Contents

The Case for Partnership

Part I A Renewed ECA

1. Paving the Way
2. Implementing the New Agenda
3. Management Changes to Enable ECA's New Work
   
   

Part II Proposals for Partnership

1. Overview of Proposals
2. Accelerating Africa's Fight Against Poverty
3. Expanding African Trade and Promoting International Competitiveness
4. Addressing Africa's Urgent Nexus: Food, Population, Environment
5. Building Africa's Capacity for Science and Technology
6. Strengthening African Civil Society for Development and Peace
7. Reviving Private Investment in Africa
8. Mobilizing Africa's Capital Markets
9. Building the African Information Society
10. Promoting Statistics Development in Africa
11. Linking African States Through Efficient, Reliable Transportation Systems
12. Fostering Leadership and Empowerment for Women in Africa
13. Networking to Provide Economic and Social Policy Advice in Africa
14. Advancing South-South Cooperation
15. Upgrading ECA Capacity in Information and Communications Technology
16. Increasing ECA Capacity Through Staff Training
17. Communicating Information About African Development
18. Engaging the Public Through the Mass Media
19.  
20. 
    
    

Annexes

A. Consultative Planning Meeting, January 1996

B. Profiles: ECA's Senior Management Team

Tables

1. Arriving at a Diagnosis, mid-1995-early 1996
2. Arriving at a Prescription, September 1995-May 1996
3. ECA's Major Work, 1997-2001

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The Case for Partnership

Exceptional times call for exceptional responses. After a period of unprecedented decline, Africa's development prospects now appear brighter than at any time since the decade of independence. A new generation of leaders has absorbed the lessons of the past and is boldly moving ahead with reforms, liberalization of economies, and discipline in management. In 1995, more than half the nations of Africa enjoyed real GDP growth in excess of their population growth. At least a third of these countries recorded growth rates of 6 percent and above in 1995, and only three countries experienced negative growth compared to fourteen countries the year before. Even Africa's terms of trade are showing modest improvement. Furthermore, most African states are more determined than ever to settle conflicts peaceably. Intellectual and programme strengths abound on the continent.

As a result, hope is growing that Africa now has a distinct opportunity to meet basic human needs and sharply reduce poverty in an environment of economic growth. Thus, one can foresee a future in our children's lifetimes where, at the very least, universal basic education and health services are available and enterprises flourish. Already, the middle class is increasing, governance is more responsible and pluralistic, and cooperation among African nations is beginning to yield reciprocal gains.

The course towards such a new world is by no means certain. The challenges to delivering sound economic management, implementing equitable public policies, reducing pressures on the environment, coping with food and water insecurities, and ameliorating fragile ethnic relations are among serious issues confronting Africa as we head into the 21st century.

As Africa's development teeters between the forces of progress and the forces of fracture, timing is critical. To prepare itself to be effective in this time of decision, the Economic Commission for Africa recently completed a systematic, year-long assessment (mid-1995 to mid-1996) of its strengths and weaknesses. In the process, ECA was willing to put everything on the table-substantive work programmes and management systems alike.

The assessment enabled ECA to identify how it must change and what it must do during the next few years to help accelerate Africa's socio-economic development. As a result, ECA is being reshaped to anticipate opportunities, rather than merely react to events. To this end, the substantive and management reforms ECA is undertaking are systematic and extensive, yet daring. Re-engineering is well underway.

Of course, ECA is not starting from scratch. Over the forty years since its founding, the Commission has made major contributions to Africa's development. It proposed the African Development Bank, fostered subregional organizations, and, in recent years, assumed fundamental responsibilities in regional trade, monetary relations, and informatics.

This prospectus covers some of Africa's most critical development challenges and opportunities: designing and implementing economic and social policies to alleviate poverty; expanding inter-regional trade and integrating Africa into the world economy; enhancing the capacity of the state for development and promoting a prominent role for the private sector; strengthening civil society organizations for development and peace; promoting gender equity; and promoting policies that expedite the use of information technology in Africa's development.

Ultimately, successful African development will require African nations and institutions to implement African solutions to problems of the continent. To carry out its mandate to support economic and social development in Africa, ECA must have the capacity to develop and disseminate credible options, advocate positions, and forge consensus on key issues. Most important, ECA, working in concert with other development entities, must serve as a networker of African talent and a clearing-house of development information.

We are, therefore, putting in place new operational practices that will put ECA in a position to be a networker of development expertise on Africa. We will actively seek out relationships and network with regional centres of policy expertise, research and policy institutions in Member States, individual experts on Africa, and centres of excellence outside the continent that concentrate on African development. We will also serve as a clearing-house for best practices and development information.

In summary, we see our role on the continent as that of a catalyst for ideas, action, and capacity-building. Additionally, we will be able to use the ECA-managed networks and fora for advocating common positions on development policies and issues to policy-makers.

The Commission has also revamped its work programme to serve Africa better. We are committed to ensuring that ECA's work is policy relevant and at the cutting edge of Africa's development agenda, determining ECA's comparative advantage and making sure that our organization does not perform work that other institutions are better placed or equipped to deliver, seeking specific synergies between programmes to reinforce results, and finally ensuring technical competence and excellence in ECA's output that assures high professional standards and high-quality products.

To concentrate its resources on critical issues, the Commission is setting priorities for its activities and operations. For example, over the next three years, ECA is devoting 60 percent of its budget to three areas of Africa's development:

• Promoting regional cooperation and integration.
• Enhancing the contribution of women to economic development.
• Utilizing advances in information technology and knowledge for development.

How can ECA reach these high standards, especially given the financial constraints that the United Nations Secretariat is currently facing? The answer is through strategic focus, internal reform, and partnership.

We are, therefore, seeking synergies with African intergovernmental organizations, UN bodies and specialized agencies, donor countries, African universities, research centres, and civil society groups. The partnerships will vary, depending on organizational resources. Most of the collaborations will involve research, advisory services, sponsorship of seminars and workshops, data exchange, advocacy, and assistance in ECA's capacity-building through fellowships, internships, and lectureships and support of jointly agreed-on research.

