Seventeenth meeting of the Technical Thirty-first session of the Commission/ Preparatory Committee of the twenty-second meeting of the Conference Whole of Ministers

Issues from subsidiary Organs and Sectoral Bodies Calling for action by the Conference of Ministers

E/ECA/CM.22/11
9 April 1996

1. This document contains resolutions and recommendations brought to the attention of the Commission for consideration, adoption or information, which have been adopted by its subsidiary organs since its last session, and which are not otherwise the subject of separate items on the agenda of the present meeting.

I. ISSUES CALLING FOR ACTION BY THE COMMISSION

2. The following are resolutions and recommendations adopted by subsidiary organs of the Commission, which are brought to the attention of the Conference of Ministers for consideration and adoption.

A. Twelfth meeting of the Conference of African Ministers of Industry⁽¹⁾

1. Implementation of the programme for the second

Industrial Development Decade for Africa (1993- 2002)

The Conference of African Ministers of Industry, at its twelfth meeting in Gaborone, Botswana, from 6 to 8 June 1995,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 47/177 and 49/107 on the adoption of the programme for the second Industrial Development Decade for Africa and the call made therein to the African countries and international community to take concrete steps to ensure the full and successful implementation of the programme,

Recalling further Economic and Social Council resolutions 1993/65 and 1994/41 on the implementa-tion of the programme for the second Industrial Development Decade for Africa which, inter alia, urged African countries to give priority to the mobilization of their own financial resources and invited Africa's development partners and development finance institutions to contribute the financial and technical resources for the implementation of the programme for the second Decade,

Recalling the Mauritius Declaration on Africa's accelerated industrial recovery and development in the context of the second Industrial Development for Africa (1993-2002) and beyond,

Recalling further the Yaoundé Declaration and resolution GC5/Res.20, which were adopted by the fifth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization which had accorded high priority to the industrialization of Africa and to the realization of the objectives of the second Decade,

Mindful of the Economic Commission for Africa resolutions 780 (XXIX) of 4 May 1994 on the implementation of the programme of the second Decade, 781 (XXIX) of 4 May 1994 on the development of the private sector for the accelerated implementation of the programme for the second Decade and 782 (XXIX) of 4 May 1994 on the development of basic industries for the structural transformation of African economies,

Reaffirming the primary responsibilities of the African countries in the implementation of the pro-gramme for the second Decade and the need for mobilization of their own resources and for substantial flow of technical and financial resources from the international community towards the industrialization of Africa,

1. Appeals to all African countries and to African intergovernmental organizations to take con-crete measures and actions to ensure full implementation of their national and subregional programmes for the second Industrial Development Decade for Africa;

2. Calls upon African countries which have not yet done so to revise and concretize their national programmes determining, in cooperation with the private sector, concrete industrial projects for implementation as well as to prepare action-oriented plans for their realization and implementation, including the establishment of corresponding institutions for their implementation;

3. Further calls upon African countries to include the programme of the second Decade in their respective national plans and to set up their national follow-up committees if they have not done so;

4. Specifically urges international development finance institutions, particularly the World Bank, the Arab Bank for the Economic Development of Africa, the African Development Bank and African subregional banks and funds to allocate substantial resources to the implementation of the programme of the second Decade at the national and subregional levels;

5. Further calls upon African States to take concrete policy, institutional and other measures to ensure implementation of a sustainable industrial development through the second Decade programme by, among others, the promotion of the cleaner production approach to industrial project investments and of the application of the environmental impact assessment to industrial project investments proposed in the second Decade programme;

6. Decides to dissolve the functions of the Committee of Ten and requests the joint secretariat to assist the bureau of the Conference of African Ministers of Industry and the Decade national committees to follow up the implementation of the second Industrial Development Decade for Africa;

7. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity to undertake concrete follow-up actions for the promotion of the second Decade at the international level;

8. Adopts the mobilization of financial resources and the promotion of small and medium enter-prises/small and medium industries as themes for 1996 and 1997 for Africa Industrialization Day;

9. Appeals to the General Assembly to allocate increased resources to the Commission to enable it to support African countries in their efforts towards the implementation of the second Decade;

10. Calls upon African countries to take concrete policy, institutional and other measures to ensure successful implementation of their national Decade programmes, particularly the establishment of an enabling environment to ensure active participation of the private sector in the implementation of the pro-gramme as well as the attraction of investments in identified industrial projects;

11. Requests African countries, the Commission, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Organization of African Unity to undertake in 1997 a mid-term evaluation of the imple-mentation of the programme for the second Decade at national, subregional and regional levels and prepare country, subregional and regional reports to the Conference at its next meeting;

12. Also requests the Executive Secretary of the Commission and the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to accord high priority in organizing subregional and national investment forms as well as utilization of African consultants in their activities related to the second Decade;

13. Further requests the Commission and the United Nations Industrial Development Organiza-tion to hold subregional meetings on revision, concretization, evaluation and assessment of the respective programmes for the second Decade and to elaborate the action plans for their implementation;

14. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Commission and the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to report jointly on the implementation of the present resolution to the Conference of African Ministers of Industry at its next meeting.

2. Mobilization of resources for industrialization in Africa

The Conference of African Ministers of Industry, at its twelfth meeting in Gaborone, Botswana, from 6 to 8 June 1995,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 47/177 of 22 December 1992 adopting the programme for the second Industrial Development Decade for Africa,

Recalling also resolution GC5/Res.12 and the Yaoundé Declaration adopted by the fifth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, as well as the conclu-sions and recommendations of the second Ministerial Symposium on Industrialization of Least Developed Countries,

Recalling further resolution 2 (XI) adopted at its eleventh meeting on the development of the private sector for the accelerated implementation of the programme for the second Decade and beyond,

Bearing in mind the major objectives of its mandate in accelerating the pace of industrialization in the region through the harmonization of industrial policies and strategies of member States and of relevant intergovernmental organizations as well as ensuring the building and utilization of critical capacities in Africa,

Conscious of the central role of industrialization in the socio-economic transformation of Africa,

Considering the new international environment characterized by Uruguay Round Agreements that led to the creation of the World Trade Organization,

Also considering the paucity of domestic savings which compelled African countries to create an enabling environment for foreign investments,

Considering further the guarantee of intellectual property rights as one of the basic prerequisites required by the private investors to mobilize resources for industries,

1. Takes note of document CAMI.12/8/ICE/1995/8 entitled "Mobilization of financial resources for the implementation of the programme for the second Industrial Development Decade for Africa";

2. Also takes note of document CAMI.12/9/ICE/1995/9 entitled "Development of human resources for industrialization in Africa";

