PREPORT ON THE WORK OF THE ECONOMIC COMMISIONFOR AFRICA (ECA)1998 - 2000

Ref: E/ECA/CM.25/CRP.1
9 April 2001

Table of Contents

Executive summary

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Chapters

I. Overview of Economic and Social Developments In Africa

II. Major Policy and Programme Developments

A. Major Policy Initiatives

1. African Development Forum
2. The "Big Table" of OECD - African Countries
3. Consultation on ECA's Partnership Programme
4. Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development Programme

B. Major Programme Events

1. High Level Regional Consultation on Financing for Development and the LDCs
2. Africa Regional Hearing for the Millennium Assembly

III. Implementation of the Work Programme

1. Facilitating economic and social policy analysis
2. Ensuring food security and sustainable development
3. Strengthening development management
4. Harnessing information for development
5. Promoting regional cooperation and integration
6. Promoting the advancement of women
7. Subregional activities for development
8. Other programmes

1. United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa
2. The United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa

IV. Programme Support Activities

1. Policy planning and programme development
2. Financial resources management and mobilization
3. Human resources management
4. Programme monitoring and evaluation
5. Conference and general services

V. The 2002-2003 Work Programme In Perspective

ANNEXES

1. Meetings, conferences, seminars and workshops organized by ECA during the period, 1998 - 2000 (listed by subprogramme)
2. Rgional Advisory Services provided to member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental Organizations (listed by subprogramme)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The report on the work of the Commission has become a vehicle for reporting on the activities of the Commission as carried out by its main policy organs, its subsidiary bodies and the secretariat in assisting member States to tackle the socio-economic development problems they confront. The present report, which covers the period from 1998 to 2000 is being submitted to the thirty-fourth session of the Commission, organized as a Joint Conference of Ministers responsible for Economic and Social Development and Planning, and Ministers of Finance.

The report provides an overview of the major activities carried out by the Commission and its secretariat under the programme structure approved in 1996 and revised in 1998, which consists of seven mutually complementary subprogrammes which encompass the key programme in Africa's development. These are facilitating economic and social policy analysis; ensuring food security and sustainable development; strengthening development management; harnessing information technology for development; promoting regional cooperation and integration; promoting the advancement of women; and promoting subregional activities for development. The strategy for carrying out the work programme, which is reflected in each of the subprogrammes, involves policy analysis and advocacy; convening stakeholders and building consensus on development policy issues; providing technical assistance and training to support the capacity-building efforts of member States; networking with African researchers to enhance information and experience sharing including best practices; and promoting closer collaboration with other UN agencies and international donors in support of Africa's development. The report is divided into five chapters with two annexes.

Chapter I reviews economic and social developments in Africa in the period 1998-2000 against the backdrop of developments in the global environment. The review shows that economic performance in Africa during the 1998-2000 period remained stable at a rate exceeding 3 per cent per annum. The review also estimates an average growth rate for the African economies of 4.5 per cent in 2001 provided the major determinants of growth in Africa - weather, international commodity prices, social and political stability, official development assistance (ODA) flows, debt and a stable macroeconomic framework - remain favourable. The review concludes that the social situation continues to deteriorate despite the modest improvement in overall regional economic performance. This is because the growth rate is not high enough and not sufficiently broad-based to achieve poverty-reduction. This is further worsened by the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS and the raging wars and armed conflicts across the continent.

Chapter II provides a description of the new policy and programme initiatives undertaken by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) during the period. These include the establishment of the African Development Forum (ADF); the covening of the "Big Table" of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - African Countries; Consultation on ECA's partnership programme; Post-conflict reconstruction and development programme; the African Regional Hearing for the Millennium Assembly; the High-level regional consultation on financing for development and the preparatory meeting for the third UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Chapter III provides an account of the main activities undertaken in each subprogramme.

In the area of facilitating economic and social policy analysis, the work programme addressed broad macroeconomic issues of concern to member States. Emphasis was placed on research and analysis related to national mechanisms for the review and appraisal of socio-economic conditions; the development of methodologies and techniques for enhanced national development planning. Several activities were also undertaken within the context of supporting African countries to adjust to the post-Uruguay Round trading environment. Particular attention was also given to the peculiar problems of LDCs in Africa, the African debt problem and the problems of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs). The subprogramme also addressed social development issues, particularly the strategies and reforms needed to alleviate poverty.

The nexus of food security, population and environmental sustainability were addressed under the subprogramme on ensuring food security and sustainable development. The thrust of the Commission's work in this area was to help promote the understanding and management of the interrelationships among the issues of this nexus which is at the heart of the poverty syndrome in Africa; help in building 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.

Activities in strengthening development management continued to focus on the articulation of policies and strategies aimed at fostering effective public sector management, promoting private sector development and enhancing popular participation in the socio-economic development process of African countries. In this regard, the African Centre for Civil Society (ACCS) which was established in 1997 with its secretariat at ECA, continued to serve as a repository of relevant and timely information in issues related to the role of civil society in development and governance, as well as facilitating effective and programme-based linkages between African Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the international development community.

During the period under review, ECA continued to play a catalytic role in promoting Africa's connectivity to the Information Superhighway through its activities under the subprogramme on harnessing information for development. These activities were aimed at strengthening national, subregional and regional capacities for the adoption and utilization of communication and information technologies, strengthening capacity for the development and use of statistical, bibliographic, referral and spatial databases as decision-making tools in support of information and communication technologies for development. ECA devoted its first ADF in October 1999 to the theme, "The Challenge to Africa of Globalization and the Information Age."

Various activities aimed at facilitating and enhancing the process of regional integration were undertaken, with the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC), providing the major impetus. The issues addressed in this regard were the strengthening of the regional economic communities through institutional development and elaboration of programmes; promoting intra-Africa trade; and strengthening institutional capacity for monetary and financial integration. Attention was also paid to Africa's position in world trade through analysis of the implications of the post-Uruguay Round arrangements on the region's development. Other activities carried out under this subprogramme were aimed at facilitating the rationalization, harmonization and coordination of pertinent programmes, with the aim of creating an enabling environment for integration through the development of infrastructure, harmonization of policies, and collaboration in mineral and energy resources development.

During the period under review, ECA began the process of preparing an annual report, entitled, "Annual Report on Integration in Africa" to monitor and report on the state of integration in Africa. The report will provide qualitative and quantitative information on the state of integration in Africa for policy makers, the regional economic communities and Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs). Beginning in 2001, the Annual Report on Integration in Africa will be one of ECA's annual flagship publications and will provide the core and organizing framework for ECA's work in the area of regional cooperation and integration and its findings will guide the Commission's sectoral interventions.

ECA's work in the area of women in development focused on monitoring and assessing the progress made on the situation of women in the critical areas of the global and African platforms for action. In pursuance of these objectives, ECA put emphasis on the economic and social empowerment of women in Africa.

To signify its commitment to promoting gender equality in Africa, ECA commemorated its fortieth anniversary in April 1998, by organizing an international conference on the theme, "African Women and Economic Development: Investing in our Future." The conference, which brought together about 1,500 women and men representing African governments, civil society, non-governmental and private sector organizations, international agencies as well as Heads of State of some African countries, examined progress made on critical areas of concern to women within the context of the commitments made at Beijing.

