Programme

The Economic Development and NEPAD Division (EDND) promotes economic and social development in Africa by strengthening the capacity of member States to develop and implement strategies for rapid and sustainable growth, employment creation and poverty eradication.

EDND conducts extensive research and analytical work that underpins the technical support it provides to member States.  It has a strong emphasis on knowledge sharing and advocacy and has built strong knowledge networks and peer learning groups. 

It produces several policy-oriented publications annually and organizes conferences and workshops for knowledge sharing and dissemination.

The Division also has strategic partnerships with regional and subregional institutions, including the African Union (AU), the African Development Bank and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs); and works closely with non governmental organizations, universities and research institutions. 

EDND’s main focus areas are macroeconomic analysis; development finance, investment and industry; NEPAD; MDGs and LDCs.


Expected Accomplishments

  • Enhanced capacity of member States to mainstream and integrate macroeconomic and sectoral policies in national development strategies to achieve faster growth for poverty reduction and sustainable development, including the Millennium Development Goals.
  • Enhanced capacity of member States to analyse, formulate and implement appropriate policies and strategies to address the challenges of globalization, including a better understanding of the implications of South-South cooperation for Africa’s development.
  • Enhanced national and regional capacity to design, implement and monitor social policies and programmes for accelerating progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and for effective delivery of social services.
  • Enhanced coherence, coordination and cooperation among United Nations agencies in support of the implementation of NEPAD at the regional level.
  • Enhanced cooperation among United Nations agencies and the regional economic communities in support of the implementation of NEPAD programmes at the subregional level.

Outputs

  • Servicing of intergovernmental and expert bodies
  • Substantive servicing of meetings
      • Annual session of the regional coordination mechanism (RCM) of United Nations agencies and organizations working in Africa in support of the implementation of NEPAD (2010 and 2011).
      • Functional support to enhanced cooperation among UN agencies at the subregional level.
  • Parliamentary documentations
      • Reports to the Conference of Ministers on recent economic and social developments in Africa (2010 and 2011)
      • Reports to the annual session of the Regional Coordination Mechanism of United Nations agencies and organizations working in Africa in support of the African Union and its NEPAD programme (2010 and 2011).
      • Reports to the ministerial session of ECA subregional offices on United Nations system-wide support to the AU and for the implementation of NEPAD at the subregional level (2010 and 2001).
  • Ad hoc expert groups
      • Africa and the establishment of a new international financial architecture: challenges and opportunities (2010).
      • External review of the Economic Report on Africa (2010 and 2011).
      • Industrial policies for the structural transformation of African economies (2010).
      • Harnessing knowledge to achieve the MDGs in Africa (2010).
      • Strengthening the United Nations Regional Coordination Mechanism and its cluster system for effective United Nations support for the vision and priorities of the African Union and its NEPAD programme (2010).
  • Assistance to representatives and raporteurs
      • Regional meeting of the African LDCs in preparation for the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs (2010).
  • Other substantive activities
  • Recurrent publications
      • Economic Report on Africa (2010 and 2011).
      • Annual report on the MDGs and poverty reduction strategies in Africa (2010 and 2011).
  • Non-recurrent publications
      • Enhancing employment and growth in Africa through South-South cooperation (2011).
      • Fiscal and monetary policy reforms and growth performance for poverty reduction in Africa: best practices and lessons learned (2011).
      • Industrial policy for structural transformation in Africa: options and best practices (2010).
      • Position papers and policy briefs on emerging issues and challenges of relevance to Africa’s development (2010 and 2011).
      • Selected policy issues related to financing for development, including measures to promote cooperation (2010).
      • Study on the reform of the international financial architecture and the policy implications for Africa (2010).
      • Harnessing knowledge to achieve the MDGs in Africa (2010).
      • Local-level participation and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (2010).
      • Enhancing coherence and coordination among United Nations agencies and organizations working in Africa in support of the implementation of the United Nations/African Union cooperation programme and NEPAD (2010).
      • MDGs-sensitive economic model for selected African countries.
  • Booklets, fact sheets, wall charts, information kits
    • Promotional materials highlighting best practices as well as effective joint projects and programmes in support of the African Union and the implementation of NEPAD (2010 and 2011).
  • Technical material
      • Toolkits to mainstream and integrate macroeconomic and sectoral policies in national development strategies (2011).
      • Millennium Development Goals mapper.
      • Training manual on poverty reduction strategies consistent with the Millennium Development Goals.
      • Development and maintenance of e-discussions among United Nations thematic clusters on NEPAD in order to improve intra cluster dialogue and facilitate cross-sectoral programming and implementation within clusters (2010 and 2011).
      • Maintenance of a website on United Nations system-wide support to AU and NEPAD: United Nations agencies working in Africa  (2010 and 2011).
  • Substantive servicing of inter-agency meetings
      • Forecasts of major African countries for Project LINK (2010 and 2011).
      • Functional support for meetings of the nine United Nations thematic clusters of the regional coordination mechanism in support of NEPAD (2010 and 2011).
  • Contribution to joint outputs
      • Functional support to the joint African Union-ECA United Nations Industrial Development Organization Conference of African Ministers of Industry (2010).
      • Input papers to World Economic Situation and Prospects (2010 and 2011).
      • Contribution to African Economic Outlook (2010 and 2011).
      • Functional support for meetings organized within the context of enhancing United Nations/African Union cooperation: framework for the 10 year capacity-building programme for the African Union (2010 and 2011).
  • Special events
      • Regional forum on financing for development (2011).
  • Technical cooperation
  • Advisory services
      • Advancing the NEPAD programme and action plans (2010 and 2011).
      • Implementation of United Nations/African Union cooperation within the framework of the 10-year capacity-building programme for the African Union (2010 and 2011).
      • Support to the African Peer Review Mechanism countries in the implementation of national programmes of action (2010 and 2011).
      • Poverty reduction strategies consistent with the MDGs
  • Training courses, seminars and workshops
      • Seminar on enhancing industrial policy formulation and management (2011).
      • Symposiums on joint AfDB/ECA Annual Conference of African Economists (2010 and 2011).
      • Advocacy and outreach activities for NEPAD in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, the Department of Public Information, the United Nations Development Programme, the NEPAD secretariat and the regional economic communities (2010).
      • Development, implementation and appraisal of concrete projects and programmes in support to the implementation of the NEPAD programme/action plans (one for French speaking countries and one for English speaking countries)
  • Fellowships and grants
      • Visiting scholars, fellows and interns to support the work of ECA in various areas, including poverty reduction.(2010 and 2011).
  • Field projects
      • Application of toolkits and models for strengthening capacity for macroeconomic analysis and forecasting in Africa.
      • Enhancing knowledge-sharing on poverty reduction strategies and the MDGs through the African Learning Group on the Poverty Reduction Strategies and Millennium Development Goals.