3. Expresses concern about the adverse impact of mounting external debt, collapse of commodity prices and decreases in resources flow to Africa;

4. Calls upon African countries to persevere in their efforts to create and maintain an enabling environment for private sector development and the growth of private capital inflows, especially in produc-tive activities through the institution of the necessary macroeconomic framework which would emphasize improving infrastructural and human resources development capacities;

5. Further calls upon African Governments to create an enabling environment for domestic resources mobilization;

6. Invites Africa's development partners to extend every necessary support for improving invest-ment conditions for both domestic and foreign investors through increasing the flow of official development assistance resources, implementing comprehensive debt-relief programmes, supporting the efforts of African countries to improve and enhance their financial intermediation capabilities, upgrading infrastructure and participating actively in the promotional activities of African countries;

7. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the President of the African Development Bank and the World Bank Group to continue provid-ing African countries with the technical and financial assistance they need to promote the private sector and private investment;

8. Calls upon African member States and regional/subregional organizations to pay particular attention and accord priority to the development of industrial skills, particularly technological, engineering and entrepreneurial capabilities, in national human resource development programmes and to ensure that adequate resources are earmarked for that purpose in national budgets as well as in the technical cooperation programmes of the United Nations Development Programme and other multilateral and bilateral funding agencies;

9. Urges African States to pay particular attention to human resources development support institutions and to find ways and means of strengthening research/development and training institutions such as the African Regional Centre for Engineering, Design and Manufacturing, the African Regional Centre for Technology and the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning;

10. Calls upon the Commission, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and other international organizations to continue helping African countries in their research/development and training activities by providing technical and financial assistance to subregional and regional institutions such as the African Regional Centre for Engineering, Design and Manufacturing, the African Regional Centre for Technology and the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning;

11. Further calls upon the Commission and other relevant international organizations, particularly the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Labour organization to continue to accord high priority to the development of human resources and entrepreneurial capabilities in their technical cooperation and other activities in Africa;

12. Requests the secretariats of the Commission, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Organization of African Unity to take necessary measures with a view to establishing an information network on African industrial training institutions;

13. Further urges African Governments to formulate policies geared towards increasing the parti-cipation of women in industrial development;

14. Requests African member States and the private sector to institute incentive measures to check Africa's brain-drain and to use and manage local skills rationally;

15. Calls upon African Governments to obtain, with the assistance of intellectual property regional offices, adequate facilities for the use of intellectual property as a tool for industrial development and for attracting private investments in industries; meeting the needs of the economic operators through technical information and the promotion of inventions and technological culture and enhancing the negotiat-ing capacity of African countries regarding contracts on technology;

16. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Commission and the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, in cooperation with the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, to undertake follow-up actions for the mobilization of resources at national, subregional and regional levels for industrialization in Africa and jointly submit a biennial report on the matter to the Conference of African Ministers of Industry.

3. Enhancement of women's contribution to the implementation of the programme

for the second United Nations Industrial Development Decade for Africa (1993-2002)

The Conference of African Ministers of Industry, at its twelfth meeting in Gaborone, Botswana, from 6 to 8 June 1995,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 47/177 of 22 December 1992 adopting the programme of the second Industrial Development Decade for Africa,

Aware of the need to mobilize African men and women in order to achieve the objectives of the Decade,

Considering the ingenious strategies adopted by women and which enable African families, com-munities and nations to survive the acute economic crisis caused by indebtedness, structural adjustment and currency devaluation,

Recalling the African Common Position on Women adopted at the fifth African Regional Conference on Women held in Dakar, Senegal in November 1994 in preparation for the fourth World Conference on Women to be held in Beijing, China, in September 1995,

Noting that women account for 52 per cent of the continent's human resources,

1. Calls upon African Governments and socio-economic partners to:

(a) Remove the socio-cultural constraints which impede the full involvement of women in the development of Africa;

(b) Sensitize policy, financial and technical decision makers to gender issues in industrial development;

(c) Ensure greater consistency between policy statements and the actual measures taken to promote women in the private sector in Africa;

(d) Incorporate in the industrial policies and strategies of countries, subregional, regional and international organizations strategies and plans of action that address the specific requirements and interests of women;

(e) Recognize and enhance the role of women as producers whose inputs should be con-sidered in national accounting statistics and rewarded with fair remuneration;

(f) Promote access to education including initiation to entrepreneurship, right from the elementary level and the granting of science and technology scholarships to young girls at the secondary and tertiary levels;

(g) Increase short- and long-term training workshops in business creation, management and new technologies;

(h) Facilitate business creation by providing women with information, putting in place technical assistance structures and providing funds for the preparation of project documentation and access to credit;

(i) Promote new services geared to relieving the dual family and professional burden on women working in the industrial sector as business promoters or hired labour;

(j) Strengthen the organizational initiatives of women such as national, subregional and regional associations of women entrepreneurs;

2. Calls upon the international organizations, particularly the United Nations Industrial Develop-ment Organization, the Economic Commission for Africa and the Organization of African Unity to provide support to African countries in their efforts for the promotion of women.

4. African Common Position for the sixth session of the

General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization

The Conference of African Ministers of Industry, at its twelfth meeting in Gaborone, Botswana, from 6 to 8 June 1995,

Recalling Industrial Development Board decision IDB.10/19 adopting the provisional agenda for the sixth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and addi-tional items and underscoring the need for African countries to prepare carefully for this session,

Bearing in mind the Cairo Agenda for Action adopted by the Organization of African Unity at the seventeenth extraordinary session of its Council of Ministers,

Concerned by the adverse effects of the persistent world economic crisis on the fragile economies of African countries compounded by increasing external indebtedness, the collapse of commodity prices and the reduction, in real terms, of resource flows to Africa,

Taking into account the political, economic and social changes which have taken place in the world, particularly the creation of the World Trade Organization,

Determined to ensure that the industrial sector contributes effectively to the economic recovery, sustainable development and integration of Africa which is the least industrialized continent having the largest number of least developed countries,

Underscoring the importance of the sixth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization as the proper forum for promoting international cooperation for the industrialization and structural transformation of African economies,

Conscious of the need to strengthen and enhance the capacity of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization so as to enable it to continue responding effectively to the needs of African countries,

1. Adopts the attached African Common Position for the sixth session of the General Con-ference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization;

2. Expresses its strong support to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization which has a crucial role to play in support of African industrialization and expresses its deep concern at the serious threats to this Organization which should be otherwise reinforced and adequately financed;

3. Requests the Chairman of the twelfth meeting of the Conference of African Ministers of Industry to organize in Vienna a preparatory meeting of African delegations before the opening of the sixth session of the General Conference;

4. Exhorts all African countries to participate actively in the sixth session of the General Conference with a view to securing the adoption of the African Common Position;

5. Requests the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and the Executive Secre-tary of the Economic Commission for Africa to provide the necessary assistance to African delegations attending the sixth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization;

6. Further requests the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to transmit the report on the twelfth meeting of the Conference of African Ministers of Industry, including the African Common Position, to all member States of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and to submit it as an official document to the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, at its sixth session.