What does ECA bring to its partnership arrangements? ECA is uniquely qualified to serve Africa. With our multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral character, the Commission can serve as a vital bridge between Africa's states and their development partners. Privileged to be the only United Nations organization with specific responsibility for the African region, we are able to gain political support, financial support, and credibility from African countries and for African countries.

ECA needs partners to further maximize the impact that we can make collectively on Africa. In these times of declining resources for development assistance, pooling efforts and coordinating diverse activities is a cost-effective approach to our respective missions and ultimately will be better for Africa. Where there is a duplication of effort, there are missed opportunities. Shared aims and commitment can only enhance the quality, importance, and excitement of the projects and programmes for the continent.

ECA is ready to work with development partners to coordinate agenda-setting and development activities for Africa. Additionally, we now have the benefit of our full-service, multi-purpose, state-of-the-art United Nations Conference Centre, an ideal venue for conferences, seminars, and meetings of up to 1,500 people.

ECA will carry out much of its new work through partnerships. This prospectus addresses a number of starting points for discussion with prospective partners. Part I, chapter 1, provides an overview of ECA's new strategic directions and their origins. Chapter 2 lays out ECA's new programme and the guiding principles that underlie the activities of the programme. Chapter 3 details the significant organizational realignment that reflects ECA's new focus and the more effective deployment of administrative and staff skills.

The various proposals for partnership appear in part II. They verify what ECA is promising: serious renewal, effective consultation with partners, a clearly defined course, a commitment to selectivity, and expert management. ECA believes that the services and products described in the proposals are well within the capability of ECA and its partners to deliver.

This is a critical time for the future of Africa. Fortunately, many multi-talented thinkers and doers are ready to work with us. Not tapping such diverse capabilities at this crucial point in Africa's history would mean missing out on burgeoning opportunities for the region. Africa's commitment to reform, however, can last only as long as there is evidence of solid progress on the continent.

ECA and its partners can make a difference. The time is right, the ideas are fresh, and the potential for partnership is real.

Join Us

By undertaking a significant organizational realignment to reflect its revived focus and more effective deployment of administrative and staff skills, ECA is now ready to work with you. Join us in one or more of the seventeen proposals for partnership laid out in part II.

• Together we can jointly identify and approach challenges facing African nations.
• Together we can exchange ideas.
• Together we can move forward on key issues stymied at the political level.
• Together we can strengthen cohesiveness at a time when Africa feels marginalized and divided.
• Together we can multiply human resources for tackling development issues and utilize the depth of talent in Africa.

For a better appreciation of the new ECA, we encourage your review of the entire prospectus. Whether you choose to collaborate with ECA by selecting an element of a proposal, or providing full support for a proposal, or alternatively, giving general institutional support for capacity-building, I encourage your interest in the functioning of the total Commission.

Thank you for your interest in partnering with ECA for the future of Africa. I look forward to follow-up discussions with you.

UN Under Secretary General and

Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa

Organization Abbreviations

PART I

A Renewed ECA

Paving the Way

This prospectus lays out the renewal of the Economic Commission for Africa, creating a framework for strong alliances between ECA and its development partners for Africa. The Commission arrived at this approach after conducting a carefully designed set of integrated studies and consultations from mid-1995 to mid-1996 (tables 1 and 2) that strongly support a reformed ECA.

At the heart of this careful diagnosis of ECA and the resulting prescription for renewal was the development, review, and validation of proposed strategic directions for ECA's work through the studies and consultations. The goal was to define ECA objectives to promote Africa's future, sharpen the focus of ECA activities, and assure that objectives are achieved.

This prospectus carries the process a step further: It translates the strategic directions reached by consensus of subject-matter experts and policy-makers into specific programmes for implementation. Reinforced by a series of internal management reforms, the Commission aims to carry out this work under three overriding considerations: excellence, cost-effectiveness, and partnership.

A Brief Look at ECA

Established in 1958, ECA is one of five regional economic commissions under the administrative direction of the United Nations Headquarters. Each commission operates in response to regional needs. Its Member States match those of the Organization of African Unity. In the OAU, the fifty-three African nations are represented by their ministers of foreign affairs. At ECA, they are represented by their ministers of finance and planning. The Commission also works with several other ministerial groupings, including those concerned with social development, transportation, gender, and trade.

Table 1

Table 2

Thus, ECA has ready access to all aspects of African governments concerned with development.

As of December 1996, the Commission had a staff of 300 professionals with a wide range of expertise, and a general support and field service staff, for a total complement of 800. Funding and support come from the regular budget and extra-budgetary resources. The regular budget is voted for biennally by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The extra-budgetary resources are those that the ECA negotiates with Africa's bilateral and multilateral partners, including UN agencies and programmes. The regular budget for the 1996-1997 biennium amounts to US $92,122,400; extra-budgetary resources for the biennium were US $9,548,300.

Over the years, the Commission has been asked by its Conference of Ministers to work in numerous fields, and has achieved a number of regional agreements, most recently in informatics. Nevertheless, it became clear by 1995 that ECA was frequently neglecting to focus on key issues. With its work spread too thinly, the Commission sometimes was missing critical development issues and opportunities in Africa. Moreover, ECA was not keeping pace with revolutionary advances in technology. This lack of strategic direction made the Commission's work less coherent and less effective than it could have been, which in turn made the Commission less attractive to potential partners.

As a result of this general assessment, the Commission began an intensive review of its policies, programmes, and staff in July 1995. To gain vital insight into the ECA staff's perspectives on its work, the Commission's first step was to hold more than seventy 'open space' meetings. Foremost at these meetings was the examination by staff of ECA's past work and the way the staff envisioned the Commission's role in meeting Africa's challenges in the 21st century. Staff also discussed administrative and personnel processes and systems; planning, programming, and budgeting systems; technical capacity of the professional staff; and Commission communications, publications, and dissemination strategies. These meetings resulted in the comprehensive document, Serving Africa Better: Strategic Directions for the Economic Commission for Africa.

With this document as a framework, ECA held a consultative meeting in January 1996 with more than fifty high-level African experts from government, the private sector, academia, NGOs, and civil society (annex A). These African experts were asked to offer guidance on implementing the vision, specifically:

• Examining ways to capitalize on those current activities of the Commission that were important and deserved to be fostered.
• Identifying new areas of concentration that could provide real services to Member States that were not being provided elsewhere.
• Considering who would partner with ECA to achieve its goals, and the nature of these partnerships.

