ICE 2001

The Committee considered the document entitled "Report on National Mechanism for Coordination of Regional Cooperation and Integration, which noted that, although regional cooperation and integration have been the foundation for Africa's economic and social development, efforts to bring about a fundamental socioeconomic structural change in Africa had often been frustrated by domestic and external factors. As a result, the countries of the subregion continued to experience limited structural changes, social transformation and economic growth. In addition, the fact that most countries belonged to more than one of the regional groupings, exerted further pressure on the already limited resources for deepening the integration process.

In this context, the Economic Commission for Africa Subregional Development Centre for Southern Africa (UNECA/SRDC-SA) planed to undertake a study to assess existing national mechanisms for coordination of regional cooperation and integration in Southern Africa. The study would be presented to an Ad Hoc Experts Group Meeting in June 2001 and would be an integral part of the regional study, which was coordinated by the Regional Cooperation and Integration Division (RCID) of ECA.

The objective of the Ad Hoc Experts Group Meeting will be to review existing national mechanisms for regional cooperation and integration in Southern Africa, and make appropriate recommendations to minimize cost and increase the benefits of regional cooperation and integration in Southern Africa. The discussions from the meeting would form the basis for a policy document suggesting appropriate mechanisms for coordination of regional economic cooperation and integration at national level.

In terms of coordination arrangements at national level, it appeared that the establishment of a Coordinating Ministry for each cooperation institution was the most common practice in Southern Africa. In the light of the above, the following questions should be addressed:

Should all the countries aim at having a single mechanism for regional cooperation and integration? If yes, what was the best possible approach to ensuring effective coordination at country level?
Pre- and Post-meetings preparedness, though different in most countries, seemed to be important and necessary for coordination of national positions. What was the best approach to ensuring these consultations?
Follow-up actions were not properly stated. What was the best approach for effective implementation of agreed positions?
Preparation and presentation of the meeting reports was also not clearly stated. Who should prepare these reports? How should the report be prepared? Where should the report go? And for what purposes?
In most of the preparatory processes the Civil Society and private Sector had no specific roles whereby they could also participate and discus issues pertaining to integration and the way they affected their operations. What was the best approach to ensuring effective private sector participation in decision-making processes for regional cooperation and integration?

The Committee sought clarifications about the objectives of the study and expressed concern as to why the Secretariat was not presenting a concrete proposal on a mechanism to member States for consideration. The Committee further pointed out that involvement of the Private Sector and Civil Society organisations should be formalized at institutional level to facilitate their active participation in the integration process. The example of MERCOSUR was highlighted. In addition, the meeting was also informed that Civil Society, particularly women and labour groups, were actively participating in SADC Sectoral Meetings, for example Gender and ELS.

The Secretariat informed the Committee that the report was mainly to brainstorm on the issues raised and to obtain proposals from the member States in order to finalize the paper which will be presented to the Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting. It further informed the Committee that ADF 2001 will be on the theme "Regional Integration in Africa" at which Southern African countries are called upon to provide a subregional position paper.

The Committee considered the report as very important, and encouraged ECA to proceed with the study and come up with some best practices from which member States could draw some lessons. The Commitee took note of the report in light of the above observations.