B. African Regional Conference on Science and Technology⁽²⁾

The African Regional Conference on Science and Technology,

Reaffirming its belief in the strategic role and vital contribution of science and technology in the con-tinued activation or acceleration of economic growth and development of African countries,

Recalling the objectives of the Conference, in particular (a) to pursue actively the promotion of science and technology and the formulation of measures to ensure their application to national, subregional and regional development; (b) to give special consideration in its activities to the needs of the least developed member States and to the application and impact of new and emerging technologies,

Recognizing its mandate as an intergovernmental institution dedicated to assist and advise the Economic Commission for Africa in formulating and executing strategies, policies and programmes to stimu-late scientific progress and technological innovation on the African continent,

Recognizing further its role in the strengthening of regional and subregional cooperation and inte-gration in the field of science and technology,

Acknowledging that the international environment has changed appreciably during the last few years and that science and technology policies in Africa need to be revamped or adapted to the emerging new context and challenges of the twenty-first century,

Realizing the need to formulate a new vision of Africa as a full and integrated partner in world development,

Bearing in mind the remarkable success of some Asian countries in the field of technological and economic progress and industrial competitiveness, success that can be a source of inspiration and encourage-ment for African countries,

Reaffirming that capacity-building in science and technology for development in Africa should remain one of the top priority issues on the agenda of the Economic Commission for Africa,

Stressing the need for African countries to promote and facilitate access to and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies and know-how,

Noting with concern the diminishing level of development aid and technical assistance in Africa, the short-term negative impacts of the new Uruguay Round/General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the low level of international commercial credit and investment in Africa,

Understanding the imperative for African countries to increase the level of investment in technolo-gical application and utilization substantially in order to achieve a growth rate that will enable them to break out of poverty,

Mindful of the need for African countries to depart from protective and inward-looking policies and promote mechanisms that will increase substantially the level of financing for technological development and economic growth,

Noting that to increase the contribution of science and technology and stimulate economic growth, African countries need to pursue economic reforms with more vigour and put into place an enabling environ-ment,

Noting further that a more proactive approach to science and technology development is needed, especially its inextricable link to industrialization,

1. Resolves that member States should:

(a) Participate actively and at the highest level of decision-making, including ministerial, in the work of the Conference, ensure its continuity and take steps to implement its resolutions and recommenda-tions;

(b) Set up or review their science and technology policy and machinery and translate these policies into appropriate legislation for their effective application, in line with the new international context characterized, among other things, by a decline of official development aid and technical assistance, high indebtedness, a new trade and investment regime, a greater role of the private sector and private finance, the expansion of market economies, increased economic liberalization, interdependence and globalization;

(i) fundamental market incentives (free competition, private property, openness to the global economy, reduced bureaucracy);

(ii) institutional and infrastructural incentives (information, communication, technology incubation, transfer, extension, diffusion, popularization, networking, export pro-cessing zone);

(iii) financial incentives (venture capital, small credit, etc.);

(iv) fiscal incentives (tax exemptions, rebates, reliefs, holidays, accelerated deprecia-tion);

(v) budgetary incentives (modernization grants, investment allowances, etc.);

(vi) legal and regulatory incentives (property rights, technological standards);

(vii) public procurement incentives;

(viii) honorific incentives (prizes, awards); and

(ix) knowledge base incentives (scholarships, encouragement to girls, apprenticeship, sabbatical leaves, study tours, participation in seminars, consultancies, etc.);

(d) Strengthen their technological and financing capacity through, among other things, the use of foreign direct investment which can be attracted by putting in place:

(i) a stable democracy;

(ii) a competitive policy regime that is transparent, predictable and efficiently administered, including trade policy, investment policy, immigration policy, industrial and labour policy and patents and intellectual property policies;

(iv) an adequate physical infrastructure, particularly in transport and communications;

(iv) a reliable network of suppliers;

(v) a sound, diversified and dynamic financial system;

(vi) a good array of technological support services, such as technical training facilities, extension services, standards, metrology and quality control, science and technology information services (data bases and full Internet connectivity);

(e) Accelerate technology acquisition, absorption and assimilation by:

(i) formulating a clear policy statement on technology transfer to be approved by the highest governmental authorities;

(ii) initiating measures to strengthen manpower training in various aspects of technology transfer;

(iii) designing competitive laws, regulations and guidelines to facilitate the transfer and acquisition of environmentally sound, culturally compatible, socially beneficial, economically profitable and sustainable technologies;

(iv) reducing cultural and political constraints to technology transfer and development, and promoting values of change, openness, self-reliance, initiative, entrepreneurship, freedom and stability;

(f) Create a strong governmental unit to:

(i) design and manage a more discriminating technology transfer and acquisition policy in the direction of the national objectives;

(ii) carry out technology assessment and forecasting;

(iii) support entrepreneurs in their foreign technology transactions;

(iv) advise the government on issues of technology transfer;

(v) evolve concerted and harmonized subregional technology transfer and acquisition policies to make optimal use of resources and enhance a common stand when competing for foreign acquisition of technology;

(vi) ensure the proper use of resources;

(g) Put into place an enabling environment by redoubling their efforts in capacity building so as to be better able to apply international technologies by pursuing structural economic reforms so that they can be more appealing on the international scene, better absorb needed technologies, better exploit techno-logical complementarities among themselves and participate more in the regional and global economy;

(h) Implement urgently policies to "contain" brain-drain and benefit from African nationals working abroad;

(i) Take steps to implement the protocol on science and technology of the African Economic Community by:

(i) strengthening their scientific and technological capabilities through programmes aiming at the proper application of science and technology;

(ii) improving existing facilities and developing institutional capabilities for the development, management, utilization and popularization of new and traditional technologies;

(iii) promoting cooperation in all aspects of fostering the application of science and technology for the development, the acquisition and assimilation of technology and its adaptation to local conditions; and

(iv) strengthening national, subregional and regional scientific and technological insti-tutions and associations;

