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UN-Agencies Meeting on Operationalizing the Energy Sub-cluster of NEPAD Infrastructure Development Initiative and Establishment of the UN-Energy Africa Opening Statement By
Josué Dioné, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia Distinguished
Participants On behalf of the Executive Secretary of ECA, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this meeting of the United Nations Agencies on operationaliszing the energy sub-cluster of the cluster on NEPAD Infrastructure Development Initiative. We deeply appreciate that you have kindly accepted to allocate some of your invaluable time to come together and help find ways and means of enhancing the effectiveness of the United Nations system's response to the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JpoI) and, in particular to the implementation of the NEPAD objectives on energy. Distinguished Participants, In its resolution 57/7 of 4 November 2002, the General Assembly of the United Nations urged the international community and the UN system to organize support for African countries in accordance with the principles, objectives and priorities of the NEPAD. In this regard, the annual regional consultations of the UN Agencies working in Africa, convened by ECA, provide the framework for coordination and collaboration among the entities of the UN system in their response in support of the NEPAD Initiative. In these consultations, it was decided to establish five clusters with a view to enabling agencies and organizations of the UN system to pool their efforts and build synergies in support of NEPAD in a cost-effective and coordinated manner. Within the framework of this cluster approach, ECA is the convenor of the Cluster on NEPAD infrastructure development, which includes sub-clusters on energy, water and sanitation, transport, and information and communications technologies (ICT). Five sessions of the annual regional consultations have been organized so far and three out of the four infrastructure sub-clusters, except the energy sub-sector, are already well organized and operational. Relevant progress reports have been presented to the consultations and work programmes have been prepared and agreed upon. It is expected that your presence at this meeting will help come up with concrete proposals for collaborative arrangements and coordination mechanisms aimed at moving forward the energy sub-cluster. Distinguished Participants In discussing the organization and operationalization of the energy sub-cluster, you should keep in mind that the ultimate objective of both the JPoI and the NEPAD Initiative is to contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and poverty reduction in particular. In this regard, the JPoI states that achieving sustainable development will include actions at all levels (regional, subregional and national) to deal effectively with energy problems in Africa, including through initiatives to establish and promote programmes, partnerships and initiatives to support Africa's efforts to implement the NEPAD objectives on energy. Supporting the implementation of NEPAD objectives on energy and the JPOI goals will require close relationships between the UN system and other stakeholders, including the private sector. A preliminary review of existing gaps within the United Nations system, both in terms of the programmatic reach of institutions and the financial resources available to them to implement their mandates, carried out by the High Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) reveals that no single entity in the UN system has primary responsibility for energy. An adequate response to the call for joint actions on energy by the United Nations and by all stakeholders in the JPOI would require far more inclusive and broad-based arrangements. Distinguished
Participants Developing a coherent and coordinated response to the follow-up of the WSSD in the area of energy therefore represents a major challenge to the UN system's efforts in support of sustainable development in Africa. I am pleased to note that the HLCP has just approved the creation of an inter-Agency coordination/collaboration mechanism, called UN-Energy, in Rome on 15 April 2004. Furthermore, the African Ministers of Energy adopted the recommendation of establishing UN-Energy/Africa at the Joint ECA/UNEP/AU (African Union) meeting held in Nairobi on 8 May 2004. We believe that the establishment of the proposed UN-Energy/Africa in the aftermath of the global UN-Energy would help (i) promote coherence in the UN system's multi-disciplinary response to the NEPAD Energy Initiative and the WSSD Follow-up on energy; and (ii) promote interaction with non-UN stakeholders. In fulfilling the above mandate, UN-Energy Africa should strive to conform to the following principles:
In your deliberations, I encourage you to consider the linkages between the Energy sub-cluster of the regional consultations on the NEPAD Infrastructure Initiative and UN-Energy/Africa and come up with concrete and action-oriented recommendations for moving forward the Energy sub-cluster of the NEPAD Infrastructure Development. Let me conclude by expressing once again our gratitude and appreciation for your contribution to this meeting and wishing you fruitful deliberations. Thank you for your kind attention |