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The overall objective is to strengthen the capacity of member States to design institutional arrangements and implement national policies and programmes that reinforce the linkages within the nexus of food security, population, environment and human settlements in order to achieve sustainable development, and to contribute to building capacity of African countries to utilize science and technology in achieving sustainable development. Other objectives of this subprogramme include promoting awareness of the need to integrate concerns of the three pillars of sustainable development, namely economic development, social development and environmental protection into national development planning and poverty reduction programmes; improve stewardship of the natural resource base and the environment by strengthening the capacity of member States for sustainable exploitation, management and effective utilization of such important natural resources as mineral and energy resources, and water resources. Strategy The subprogramme will place emphasis on the WEHAB priority areas identified in the WSSD plan of implementation, namely: Water and sanitation; Energy; Health and environment; Agriculture; Biodiversity and ecosystem management. In response to urgent sustainable development challenges, consistent with the NEPAD framework, the activities of the subprogramme will focus on the following four priorities: strengthening strategies and programmes for integrated water resources management; improving land resources management; harnessing science and technology for sustainable development; and assessing and monitoring progress on the implementation of the WSSD outcomes. Strengthening Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Africa is seemingly endowed with abundant freshwater resources. However, the distribution of water resources is highly variable in time and space. Thus while some countries in the region have an abundance of water resources, others experience water scarcity and stress. The region’s fast growing population places a high demand on water resources to meet domestic, agricultural and industrial requirements. There is high potential for water resources development but this has been grossly under-utilized due to financial and technological constraints. Due to various activities by man, the quantity and quality of the region’s water resources is constantly being depleted, thus placing further stress on an already scarce but vital resource. In response to these growing challenges, the sub-programme will focus on promoting the implementation of the African Water Vision 2025. Strategies will comprise three elements: building human and institutional capacities for implementing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM); assisting Member States, river basin organizations (RBOs) and regional economic communities (RECS) in the development and implementation of integrated river basin and watershed management strategies and plans for the major river/aquifer basins; and ensuring enhanced irrigation development to improve agricultural production and food security through policy dialogue, formulation of basin-wide irrigation development strategies for selected major river and aquifer basins, and disseminating best practices for small-scale irrigation in close collaboration with FAO, IWMI, AfDB and other IGWA member institutions. Improving land resources management for sustainable development. Africa depends to a large extent on its natural resource base to drive its socio-economic development process. The integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources is key to sustainable development. However, Africa is still grappling with problems of land tenure and land use, which have often been the cause of conflicts and contributed significantly to the degradation of the resource base, thus exacerbating poverty. In addition, desertification has its greatest impact in Africa, as two-thirds of the continent is desert or drylands and the region is affected by frequent and severe droughts. The sub-programme will address these issues by focusing on analytical work, capacity building, sharing of information and experiences, and advocacy for best practices on land-related institutional and legal frameworks, and land improvement investments. In doing so, the sub-programme intends to promote the transition to a sustainable and integrated management of land resources. Harnessing science and technology for sustainable development. Most African countries have not accorded adequate priority to science and technology for development. In most cases, institutional and human capacities are too weak to ensure proper management of scientific progress and technological innovation for developmental purposes. The subprogramme will aim at improving the state of affairs to put Africa at the forefront of technological innovation for sustainable development. In this regard, the subprogramme will focus on creating awareness on the potential contribution of science and technology -- including biotechnology -- to sustainable development. Further, the subprogramme will, inter alia, aim at building/strengthening institutional, analytical and policy-making capacities of selected member states to foster expansion, acquisition, application and diffusion of scientific knowledge and technological resources for poverty reduction and sustainable development. Assessing and Monitoring progress on sustainable development. The monitoring of progress on sustainable development has so far proceeded from an approach of follow-up to individual global/international conferences pertaining to different aspects such as population and development (ICPD), food security (WFS), and environment and development (UNCED). In response to the comprehensive paradigm of sustainable development adopted by the WSSD, and with a view to improving the quality and impact of information for policy-making, the subprogramme will develop an integrated approach to monitoring and assessing progress on sustainable development. Activities in this regard will aim at preparing and disseminating a new biennial major publication entitled "Report on Sustainable Development in Africa." This Report will provide key indicators of sustainable development and livelihoods (featuring critical elements of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability) and present best practices as well as in-depth analyses of selected themes of crucial importance for sustainable development in Africa. International cooperation and inter-agency coordination is a crosscutting key element of an effective strategy for achieving of the objectives of the subprogramme. In this regard, activities of the subprogramme will be implemented in cooperation with relevant partners, including other UN agencies, regional intergovernmental organizations, regional economic communities and regional development banks. In line with the above focal areas of the subprogramme, partnerships will be established/strengthened particularly with member organizations of the Inter-Agency Group on Water in Africa (AfDB, FAO, UNEP and WHO), UNDESA, UNCTAD and UNFPA. Studies, capacity building and outreach activities will be implemented in close collaboration with the ECA Sub-regional Offices to ensure greater impact through Regional Economic Communities such as ECOWAS, ECCAS, COMESA, IGAD, and SADC. With a view to promoting the emergence and development of sub-regional/regional centres of excellence, group training activities will be conducted in cooperation with selected capacity-building institutions such as IDEP and University of Cape Town (on integrated resources planning), IFORD and RIPS (on nexus issues analysis), ARIPO, OAPI and SIRDC (on biosafety and intellectual property rights).
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