(j) Strengthen the acquisition and application of nuclear science and technology in order to improve water resources management, environmental protection, energy requirement, food and agriculture, radiation protection and safety, animal production, human and animal health and quality control and other uses in industry and, to this effect, support the membership of African countries in the International Atomic Energy Agency and the regional cooperation agreement on research, development and training in the field of nuclear science and technology and their participation in the regional programme for Africa and the Working Group on Nuclear Science and Technology of the Economic Commission for Africa, while ensuring complementarity of efforts in the various cooperative frameworks;

(k) Build and periodically update a series of science and technology indicators in order to pro-vide useful information in the design of science and technology policies and to monitor the scientific and technological progress;

(l) Pay special attention to and empower women through their participation in science and technology activities in order to increase productivity and accelerate the process of development;

(m) Intensify the teaching of mathematics, science and technology at primary and secondary levels through appropriate reform of curricula;

(n) Attach more importance to cooperation and collaboration with:

(i) the Economic Commission for Africa, the Organization of African Unity and the African Development Bank in the field of science and technology, including the implementation of the Protocol on Science and Technology of the African Economic Community;

(ii) other intergovernmental and non-governmental technological organizations, including the African Regional Centre for Engineering, Design and Manufacturing, the African Regional Centre for Technology, the African Regional Organization for Standardization, the African Agency for Bio-technology, the African Regional Industrial Property Organization and the African Intellectual Property Organization;

2. Further resolves:

(a) To create five subregional conferences on science and technology, with flexible membership, to:

(i) foster subregional cooperation and integration in science and technology;

(ii) formulate subregional policies taking into account comparative advantages and complementarities of member States;

(iii) design and implement subregional projects; and

(iv) collaborate in the strengthening of subregional capacity in science and technology;

(v) create sectoral working groups, embracing networking and including one sectoral working group on scientific and technological parks and one sectoral working group on nuclear science and technology;

(b) To give full support to the Commission's activities in science and technology in order to assist member States in incorporating science and technology into their socio-economic development for food security, poverty alleviation and enhanced quality of life, including:

(i) the provision of sample legislation for the implementation of science and technology policies;

(ii) the promotion of measures to enhance entrepreneurial capacity to exploit science and technology;

(iii) the development of science and technology popularization programmes through the mass media;

(iv) the formulation of science and technology policy options for Africa for the twenty-first century; and

(v) the delivery of advisory services to member States on various aspects of science and technology development and application;

(c) To call upon the organizations of the United Nations system to intensify their cooperation with the Commission and assistance to African countries and organizations in promoting the development of science and technology on the continent;

(d) To call upon and support the Commission in its search for funds for the execution of extra-budgetary projects in the priority areas identified by the Conference;

(e) To recommend an amendment to its terms of reference, item (d), to include special attention to the needs of women and children;

(f) That this resolution be submitted to the next meeting of the Conference of Ministers respon-sible for economic and social development and planning for onward transmission to the Heads of State and Government for appropriate action.

C. First Regional Conference of African Ministers responsible for

the Development and Utilization of Mineral Resources and Energy⁽³⁾

1. Promotion of mineral resources development and utilization in Africa

The Conference of African Ministers responsible for the Development and Utilization of Mineral Resources and Energy, in its bid to encourage the development of mineral resources so that they contribute to the socio-economic development of African countries,

Taking into account the overall objective of the Conference, which is to promote cooperation among African countries in mineral and energy resources development and utilization in the continent and the under-lying theme of the Conference "Policies, strategies and programmes for the enhanced contribution of minerals and energy industries to the socio-economic development of Africa",

Aware of the low rate of implementation of the recommendations/resolutions of the Conference by all the parties involved in the development and utilization of mineral resources in Africa, and recognizing the need to improve the situation,

Noting with concern the paradox existing between the wealth of the continent in terms of mineral resources and the poor socio-economic conditions of the African peoples,

Taking further into account the African Governments' willingness to place the welfare of their people at the centre of sustainable development and that all African States and all African people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development,

Noting that entrepreneurship in many African countries is in its infancy or lacks adequate means to contribute effectively to the development and utilization of mineral and energy resources in Africa,

Recognizing the poor state of development of the African minerals processing industries and the need to strengthen the African countries capabilities and capacities to fully develop their mineral resources,

Recognizing also the important role of private sector participation in the development of the region's mineral resources,

Taking into consideration the importance of small-scale mining for the socio-economic development of African people, especially in rural areas, and aware of the need to improve that sector,

Highly appreciative of the efforts made by member States to strengthen cooperation among them-selves in the field of minerals development and utilization and also recognizing the need to devise mechanisms for the enhancement of such cooperation,

Further recognizing that African Governments, the United Nations system and other international and intergovernmental organizations and institutions, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and other groups are important actors in the process of sustainable development,

1. Requests the Economic Commission for Africa to carry out studies on selected minerals with a view to providing member States with information and data which could be used during the process of the establishment of their mineral development policies, strategies and programmes;

2. Calls upon member States to put in place policies, strategies, incentives and instruments (such as capital markets, special funds for research, etc.) to encourage especially local entrepreneurs to participate more effectively in the development of mineral resources;

3. Urges member States to adopt policies which will encourage further processing of their minerals in order to derive greater benefits out of added value with other associated benefits such as employment creation and more intensive use of minerals;

4. Recommends that the Commission should carry out studies on:

(a) Privatization as it impinges on the development of the minerals industries in Africa; and

(b) African macroeconomic frameworks as they affect the performance of the minerals industries of the continent;

5. Recommends that member States should place emphasis on the establishment of national elec-tronic databases on mineral resources development and utilization with a view to linking them in the future in order to facilitate easy access to each other's information and data on mineral commodities;

6. Requests the Commission to carry out studies on the standardization of formats of the electronic databases in order to make networking possible and compatible;

7. Also requests the Commission to commission a team of experts to carry out a study on the various models and necessary instruments for the promotion of small-scale mining;

8. Further requests the Commission, in cooperation with the Organization of African Unity, to convene a meeting of subregional economic groupings with a view to discussing and agreeing on the creation within these groupings of mechanisms that cater for cooperation in minerals sectors;

9. Urges member States to harmonize and coordinate regionally supportive mineral development policies, strategies and programmes;

10. Recommends that the Commission, in cooperation with the African Development Bank, should continue, on recurrent basis, the compilation of the directory of African experts in minerals and energy sectors;

11. Proposes that a decade be proclaimed for the development of minerals industries in Africa, and in this regard, recommends that the Commission, in collaboration with the Organization of African Unity, member States, relevant international organizations, African intergovernmental institutions and other institutions to establish a programme for the decade to be submitted for consideration by the next session of the Regional Conference;

12. Calls upon the United Nations Secretary-General to take all necessary steps to strengthen the Commission's department responsible for mineral resources development and utilization by providing adequate financial and human resources in order to enable this agency to fulfil its mandate;

13. Also calls upon member States, the intergovernmental organizations and the Commission to pursue the implementation of recommendations/resolutions of the fifth Regional Conference, especially with regard to recommendations on the protection of environment against the adverse effects of mining, human resources development and intra-African subregional cooperation and integration in the field of mineral resources development and utilization;

14. Recommends that African countries should enhance their cooperation and integration in the field of mineral resources development by giving priority to multinational programmes and projects.

