Background:
Initial plans of action for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) were approved at the inaugural summit of the African Union in Durban in 2002. Over the past year NEPAD has gained support from many multi-lateral and bilateral institutions and has been widely heralded as the new hope for the social transformation of the continent. NEPAD has now reached implementation stage and a broad range of activities at continental, regional and country levels are being started.
There is convergence between the main strategy of NEPAD, which is to accelerate development on the continent and the aims of UNDP's Regional Bureau for Africa's (RBA) second Regional Cooperation Framework (RCF2), in both substance and approach. Both share the overall goal of accelerating Africa's integration into world development and achieving the reduction of poverty in line with the UN Millennium Declaration Goals (MDGs). The RCF2 was developed in the period NEPAD was evolving and in consultation with long-standing partners the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), African Development Bank, Economic Commission for Africa and the Regional Economic Commissions. UNDP has also supported the OAU in its transition into the African Union.
UNDP Strategy
UNDP's programme support to countries, regions and global partners are governed by a series of frameworks, called Country Cooperation Frameworks, Regional Cooperation Frameworks and a Global Cooperation Framework. Through these frameworks which are intended to provide coherence, focus and alignment, UNDP aims to use limited resources to maximum effect. The priorities identified in the Regional Cooperation Framework for Africa are congruent with those of NEPAD.
Within the UN System UNDP has also been assigned the lead role for mobilising efforts to achieve the Millennium Declaration Goals (MDGs) to which NEPAD is also committed. As a follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, UNDP, in collaboration with several countries, is spearheading the launching of Capacity 2015 as a successor to Capacity 21.
UNDP is present in all African countries; is seen as a trusted partner of governments and civil society; has a reputation as an impartial "honest broker" in policy advice and resource mobilisation; has a recognised coordination role in the UN and the broader donor community; has a strong cooperation record with the African Development Bank, Organisation of African Unity and the Regional Economic Commissions and has a comprehensive mandate for sustainable human development, governance and poverty eradication. Thus it is in a strong position to act as an effective partner to NEPAD.
UNDP will give priority to programme proposals from its African partners that are oriented towards achieving NEPAD objectives. Given the emphasis on democratic, political and economic governance, UNDP has decided to redesign its flagship programme, the African Governance Forum, with NEPAD in support of its initiatives, particularly the African Peer Review Mechanism and the country level processes of self-assessment and planning and implementing programmes of action.
Project Description
A short list of areas have been identified for immediate UNDP support as a first phase in a partnership that is expected to grow and become consolidated as NEPAD evolves. The following areas will be priority:
- A Technical Support Facility (TSF):
As implementation commences and initiatives are taken at various levels, the NEPAD Secretariat needs the capacity to mobilise quickly and efficiently the necessary expertise in a wide variety of fields. For this they need a quick response recruiting mechanism, a selective roster of potential consultants and a fungible resource pool to allocate as needed. A list of priority areas in which the NEPAD Secretariat anticipates the need for expertise in the duration of the project will be drawn up and agreed to as part of the design of the TSF. Data management systems for programmes, implementing agencies and partners will also be included. The TSF will support the development of a five-year strategic plan as a basis for the preparation of the Programme Document for longer term UNDP support within a multi-partner set-up.
- NEPAD Advisory Panel:
The need for a broad-based Advisory Panel to advise on the evolution of NEPAD has become pressing as ad hoc measures to fill the gap in participation of various stakeholders proved increasingly cumbersome and inadequate. The panel will provide a balanced body of wisdom, insight and opinion on the future of Africa that is well informed about NEPAD and committed to contributing to the development of the continent. More than an outreach mechanism, its main purpose is to ensure that NEPAD's initiatives benefit from reflections from the perspectives of a balanced corps of Africans from key constituencies.
- Communication and Popularisation Strategy:
Both the African Union and NEPAD have been working on communication strategies and planning of campaigns to popularise themselves. The NEPAD Secretariat is keenly aware that these strategies cannot remain completely separate without doing serious harm to the image and credibility of both. This component will focus on ironing out a common approach and a joint strategy to present Africa's new continental thrusts as mutually reinforcing and creating synergy for acceleration towards the realisation of the vision.
- Democracy and Political Governance (DPG):
The Abuja communique contains two decisions that are important for UNDP's support to NEPAD through this project. The first decision is that henceforth the NEPAD Secretariat should work closely with the AU Commission. The second is that the relevant AU organs should be involved in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) processes in democracy, political governance and peace and security. Also, the NEPAD Secretariat has requested UNDP's support in implementing the Abuja decisions with regard to the finalisation of the APRM in these areas. The cooperation with the AU will be broadened to include other organs, in addition to the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa (CSSDCA), such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, the Conflict Management Centre and the Peace and Security Council. It will provide immediate assistance with the preparation of the final documents on the APRM. It will also support work on a clearer understanding of the national processes involved in country initiatives to strengthen political governance (including democracy, human rights, peace and security) and to develop self-assessment capacities in preparation for acceding to the APRM. UNDP's African Governance Forum will also provide additional support to this component from a separate budget.
- Operationalising the New Partnership with External Partners:
Relations with external partners will be based on mutual accountability and respect. African ownership and management of its own development will need to be operationalised in clear policies, principles and practices that demonstrably results in the new partnership values. It will require the capacity of Africa to assess the performance of external partners in terms of criteria derived from this operationalisation. This component will result in a NEPAD policy on the nature of the new partnership and the design of an External Partner Performance Review Mechanism (EPPRM).
Country Level Promotion of NEPAD-MDG Goals: : The NEPAD recognises that the most effective way to promote and popularise NEPAD at the country level is to ensure that it is seen as addressing highly visible country priorities in the context of continental acceleration of development. This component will focus on a strategy for the promotion of NEPAD goals at the country level, focusing initially on the MGDs as the shared goals of the countries, NEPAD and the international community. Guidelines for country level strategies for achieving the MDGs, country reports and a building block approach to producing an Africa MDG league table report will be included.The role of the RECs, regional and continental networking and sharing of experience, learning from best practice, including that of other regions, and building new partnerships for the achievement of the Goals would be addressed. There is clearly a strong mutual comparative advantage for UNDP and NEPAD in collaboration on the MDGs, given the latter's political leverage at the continental level and the former's support role at the country and sub-regional levels.
It has also been agreed that UNDP would strengthen the project management capacities of the NEPAD Secretariat by providing a project manager and start-up technical support for fast-tracking recruitment and planning. To strengthen its own capacity to provide technical backstopping, UNDP will retain a non-resident senior policy advisor and place a national officer in the Country Office in Pretoria.
The project will be implemented over a period of approximately 15 months with an end date of January 31, 2004.
Ends.
|
- 15Kb < 1min (4 pages)