In November 1999, the ECA secretariat organized the sixth Africa Regional Conference on Women in Addis Ababa to review progress in the implementation of the global and regional Platforms for Action. Progress reports covering the 12 critical areas of concern were submitted to the Conference by most African Governments, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the African Development Bank (ADB) and several international and non-governmental organizations. The 12 critical areas of concern to women, which were ranked in order of priority included poverty reduction, education for women, health care, human rights, women in decision-making, violence against women, institutions, women in economic activity, media, environment, the girl-child, and conflicts. A major outcome of the Conference was the adoption of the African Plan of Action for accelerating the implementation of the global and regional Platforms of Action over the period 2000-2004 at national, subregional and regional levels. The Plan proposed strategies and mechanisms for dealing with problems which had been identified as impediments in the implementation of the platforms. The African Plan of Action was adopted by the OAU Council of Ministers at its meeting in March 2000.

Under the newly established subprogramme on promoting subregional activities for development, the subregional development centres of ECA, located in the five subregions of the continent, intensified efforts in providing technical support to and cooperating with the regional economic communities; facilitating networking and information exchange among governments, civil society and private sector, and strengthening ECA's outreach in the various subregions.

Chapter IV describes the main support activities carried out by the new Office of Policy Planning and Resource Management (OPRM) and the Conference and General Services Division (CGSD). Programme support encompasses the functions and structures relating to administration; management and development of human resources; programme planning, finance and evaluation; management of technical cooperation and conference and general services.

The Office of Policy Planning and Resource Management provided policy guidelines, coordination, programme planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation. Other activities included provision of administrative and financial management services and responsibilities for human resources management of technical cooperation activities and internal oversight services.

The Conference and General Services Division provided support for the secretariat in the area of conference and general services, including the management and maintenance of the Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, as well as the responsibility for information and communication services and facilities management.

The final chapter of the report puts the work programme for the 2002-2003 biennium in perspective, by highlighting key priorities of the work programme as articulated in the Medium-Term Plan for the period 2002-2005.

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

CHAPTER I

OVERVIEW OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN AFRICA 1998-2000.

Africa's economic performance during the 1998-2000 period remained steady at a rate exceeding 3 per cent per annum. Real GDP growth was 3.1 per cent in 1998 and 3.2 per cent in 1999. Preliminary estimates show that real GDP increased by 3.6 per cent in 2000. The major determinants of economic performance in Africa were the weather conditions, especially in the agriculture-dependant countries; international commodity prices; social and political stability; and the soundness of the economic policy framework in individual countries.

A. Africa's Economic Performance in 1998

In 1998 Africa's economy grew by 3.1 per cent relative to the 2.9 per cent of 1997 thus registering an improved overall performance during a difficult year. With an average population growth rate of 2.8 per cent per annum the continent's per capita income increased by 0.3 per cent during the year. This rate of growth was salutary for a number of reasons. Firstly, this marked the fourth year in a row during which per capita income increased. Secondly, this rate of growth was the highest in the world, endowing the continent with the distinction of being the fastest growing region. Thirdly this performance was achieved under conditions of declining global growth momentum. World economic growth declined from the robust 4 per cent of 1997 to 2 per cent in 1998.

The decline in the global growth momentum was due to the financial crisis in the emerging markets and its spread to the rest of the world. Although African economies were, by and large, spared the agony of financial market instability, they were nevertheless not immune to the generally depressive impact of the crisis. The effect of the instability and the consequential downward pressure on economic activity was transmitted to Africa mainly through global commodity prices and resource flows. The dollar denominated export price index of African commodities declined by more than 16 per cent. While the price of all the region's exportable declined, none was affected as much as oil prices which fell by more than 42 per cent.

These developments had important repercussions on the African economies. For the first time, in recent years, the trade balance turned negative dragging the current account deficit to $US16.5 billion, the highest for the decade. Foreign resource inflows to the region were also negatively affected as donor countries and institutions directed their attention to the distressed countries and to containing the global contagion. There was considerable outflow of foreign resources from the region, especially from the Republic of South Africa and some of the North African countries, estimated at $US5 billion. On the other hand official flows increased to $US5.3 billion.

The lacklustre performance of the external sector was more than made up for on the domestic front. There was a strong rebound in agriculture, where output increased by 3.5 per cent relative to 1.7 per cent in 1997. The recovery was most dramatic in North Africa where output increased by 7 per cent. There was substantial improvement in West and the Eastern African subregions. The turn around in agriculture is credited to improvements in weather conditions. Despite this significant improvement, the region continued to be very far from food self-sufficiency and had to import large quantities commercially and in food aid. The food deficit is estimated at 18 per cent of which 80 per cent was covered through commercial imports.

The performance of the industrial sector remained sluggish with its output increasing at 3.2 per cent relative to the 3.5 per cent of 1997, mainly on account of depressed external demand for oil and minerals and the lacklustre performance of the manufacturing industries. Growth in the manufacturing subsector was 2 per cent compared to 2.5 per cent of the previous year. The sluggish performance of the manufacturing industries was due to a host of factors including low volume of investment to increase productive capacity and the inability of existing enterprises to take advantage of opportunities in the emerging global economic environment. While the export-oriented natural resource-based industries succeeded to adapt to global competition, manufacturing industries producing for the home market continued to be hampered by the liberalization measures and the generally high cost environment. The services sector, on the other hand, registered a vibrant performance with its growth rate increasing from 2.5 per cent in 1997 to 3 per cent in 1998.

While the overall regional performance was satisfactory, the growth momentum had not been shared equally among the subregions. In fact the resurgence was limited to the two subregions of North and Central Africa. In North Africa the rate of growth increased from 3.6 per cent in 1997 to 4.5 per cent in 1998; while in Central Africa it increased by nearly one percentage point to 4.9 per cent. A slowdown was in evidence for the rest of the subregions. In Southern Africa growth decelerated by as much as 30 per cent declining from 2.5 per cent in 1997 to 1.7 per cent mainly on account of the slowdown in South Africa and Angola. West Africa's growth declined from 4.1 per cent to 3.6 per cent because of the relatively poor performances in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria. In Eastern Africa growth was more or less maintained at the previous year's level of 2.5 per cent.

The diversity in performance was also evident at the country level. While the number of countries with negative growth rate continued to diminish, only two countries attained or surpassed the required growth rate of 7 per cent. As in the past, a large number of countries clustered in the 3 to 6 per cent range.

B. Economic Performance in 1999

Africa's economy grew by 3.2 per cent in 1999 barely improving the previous year's modest performance of 3.1 per cent. Africa's annual average economic growth of 2.1 per cent during the last decade of the twentieth Century did not keep pace with the yearly increase in population of 2.8 per cent, and was considerably lower than the 7 per cent annual growth required to reduce poverty by half by the year 2015.