2. Promotion of energy resources development and utilization in Africa

The Conference of African Ministers responsible for the Development and Utilization of Mineral Resources and Energy,

Taking into account the overall objective of the Conference which is to formulate and promote policies, strategies and programmes for a greater contribution of mineral and energy resources to socio-economic development in Africa by the year 2020,

Taking further into account the fact that sustainable economic development is impossible without the rational utilization and development of energy resources on a sustainable basis,

Considering that Africa possesses considerable conventional and renewable energy resources and that energy resources to date have contributed little to development in general and rural development in particular in Africa,

Realizing that energy is a critical input for the development and transformation of rural areas where the majority of the Africa's population lives,

Further recognizing that governments, the private sector, non-governmental and other groups are important actors in the process of sustainable development of energy resources and considering the importance of reforms under way to optimize the role of these actors for the development of the sector,

Realizing that in order to achieve sustainable economic development and the transformation of rural communities, it is necessary to increase dramatically the level of energy services accessible to and to be enjoyed by all sections of society especially the poor,

Recognizing also that energy development should be geared for the alleviation of rural poverty by providing appropriate energy sources for productive economic activities,

Taking into consideration that the Lagos Plan of Action for the economic development of Africa, the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community and the resolutions of various conferences regarding the need for the coordination and the integration of energy activities at the subregional and regional levels,

Recognizing that sustainable development and exploitation of energy resources should take into account the preservation of the environment for Africa's future generations,

A. Policies and strategies

1. Recommends that African States should continue to formulate and implement coherent energy strategies and policies that will enhance greater contribution of energy to socio-economic development which emphasizes regional and subregional cooperation, drawing upon the valuable experiences gained in various subregional and regional institutions;

2. Urges African States to tailor their energy policies and strategies to meet the specific needs and aspirations of their populations for their economic betterment, especially of the rural populations;

3. Recommends that African States should establish energy conservation and efficiency pro-grammes as an important element of their energy policies and strategies;

4. Urges African States to establish appropriate legal, fiscal, financial incentives and establish appropriate credit mechanisms and physical infrastructure to facilitate access to energy by low-income consumers to meet their energy needs; and

5. Calls upon African States to pursue subregional and regional cooperation and interconnec-tions of their energy systems whenever and wherever viable;

B. Private sector participation and deregulation

6. Urges African States to initiate concrete actions which include, inter alia, sectoral reforms, and participation of the private sector by creating the necessary conducive and enabling environment for the optimal operation of the energy sector, in order to improve efficiency, production and supply of energy;

7. Urges African States to encourage sectoral reforms to allow their energy institutions greater autonomy in order to make them competitive;

C. Poverty alleviation

8. Urges African States to establish specialized government agencies to handle rural electrifica-tion and increase supply of energy;

9. Recommends that African States should develop their new and renewable energy resources for the alleviation of poverty and increasing productive activities;

10. Calls upon African States to initiate at the regional and subregional levels the local manu-facturing of turbines and generators for mini hydropower as well as the setting up of manufacturing plants for equipment to utilize renewable energy resources in order to increase access to energy in the rural areas and achieve sustainable rural electrification programmes;

11. Urges African countries to formulate innovative mechanisms for providing financial assistance to small- and medium-scale energy users in the industrial and agricultural sectors in accessing energy and the related equipment and appliances;

D. Cooperation and integration

12. Recommends that the African Energy Commission initially and provisionally should be estab-lished as a loose body serviced jointly by existing institutional capacity in the Economic Commission for Africa, the Organization of African Unity, the African Development Bank and the subregional economic groupings, until the time is opportune for the creation of the African Energy Commission;

13. Urges African States to promote solidarity through the development of regional cooperation, the exchange of experiences, the coordination of programmes and the exploitation of complementary energies which exist in most African subregions, together with the sharing of training and technology management;

14. Calls upon the Economic Commission for Africa and other African organizations to establish energy networks for the exchange of information on the development and utilization of energy resources in general and new and renewable energy resources in particular;

15. Requests the President of the African Development Bank to continue the implementation of the African energy programme and to strengthen the organ which is responsible for energy matters.

D. Conference of African Ministers responsible for Trade,

Regional Cooperation, Integration and Tourism⁽⁴⁾

1. Organization of a meeting on economic cooperation among developing countries/

technical cooperation among developing countries

The Conference of African Ministers responsible for Trade, Regional Cooperation, Integration and Tourism,

Recalling the extraordinary session of the Conference of African Ministers of Trade which met in Addis Ababa from 14 to 17 December 1990 and adopted the Strategies for Revitalization, Recovery and Growth of Africa's Trade in the 1990s and beyond,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 47/183 on the eighth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development,

Reaffirming the Buenos Aires Plan of Action on technical cooperation among developing countries of September 1978, the Caracas Action Plan on economic cooperation among developing countries of the Group of 77 of May 1981, the Teheran Declaration of the Group of 77 of November 1991, the Cartagena Commitment of February 1992, the Declaration of the sixteenth annual meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Group of 77 of October 1992, the Joint Communiqué of the third meeting of the Summit Level Group for South-South Consultations and Cooperation of November 1992,

Referring to the twelfth session of the Conference of African Ministers of Trade held in Tunis from 22 to 24 October 1993,

Mindful of the importance of South-South trade and cooperation,

Further convinced that with the internalization of production and financial markets, the rapid evolution of technology in global production and trade, the developing countries have no alternative to economic cooperation among developing countries/technical cooperation among developing countries to parti-cipate in the new international trading system effectively,

Noting that the developing countries have successfully established institutional arrangements to foster their economic cooperation,

Bearing in mind that many pronouncements in the past regarding institutional arrangements and meetings on economic cooperation among developing countries/technical cooperation among developing countries have so far failed to bring about the expected momentum in economic cooperation among develop-ing countries,

Mindful that the lack of coordination between development institutions, government agencies, the regional economic communities, subregional business organizations and the private economic operators from developing countries in the mobilization of locally available resources especially at a time when resources from developed countries are driven away from Africa;

