Second Meeting

Summary of Issues to Be Covered

26-27 May 2003
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Summary of Issues to be Covered

The meeting organized around the theme: "Participation, Partnership in Development" is designed to encourage dialogue on key issues aimed at enhancing stakeholders participation in addressing some of the human development and governance challenges of Africa. Stakeholders participation and partnership will be examined and addressed under the following:

Best practices in promoting people's rights to participate in development: This critical and important aspect of development, the right of people to participate in the development and governance process, is all the more important now as we are embarking on one of the most ambitious development initiatives that Africa has committed itself to: NEPAD. The rights of people to participate in the development and governance process are essential to creating an environment that lends support for democratic involvement of citizens at community level in national affairs. The meeting will examine the social, political and institutional dimensions of the issue and will define approaches to the promotion of participation in policy formulation; and planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes.

Ethics and accountability for enhanced public service delivery: The role of civil society including private sector: Enhanced public service delivery as a hallmark of responsive governance has become a critical issue for governments in many African countries. Equally important is the recognition and importance given to the maintenance of values of ethics and accountability of public institutions that deliver those services. While we acknowledged that many African countries have made great strides in addressing the devastating effects on economies and livelihoods of citizens, ethics and accountability are the greatest challenges facing many African economies today.

The significance of ethics and accountability for enhanced public service delivery should be closely linked with the concept and practice of good governance. Decline in development resources and increased concern about corruption has prompted governments to take actions to improve and strengthen their public service delivery with a view to making these systems more responsive to the needs and concerns of the citizenry. For a number of reasons, these have not produced significant results and have given rise to renewed efforts to adopt actions involving the active participation of the citizenry in public affairs. Moreover, there is a strong demand for sound ethics management systems and corporate accountability in the new international economic relations. The corporate governance initiative under NEPAD programme focuses on building and strengthening core values of ethics and accountability in public service. These challenges imply, however, the setting of appropriate systems for promoting ethics and accountability in which the private sector and civil society should play key roles as stakeholders in the development and enhancement of accountable and ethical conduct in public service delivery. In response to these challenges, the meeting will assess the state of ethics and accountability for enhanced public service delivery in Africa and will discuss and make recommendations to help countries review their institutions, systems and mechanisms for promoting ethics and accountability in public service.

Countries emerging from conflict: Lessons to enhance partnership in post conflict reconstruction, rehabilitation and reintegration: While other parts of the world are experiencing relative peace and economic growth and prosperity, Africa, for the most part, is enmeshed in incessant conflicts, largely internal, and general economic malaise. These conflicts are major constraint to development in Africa. It is because of these endless conflicts in the continent, that the issues of peace and security and good governance have assumed center stage in the new development framework for Africa, and at the forefront of discussions at the 2002 Durban Summit of African heads of State and Foreign Ministers and other for a.

The challenge here is on how to find enduring solutions to Africa's seemingly intractable conflicts that will transcend mere halting of hostilities to include post-conflict reconstruction, rehabilitation and reintegration. Experience has shown that most of Africa's conflicts have been recursive not least because solutions have often been truncated and short-sighted leaving out the full range of conflict resolution mechanisms, which must necessarily include post-conflict reconstruction. The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) accounts for this weakness by emphasizing that future efforts to build Africa's capacity to manage all aspects of conflict must focus, inter alia, on post-conflict reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation. Although government efforts are critical in addressing post-conflict reconstruction, the challenges are beyond the capacity of governments alone and the process relies on a partnership between the private sector and civil society to support the transition.

The scope of these challenges requires the mobilization of all talents and resources that stakeholders have. This underscores the need for government, private sector, and civil society partnership. Civil society and governments can play complementary roles. Similarly, the private sector has a role in post-conflict reconstruction in an era where the sector is increasingly conceived of as the "engine of growth". Therefore, areas of complementarity between the entities should be sought. Action is necessary to catalyze the inclusion of societal groups in discussion and negotiation processes related to all aspects of reconstruction. Together, a government, private sector and civil society partnership is a formidable team for successful post-conflict reconstruction. There is a clear imperative for this kind of partnership if the new attempt to build peace in post-conflict areas in Africa is to yield fruit.