A second consultative meeting, this time with organizations who have collaborated with ECA or are potential collaborators, took place in April 1996. This Partners Meeting was attended by representatives from twenty-nine countries and organizations. (See page 7.)

During three days of deliberations, attendees worked intensively with ECA staff on honing renewal plans and providing information, perspective, and offers of collaboration. Through this wide-ranging process, ECA identified its comparative strengths, modalities, and markets. The Commission also defined a business strategy that ensures ECA's full participation in Africa's development agenda without performing the work that other institutions are better placed or better equipped to deliver, and reinforces standards of excellence for technical competence and outputs. To reflect its new, overall goals, the Commission set forth the target areas for implementing five core programmes:

Facilitating Economic and Social Policy Analysis.ECA will gather and synthesize available information on Africa, analyse policies in critical sectors, particularly on long-term issues, and then disseminate information throughout Africa on successful development models and best practises. ECA will use partnerships and networking to draw on the work of other development organizations and serve as a catalyst for development efforts of Member States, focusing on multi-country strategies and addressing issues of regional dimension.

Economic policy analyses conducted by ECA will focus on macro and international economic priorities-fiscal and monetary management, open trade and investment policies, liberalization of financial markets, and regional integration. ECA will work with African countries to articulate common propositions on international negotiations, provide assistance with debt reduction and coping with post-Uruguay Round trade issues, and identify ways to seize the advantages of globalization.

Social policy analyses will focus on promoting social and legal equity for women, furthering education efforts, monitoring poverty on the continent, and promoting effective strategies for poverty reduction.

Ensuring Food Security and Sustainable Development. The most compelling issue facing Africa is the nexus dynamic, that is, developing policies to mitigate the problems arising from the related areas of population expansion, declining per capita agricultural production, and increasing threats to the continent's fragile ecology. Africa is the only continent where agricultural production per capita has been declining steadily, and population and environmental degradation are increasing. This situation has resulted in greater food insecurity in Africa and undermined prospects for long-term sustainable development. Today, Africa is the only region where the number of poor-and hence the number facing food insecurity (now estimated as one-third of the continent's population)-is projected to continue rising.

ECA's actions in this core programme will include raising African policy-maker awareness of the urgency to integrate food, population, and environment concerns into development planning; building national and local capacity to manage nexus issues in the context of national development policies; encouraging attention of Member States on policies to accelerate agricultural productivity; and identifying and promoting the adoption of best practices in the three nexus areas.

Strengthening Development Management. The third core programme will focus on developing an efficient public sector and a robust private sector, enhancing popular participation in civil society, and addressing ways to enhance their individual and linked roles.

In public-sector management, ECA will promote good governance by encouraging systems that foster accountability and minimize corruption. Additionally, the Commission will foster civil service reform and promote decentralization and strengthening of local government. In private-sector development, ECA will assist governments to reform regulatory frameworks to improve market functioning, promote dialogue between government and business, and collaborate to foster micro credit that can strengthen the information sector and micro enterprise.

ECA will augment its already-active role in promoting development through institutions of civil society by promoting collaboration between NGOs and UN organizations. ECA will establish a resource centre for NGOs and civil society organizations, and continue organizing and facilitating dialogue between civil society and governments. The centre will also provide training and technical assistance to build NGO capacity.

Harnessing Information for Development. If Africa does not embrace information and communications technology, the development gap between Africa and the rest of the world will widen even further. By entering the Information Age, Africa can exploit new technologies that the continent needs to participate fully in the global economy.

Harnessing information for development has been central to ECA work for a long time, and the Commission has taken a leading role in promoting electronic dissemination of information in Africa. In its last two sessions, the annual ECA Conference of Ministers adopted resolutions endorsing the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), an action framework for building an information and communication infrastructure in Africa. ECA was also tasked by all the partners involved with the initiative* with coordinating the implementation of AISI and the related 'Harnessing Information Technologies for Development' component of the UN System-wide Special Initiative on Africa. Implementation of these initiatives will strengthen ECA's advocacy role as it conducts policy workshops for African Member States on the importance of building the information society and the policy reforms necessary to make this happen, as well as effectively utilizing information and information technology to build the competitiveness of African economies and sound social systems.

Since national capacities for statistical data generation have seriously deteriorated in the past fifteen years, another priority in this core programme is rehabilitation of African statistical systems. ECA has a major role in assisting Member States to implement the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development. As a special effort, ECA will improve its own database to serve as a regional data services centre; no such regional database exists in Africa.

Promoting Regional Cooperation and Integration. This major mandate is at the centre of ECA's work. The Commission will foster efforts of Member States and assist in establishing and strengthening subregional organizations. ECA will make the economic case for regional integration through policy papers and advocacy. Potential gains from infrastructure and material-resources investment coordination in Africa will be emphasized. The Abuja Treaty will continue to be the major framework around which ECA will collaborate and integrate efforts with its Joint Secretariat partners, the Organization of African Unity and African Development Bank.

ECA is also decentralizing in order to strengthen subregional activities and staff. The Commission's Subregional Development Centres (SRDCs, formerly MULPOCs), located in each of Africa's five subregions, are being rationalized to provide more equitable geographic coverage and improve their functional relationships, especially with organizations such as the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The SRDCs will forge joint programmes and activities for the benefit of Member States, international governmental organizations, and non-governmental agencies. They will facilitate networking and information exchange among development agencies in their subregions, and provide links between these organizations and ECA, thereby helping disseminate the Commission's policy recommendations, information, and technical publications.