Convinced that identification and implementation of substantial and concrete economic cooperation among developing countries/technical cooperation among developing countries programmes for development can meaningfully contribute to expansion of trade among developing countries,

1. Welcomes the proposal by the Economic Commission for Africa to organize a meeting bring-ing together United Nations regional commissions and relevant specialized agencies, development banks of developing countries, subregional economic communities and countries which are not yet member of any subregional economic community, business organizations, African regional and subregional specialized institutions, centres of excellence on South-South cooperation, research and scientific centres and other organizations and personalities concerned with economic cooperation among developing countries/technical cooperation among developing countries with a view to providing a framework of action and to identifying and formulating specific economic cooperation among developing countries/technical cooperation among developing countries projects as a significant breakthrough in the history of South-South cooperation and the best way forward out of the quagmire;

2. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to precede with the organization of the conference within a thoroughly worked out framework;

3. Further requests the Executive Secretary of the Commission to act as focal point and take lead in drawing up a work programme, associate other United Nations regional commissions, the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, the President of the African Development Bank as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in implementing this proposal;

4. Calls upon the Executive Secretary of the Commission to work out a programme of action carefully, including seminars and workshops so as to sensitize African officials on economic cooperation among developing countries/technical cooperation among developing countries programmes;

5. Invites the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, multilateral and bilateral donors to favourably consider financing the conference and related programmes;

6. Calls upon member States to participate fully in the launching of the proposed conference.

2. Eight-year intra-African trade development action plan

The Conference of African Ministers responsible for Trade, Regional Cooperation, Integration and Tourism,

Recalling the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community adopted by the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government in Abuja, Nigeria in June 1991,

Noting with concern the low level of intra-African trade,

Aware of the importance of intra-African trade in regional economic integration and of its role as the mainstay of Africa's development,

Further aware of the need for production and market diversification through increased investment levels and the building and utilization of adequate human, institutional and infrastructural capacities,

1. Endorses the Plan of Action for the development of intra-African trade as proposed by the Economic Commission for Africa;

2. Calls upon African countries to fully support and implement the eight-year Plan of Action for the development of intra-African trade;

3. Further calls upon the chief executives of regional business organizations: the Economic Commission for Africa, the Association of African Trade Promotion Organizations, the African Economic Community, the International Trade Centre, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, subregional economic groupings, the World Tourism Organization, the World Bank, national invest-ment and trade development centres and the African Development Bank to cooperate and coordinate efforts in the implementation of the Plan of Action;

4. Calls upon the United Nations Development Programme, multilateral and bilateral donor agencies to support the Plan of Action and provide resources for the funding of related programmes.

3. Implementation of the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community:

Strengthening regional economic communities; rationalization and

harmonization of the activities of regional and subregional communities

The Conference of African Ministers responsible for Trade, Regional Cooperation, Integration and Tourism,

Considering the entry into force on 12 May 1994 of the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community,

Further considering the urgent need for accelerating the integration process given the development challenges facing the continent in the context of the globalization of the world economy, the establishment and consolidation of regional and subregional economic blocs in the developed countries and the prospects provided by the outcome of the Uruguay Round Negotiations,

Recalling that the first phase of the implementation of the Abuja Treaty concerns the strengthening of the regional communities, considered as the building blocks and instruments for achieving the objectives of the African Economic Community,

Considering also that there is the need for rationalization of economic cooperation and integration in the subregional economic spaces as defined under the Abuja Treaty, and mindful of the inadequacy of financial resources required for the achievement of their objectives,

Noting the poor results so far realized by the process of rationalizing the institutional mechanisms of those economic cooperation and integration organizations,

Considering the need to remove the obstacles caused by the existence of several treaties within the same region, particularly in the area of trade liberalization,

Aware of the limitation of the system of direct contributions from the national budgets of member States as a means of financing the integration process, and of the need to render the integration process more credible and irreversible,

1. Stresses the need for every African country to become a member of a regional or subregional community;

2. Requests member States, the regional and subregional communities to:

(a) Urgently institute a programme for the rationalization and harmonization of community trade policies through the unification of trade liberalization instruments within each regional space, in particular those relating to:

(i) the elimination of tariff barriers;

(ii) rules of origin;

(iii) certificates of origin;

(iv) compensation mechanisms; and

(v) tariff and statistical nomenclatures;

(b) Sustain and strengthen the regional integration process by adopting appropriate measures for the institution of common external tariffs, domestic taxation and pricing policies susceptible of providing African products a competitive edge in their own markets;

(d) Design and implement self-financing mechanisms that will enable the regional and subre-gional communities to secure adequate and regular financing of the African economic integration process;

3. Further requests member States and the regional and subregional communities to design and implement appropriate activities for the harmonization of other sectoral integration policies;

4. Invites the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and the President of the African Development Bank to assist the regional and subregional communities in the implementation of the programme for the rationalization and the design of self-financing mechanisms for the integration process, in particular through the conduct of the required substantive studies;

5. Requests the United Nations Development Programme and other donors and funding agencies to contribute to the financing of studies and activities identified for the implementation of this programme;

6. Welcomes the progress made by some regional communities in the implementation of their programmes and exhorts them to speed up the integration process;

7. Invites the Joint Organization of African Unity/Economic Commission for Africa/African Development Bank Secretariat to do its utmost to provide a dynamic catalyst for and proper coordination of the activities of the regional and subregional economic communities.

4. Development of tourism in Africa

The Conference of African Ministers responsible for Trade, Regional Cooperation, Integration and Tourism,

Considering issues regarding the development of tourism in Africa at regional and subregional levels,

Considering also the growing importance of tourism in socio-economic and cultural development as well as in the regional integration process,

1. Adopts the following arrangements to facilitate the rational and effective utilization of tourism resources in Africa:

A. At the regional level

(a) Establishment of tourism development poles based on the setting up of a base of concentration, interlinking and tourism flow dispatching intended for a subregion;

(b) within the context of the 1987 Kinshasa Declaration on African Tourism, grouping, within an African regional federation/African tourism organization (pan-African promotion body), of subregional mechanisms within the purview of joint promotion of destination Africa and the establishment of inter-State and intra-African circuits by taking into account the complementarity of products and African cooperation and integration structures;

(c) Establishment of tertiary infrastructures on the tourism sites and centres of interest and encouraging integration and participation of the people by making a significant consumption of the cultural and natural resources of the sites;

(d) Establishment of tourism products based on tested traditional components but also diversify-ing them by integrating new components such as thematic tourism and eco-tourism and based on the attri-butes and unique resources of the different countries;