Still in sharp contrast to previous experience, no African country posted negative GDP growth in 1999. Furthermore, only one economy grew at a rate of less than 1 per cent compared to four in the previous year. In 19 countries the growth rates ranged between 1 and 2.9 per cent, while other 17 countries managed to grow in the 3 to 4.9 per cent range; 12 countries had growth rates between 5 and 6.9 per cent. Five, as compared to only two countries in the previous year, grew at a rate higher than 7 per cent in 1999. Growing at an estimated 10 per cent each, Mozambique and Equatorial Guinea showed the strongest economic performance.

At the subregional level, Eastern and Southern Africa, which account for 45 per cent of the population and 37 per cent of the region's GDP, enjoyed higher growth in 1999 relative to 1998. The other three subregions, which account for 55 and 63 per cent of the population and GDP respectively, experienced lower rates of growth. East Africa pushed up the aggregate growth rate from the 2.6 per cent of 1998 to 4.1 per cent in 1999, while Southern Africa improved its performance from 1.7 to 2.2 per cent. In North Africa the average growth declined from 4.4 per cent to 3.6 per cent. Performance declined from 3.6 to 3.3 per cent and from 5 to 4.5 per cent in West and Central Africa, respectively.

The five largest economies in Africa, i.e. the African G-5: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa, which account for 59 per cent of GDP and 37 per cent of the population of the region, posted a growth rate of 2.8 per cent in 1999. The 11 oil-exporting African economies, which account for 49 per cent of the region's GDP and 41 per cent of the population, marginally improved their 1998 growth rate by 0.1 percentage points to reach 3.7 per cent in 1999. The six island-economies, making up about 2 per cent of the region's GDP and population, posted a decline in their rate of growth from 4.6 per cent in 1998 to 4.0 per cent in 1999. The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of Africa, representing 16.5 per cent of the GDP and 47 per cent of the population, have shown dynamic GDP growth rates in excess of the continental average in recent years. They again succeeded to increase the previous year's growth rate by 0.2 percentage points to reach 4.5 per cent in 1999. The 15 land-locked countries (10 per cent of the regional GDP and 23 per cent of the population) managed to increase their growth rate from 4.2 per cent in 1998 to 4.9 per cent in 1999.

At the sectoral level, growth rates declined in agriculture from 3.5 per cent in 1998 to 2.1 per cent in 1999, as well as in the industrial sector from 3.2 to 2.8 per cent. On the other hand, the growth rate in the services sector increased by one percentage point to reach 4 per cent in 1999.

Agricultural performance in 1999 was mixed across the region. In North Africa, growth in agriculture decelerated, while in West Africa it increased. Performance in Central Africa was restrained due to civil unrest, political instability, and pest infestation; while output in Eastern and Southern Africa declined as a result of erratic rainfall, war, and uncontrolled crop pests. The poor performance of agriculture, aggravated by population displacement due to political instability, has exposed nearly 20 million people to critical food shortage requiring emergency food assistance.

The service sector continues to be dynamic showing a 4.0 per cent growth rate in 1999 relative to only 3 per cent in 1998. Although all services subsectors experienced growth, the financial and communications services were the lead performers.

The terms of trade declined by nearly 6 per cent as a result of a fall in the unit value of exports by more than 3 per cent and an increase in the unit price of imports by more than 2 per cent. The increase in the value of African exports (in US dollar terms) by 2.4 per cent was due to a 6 per cent increase in the volume of goods exported, which more than offset the decrease in the unit price of exports. Imports also increased in value and volume. While the increase in value was in the order of 4 per cent, the volume of imports increased by 1.4 per cent.

The balance of trade registered export earnings of $US101 billion in 1999, an increase of 2.4 per cent from 1998. The current account balance deteriorated further increasing to $US21 billion in 1999, a 13 per cent increase from 1998.

External resource flows rose from $US16 billion in 1998 to $US22 billion in 1999. Foreign direct investment (FDI) amounted to about $US6 billion while $US7 billion came in as transfers. Borrowing amounted to $US8.4 billion, an increase of nearly 45 per cent over 1998. The volume of debt rose from $US351 billion in 1998 to $US359 billion in 1999. Debt servicing increased from $US35.7 billion in 1998 to $US39.4 in 1999.

C. Economic Performance in 2000

Preliminary estimates show that real GDP increased by 3.7 per cent in 2000, as a result of which per capita GDP increased at close to 1.0 per cent during the year. While this rate of growth is salutary, it nevertheless masks wide variation among the subregions and economic groupings.

At subregional level, North and Southern Africa subregions had higher rates of GDP growth in 2000 compared to 1999 while in the other subregions there was marked deceleration. North Africa's GDP increased by 4.7 per cent compared to 2.6 per cent in 1999. The recovery in Morocco and higher growth rates in the oil-driven economies of Algeria, Egypt, and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as well as the Sudan and the ever robust Tunisian economy contributed to the higher national and subregional performances.

In Southern Africa, the significantly higher performance of South Africa, the largest economy in the subregion, increased the overall growth rate. Performance in West Africa was reduced to 2.9 per cent compared to 4.1 per cent in 1999 despite the strong recovery in Nigeria, the largest economy in the subregion. In Eastern Africa growth decelerated from 4.1 per cent in 1999 to 3.4 per cent in 2000.

Performance was buoyant in the Central African subregion, increasing from 4 per cent in 1999 to 5.2 per cent in 2000. The oil exporting countries such as Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea continued to enjoy higher rates of growth while the recovery in the Congo remained strong.

As in the previous years, economic performance in Africa in 2000 was the result of the weather condition, international commodity prices, political stability and economic policy reform. The climatic condition in the agriculture-dependant economies turned for the better in 2000 compared to 1999. International commodity prices were mixed, with oil prices increasing to a record high while prices of primary commodities were on the decline. Political stability was on positive trend, following cessation or reduction in the intensity of conflicts. However in a few countries social instability depressed economic activity.

On the basis of economic grouping, the African G-5 countries and the oil exporting ones experienced higher rates of growth, at 4.5 per cent in 2000 compared to the 3.8 per cent of 1999.

Performance in the least developed, island and land-locked economies declined in 2000 compared to 1999. The hardest hit were the land-locked countries where growth declined from 4.9 per cent in 1999 to 3.4 per cent in 2000. In the LDCs, GDP growth fell by one percentage point in 2000, averaging 3.5 per cent.

At the sectoral level, all the major sectors of the economy were on positive trend. Due to the auspicious weather conditions value-added in agriculture increased by 2.8 per cent in 2000 compared to 2.1 per cent in 1999. The industrial sector's growth of 4 per cent in 2000 was among the highest in recent years. The service sector continued its dynamic pace, increasing at 5.8 per cent in 2000.

There were positive developments on the external front. The current account deficit declined significantly to $US2.5 billion owing to the higher export earnings of the oil exporting countries, although it increased sharply for the oil importing countries. The trade balance of the oil exporting countries amounted to $US43 billion while the non-oil exporting countries ran a deficit of $US40 billion.

Exports increased to $US143 billion in 2000 from the $US101 billion of the previous year, while imports increased from $US107 billion in 1999 to $US140 billion in 2000, resulting in $US3 billion surplus in the trade balance. The service account continued to deteriorate, the deficit increasing to $US13.5 billion from $US11 billion. Net current transfers amounted to $US8 billion.