In addition, ECA's African Centre for Women (ACW) will devote its activities to a major cross-cutting concern, Fostering Leadership and Empowerment for Women in Africa. Its work will be mainstreamed throughout the Commission's programmes to help Member States improve the socio-economic conditions of women, enhance women's involvement and decision-making in development, and ensure that women and gender equity are key elements in national development. This cross-cutting theme is one of the ways ECA will promote implementation within Africa of the Global Platform of Action and its regional counterpart, the African Platform of Action.*

In support of all its work, ECA is

• Partnering with research and technical institutions in Africa and elsewhere so that ECA and the institution can strengthen the quality of each other's work.
• Partnering with international organizations to gain wider perspectives and strengths.
• Restructuring around five core issues to produce a less bureaucratic and more interactive ECA.
• Reforming ECA modalities for greater efficiency and impact.
• Cutting costs through numerous efficiency-producing reforms.
• Upgrading staff capabilities through intensive training, internships and fellowships, and new staff.
• Extending outreach through more sophisticated electronic communications systems.

The careful steps ECA took to arrive at this framework of activities, its dedication to correcting past deficiencies, and the depth of the renewal have been lauded. UN Headquarters and senior officials have also championed the proposed reforms. In his 1996 statement to the ECA Conference of Ministers, then-UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said: 'ECA is in the vanguard of change and reform within the UN'.

Implementing the New Agenda

The international community is increasingly recognizing that Africa's basic policies must be developed and based in Africa. Although analyses by external parties are often crucial, nothing can stand in for a home-grown sense of ownership.

A major, established voice for Africa, heavily involved in development on both the continent and within the United Nations, the Economic Commission for Africa is well situated to help Africa achieve a better future. As the regional arm of the United Nations in Africa, ECA's primary responsibility is to carry out activities encouraging the growth of the economic and social sectors on the continent. At the same time, this instrument of the United Nations is also part of the network of African inter-governmental institutions and organizations that implement the various agendas for development adopted by Member States.

This dual role places the Commission in a special position. As a UN agency, it undertakes research and analysis on the common needs and priorities of African countries, and advocates mutual approaches that the states can take to tackle the socio-economic problems of the region.

As one of the regional bodies serving African states, the Commission is also uniquely placed to carry out particular kinds of work for individual governments; such work includes action-oriented research; information-gathering, -interpretation, and -dissemination; enhanced policy dialogue; training and other forms of capacity-building; and certain types of technical assistance, including short-term advisory services.

In fact, leading African development experts and potential bilateral, multilateral, and foundation partners have been urging the Commission to become a key indigenous institution, seeking solutions to development needs in cooperation with leaders throughout Africa and beyond. They know the changes ECA is pursuing, and they want those changes soon.

The sense of ownership and interest in the Economic Commission for Africa is strong on the continent. This is because ECA represents far more than its activities and its people.

• As a policy centre with a broad purview, ECA is in a prime position to analyse issues and advocate in conjunction with policy-makers in Africa and abroad.
• As a communications network, ECA promotes dialogue on key issues in Africa's development through conferences that bring together a spectrum of individuals and groups seeking common ground for action.
• As a builder of capacities in development management, ECA provides policy analysis, training, and advisory services to African states.
• As a consensus-builder, ECA facilitates the governmental processes in which African states define, articulate, and advocate common positions on development policies and issues.

ECA's Place Within the UN System

ECA plays a critical role in fostering development in Africa within the United Nations system. The Commission is in a position to help coordinate UN programmes and activities, bring synergies to the UN's work in Africa, mobilize resources in support of the continent, and sustain interest in Africa during a time of declining resources. The Commission derives its distinct comparative advantage within the United Nations family for promoting and supporting socio-economic development in Africa from the following attributes:

• Its multi-disciplinary operations capacity that covers a wide spectrum of development issues.
• Its access to policy-makers and opinion leaders for effective policy advocacy on critical development issues.
• Its ability to convene policy-makers and other stakeholders at the regional and subregional levels for holding dialogues, sharing common goals, and coordinating positions on major efforts.
• Its leadership in articulating positions on behalf of Africa in international fora.
• Its critical partnerships with the Organization for African Unity and the African Development Bank that allow the three institutions to identify and execute comprehensive strategies for Africa and bring about resolution and actions at the highest political levels.

n March 1996, by adopting the UN System-wide Special Initiative on Africa, the United Nations underscored both its commitment to Africa and its confidence in ECA as a regional institution, designating the Commission as a key agent in the coordination and implementation of this ten-year development plan. The Executive Secretary of ECA and the Administrator of UNDP are co-chairs of the initiative.

This initiative, the hallmark of cooperation between UN partners, provides a framework for the partners' commitment to Africa's development challenge by bolstering efforts in education, health, water supply, and food security. In this way, it brings focus to collaboration by UN partner agencies while utilizing the respective strengths of each agency to the best advantage. Priorities for the initiative were derived from the New UN Agenda for the Development of Africa and the Cairo Agenda for Relaunching Africa's Development.

With the World Bank leading resource-mobilization for the initiative, ECA will provide leadership in developing informatics in Africa, promoting the role of civil society in development and peacemaking, and fostering South-South cooperation to take advantage of the experiences and expertise of newly developed nations.

Under the auspices of the initiative, and building on past relationships, ECA plans to deepen its cooperation with UN-system partners. The following examples indicate the types of activities that are planned or already underway.

UNDP. UNDP's strong country presence and mandate to support and coordinate UN activities at the national level are highly complementary to the Commission's responsibility for promoting economic and social development. Through strengthened collaboration between ECA and UNDP at the country level, both organizations can provide effective support for the development of African countries. One area of growing opportunity for joint action is assisting Member States to formulate and implement Country Strategy Notes, a major tool for guiding the development efforts in Member States. UNDP utilization of ECA's multi-disciplinary professional staff, especially the regional advisors, will be another major area for collaboration. Working together to provide technical support at the country level will help to ensure the best-targeted and most cost-effective assistance.

The convergence between ECA's new strategic directions for 1997-2001 and UNDP's Fifth Inter-country Programme for 1997-2001 invites even stronger collaboration. The complementarities between the two organizations will be expanded in the areas of gender equity, private-sector development, Internet connectivity, trade promotion, and issues of governance.

UNFPA, FAO, and UNEP. ECA expects to collaborate with all three of these agencies to integrate and bring the nexus issues of food security, population, and the environment to the forefront of regional and national planning.

UNFPA has indicated readiness to support ECA's programmes of activities in the areas of gender, poverty, informatics, and the role of civil society in the management of population dynamics.

In similar fashion, ECA expects to continue working with FAO to build a regional framework, including the promotion of intra-African and world trade to ensure food security and nutritional sufficiency in line with the Rome Declaration adopted in October 1996. Toward this end, ECA and FAO are now planning a follow-up meeting in Africa to implement the goals of the World Food Summit, which include addressing issues that affect food security such as agriculture and rural development policies and priorities, food reserves, political stability and governance, and stabilization of populations. In addition, ECA and FAO will collaborate to develop a consolidated database on African agriculture and natural resources that will be made available to support those entities working on regional food security.

With UNEP, ECA will collaborate on integrating environmental concerns into development policies, providing a forum for discussing transboundary issues related to sustainable development such as pollution and environmental degradation, and keeping the critical concerns of the Rio Conference and Agenda 21 in the forefront of development planning. Specific activities will include joint studies, organization of policy seminars and workshops, and advocacy of environmentally sound development.

UNICEF, ILO, WHO, and UNESCO. With UNICEF, the Commission plans to collaborate in the collection and analyses of social and economic data as a tool for monitoring poverty, particularly as it pertains to the socio-economic situation of African children. In addition, ECA will continue to promote the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys initiative and assist with publishing the Annual Report on the State of Africa's Children.

The Commission and ILO, who share responsibilities as lead UN agencies in poverty reduction for the UN Special System-wide Initiative on Africa, will collaborate to promote informal sector and employment-generating strategies.

ECA and WHO will work together by putting forward fiscal policies that benefit health sector development in Africa. They will also strengthen past collaboration in raising awareness about the socio-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS.

The Commission and UNESCO will cooperate by utilizing information technology for development, promoting basic education, building the capacities of civil society to ensure good governance, and promoting science and technology exchanges, including South-South cooperation.

UNCTAD and UNIDO. In the post-Uruguay Round of trade liberalization and the integration of factor and product markets, Africa faces the challenge of becoming an integral part of the world economy through trade, investment, industrial development, and a balanced relationship with transnational corporations. ECA will collaborate closely with UNCTAD and WTO to assist African countries in developing and adopting policies to increase regional and external trade, with emphasis on viable strategies for diversifying export products and markets.

The Commission's work with UNIDO will centre on private-sector and industrial development, as well as devising programmes at the regional level to strengthen the capacities of Member States for trade negotiation and development.

World Bank and IMF. In recent years, there has been considerable convergence in ECA and World Bank perspectives on the reform agenda that African countries should implement in order to stimulate growth and reduce poverty. The groundwork has been laid for collaboration and the two organizations are committed to working together closely in a variety of areas where ECA can provide value-added services, particularly in poverty monitoring, assessment, and analyses; these services would then be followed up by policy advocacy, a special comparative advantage for the Commission, which is well placed to promote African 'ownership' of economic and social reforms. To enable ECA's work, the Bank will collaborate on research issues of population, food security, environment, and infrastructure development, as well as share its comprehensive African household survey database.

In addition, ECA and the Bank's Economic Development Institute are forging a strong relationship for collaborating on training and capacity-building through seminars and workshops on poverty analysis, gender advocacy, and knowledge management. The International Monetary Fund has indicated interest in helping ECA strengthen its capacities in policy analysis, research and data processing, and the collection of fiscal, monetary, and balance-of-payment statistics. These efforts would be facilitated through training at the IMF Institute and through visitor programmes at the IMF for ECA staff.

Special Regional Partner Institutions

ECA is fortunate that its Member States match those of its political counterpart, the Organization of African Unity and its development funding counterpart, the African Development Bank. The combined mandates of these three institutions make for a powerful and critical partnership for Africa. The comparative advantages of each institution will make it possible to identify and execute comprehensive strategies for Africa.

A recent and very significant example of cooperation among OAU, ADB, and ECA was the adoption in 1995 by the OAU Council of Ministers in Cairo of the resolution, 'Re-launching Africa's Economic and Social Development: The Cairo Agenda for Action'.

The Cairo Agenda was subsequently adopted at the 1995 summit meeting of African heads of states. Supporting growth and economic recovery, it reaffirms that African governments and African people have primary responsibility for their own development.

Summarizing the New Approach

ECA will concentrate its resources on critical issues and cut back on the number of projects it undertakes. To draw on intellectual strengths throughout the continent, the Commission will also establish new operational practices. Although providing advisory services to Member States is one of the primary functions of ECA, it is unlikely that ECA will ever have sufficient resources to cover all issues of concern to Africa's nations. Tapping expertise outside the Commission is a more effective way to amass talent on behalf of the region, and is also the most cost-effective way to make relevant and timely advice available to Member States.

This new concentration of effort is reflected in an ECA organization chart with fewer boxes and a deliberately flatter structure that promotes exchange among all levels, fosters interdisciplinary work, and ensures more efficient management. Further measures call for enhancing the ECA management team, reforming virtually every aspect of its modalities to improve capacity, undertaking efficiency measures, and vigorously upgrading staff capabilities.

To leverage its development impact and those of its UN sister agencies and regional partner institutions, the Commission will take every opportunity for collaboration. The more considered planning and the efficiencies thus gained will further the quality and pace of African development.

Thus, the stage is set for the Commission to become a networker of development expertise in Africa, a clearing-house for best practices, a policy integrator that respects and draws together analyses from a number of fields, and a catalyst for ideas.

Management Changes to Enable ECA's New Work

ECA is undertaking significant reforms to carry out its renewal. It is establishing new systems, a new management team, numerous efficiency measures, improved human resource capabilities, and new modalities for delivering programmes. Some of the important results will be

• Fewer and improved reports.
• Fewer and more productive meetings.
• Enhanced networking with key actors in Africa's development.
• Increased interaction with Member States, including more technical support.
• Strategic partnerships.

The Executive Secretary has created a Change Management Team, drawn from ECA staff, to support internal changes in four areas: administration programme management, human resources management, and information management. Senior-level UN Headquarters officials have encouraged ECA's in-house changes, calling the advances 'pacesetting'.