(e) Facilitation, through legislation, of the emergence of a motivated and competent African private sector constituting the privileged partner of national tourism administrations in the definition of policies and playing a vanguard role in the promotional and tourism products management activities. Government authorities will also take measures enabling the participation of foreign investors and users within the framework of partnership policies between them and the users of tourism resources;

(f) Establishment of systems for the development of human resources for tourism trades and conducive to the emergence of tourism conception and management cadres;

(g) Development of policies closely associating tourism exploitation, conservation, development and use/management of national and human environments;

(h) Marketing based on a sound knowledge of tourism development objectives for the country, a sharp knowledge of the aspirations of the national, African and foreign consumers and taking into account the socio-cultural and environmental effects;

(i) Ratification and implementation by member States of various conventions, treaties and proto-cols related to free movement of people and services with a view to enhancing the development of intra-African and interregional tourism in Africa;

(j) Improvement of air transport services between the different countries of the region, including the granting of extended rights for scheduled flights and charter flights;

B. At the subregional level

(a) North African subregion

(i) reactivation of subregional cooperation in tourism and the priority establishment of a mechanism either within the Arab Maghreb Union or autonomously a subregional tourism cooperation and integration structure. Pursuant to the directives of the Conference of African Ministers of Tourism, the establishment/reactivation of the "regional organization of North African tourism" grouping Algeria, Egypt, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Morocco, the Sudan and Tunisia is proposed;

(ii) establishment, within the framework of that organization, of a mechanism for co-operation between the vocational training centres and the recognition of diplomas issued by the training institutions of the subregion;

(iii) establishment of Maghreb and North African inter-State tourism circuits aimed at enhancing cooperation and promoting intra-African tourism and free movement of nationals of these countries and other African countries;

(iv) establishment of "North Africa" stands during marketing activities in external markets and organization of meetings between tourism professionals of the subregion;

(v) measures to facilitate tourist travels and stays, including immigration, national currencies, transport and communications;

(b) West African subregion

(i) improvement of tourism research and promotion tools through the organization, on a subregional basis, of seminars on tourism statistical data;

(ii) establishment of inter-State circuits encompassing the products of coastal and land-locked countries. The marketing programmes will be carried out jointly with a pre-ponderant participation of operators. Changing the International Handicraft Exhibition of Ouagadougou into the "International Handicraft and Hotel Equipment Exhibition of Ouagadougou", as recommended at the Seminar on Tourism and Handicraft organized by the International Handicraft Exhibition of Ouagadougou in 1994;

(iii) establishment of a permanent Economic Community of West African States tourism and leisure fair as decided by its Council of Ministers at its session of 3 July 1991;

(iv) promotion of small- and medium-scale tourism enterprises with technical assistance for vocational training and laying down of concrete incentives for the emergence of African operators and their foreign partners;

(v) improvement of air transport services between the different countries of the subregion, including the granting of extended rights for scheduled flights and charter flights;

(vi) enhancement of inter-State cooperation for the harmonization and integration of tourism development policies and programmes with a view to establishing a single space;

(vii) implementation of the following measures at the Community level:

a. promotion of Community projects in training, accommodation promotion and marketing of tourism products and the promotion of national and youth tourism;

b. harmonization of the classification standards for hotels and other types of accom-modation, including facilitating measures, harmonizing travel and tourism statistical methods and concepts;

(i) preparation of the post-conflict period, for some countries, by rehabilitating, in the urban centres and, as far as possible, the reception infrastructures. These establish-ments will be the basis for the recovery of the industry and in the meantime will offer reception centres for investors and visitors within the framework of general restaurant operations;

(ii) promotion of small- and medium-scale tourism enterprise including incentives, training and technical assistance given to the professionals of the sectors;

(iii) establishment of cooperation and joint promotion mechanisms at the subregional level like the tourism organization in Central Africa. The subregional organizations for cooperation and integration could provide a provisional basis for the estab-lishment of such a structure;

(iv) promotion of inter-State circuits by facilitating joint ventures;

(v) concrete measures to improve the movement of persons in the subregion and other parts of Africa: more flights linking the land-locked countries to the best connected countries, facilitation of travels and stays;

(d) East African subregion

(i) strengthening cooperation among States of the subregion, and institutions working towards development cooperation and integration, including the formulation of common programmes for the harnessing of resources, development of facilitation measures, exchange of expertise, joint promotion and the establishment of inter-State circuits;

(ii) strengthening, at national level, community participation in the development and management of national level community participation, including the elaboration of concrete measures for the exploitation of wild-life;

(iii) diversification of products with more attention being focused on cultural resources and social environment while maintaining control of the negative impact that might result therefrom;

(iv) establishment in the northern region of a tourism cooperation and integration mechanism and a network of inter-State circuits;

(v) enlistment of the active participation of promoters of tourism in formulating measures to facilitate tourism with a view to promoting intra-African tourism;

(vi) creation of a common tourism destination pole enhancing insular and continental products;

(e) Southern African subregion

(i) strengthening of subregional cooperation as a step towards pan-African integration. The regional tourism organization in Southern Africa should be considered as a milestone towards the establishment of vaster entities as defined in the Abuja Treaty;

(ii) development of intra-African tourism by facilitating the free movement of goods and persons and the establishment of small- and medium-scale business;

(iii) development of human resources and horizontal cooperation;

(iv) diversification of tourism products and creation of inter-State circuits;

(v) development and management of natural resources (wild-life and nature) and cultural and social heritage for a sustainable and sustained development of tourism and for an active participation of the local population;

(vi) promotion of small- and medium-scale national businesses;

C. Tourism and African integration

(a) Promotion of intra-African tourism;

(b) Promotion of inter-State circuits;

(d) Establishment of cooperation mechanisms at the level of policies and development activities including cooperation between professionals;

(e) Joint promotion of African tourism products and the establishment of attractive African travel destinations;

(f) Measures for facilitation of tourism travels and stays in Africa including the free movement of persons and goods in Africa;

(g) Implementation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization/World Tourism Organization Slave Route Project Declaration adopted by the eleventh session of the World Tourism Organization in Cairo, Egypt, in October 1995 with the view to promoting tourism in Africa as is being done by the former Eastern European countries together with some of the Western European nations with the "silk route project";

(h) Pooling of resources available for tourism development, including the establishment of professional training institutions and recognition of diplomas issued in the national tourism training institutions which will accept to enter the system;