HIV/AIDS, policies and partnerships: The United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) Declaration of Commitment in June 2001, emphasized the importance of broadening national responses to HIV/AIDS, both in terms of players involved and sectors engaged. However, mounting an effective multi-sectoral response is neither simple nor easy. These difficulties were to some extent anticipated in the Declaration of Commitment, which prescribes a process for a range of policies to be enacted by 2003, in order to develop or expand the programmes necessary to achieve the impact targets set for 2005 and 2010.¹ While such policies appear to exist in most countries, their state of implementation is less than satisfactory. For example, half of the national submissions to the 2002 report of the Secretary-General, cited difficulties in mobilizing and co-ordinating a wide range of players, most often because these players lack the experience of working together, as well as the natural inclination to do so. Considering the implications that this is likely to have on the attainment of the longer-term goals of UNGASS, an urgent exploration of factors essential to the achievement of an effective multi-sectoral response is required.

Civil society, faith-based organizations and the private sector: HIV/AIDS related civil society organizations have played a critical role in national responses to HIV/AIDS, complementing the efforts of governments by mobilising societies to confront difficult issues, some of these include: sexuality, intravenous drug use, human rights, stigma, discrimination and access to treatment. The particular arguments for engaging people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA's) more fully would appear to be compelling and self evident, given the unique perspective that they bring. However, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA's) remain an under utilized resource in the fight against the epidemic, often as a consequence of societal norms that relegate them to the margins of societies. Faith based organizations represent the backbone of many communities and often deliver a range of services that respond to the material and spiritual needs of communities effected by HIV/AIDS. With some exceptions, religious leaders have been slow to answer the calls for action, activities and advocacy in the field of HIV. There is a need for them to answer to the pandemic and to form coalitions at the national level. The engagement of the business sector is no less important, but differing perspectives and conflicting value systems have sometimes complicated the path to successful partnerships. Several African countries have established National AIDS Councils or Commissions, which bring together government, civil society, religious organizations and the private sector to coordinate multi-sectoral responses. A few countries have also formed Partnership Forums to facilitate collaboration between national stakeholders and international development partners in national responses to HIV/AIDS. Country experience in both the established and operations of both National AIDS Councils and Partnership Forums indicate that while there is overall willingness from all parties to work together, there are still many challenges, which still need to be addressed. Some of these include capacity, legal frameworks, authority and mandates of the National AIDS Councils.

Agriculture, food security and HIV/AIDS: Though AIDS is primarily perceived and dealt with only as an `urban' issue, a very large number of people living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by it, are in the rural areas of developing countries. Both AIDS and poverty are rampant in rural areas and constitute a key challenge to these economies. The agricultural sector is disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS as it is highly labour intensive and has large numbers of mobile or migratory workers. AIDS has killed more than seven million agricultural workers in 25 countries of Africa since 1985 and could kill an additional 16 million (up to 26% of the agricultural labour force) in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020. In many areas, farm household labour is not as abundant and unskilled labour is not as easily replaced, as many assume. The negative effect of HIV/AIDS on this sector impoverishes communities, erodes their capacity through losses in human resources, and disrupts their operations by severing key linkages in the production chain.

HIV/AIDS, security and stability: Uniformed services, including defense and civil defense forces, are a highly vulnerable group to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) mainly due to their work environment, mobility, age and other facilitating factors that expose them to higher risk of HIV infection. Simultaneously, uniformed services also offer a unique opportunity for HIV awareness and training with a large `captive audience' in a disciplined and highly organized setting.

1 By 2005, reduce the HIV prevalence among young men and women aged 15 to 24 in the most affected countries by 25% and by 25 per cent globally, by 2010. By 2005, reduce the proportion of infants born to HIV infected mothers by 20% and by 50% by 2010.