Administration

A critical element in the overhaul of ECA's management has been the recruitment of a highly qualified, new senior management team (annex B). These chiefs of division for the six programme and three administrative areas are being selected for their intellectual, technical, and managerial excellence. They will provide the leadership necessary for focusing on ECA's work programmes, creating a team environment, and motivating staff to reach their highest potential. All will have responsibilities for managing programmes, strengthening staff through recruitment and training, forming highly effective networking teams, and in addition, bridging technical and political issues and effectively translating recommendations into actions. In sum, the new chiefs will be the policy and institutional change agents who will move the Commission to operate effectively in a dynamic international setting.

Several ECA divisions have been consolidated to cut down on bureaucracy and speed work. This simplified structure will promote greater interdisciplinary activity and a better concentration of talent around specific problems. A major reassignment of professional staff is already taking place, the result of an in-depth assessment of personnel skills not only by human resource specialists, but also by the individual staff members themselves. As a result, ECA will be able to muster the capabilities of its staff in ways not achieved before.

Two administrative divisions are now in place: one to handle human resources and the other to manage physical systems and property, including the recently opened UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa. (The former, single administrative division had employed 40 percent of the staff and created an organizational imbalance.) Restructuring into two administrative sections permits a sharper focus and more direct reporting on administrative issues to the Executive Secretary.

Meanwhile, twenty-five projects to increase efficiencies are underway in the budget and finance areas alone. For example, reporting on extra-budgetary projects will be improved; better reporting on salary payments has been instituted; projects are underway to clear a backlog of unanalysed accounts; and time- and cost-recording management systems are being instituted.

To further save valuable time and resources, meetings will be fewer in number and more tightly run (i.e., results-oriented). An informal council of advisors has already provided ECA with excellent guidance on parliamentary processes that make better use of ministers' time and efforts at annual meetings.

Programme Management

The first administrative change instituted in the renewed ECA was the creation of a consolidated office to manage programme, budget, finance, monitoring, and evaluation. Two major efficiencies are expected:

• In the past, programme managers had to obtain approvals from two offices for expenditures, one related to line-item budget management and one related to programme authorization. Now managers will have broader authority and need only to seek approval for managing within a defined programme (i.e., they will have flexibility to manage resources within budgets, negotiating approvals only with the new programme office).

• At the same time, the programme office will have wider authority to define and oversee the Commission's systems for programme accountability. Heightened attention will be paid to monitoring and evaluation for programme impact. Past monitoring and evaluation tended to focus on accomplishment of outputs, a poor measure of whether socio-economic change is occurring. This one office will now handle planning, programming, finance, and evaluation, making it easier to assure that substance is at the heart of all ECA activities.

Meanwhile as the management of programmes is being decentralized, improved programme and financial reporting systems will facilitate management overviews of the work, increase flexibility in managing resources, and enhance timeliness so that resource reallocations can be accomplished in an orderly way.

Raising extra-budgetary resources will now be a line, not a staff, function so that line experts can meet with ECA partners and not have their proposals interpreted by staff less familiar with technical details.

The entire procurement system is also being improved. In the future, managers who require particular products and services will be held accountable for them. In addition, there will be fewer steps in the procurement process. To hasten the procurement process even more, UN Headquarters has raised the threshold for procurement expenditures that ECA can make without Headquarters approval.

Advised by a mission from the World Bank, ECA is designing and implementing a more accurate time-recording system. Since most overhead costs involve staffing and consultants, a record of the hours spent at each task will help determine the activities that are cost-effective and those that are not.

In the past, ECA staff evaluated their work products within their own divisions without the rigorous involvement of other specialists inside or outside ECA. In the future, written work will be more closely edited than before for content and presentation, and periodic surveys will be conducted to measure client satisfaction.

Building-management improvements call for reconfiguring offices to utilize space more efficiently and arranging for more on-site storage space. The business plan for 1997 includes promotional campaigns for commercializing ECA buildings, including renting out the new UN Conference Centre when not used by UN agencies. Security systems will be restructured, and security personnel will be better trained and equipped.

Human Resources Management

For all substantive work and efficiencies to come together, ECA needs the right people. ECA is, therefore, working to transform an ineffective personnel system into one that is open, equitable, and effective. It will also become an organization where managers manage rather than administer, employees are treated fairly, and resources from the diverse and growing pool of talent in Africa are increasingly utilized.

Among the first steps in the renewal of ECA, therefore, is rationalizing the staff in light of ECA's new work programme. Here the need is to eliminate redundancy and redeploy staff to high-priority areas.

To make the best use of its human resource potential, ECA will then undertake a major training programme to upgrade staff skills. As part of a UN-wide reform, the Commission is also instituting a performance-based management system that includes annual appraisals of all staff. This new staff-evaluation tool will help ECA focus on results, identify and recognize better performance, and provide a way to separate out non-performing staff.

An overall goal will be to reduce 'permanent' staff costs to allow more flexibility in the use of resources. Retirements, attritions, and phase-outs will contribute to many vacancies. Rather than filling every available position with a permanent hire, ECA will translate the resulting savings in staff costs into greater productivity and return on resources. Moving rapidly to achieve cost-effectiveness, ECA, for example, will be hiring short-term expertise in critical areas, purchasing much-needed modern equipment, and offering more training opportunities. The result will be a leaner and more productive staff, equipped with good tools and supplemented by temporary assistance when needed. Staff capabilities will also be expanded through staff exchanges, new hires, fellowships and internships to attract specialists,* and guest speakers covering new developments in key fields.

The ECA Staff Council has been consulted regularly and is highly supportive of the Commission's steps to utilize staff skills better and create more effective, transparent, and professional management of staff. Overall employee signals have been positive, helping to create a culture of renewal.

Initial training will emphasize how to function in the new ECA work environment, work in teams, and learn from substantive seminars. Topics will cover the state of the art in development fields, analytical tools, and information technology (the latter especially for use in research, writing, and presentations). Innovative, experimental teaching techniques will include use of the Internet and video-based curricula. Administrative and support-staff skills will also be upgraded to work with modern technology.

When feasible, training will cross divisional lines and will concentrate on methodologies and substantive developments in specific fields. Combined with an intensive follow-up period and wider access to global information systems, this training should sharply reduce a sense of staff intellectual isolation. Emphasis on professional training will also attract higher quality employees to ECA. Previously, staff training had benefited only a lucky few.

As ECA implements this kind of training, it will evolve into a learning organization. This means that staff will learn from what they do and be able to share their knowledge with colleagues, partners, and clients.

Also being initiated are career counselling; a more user-friendly, less bureaucratic employee benefits package; and an in-house service to resolve staff grievances and appeals.

Information Management

ECA's communication equipment harks from an earlier era. A World Bank team recently completed its review of these systems and made recommendations for modernization. Plans are already being implemented to replace rotary phones with a digital system and establish an ECA World Wide Web site. Staff computer skills will be upgraded, and new hardware and software will accelerate technical analysis and work production. The local area network (LAN) system will be extended throughout the Commission.

The extensive contents of ECA's library will be integrated into ECA's computerized network. Internet and prototype World Wide Web sites have already been set up. Information will be placed on CD-ROMs for easier dissemination. Videoconferencing with translation capacity is envisioned.

Assisted by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (London) and a leading South African development journalist, as well as other experts, ECA will upgrade its entire publications operation to reach larger audiences more efficiently. ECA will soon be turning out fewer but more useful publications, frequently issuing them in such series as briefing papers, policy position papers, research findings, and a newsletter describing ECA's projects. Publications will be compiled by qualified experts, subject to peer review, and edited by professionals. They will be disseminated more widely than previously and will be available on the Internet and CD-ROMs. Cost savings will come from greater reliance on in-house services for editing, translation, and document production.

PART II

Proposals for Partnership

Overview of Proposals

Part I of this prospectus described how the Economic Commission for Africa is preparing itself for new partnerships through extensive organizational renewal. This renewal process involves establishing a new organizational structure, new programming systems, and a new management team, and instituting numerous reforms to make ECA more efficient and effective.

These actions are the result of a series of studies conducted for the Commission and intensive consultations held with a wide range of African leaders, ECA's official bodies, and development partners during 1995-96. The consensus: The Commission should seek collaboration wherever possible and share resources, with each party concentrating on what it does best.

Part II contains the seventeen proposals for collaboration that grew directly out of the intensive consultations, particularly the Partners Meeting in April 1996. (See page 7 for participants.) This consultative meeting, convened in Addis Ababa, brought together twenty-nine partners countries--and organizations--to share information and perspectives with key ECA staff on planning for the renewal of the ECA. At the end of three days of intensive and productive exchange, the partners affirmed their institutional support of, and confidence in, ECA, citing the important role a renewed Commission could play in the development of Africa. Confirming the findings from earlier consultations, the partners examined ECA's comparative advantages and urged the Commission to focus on the critical areas where it could provide value added services:

• Establishing a clearing-house of African development information, collecting and disseminating relevant data to Member States, development organizations, academic institutions, research, and the public through worldwide electronic connectivity.

• Offering a programme of advisory services to members, sharing the benefits of best practices and lessons learned from African models and other parts of the developing world.
• Serving as a catalyst for African development activities by assisting the many organizations on the continent who share common goals to coalesce and coordinate efforts.
• Serving as a policy advocate on critical development issues to encourage the policy initiatives and reforms necessary for economic and social advancement.
• Building capacity in Member States through training, seminars, and workshops targeted to developing critical skills in support of ECA programme objectives.
• Facilitating research-within the Commission, in Member States, and among development organizations-that fosters, synthesizes, and enables the studies needed for considered decision-making.

A major outcome of the meeting was identification by ECA and its partners of specific areas and modalities for collaboration. Stressing the importance of each partner contributing in areas of comparative advantage to achieve optimal output,

they suggested sharing of data, joint studies and sponsorships of seminars, combined missions to Member States, staff exchanges, and networking on issues of mutual concern.

Table 3 summarizes the seventeen proposals in the context of the major work that the Commission looks forward to sharing with partners from 1997-2001. Following the table are brief descriptions of each proposal containing the objectives, background, components, time-table, expected results, and some of the suggested roles for partners. As partners indicate areas of collaboration, ECA will finalize detailed plans for implementation and types of support.

Although ECA is inviting a new focus and scale to its partnerships, it also seeks to build on the partnerships it has enjoyed in the past. For example, for many years the Commission has received support for its women's programs from the UNDP and bi-laterals such as Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UNFPA, and UNIFEM-all of whom have helped to build the organizations and networks that have brought African women's issues to the fore.

Many collaborators, including IDRC, ADB, UNDP, the Netherlands, South Korea, the Carnegie Foundation, and USAID have contributed to information technology developments such as the Africa Information Society Initiative. In addition, the area of science and technology has been consistently fostered by the Carnegie Foundation. In the area of trade and investment promotion, the Government of Japan has been a consistent supporter. The Government of South Korea has recently funded activities in support of small-scale industry. Generous support over time from the Government of Germany has funded projects on civil society, leadership, and governance, as well as on development of the informal sector. Furthermore, many donors such as France, UNFPA, and UNEP have funded research activities that have aided in the areas of food security, population, and the environment.

During the review of partner relations, it became clear to the Commission that there was room for improvement in the way ECA collaborated with partners. In the past, projects were single, relatively short-term, often isolated efforts that were not part of a larger plan. Projects were undertaken in a piecemeal fashion without benefit of an overall framework. Although each programme may have been valid and useful, there may not have been sufficient consideration of the interrelationships with ECA's own and other African development programmes.

At this point, ECA is offering a new approach to collaborative programming-one that is coherent and within a clear framework. ECA understands that other organizations working in African development may take the lead in certain areas because of their competitive advantages or greater resources. In such instances, ECA's role will be to assist by using the Commission's unique position within the United Nations to facilitate and advocate in support of partner efforts.

Partners are invited to identify parts of the proposals that fit their development agendas and determine where collaboration with ECA will maximize return on resources. Most of the proposals are in direct support of Member States, but four proposals (14 to 17) are aimed at increasing the institutional strength of the Commission itself: Upgrading ECA Capacity in Information and Communications Technology, Increasing ECA Capacity Through Staff Training, Communicating Information About African Development, and Engaging the Public Through the Mass Media. Although each of the proposals is important to ECA's future, these four proposals require special attention because they are critical to providing the internal capacity that will enable all the programmes of the Commission.

Because of the scope of the proposals, ECA is inviting participation from several partners on each proposal effort. This invitation is not only consistent with the idea of creating synergies by capitalizing on the strengths of the various players in African development, but also follows from recommendations at the Partners Meeting that ECA be a catalyst for African development. This multi-collaborator approach will also enhance efficiency by ensuring an integrated effort, thereby minimizing redundancy and the fragmented efforts of the past.

Table 3.

ECA's Major Work, 1997-2001

CORE PROGRAMME SUPPORT

Facilitating Economic and Social Policy Analysis

To provide timely and influential information and analyses of issues relevant to several countries or to issues that have regional dimensions. The emphasis will be on macro-policy issues-including Africa's trade, aid, and monetary options-that could further Africa's stake in the global economy. Additional emphasis will go to social development issues, particularly the strategies and reforms needed to alleviate poverty.

Accelerating Africa's Fight Against Poverty (PROPOSAL 1) signals a major commitment to report, advise, and stimulate work on poverty issues in Africa.

Expanding African Trade and Promoting International Competitiveness (PROPOSAL 2) seeks to assist African countries to lay the base for the institutional and human resource capacities needed to accelerate growth in international and subregional trade, and also strengthen ECA's capacity to assist African countries.

Ensuring Food Security and Sustainable Development

To raise awareness among African policy-makers of the urgent need to integrate food, population, and environment concerns in development planning. The emphasis will be on building national capacity to undertake integrated analyses on issues of food security, population dynamics, and environmental stability.

Addressing Africa's Urgent Nexus: Food, Population, Environment (PROPOSAL 3) would analyse the interplay of population dynamics, food security, and the environment while creating better political understanding of these issues and advocating policies for addressing these problems at senior levels of government.

Building Africa's Capacity for Science and Technology (PROPOSAL 4) would expand national discussions and capabilities on appropriate science and technology policies-especially those related to the 'nexus' issues.

Strengthening Development Management

To promote efficiency and competency in the public sector, public policies that are friendly to the private sector, and a robust civil society involved in development concerns. To these ends, ECA will help governments, associations, private-sector organizations, and civil society strengthen their operations and policies.

Strengthening African Civil Society for Development and Peace (PROPOSAL 5) would build on ECA's well-received work in this area, permitting ECA to establish a centre to strengthen the capabilities of non-governmental organizations; work with national governments to create an enabling society for civil society; and strengthen selected NGOs active in peace-building, conflict prevention, and reconciliation of peoples in Africa. A significant impact of these efforts should be more pluralistic approaches to development problems.

Reviving Private Investment in Africa (PROPOSAL 6)aims to provide assistance to African countries in promoting foreign and domestic private investment, support the implementation of market- and investor-friendly policies and regulations, and disseminate information on best practices for attracting investments, including privatization.

Mobilizing Africa's Capital Markets (PROPOSAL 7)would launch an African Capital Markets Forum to foster capital markets throughout the continent with the cooperation of the public and private sectors.

Harnessing Information for Development

To promote policies that expedite the use of information technology and systems in Africa's development. In the process, a clearing-house of development information will be created to service Africa and the global development community.

The goal of Building the African Information Society (PROPOSAL 8) is no less than to help Africa enter the Information Age. ECA would emphasize the importance of national information planning and information services on Africa's development, make information about Africa's development more available within Africa and elsewhere, and help African states prepare policies to support the spread of information services, including connections with the Internet.

A related issue, Promoting Statistics Development in Africa (PROPOSAL 9), would increase services to national governments organizing their own data systems and increase the analysis side of ECA's work in statistics. The proposal is of particular urgency in view of Africa's need to prepare better for Year 2000 census responsibilities.

Promoting Regional Cooperation and Integration

To help African nations combine their strengths, particularly through integrated trade and monetary systems. A special emphasis will be on supporting subregional organizations, the building blocks of original integration. Transportation is also a sine qua non for regional trade and integration.

Linking African States Through Efficient, Reliable Transportation Systems (PROPOSAL 10)would foster implementation of policies and programs that improve the efficiency, quality, and coverage of transport services in Member States and enhance regional transport linkages.

CROSS-CUTTING THEME

Fostering Leadership and Empowerment for Women in Africa (PROPOSAL 11) would set up a Leadership Fund for African Women to promote the participation, empowerment, and leadership of women in the economy and in politics throughout Africa. Through the fund, ECA would also help Member States follow-up on the Platform of Action agreed on at the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing.

ADDITION OF SPECIAL DIMENSIONS

Networking to Provide Economic and Social Policy Advice in Africa (PROPOSAL 12) invites collaboration in establishing networks of policy analysts who can help ECA provide more up-to-date, pragmatic, and influential advice to Member States on policy matters ranging from the design of strategies to the design of international negotiating positions.

Advancing South-South Cooperation (PROPOSAL 13)would help Africa learn and benefit from the lessons of other areas of the world, particularly in the areas of trade, investment, and development information. At the same time this cooperation will lay the groundwork for sustainable networks of mutual interest.

ENHANCEMENT OF ECA CAPACITIES

Upgrading ECA Capacity in Information and Communications Technology (PROPOSAL 14)would enable far higher productivity, more sophisticated analysis, and closer communications with Member States, ECA's Subregional Development Centres, and partners.

Increasing ECA Capacity Through Staff Training (PROPOSAL 15) would strengthen staff capabilities by providing formal training, establishing fellowships and internships, and reducing the intellectual isolation of staff.

Communicating Information About African Development (PROPOSAL 16) relates to greatly enhancing ECA's outreach activities by revising every single step of the publications process, from concept to dissemination, to make materials more understandable and useful.

Engaging the Public Through the Mass Media (PROPOSAL 17) would modernize ECA's public communications technology systems, bringing about far higher productivity, more sophisticated analysis, and more exciting publications.

CORE PROGRAMME SUPPORT

• Facilitating Economic and Social Policy Analysis

• Ensuring Food Security and Sustainable Development