(i) Elaboration of a protocol on the development of the tourism sector in Africa as an annex to the Abuja Treaty. Member States are requested to participate in the preparation of this document by conveying their suggestions to the secretariat of the Economic Commission for Africa at the earliest opportunity;

(j) Organization of the African tourism fair: The secretariats of the Organization of African Unity and the Economic Commission for Africa are mandated to constitute the organizing committee to be composed of technical experts from the tourism divisions of the African regional economic communities in accordance with the principle of geographical balance to plan and organize the second African tourism fair in collaboration with the European Union, the World Tourism Organization and other internationally identified bodies;

D. General arrangements

(a) Establishment, where this is not already the case, of autonomous government departments concerned specifically with the tourism sector;

(b) Strengthening of the tourism unit of the Commission to enhance its effectiveness in addressing the increasing needs of member States in the area of technical assistance;

(c) Allocation by governments of credit lines on the national budgets to speed up the development of tourism. The African Development Bank should include loans for tourism development in its lending portfolio. This would minimize the dependence on external sources of funding for tourism development programmes;

2. Requests the Economic Commission for Africa to convene a meeting of ministers of tourism, transport, aviation including concerned international, national organizations and associations in view to enhancing the contribution of air transport to the promotion and development of tourism in Africa;

3. Further requests the Commission to undertake:

(a) A study, in cooperation with the World Trade Organization, on the implications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services on tourism development in Africa;

(b) A concertation, in cooperation with the European Union, with a view to harmonizing the contractual relations between the European tourism operators and their African partners mainly regarding the business relation for tourism services;

E. Follow up

4. Also requests the Commission to make all the necessary efforts, within its mandate, to faci-litate the implementation of these arrangements, and to extend the necessary technical assistance to member States, subregional organizations as well as the relevant professional bodies and non-governmental organiza-tions in the implementation of programmes connected with those arrangements;

5. Requests the secretariat of the Commission to report thereon, on a regular basis, to the legis-lative organs of the Commission.

E. First Conference of African Ministers responsible for

Sustainable Development and Environment⁽⁵⁾

1. Justification and scope of action of the Conference of African Ministers

responsible for Sustainable Development and Environment

The first Conference of African Ministers responsible for Sustainable Development and Environment, meeting in Addis Ababa on 8 and 9 March 1996, at the initiative of the Economic Commission for Africa,

Having taken note and extensively discussed the report of the Committee of Experts which met from 4 to 7 March 1996, in particular paragraphs 16 to 23 of that report,

Noting that the provisions of Commission resolution 757 (XXVIII) of 4 May 1993 abolishing the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment cannot be implemented in view of that Conference's institutional status as an independent regional intergovernmental institution,

Conscious of the need:

(a) To encourage the widest possible consultation before the establishment of intergovernmental bodies;

(b) To encourage those organs which operate on the principles of proven rationality; and

1. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to initiate, as quickly as possible, consultations with the secretariats of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Environment Programme in order to reach a lasting agreement on the issue of the scope of activity of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment and the Conference of African Ministers responsible for Sustainable Development and Environment,

2. Also requests the secretariat of the Commission to report to its Conference of Ministers, at its next session in May 1996, on the situation observed;

3. Further requests the secretariat of the Commission to inform all the parties concerned of the solution arrived at, well before the next session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment scheduled to be held in Dakar in 1997.

2. Implementation of Agenda 21

Recalling Commission resolution 757 (XXVIII) of 4 May 1993 restructuring the legislative organs of the Commission and establishing the Conference of African Ministers responsible for Sustainable Development and Environment as one of the thematic ministerial conferences,

Having examined the report on the assessment of the implementation of Agenda 21 within the frame-work of the African Common Position,

Also having examined the draft guidelines for monitoring the progress made in building critical environmental management capacities for sustainable development in Africa,

Aware of the various exercises being carried out by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development to monitor the implementation of Agenda 21 at the national and regional levels, including the development of sustainable development indicators,

Recognizing the need for instruments, including indicators, to monitor and assess the impact and progress made in the various areas of the implementation of Agenda 21 within the regional context,

Further aware of the various constraints that member States have been facing in their programmes, including financial resources, natural disasters and inadequate human and institutional capacities,

Also recognizing the need to maintain an updated regional database on activities for environment and sustainable development in the region so as to facilitate access to relevant data by member States and Africa's development partners,

1. Decides to adopt the "Guidelines for monitoring the progress made in building critical management capacities for sustainable development in Africa" as a framework instrument for harmonizing relevant activities in the region;

2. Urges member States to carry out continuous monitoring and evaluation as an integral part of the activities of their national Agenda 21 programmes and establish a national database for such a purpose;

3. Encourages member States to develop a geographic information system to enhance national data collection and environmental monitoring as well as contribution to a regional database when that is established;

4. Calls upon the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as well as all other United Nations agencies active in Africa, the secretariats of the various United Nations Conference on Environment and Development-related conventions and the international community to support the establishment of these data-bases and other mechanisms for monitoring and assessing the environment in Africa;

5. Also urges the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment to continue to promote all activities related to capacity building and environmental monitoring, particularly the establishment of national geographic information systems for that purpose;

6. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, in collaboration with the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and the secretariat of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environ-ment to assist member States in the implementation of this resolution, including the mobilization of the required resources;

7. Also requests the Executive Secretary of the Commission to report to the first meeting of the Ministerial Follow-up Committee of Fifteen on the implementation of this resolution.

3. Human settlements

Considering that human settlements constitute an important element of sustainable development,

Further considering the imbalances in quality of life and living conditions between the rural and urban areas in African countries,

Aware that only an improvement of living conditions in the rural areas can reduce the drift to urban centres and mitigate the adverse effects of such rural-urban drift on the environment,

Recalling United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/191 on the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements,

Recalling also Commission resolution 772 (XXIX) of 4 May 1994 on the preparation of the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements,

1. Requests member States of the Economic Commission for Africa to make human settlements a development priority and to mobilize resources for the formulation and pursuit of human settlement policies with a view to reducing the imbalance between rural and urban areas;

2. Invites the Commission to approach international institutions in order to secure assistance for member States with a view to formulating and implementing a coherent physical planning in the human settlements sector;

3. Urges African countries to reflect the African common position adopted at Johannesburg in October 1995 on the draft Habitat agenda in the major documentation of the Istanbul Conference;

4. Recommends to the Executive Secretary of the Commission to facilitate discussions with other regional commissions on questions still suspended after the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements.

F. Ninth session of the Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians,

Demographers and Information Scientists⁽⁶⁾

Recommendations

7. The ninth Conference of African Planners, Statisticians, Demographers and Information Scientists recommends that: