ICE 2001 Final Report

SUBREGIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA (ECA/SRDC-SA)

Regional Priorities and Programme of Work of ECA/SRDC-SA (Agenda item 10)

112. The Meeting considered the document entitled "Regional Priorities and Programme of Work of the SRDC/SA" derived from the Medium Term Plan 2002-2005, which was endorsed by the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) at its Sixth Meeting in 2000. The purpose of the report was, therefore, to present the Work Programme for the biennium 2002-2003, as approved by the General Assembly, to the Committee for consideration and to seek support from the member States in its implementation.

113. The objectives of the work programme for the 2002-2003 biennium were highlighted as follows: to promote the harmonization of national policies in various sectors in support of the integration activities at the subregional level; to facilitate the adoption and implementation of programmes for integration of national economies; and to provide support to the Member States and their inter-governmental organizations in their effort to foster growth and development.

114. In order to achieve the above objectives, ECA-SRDC-SA would continue to work through and co-operate with established organizations (COMESA, IOC, SADC, etc) and institutions (ESAMI, PAID-ESA, etc), as well as with United Nations agencies and development partners active in the sub-region. The programme was tailored specifically to the priorities and requirements of Southern African countries and regional economic communities.

115. The activities of the Centre towards achieving the above objectives consisted of: providing technical support to the regional economic communities (RECs) and member States in policy reforms and institutional building for implementing priority community programmes; providing a forum to facilitate networking and dialogue among public sector, private sector and civil society to discuss regional development problems and prospects through meetings, workshops, seminars, symposia and publications; facilitating integration activities of the United Nations System and specialized agencies, in the framework of UN Resident Co-ordinator System at the national level; and, extending the outreach of ECA in Southern Africa to better serve the member States and to bring ECA closer to its member States.

116. The Director of the SRDC-SA emphasized the importance of group training activities as very effective fora for capacity building. However, he informed the meeting that funds were not usually allocated for these activities. This implied that the Centre had to collaborate with all the stakeholders in the subregion in order to mobilize the necessary resources. The following group training activities have been programmed for the period 2002 - 2003:

	.	Workshop on growth strategies for poverty reduction;
	.	Subregional seminar on the implementation of nexus issues of population, environment, sustainable development and Agriculture (PEDA) model in Southern Africa;
	.	Symposium on trade and investment promotion in Southern Africa;
	.	Subregional training workshop on issues and trends in decentralization for improved local governance;
	.	Workshop on Customs as a tool for economic integration;
	.	Special Event which will focus on information and communications technology and governance in Southern Africa.

117. The Director called upon the meeting to take actions in support of the Centre as follows: endorse the work programme of SRDC-SA for the biennium 2002-2003; appeal to member States to support extension of the Pilot Project on the Promotion of the Informal Sector for Development in Africa; appeal to member States to designate national focal points for ECA programme in each country; appeal to member States to support the work of SRDC-SA by pledging financial contributions through UNTFAD.

118. The meeting deliberated on the following issues:

	(i)	The need to extend the priority areas for the Centre to cover sustainable development, environmental protection, minerals and energy development.
	(ii)	The need to mainstream the workshops into the programme to ensure full financing.
	(iii)	The status of the Report on Impact of Crime Economic Development and the need to finalize and disseminate the report.
	(iv)	Reformulation of the Workshop on Trade and Investment to cover the broader issues on investment.
	(v)	Continuation of the holding of ICE annually.
	(vi)	The need to balance the responsibilities given to the SRDC-SA and resources allocated.

119. In response to the above, the Secretariat informed the meeting that, within the UN system, there were specialized agencies which addressed issues on sustainable development and environmental issues. ECA's role was limited to advocacy. In this regard, the sub-programme on Food Security and Sustainable Development was established to support African countries in the follow-up to major international agreements.

120. Following the above information, the meeting requested ECA to investigate modalities for supporting those countries which had not received any assistance from donors, in the preparation of their country positions for the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in South Africa 2002.

121. With regard to mining and energy programmes, the meeting was informed that while realizing the importance of addressing these areas, the Centre did not have an expert in this area. The Centre was currently addressing this issue with ECA management.

122. The ECA representative explained that funding of workshops, although included in the programme budget, did not cover travel and daily subsistence allowances for participants. Modalities for funding this aspect needed to be revisited by member States. The UNTFAD Pledging Conference to be held during the ECA Conference of Ministers in Algiers, Algeria from 2 - 10 May, 2001 presented a very good opportunity for addressing this issue.

123. The ECA, at the request of COMESA, agreed to modify the coverage of the Workshop on Trade and Investment to include the broader issues on investment. This workshop would be organized in collaboration with COMESA.

124. On the concern about changing the organization of the ICE from an annual to a biennial event, the ECA Secretariat advised the meeting that this aspect should be included in the report and tabled during the forthcoming TEPCOW Meeting to be held in Algiers, Algeria in May 2001. The meeting, after a lengthy debate, adopted the recommendations of the report.

Main Menu