D. Prospects for 2001

In the medium term the factors that were responsible for the economic performance of the region in the past would continue to have major influence. In particular, the following assumptions are made in projecting the most likely performance scenario for the African economies in 2001:

1. The consolidation of the democratization process and the corresponding commitment to reducing instability and conflict within and among African countries would increase the degree of stability and create a more conducive environment;

2. The currently high prices of oil are expected to fall to the $US25 per barrel benchmark with prices of primary commodities maintaining their 2000 level;

3. External resource transfers would maintain their current volume of $US10 billion;

4. The weather conditions do not become adverse in the agriculture-dependant economies.

On the basis of these assumptions, ECA estimates the growth of the African economies at 4.5 per cent per annum in 2001.

CHAPTER II

MAJOR POLICY AND PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENTS

A. Major Policy Initiatives

1. African Development Forum (ADF)

The African Development Forum is an initiative led by ECA to establish an African-driven development agenda that leads to specific programmes for country implementation.

The aim of ADF is to present the key stakeholders in African development (governments, civil society, the private sector, researchers and academics, intergovernmental organizations and donors) with the results of current research and opinion on key development issues, in order to formulate shared goals and priorities, draft action programmes and define the environment that will enable African countries to implement these programmes. The Forum will meet annually on a different development issue.

The 1999 Forum was the first, and was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 24 to 28 October 1999 on the theme "The Challenge to Africa of Globalization and the Information Age." The issue of globalization and the information age was chosen for the inaugural ADF because of the importance of defining African-owned and African-led strategies to join the global information economy. A major goal of ADF'99 was, therefore, to develop and support African initiatives that are fundamental to shaping the African Information Age.

ADF'99 brought together 950 participants from government, the private sector, civil society, and bilateral and multilateral organizations, to assess the opportunities, confront the challenges and develop a plan of action for Africa's entry into the Information Agenda. It was the culmination of more than three years of activities to build an African Information Society and the occasion to set future directions for the African Information Society Initiative (AISI). In this regard, ADF'99 identified specific, feasible, phased and agreed on monitorable action to accelerate the implementation of AISI.

In line with the Forum's mission of addressing the continent's most pressing development issues, the chosen theme for 2000 was "AIDS: The Greatest Leadership Challenge." ADF 2000 took place from 3 to 7 December 2000 in Addis Ababa, convened and hosted by ECA, with UNAIDS, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) as co-sponsors, and with the technical and financial support of various UN agencies and bilateral and multilateral institutions. ADF 2000 was designed to serve as a major launching pad for a renewed commitment to more concerted action against HIV/AIDS in Africa by highlighting positive local, national and regional experiences and by generating the highest level of scientific, technological, traditional and intellectual leadership possible, at all levels of society and the development community towards addressing and mitigating the impact of the pandemic in Africa.

ADF 2000 brought together 1,500 participants including six Heads of State and Government, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, policy makers, civil society organizations (including people living with HIV/AIDS and the academia), the private sector, and representatives of youth and women organizations, as well as Africa's development partners, to address concrete roles and responsibilities for leaders at all levels so as to galvanise an Africa - led response to the pandemic. The Forum highlighted the crucial elements missing in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa, namely political will and leadership to make HIV/AIDS a top priority on the development agenda; comprehensive multi-sectoral plans to expand and deepen country-level programmes to combat the pandemic, and create the enabling environment with conditions for successful prevention, care and mitigation programmes in order to protect Africa's future development prospects.

The Forum ended with the adoption of the Africa Consensus and Plan of Action which calls for leadership at all levels - in the family, in the community, the workplace, schools, civil society, government and at the international level to overcome the continent-wide threat of HIV/AIDS. In addition, the Forum resulted in a commitment by African leaders to make HIV/AIDS a top priority on their development agenda and to invest the necessary resources to fight the disease. The Forum also led to the adoption of concrete actions by African governments and their development partners to scale-up interventions and develop multisectoral programmes and plans with country-level impact.

2. The "Big Table" of OECD - African Countries

ECA hosted an African/OECD Ministerial Consultation tagged, the "Big table" in November 2000 - on the occasion of the eighth session of its Conference of Ministers of Finance. The consultation brought together 11 African Ministers and their development partners from OECD countries, joined by five high level representatives from international organizations and institutions, for a frank and honest exchange on the international development goals and the related poverty reduction strategies. ECA was commended for organizing the consultation and encouraged to institutionalize it.

The Consultation sought two broad objectives, namely a mutuality in strengthened commitment to the international development goals and the new development framework, which encompasses issues of the Poverty Reduction Strategy papers and its enabling debt relief instrument, the HIPC Initiative.

The consultation examined a number of issues under the theme, pro-poor growth policies and the international development goals, and noted that: policies which emphasize robust growth of not less than 7 per cent are essential and compatible with efforts to reduce poverty; international development goals and the Poverty Reduction Strategy papers are long-term initiatives requiring long-term initiatives and long-term commitment, flexibility in resource use and variety of solutions which recognize country specificity; and the longer-term objective of international development goals and the Poverty Reduction Strategy papers is to enable Africa to regain its competitiveness and achieve integration into the global economy.

The Consultation also noted the need to mobilize capacity from the society as a whole for the design, implementation and monitoring of the Poverty Reduction Strategy papers; build capacity within government structures; and introduce incentives to enhance capacity retention as well as attract African talent and skills in the Diaspora.

The overarching view derived from the consultation is that the Poverty Reduction Strategy papers approach is unique and revolutionary in its focus on "ownership". For participation to be meaningful, those involved need to feel they "own" the process to a significant extent. Ownership also requires a strong partnership response - the commitment to sustained support, the determination to give space to African partners in their pursuit of realistic growth and poverty reduction goals.

3. Consultation on ECA's Partnership Programme

ECA convened a series of consultative meetings with its partners from 30 November to 1 December 2000 as a follow-up to the first partners' meeting held in April 1996. While the 1996 meeting discussed ECA's new strategic directions and the planned reforms of the Commission, the November 2000 meeting was aimed at providing ECA's partners with a better understanding of ECA's role in Africa's development. The meeting discussed concrete proposals around which partnerships and collaborative arrangements could be agreed, and sought firm commitments for implementing partnership activities in 2001, the first year of the three - year partnership work programme that was presented for discussion.

The meeting noted that the reforms at ECA had effectively positioned the Commission as a leading development actor in Africa and a fulcrum for international partnership in support of an African-driven and African-owned development agenda. The partners welcomed the wide range of concrete partnership proposals that had been developed over the past two years to complement the Commission's core work programme in the priority areas of Africa's development. In this regard, they pledged to deepen their collaboration with ECA through programme-type support to ensure predictability of external support to ECA's medium-term agenda, rather than the project-type, stop-and-go support that had characterized partnerships in the past. Accordingly, the partners supported the idea of establishing a "Friends of ECA" to provide a forum for dialogue on ECA's work programme and a framework for deepening and monitoring partners support and commitment.

With regard to follow-up activities, another meeting was scheduled for February 2001 to review the outcome of the November 2000 meeting and provide an update on activities undertaken since that time. The meeting would discuss the partnership proposals in the context of the core work programme of ECA and explore opportunities for collaboration and networking with relevant institutions and organizations.

4. Post-conflict reconstruction and development programme

In July 1999, the UN Secretary-General requested the Executive Secretary of ECA to lead the effort of the UN System and other partners in developing a subregional programme of post-conflict reconstruction and development for the Mano River Basin countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Subsequently, ECA launched an initiative to address the subregional dimension of post-conflict reconstruction and development in the three countries. Each of these three countries is either emerging from the ravages of war or has been adversely affected by conflicts in the neighbouring countries.

Known as the Mano River Basin Initiative, its aim is to assist the process of post-conflict peace-building within and among the three countries by focusing on development activities that are subregional in nature. The partners collaborating with ECA in implementing the initiative include United Nations agencies and African regional and subregional organizations, namely, ADB, the Economic community of West African States (ECOWAS), OAU, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Bank.

The first consultative meeting of the partners of the Mano River Basin Initiative was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in October 1999, and the second consultative meeting was held on 23 and 24 March 2000, in Conakry, Guinea. The organizations collaborating on this initiative have identified projects of a subregional nature that would contribute to post-conflict peace-building in the three countries.

These include the revitalization of the subregional integration organization; capacity-building for economic policy-making and management; and re-establishing the framework for good governance in the three countries. Progress in the implementation of these projects will depend crucially on the mobilization of adequate resources, agreement of all the three countries to participate in the programme, the existence of an enabling environment in the three countries, and a security and political framework that creates and reinforces confidence and trust among the three countries.

Given ECA's comparative advantage in institutional capacity-building, it has been designated the lead agency in mobilizing assistance to strengthen and revitalize the Mano River Union Secretariat. Several missions have been fielded to the Secretariat in support of these efforts, and a project document to seed donor support is currently being finalized by the ECA secretariat. Implementation of these projects is expected to begin in early 2001.

B. Major Programme Events

1. High-Level Regional Consultation on Financing for Development and LDCs.

The High-level Regional Consultative meeting on financing for development and the preparatory meeting for the third United Nations Conference on LDCs was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 15 to 17 November 2000, to prepare African countries for the two major events that have been mandated by the UN General Assembly to be convened during 2001. Both events are of critical importance to Africa, because they focus on some of the major development challenges facing Africa as well as the need to accelerate Africa's growth and development through better integration into the global economy, particularly in relation to LDCs.

The main issues addressed by the meeting included debt, ODA and their link to poverty reduction; trade and investment; and proposals for reform of the international monetary, financial and trading systems. The meeting undertook comprehensive analysis of the various sources of development finance-domestic sources, international private financial flows, concessional flows, external debt and trade.

In addressing the development challenges faced by African LDCs, the meeting focused on several thematic issues around which discussions at the forthcoming LDCs conference will be based, namely financing growth and development; international trade; commodities and services; enhancing productive capacities of LDCs, food security and sustainable natural resource management; human resource management and employment; social service delivery; and governance, peace and stability.

African policy makers and their development partners have addressed these issues in previous ECA conferences, and their conclusions and decisions have helped to influence international policy and opinion. This is particularly the case with regard to debt, trade and ODA. At their eighth session of the ECA Conference of Ministers of Finance, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 21 and 22 November 2000, the Ministers considered the recommendations of the High-Level Regional Consultation and reviewed recent developments in the context of their previous positions and recommendations, and of the forthcoming global conferences. The conference issued two Ministerial Statements - on financing for development, and on LDCs articulating Africa's position on the issues on the agenda of the two forthcoming global conferences.

Recognizing the importance of domestic resource mobilization in ensuring sustainable development, the Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to raising private savings, including strengthening and improving reliability of thrift institutions and incentives to save, as well as broadening the range of financial instruments. The Ministers agreed to reinforce macroeconomic stability and deepen reforms of financial markets and institutions, as well as ensure sound interest and exchange rates policy management to enhance private and public savings. Ministers stressed the critical role of capital markets in raising the level of domestic savings, attracting foreign private investment, and stemming and reversing capital flight. In this regard, the Conference prepared the development of regional or subregional approach to capital markets development.

On the external side, the Ministers welcomed the initiatives taken by the global community to reduce the debt burden. However, the need to deepen the HIPC Initiative and deliver faster debt relief was underscored. In this regard, the Ministers endorsed the need for dialogue on two proposals put forward by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the debt issue, namely the establishment of an independent panel of experts of eminent persons to look into the problem, as well as the freezing of debt service of the HIPC countries with no interest obligation until acceptable arrangements are reached.

Against the backdrop of a reduction in the level of ODA flows, the Ministers noted that while there is a need to reduce dependence on aid in the long-term, an increase in the volume of aid is necessary to achieve this transition. The Ministers also noted that the policy environment for aid effectiveness was improving across the continent. To further enhance the effectiveness of aid and thus ensure sustained aid flows, the Ministers emphasized the need for African countries to engage donors and other development partners in a new partnership, focusing on an African-driven development agenda; set realistic goals; target ODA to fund poverty reduction programmes; strengthen institutional and delivery mechanisms as well as coordination and specialization among donors and multilateral sources of funds; and ensure participation of target groups to enhance a sense of "ownership" of development assistance programmes.

Regarding reform of the international financial system, the Ministers noted that one of the key lessons for Africa, from the Asian financial crisis, is the need to strengthen supervisory and regulatory mechanisms of financial institutions to ensure greater transparency in financial transactions and improved corporate governance, in consonance with the principles of financial liberalization. The Ministers, thus, endorsed proposals for the reform of the international financial and monetary systems, and called on the UN system to develop an appropriate reform package to this end.

With regard to African LDCs, the Ministers broadly acknowledged that past efforts to address the development problems facing these countries have failed to yield the expected results, with the result that African countries are becoming increasingly marginalized in a rapidly globalizing world.

A major outcome of the Ministerial Conference was the decision to develop a New Global Compact with Africa, in which the developed countries would invest the necessary resources, through aid, debt relief and market access, in order to give African economies the necessary jump-start. In turn, Africa world intensify its efforts at political and economic reforms.

The Compact will necessarily entail a new architecture of aid to be under-pinned by an African ownership of the development process; mutually agreed goals rooted in the international development targets; mutual accountability towards defined outcomes (in place of one-sided conditionality); long-term commitments, moving away from "stop and go" relations and restricted project finance; channelling resources through the budgetary process so that aid is fully integrated into overall public expenditures; allowing for greater flexibility in the use of resources by recipients, which will require a demonstrated recipient capacity to monitor and manage resource flows efficiently.

In this regard, ECA was called on to further develop the approach for operationalizing the "New Global Compact with Africa". In response to this call, ECA has commenced wide-ranging consultations on the Compact proposal within Africa and with Africa's development partners. The outcome of these consultations will be presented for discussions at the next session of the Joint conference of African Ministers responsible for Economic Development and Planning and Ministers of Finance in Algiers, Algeria in May 2001.

2. Africa Regional Hearing for the Millennium Assembly

The Africa Regional Hearing for the Millennium Assembly was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 24 and 25 June 1999 as part of a series of informal regional hearings organized by the United Nations to consult with a cross-section of society as an initial step towards the preparation of "The Millennium Assembly" which took place in New York in September 2000. The Hearing took place against a backdrop of significant developments in the global, political and economic environment.

The main objective of the Hearing was to initiate consultations at the regional level with a view to informing the thematic proposals and issues to define the orientation and role of the United Nations in the new millennium.

The Hearing was organized under the overarching theme, "United Nations in the twenty-first Century." Under this overall theme, the Hearing examined the role of the United Nations in Africa in the twenty-first century, focusing on the five core areas of the Organization's work identified as priority, namely: peace and security, economic and social affairs, development cooperation, humanitarian affairs and human rights.

The Hearing also presented an opportunity to review and assess the institutional weaknesses of the United Nations in order to identify the challenges which, from Africa's perspective, should form part of the vision of the United Nations in the next millennium. Some of the crucial challenges highlighted included how to make the United Nations truly representative of all peoples; how to ensure that the United Nations is the custodian and defender of the principles of the sovereignty of nations and a bastion of democracy, as enshrined in its Charter, so as to maintain the confidence and trust of Africans and reflect the views of Africans on matters affecting the continent; the kind of United Nations desired by member States and other stakeholders in the new millennium, how the United Nations should interact with its constituencies and how member States will contribute to achieving these.

The Hearing underscored the need for a strong United Nations, capable of addressing the development challenges of many of the world's people; promoting peace and security; and defending the rights of peoples all over the world.

Views from the debates served as inputs to the Secretary-General's report entitled, "We the Peoples: The role of the United Nations in the twenty-first Century", outlining a vision of the United Nations in the new century and its relevance in the context of a world that has changed since the Organization was established in 1945. The report was presented to the Millennium Assembly held in September 2000 under the context of the fifty-fifth session of the UN General Assembly.

CHAPTER III

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORK PROGRAMME

During the period 1998 - 2000, the work of the Commission was organized around seven mutually complementary subprogrammes. These are: facilitating economic and social policy analysis; ensuring food security and sustainable development; strengthening development management; harnessing information for development; promoting regional cooperation and integration; promoting the advancement of women and promoting subregional activities for development. In what follows, we present the activities implemented under each of these subprogrammes as well as other major initiatives, namely: the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF); and the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa (UN-SIA).

A. Facilitating economic and social policy analysis

Activities undertaken under this subprogramme were aimed at enhancing understanding of the key issues in Africa's development and assisting member States to develop their own economic and social policies for sustained growth and macroeconomic stability, trade and investment promotion, debt sustainability, enhanced social development and poverty reduction.

In the area of economic policy analysis, the secretariat undertook several studies during the period under review. These included savings mobilization in Africa: Processes, institutions and cultural factors; growth strategies for Africa: lessons from Asia and Latin America; financial intermediation in Africa: Broadening local participation in the market for public securities and privatization of public assets; review of fiscal institutional framework; Instruments and processes in the implementation of fiscal policy in African countries; development finance requirements which focused on the challenges and indications of mobilizing financial resources to meet the internationally agreed objective of reducing poverty by half of the year 2015; broadened development agenda for Africa which focuses on Africa's broadened development agenda including issues of income growth, equity and poverty reduction, social development and environmental sustainability; and effectiveness of anti-poverty policies and programmes which evaluated the impact of various anti-poverty policies and programmes.

The studies noted, in general, that in spite of the rigorous policy reforms implemented by several African countries over the past decade, most countries continued to perform below their potential. The studies further noted that this disappointing performance largely reflected shortcomings in a number of policy areas, both macroeconomic and structural, and emphasized the importance of deepening reforms and strengthening institutional capacity in policy formulation and implementation.

During the period under review, the secretariat prepared and published the Economic Report on Africa, 1998; the Economic Report on Africa, 1999; and the Economic Report on Africa, 2000. These reports were aimed at providing an assessment of the current trends and short-to medium-term outlook of the African economies and indicating the factors that affected their performance, taking into account developments in the global economic environment.

The theme of the Economic Report on Africa, 1999 was poverty reduction and sustainability of economic growth and performance. The report introduced a new feature in reviewing the performance of African economies in which countries were ranked according to annual performance, economic sustainability and economic policy stances. The Annual Economic Performance Index (AEPI) measured improvement or decline in current account balance, inflation and per capita income on year to year basis; the Economic Sustainability Index (ESI) measured a country's capacity to maintain long-term economic growth; while the Economic Policy Stance Index (EPSI) measured the appropriateness of government monetary and fiscal policies.

The 1999 Report analyzed the policy implications of these indices from the perspective of achieving the developmental objective of reducing poverty by half by the year 2015, and concluded that the majority of African countries were yet to establish conditions for sustained growth and for most of the countries now on the verge of recovery, the capacity to sustain growth and development over time was fraught with uncertainty. The report noted that recent growth rates needed to be increased and sustained long enough in order to achieve the objective of reducing poverty by half by the year 2015.

The Economic Report on Africa, 2000 focused on the fundamental determinants of growth, namely income, poverty and inequality, economic structure, investment, governance and human capital, and identified peace and stability, political and economic reforms as necessary conditions for achieving poverty-reducing growth and development in the twenty-first century.

The secretariat prepared a number of background papers in the area of trade, debt and investment policy, which were published as Working Paper Series, to support African countries in their negotiations in the context of ongoing multilateral trade negotiations within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other fora. The publications included strategies and policies for trade and investment promotion; strategies and policies for debt management; dynamic impact of external debt accumulation on private investment and growth in Africa; public and private partnership in trade and investment promotion in Africa; required institutional changes to adjust to globalisation; competitiveness of Africa's major exports: Textiles and clothing industry in Africa; the status of African debt: An analysis of the developmental impact of debt cancellation; and promotion of investment agencies in Africa. These papers discussed the challenges of promoting trade and investment in Africa through policies that increase private foreign investment, public savings and domestic investment; including addressing the structural and institutional constraints to enhancing the competitiveness of African economies. The study on Africa's debts examined the impact of debt cancellation on the economic performance of African countries, particularly Africa's LDCs, and concluded that there was need for deeper and faster debt relief if these countries were to escape the debt trap and achieve sustainable growth and development.

The secretariat's activities in the area of social policy and poverty analysis were designed to promote efficient macroeconomic and sectoral policies for sustained growth and poverty reduction; analyze the empirical evidence and policy implications of the linkage between poverty, gender and ethnicity; promote strategies to ensure that public expenditure in Africa is pro-poor; build capacity for poverty analysis and monitoring; and promote policies that support human capital development and capacity-building. The following studies were undertaken in the area of social policy and poverty analysis: Government subsidy programmes in Africa: Best practice paper; cross-country studies on trends in public expenditure allocation in selected African countries; the new face of poverty in Africa: Case studies of selected urban centres in Africa; integration of quantitative and qualitative data for poverty analysis: Pilot studies using household survey data from selected African countries; and higher education cost recovery: Potentials and constraints. These studies generally defined poverty reduction as the central objective in designing and implementing public policies and programmes in Africa.

