I. INTRODUCTION

1. The programme of activities of the Subregional Development Centre for Southern Africa(SRDC/SA) is implemented under the ECA programme area on Supporting Subregional Activities for Development in accordance with the revised Medium Term Plan for 1998-2001. The Southern African SRDC covers eleven countries in the region, namely: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

2. The major current groupings for Economic Cooperation are the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Both COMESA and SADC have been designated as Regional Economic Communities (RECs) under the framework of the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC).

3. The Economic Commission for Africa in its renewal process considers the SRDC subprogramme pivotal in buttressing its programme for supporting the efforts of African countries for achieving sustainable development. Consequently, the activities of the SRDC are carried out in close collaboration with the regional cooperation and integration organizations and its work programme derives from the priorities of the subregion as determined by the member States, either directly or through the Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

II. VISION AND MISSION

4. The vision of the Southern African Subregional Development Centre is to become a premier resource centre for economic and social development in Southern Africa. Guided by the principles of efficiency, cost effectiveness and effective partnership, as articulated in the new directions of the Commission, the above vision will enable the Centre to pursue its mission as the operational arm of ECA to implement subregional programmes in Southern Africa. The development goal is to attain sustainable social and economic development in the member countries as called for in the Abuja Treaty (1991) establishing the African Economic Community (AEC).

5. The 1998-1999 work programme represents a tool for translating the new strategic directions of the Commission into concrete activities to support the development efforts of

member States during the first biennium of the Medium-Term Plan for the period 1998-2001. The

first year activities of this biennium have already been reported in the Director's Report. The work programme for the rest of 1998 and 1999 is presented in this report.

III. ECA PROGRAMME FOCUS

6. There are seven programme areas, namely: Facilitating economic and social policy analysis; Enhancing food security and sustainable development; Strengthening development management; Harnessing information for development; Promoting regional cooperation and integration; Promoting the Advancement for Women; and, Supporting Subregional Activities for Development.

7. These core programme areas are presented as the foci of ECA's work for the current Medium-Term Plan, 1998-2001. Because these programmes reflect ECA's commitment to improve services and sharpen its strategic focus, their composition and thrust are markedly different from the former programme orientation. In this regard, ECA has been restructured organizationally to reflect these new programme areas. The programme is, therefore, characterized by congruence within organizational and programmatic structures, reduction in the number of subprogrammes, and clustering closely related activities under a single subprogramme. In all programme areas, there is considerably sharpened focus to permit the evaluation of impact. A deliberate effort has been made to limit activities under each subprogramme to essential issues of importance to Africa.

8. The subprogramme on Facilitating economic and social policy analysis is designated to gather and synthesize available information on Africa, analyze policies in critical sectors and disseminate information throughout Africa on successful development policies and practices. There will be particular emphasis on social development issues and on strategies to alleviate poverty. A particular focus will be on poverty reduction through labour growth strategies, development of human capital among the poor and provision of safety nets for the vulnerable.

9. ECA has a rich history to draw upon as a producer and articulator of analysis on fundamental issues and as a producer of development information. Africa requires a regional forum and a strong regional voice to address development issues. ECA's role as innovator and generator of regional strategies for development is critical. In addition to creating consensus among ministers and experts, ECA plans to provide timely and influential information and analysis of country-specific issues and address those having a regional dimension.

10. To further Africa's stake in the global economy, the focus will be on a micro-economic policy issues - trade, aid and monetary options. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on social development issues, particularly the strategies and reforms needed to alleviate poverty.

11. Ensuring food security and sustainable development will integrate policy concerns pertaining to the interrelated issues of food security, protection of the environment, human settlements and population growth. The goals will be to raise awareness of African policy makers on the urgency of food, population and environment issues as the key to poverty reduction; and to build national and local capacities, and foster interaction among sector experts and specialists at ECA and in the member States to undertake an integrated analysis of the interrelated issues of food security, population dynamics and environmental sustainability.

12. Strengthening development management will focus on strengthening member States' capacity in three areas, namely increasing the competence, efficiency, and accountability of the public sectors; promoting policies and practices of the public sector in fostering an enabling environment for all sectors of business, particularly micro-and small-scale enterprise; and increasing popular participation in development by fostering an enabling environment for organization and capacitation of civil society, and by promoting effective decentralization with particular emphasis on devolution.

13. The main objectives of the subprogramme on Harnessing information for development is to assist African countries to develop information and communication infrastructure plans to enhance data and electronic linkages and improve the quality of national statistics through technical assistance in the collection, processing, analysis and standardization of methods and concepts.

14. The subprogramme on Promoting regional cooperation and integration will be principally concerned with strengthening the regional economic communities across the continent and facilitating the rationalization, harmonization and coordination of pertinent programmes. The focus of these programmes will be on the creation of an enabling environment of integration through infrastructural development, harmonization of macro-economic policies, and collaboration in mineral and energy resources development.

