads of State. The issues should be dealt with at the national, sub-regional and regional levels and synthesised to contribute to a better NEPAD. Thus centralising CSO thinking on NEPAD is one very important follow-up action.
At the national level, the Networks present at the Consultation shall take it upon themselves to investigate what opportunities lie at the national level for engaging in NEPAD. In the SADC region for example, the various NGOs will be encouraged to participate in the SADC National Committees as the entry points for NEPAD engagement. Other channels might exist which will be opportune. It is important to note that in some countries governments and Heads of State not involved in NEPAD. CSOs could, at the national level encourage them to be interested and therefore be involved.
As already noted the Canadian government is providing CAD 500 million for activities on NEPAD. The funds will also be used for NEPAD sensitization, and popularisation. The funds can be accessed at the Canadian High Commissions and Embassies in Africa. CSOs should and will take advantage of this resource for their work on NEPAD at the national level.
At the Sub-regional level too, various channels will need to be investigated for CSO engagement in NEPAD.
At the broader regional level, various discussions will be taking place in the context of CSO relations with the Bank, the ECA and the OAU/AU. In this respect the Joint OAU/ECA/ADB Secretariat will have to play a role in centralizing and synthesizing CSO thinking. The Joint Secretariat already has thematic Groups including the Gender Group which is already active. A NEPAD Group could be supported by the Secretariat by facilitating participation and providing communications. The ADB/NGO Committee will need to play a role in securing this activity.
The most urgent issue and therefore a priority in this respect is the need for an institutional mapping of NEPAD activities and CSO ideas. Many CSOs are already working on NEPAD issues and it can be expected that more will come on board this process.
In the absence of a central CSO coordination organisation on NEPAD, the above framework will have to play some role in looking at NEPAD in relation to the Content of NEPAD; the analysis and strategies; the role of CSOs in resource mobilization, popularising NEPAD and monitoring what will be happening. It will also have to find a way of managing the tension in NEPAD between the external and internal. It would have to play some role on how the idea of a broader based CSO Think Tank could be manifested into reality to reflect on the issues and forge a way forward. The various sectors should also be subjected to discussions and possible changes through this framework. CODESRIA, as a Research institution could play some role in this process and help with gathering and synthesising information that could be useful in revitalising the NEPAD discussions.
Ultimately however, the CSOs will have to be a part of ECOSOC of the African Union, through which the Constitutive Act provides for their contribution to Economic and social policies affecting the continent such as NEPAD. ECOSOC provides the channel through which discussions on NEPAD at the highest level will take place. There is still the need for the terms of Reference for the committee or Group that will engage in the ECOSOC. The ADB/NGO Committee will submit the Terms of Reference to the OAU/AU in this regard.
As a build up to the launch of the African Union in June/July 2002 in Johannesburg where NEPAD will prominently feature, CSOs should have made their main contributions to the content and processes on NEPAD. In this respect CSOs present at the Consultation will have to take advantage of ongoing activities and various Meetings on NEPAD to gather information on people’s responses to NEPAD and then put this all stuff together by some date, say end of May 2002. The ADB/NGO Committee should secure this in liaison with the Joint ADB/ECA/CSO Secretariat in Addis Ababa.
The following activities should be noted:
- During the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank in Addis Ababa end of May, there will be a Symposium on NEPAD (June 1 and 2). While the Symposium should benefit from the various activities at the national, sub-regional and regional levels it will also be very important for contributing to the ideas on NEPAD.
- Both the CSO preparatory Meetings (in May) and the actual the G8 Summit in Canada in June which are important for furthering the cause of NEPAD outside the African continent could provide some necessary feedback.
The need still remains for a cohesive and consistent way of obtaining information on NEPAD, packaging it and sharing it especially at the national level where many people, including Parliamentarians, Trade Unionists and others, are not aware of NEPAD. Both the CSOs and the African Governments have a role in this process. PANA, the Pan African News Agency with many networks all over Africa also stands ready to play a role in information dissemination on NEPAD.
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