Two papers, Finance for Development in Africa, and Africa's Trade and Development in the twenty-first Century were presented as issues notes to the eighth session of ECA's Conference of African Ministers of Finance. In addition to estimating the magnitude of resources that would be required to achieve Africa's development goal, the paper on Finance for Development in Africa also reviewed recent trends in resource flows to Africa, and concluded that African governments would need to adopt policies to enhance domestic resource mobilization, in addition to attracting higher levels of external finance - ODA, FDI, debt relief, trade including addressing Africa's trade and development in the twenty-first century; examined Africa's position in the world economy in the context of a globalizing world, and proposed that Africa would have to adopt policies to enable the continent take advantage of the opportunities offered by the globalization process, and improve its position in the multilateral trading system by accelerating its integration agenda. This is imperative if Africa is to avoid further marginalization in the global trading system.

During the period under review, the secretariat organized or participated in several conferences, meetings, seminars and workshops dealing with critical issues in Africa's development. These included the Joint Conference of African Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Economic Development and Planning in May 1999; the eighth session of the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance in November 2000 in Addis Ababa; a high-level symposium on trade and development organized by WTO in March 1999; the Technical Group meeting of the Committee for Development Policy in London in March 1999; the Forum on the future competitiveness of African economies in Dakar, Senegal in March 1999; African consultations on the World Development Report, 2001 in Johannesburg, South Africa in January 1999; the subregional follow-up conferences to the World Summit for Social Development for West and Central Africa in Ouagadougou in January 1999; for East and Southern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya in March 1999 and for North Africa in Marrakech, Morocco in March 1999; Geneva Social Summit 2000 held to review progress in the implementation of the 1995 Copenhagen Plan of Action; Conference of African Ministers of Education organized by OAU in Harare, Zimbabwe in March 1999; and a conference on the causes and solutions of poverty in Africa held at the Centre for the Study of African Economies of Oxford University, United Kingdom in April 1999. These meetings provided the fora for reviewing and sharing experiences on critical development issues, both at the international and regional levels, as well as for formulating and implementing policies and strategies in support of development in the member States.

Several ad hoc experts group meetings were also organized during the period under review covering the following issues: appropriate follow-up mechanisms to the first WTO Ministerial Conference and modalities to facilitate Africa's effective participation in the second WTO Ministerial Conference which was held in Geneva in May 1998; the analytical and conceptual tools for poverty measurement held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in October 1999; Africa's development strategies in Addis Ababa in March 2000; the role of investment promotion agencies in Africa in September 2000; the African Youth Forum of the UN system in April 2000; raising the competitiveness of African economies held in Addis Ababa in October 1999; growth strategies for Africa's development held in Addis Ababa in December 1999; and the development implications of civil conflicts in Africa held in Addis Ababa in April 2000. In addition, the secretariat organized a regional conference on brain drain and capacity-building in Africa in Addis Ababa in February 2000. The Conference reviewed various approaches and experiences in capacity-building and made policy recommendations for effective utilization of human resources for Africa's development. A list of various meetings organized during the period is provided in Annex I.

During the period under review, advisory services were provided to member States and their intergovernmental organizations to strengthen their capacities in such areas as debt management; customs reform and modernization; trade facilitation programmes at country, subregional and regional levels; development of capital markets, financial and monetary integration, promoting North-South cooperation, international trade and financial negotiations, and in economic cooperation and integration. In this context, the secretariat participated in a World Bank-led multi-donor needs assessment mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo areas of possible intervention by the international community in support of efforts aimed at bringing lasting peace and sustainable development to Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region. Other advisory missions fielded included a mission to Kampala, Uganda in September 1998 to assess the training needs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; to Accra, Ghana in May 2000 and to Abuja, Nigeria in March 2000 to provide support to both countries in their efforts to establish a second monetary zone within ECOWAS. A list of advisory services is provided in Annex II.

The secretariat worked closely and collaborated on a range of issues with other United Nations agencies, international financial institutions and African universities and research institutions during the period under review. The areas of collaboration included assistance to member States in capacity-building for poverty analysis (with the World Bank); on National Long-Term Perspective Studies (NLTPS), with UNDP; preparing the report, "State of African Children" in collaboration with UNICEF; in the development of the African Capital Markets project and in capacity-building to sustain the computerization process of the customs procedure (with UNCTAD). Collaboration involved attending meetings, workshops, seminars, staff exchange and internship programmes, and providing consultancy services and training.

B. Ensuring food security and sustainable development

During the period under review, ECA's activities in support of ensuring food security and sustainable development were aimed at promoting better understanding of the interrelationship among the nexus issues of agricultural productivity, population growth and environmental sustainability, and promoting strategies for integrating these concerns into development planning and policy-making. To this end, the secretariat produced several policy briefs and reports covering such issues as best practices in the management of the nexus issues; established websites and networks; organized several meetings, workshops and seminars; provided technical support to member States; and strengthened collaboration with other agencies concerned with sustainable development issues.

The policy reports and studies undertaken included the following: Approaches to the management of the nexus issues: Best practices; Inter-regional trade in agriculture: The scope for joint food security schemes in Africa; sustainable food production and food security in the Sahelian countries: Some key issues and policy challenges; agricultural development in the West African subregion; the implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development Plan of Action (ICPD-PA) and the Dakar/Ngor Declaration (DND); soil erosion and destruction of land resources: Issues and trends in Africa; issues paper on food security, population, agriculture and the environment; state of demographic transition in Africa; compendia of science and technology applications in the agro-industrial sector of selected African countries; Africa: Demographic, environmental and agricultural indicators; socio-economic conditions in Africa and risk management; and accelerating sustainable development in Africa through regional cooperation; a user's manual for the Population, Environment, Development and Agriculture (PEDA) model; a newsletter describing the activities and achievements of the Food Security and Sustainable Development Division (FSSDD) of ECA; and a poster on the theme, "The Environment Millennium-Time to Act," prepared to commemorate the World Environment Day (June 2000).

The secretariat also published two issues of Africa's Population and Development bulletin during the period under review. The objective of the bulletin is to encourage the exchange and sharing of experiences among African countries in the implementation of DND and ICPD-PA, by providing a platform to discuss research results, policy initiatives, outcomes and activities, at grassroots level. Both issues of the bulletin were widely disseminated among planners, policy makers, universities and researchers, NGOs, international organizations and the public at large. In addition to these publications, a number of documents prepared by visiting scholars on emerging issues in science and technology were widely disseminated during the period under review. These included: The management of technology in newly industrializing countries: Lessons for Africa; technological transitions; technical upgrading of indigenous food technologies in Africa; technological capability building in the South: Lessons and opportunities for sub-Saharan Africa; investing in science and technology in Africa: Policy options for the twenty-first Century; science and technology for African development; natural resources and technology: Competitiveness and sustainable development in Africa.