15. Research and experience prove that investing in women is the best way to promote social and economic development. The feminization of poverty and the wider recognition of women as a major force for sustainable development offer but two of many compelling grounds for action. The promotion of women in Africa's development is a cross-cutting theme in ECA's programme strategies.

The subprogramme for Promoting the advancement of women has the following objectives:

16. These objectives will be achieved through awareness raising, through research, technical assistance, use of public fora, and by facilitating networking and dialogue between policy-makers, community leaders, business leaders and women leaders and associations. Emphasis will be placed on the promotion of policies and strategies as well as the development and implementation in collaboration with relevant national, regional and international institutions, of projects in research and training for the advancement of women. The subprogramme will also monitor the implementation of the regional and global platforms for Action including the Beijing Declaration (1995) as adopted in Dakar (1994).

17. The programme area for Supporting subregional activities for development is to be implemented at the subregional level throgh the five Subregional Development Centres. Its goals are to:

IV. PROGRAMME FOCUS FOR SRDC-SA

18. The programme activites will be carried out under the following categories of services:

19. The scope of work will include:

(ii) Facilitating networking and information exchange among governments, civil society and the private sector

20. The scope of work includes the establishment and maintenance of an electronic information exchange network of Southern African economic and social development experts, civil society organizations, IGOs, private sector organizations and major corporations; and organization of fora on important relevant issues bringing together public, civil society and private sector development partners from across the region.

21. Analytical studies on development issues underpin ECA's contributions to the formulation of development policies in Africa. Technical publications are intended to present results of research and analytical studies in priority areas carried out by ECA. The studies form the basis for formulation of policy options for consideration by the member States at various fora. The following publications are expected to be produced in 1999:

22. Policy Seminars will be organized for senior national policy makers, leading economic and social development experts, representatives of civil society and the private sector, bilateral and multilateral agencies, etc., on:

23. The activities in this category will be supported by the establishment and maintenance of an electronic information exchange network (through SADIS) of economic and social development experts, civil society organizations, private sector organizations and major corporations and IGOs in the Southern African SRDC subregion.

24. In close collaboration with UNDP, United nations Resident Coordinators and other agencies of the United Nations system and specialized agencies, the scope of work will include supporting the Country Strategy Note process of Southern African countries under the joint leadership of member State governments and United Nations Resident Coordinators; providing coordination services to United Nations system agencies' multicountry operational programmes; and organization of capacity building programmes.

25. In collaboration and liaison with UNDP and the United Nations Resident Coordinator system at the national level, coordination level, coordination and cooperation with the United Nations agencies, specialized agencies (including Breton Woods institutions) and bilateral development agencies, for the operational programmes within the subregion to organize seminars of capacity building programmes on:

27. The scope of work will include dissemination of ECA publications; gathering data on key economic and social variables pertinent to the development of the subregion and transmitting to the ECA substantive subprogrammes; substantive contributions to ECA's analytical and empirical research activities related to economic, social and environmental issues of the subregion; and issemination of the Commission's findings and major publications in the subregion.

V. EXPECTED IMPACT

26. The target beneficiaries are the people of the subregion. The impact of the programme of the SRDC on the people in the subregion will be evident in the outcome of policies adopted and implemented as a result of its activities to promote regional cooperation and integration. These will be evident in programmes for facilitating inter-African movement of people, goods and information, regional food security, gender equity, minerals and energy development as well as population policies. Another impact will be in the capacity developed in the subregion.

27. The key challenges for this subprogramme are to support the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in accelerating regional integration, strengthen and deepen the outreach of ECA activities, and foster policy dialogue and information dissemination in the subregion. Thus, it is expected that at the end of the Plan period, the subprogramme would have contributed to strengthening the capacities of the RECs through improvements in self-financing and managerial expertise; expanded the network of the development community that uses the Commission's services; and increased the scope and fora for policy dialogue and the sharing of experience on development issues at the subregional level.

VI. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

28. The role of member States and the RECs should be emphasized as a prerequisite to successful implementation of the priority concerns for the subregion. Regular consultations will have to be conducted in the countries in order to accurately define the priority areas, since relevance comes from knowing the client.

29. An interactive process is envisaged in the programme formulation: joint programming with the Regional Economic Communities; and collaboration with these organizations in providing advisory services to the member States. Expertise available at the national and regional Centres of Excellence and organizations will be tapped for implementation of specific activities through targeted short-term assignments.

30. The staff of the Centre constitute one team, with the Director as Programme Manager and Team Leader. Task Managers and Focal Points will be designated for delivery of specific thematic outputs and activities. Fifty percent of the time resources will be reserved for operational activities.

31. The outputs will be subject to regular review by the team. Terms of reference or briefs have been prepared for each output, outlining the objective, justification, methodology, resource requirements and time frame for all activities leading to the production of the output. All draft reports will be subject to peer review before finalization and dissemination.

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