The objectives of the policy reports included developing a conceptual framework for analyzing the linkages between agriculture, population and environment for use as an advocacy tool in promoting policies and programmes to ensure food security in member States; enhancing awareness and understanding of interrelated issues of water resources in the context of the nexus; and fostering the adoption of a new strategy for the development and application of science and technology in general and biotechnology in particular, to achieve food security and sustainable development.

Other activities undertaken during the period under review included the organization of meetings, policy workshops, training and seminars aimed at building the capacity of member States to ensure food security and sustainable development. (See Annex I for a detailed list of meetings held during this period).

In support of its advocacy role, the secretariat established two websites for disseminating information on population, and science and technology issues in the region. In partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the global POPIN programme of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), ECA created its own Information (POPIN) web homepage and website which is devoted to information on Africa's follow-up activities to DND and ICPD-PA. During the same period, the secretariat launched the ECA Science and Technology Network (ESTNET) to serve as a resource centre for information and communications on science and technology policies and issues in Africa. Activities in this area during the period under review involved further development of the ESTNET website, the databases and the interactive communication facilities. ESTNET is expected to contribute to enhancing the capacity of member States in the area of science and technology for food security and sustainable development.

The secretariat was also engaged in a number of collaborative activities with other United Nations agencies as well as regional and subregional organizations. These activities involved the exchange of data and information, participation in meetings, conferences and workshops. For example, the secretariat participated in or jointly organized the following meetings and workshops: The first seminar of francophone and lusophone mayors on the problems of street food in Africa in Praia, Cape Verde from 7 to 9 June 1999; a regional consultative meeting on sustainable development in Africa in Abidjan, Côte d' Ivoire from 7 to 9 September 1999; the twenty-first Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Conference for Africa in Yaounde, Cameroon in February 2000; a subregional meeting on a study entitled, Forestry Outlook Study for Eastern Africa which took place from 17 to 19 April 2000. The secretariat worked closely with UNFPA in reviewing progress in the implementation of DND and ICPD-PA, and in preparing Africa for ICPD+5; and with the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) (Habitat) in the follow-up activities to the Habitat agenda in Africa. Other collaborative efforts included those with UN-DESA/Population Division, New York, in the preparation of population estimates and projections for ECA member States, development and dissemination of population information electronically as well as development and maintenance of web sites; with OAU, ADB (within the joint ECA/OAU/ADB Secretariat) and UNFPA, and the subregional institutions on population and development such as Institut de formation et de recherché demographiques (IFORD), Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), Centre de recherché sur la population et le developpement (CERPOD) on the follow-up to the DND and ICPD-PA; with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in the development and operationalization of the PEDA model.

During the period under review, the secretariat provided advisory services to several member States on request, in the development of food security information database, the improvement of integrated national information systems, policy formulation and programme development and modalities for achieving effectiveness in the application of science and technology to address development problems. In cooperation with the UNFPA technical advisory programme, advisory services and technical assistance were provided on cartography, census taking, demographic data processing and analysis to a number of countries. Ethiopia, for example, received support in the preparation of a major study on internal migration and urbanization, as well as training in the use of the PEDA model.

C. Strengthening development management

The activities undertaken by ECA in support of strengthening development management during the period under review were based on the premise that good governance is necessary to ensure the avoidance of conflict and the attainment of social and economic growth, and that broad-based stakeholders' participation is encouraged in the development process in African countries. To this end, emphasis was placed on research, experience-sharing through workshops and meetings, and documentation in support of fostering partnership between the public and private sectors; promoting public sector reforms for enhanced efficiency and impact; promoting public sector policies and practices to foster an enabling environment for private sector development; and enhancing the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the development process.

Activities in the area of public sector management were aimed at enhancing the capacity of central and local government institutions for efficient service delivery. To this end, the secretariat undertook a study to analyze government policy on financing local development, and administrative structures to support the implementation of the policy. Among other things, the study recommended the adoption of measures for accelerated decentralization of financial authority to the local level, as well as strengthening local government structures.

In the area of civil service reforms, the secretariat prepared the following technical publications which documented and analyzed various strategies and best practices in public sector reforms. These included civil service reform policies: Strategies and effectiveness in other countries and lessons for Africa; the scope for popular participation in decentralization, community governance and development: Towards a new paradigm in centre periphery relations; and effective systems of ethics and accountability in African public services. These studies and publications are expected to form a basis for developing guidelines and service standards for enhanced productivity and performance in ECA member States.

To improve understanding of the relationship between good governance and development the secretariat organized two ad hoc expert group meetings during the period under review. These included the meeting on measuring and monitoring progress towards good governance in Africa, held in Addis Ababa in September 1999; and the meeting on prototype codes and indicators to monitor efficiency in administrative governance in Africa in Addis Ababa in March 2000. These meetings have helped in establishing guidelines for the preparation of the Africa State of Governance Report as well as in identifying key indicators for measuring good governance in Africa. In collaboration with UNDP, the secretariat also organized the fourth Africa Governance Forum which was held in Kampala, Uganda from 1 to 3 September 2000. ECA made substantive input to the forum theme paper entitled, "Parliament and Good Governance in Africa."

In the area of private sector development, encompassing small- and large-scale enterprises, ECA's activities focused on promoting enterprise formation, privatization, macro financing and the development of capital markets in Africa. The secretariat devoted much effort to promoting programmes that allow access by formal and informal sector operators to financial schemes that will enable them acquire the necessary resources for their operations. For instance, credit for micro-projects was analyzed in a study carried out with the aim of improving access to loans by operators of small-scale enterprises through the effective use of formal and informal micro-financing systems. The study reviewed ongoing practices and programmes of micro financing in selected African, Asian and Latin American countries and made appropriate recommendations to governments, financial institutions, NGOs, and informal sector operators. Measures to promote privatization in strategic sectors of African economies such as telecommunications, transport and tourism were reviewed in yet another study on privatization.

The secretariat, in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), OAU and the Government of Senegal organized the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of African Ministers of Industry (CAMI) in Dakar, Senegal. Under the theme, "Industrialization and Poverty Eradication," the meeting considered such issues as the strategies for revitalizing private sector development in Africa, and the impact of globalization on industrial development in Africa. The meeting was briefed on activities related to the promotion of the Alliance for Africa's Industrialization and the Conference of Industrial Partnerships and Investment in Africa, which was held on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting. The secretariat prepared and presented a number of background documents to the Conference. These included review of current trends, approaches and strategies for private sector development: Subregional case studies; synthesis reports and comparative case studies on private sector development programmes in Asia and Latin America.

Other activities undertaken in support of promoting private sector development included the preparation of studies and background documents presented at various workshops and expert group meetings on promoting private sector development. The studies included one on the promotion and strengthening of capital markets in Africa; the role of micro-financing in the sustainable development of small-scale enterprises in Africa; proposals for linking selected private sector actors to existing information networks; Strategic framework for designing and providing support services to enhance regional and global competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES); study on critical review of existing support services for the improvement of regional and global competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises; and study on best practices of public/private sector partnership in improving business environment and support services. In addition, following three study missions that were undertaken to Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa, three reports have been completed which will be used in designing a strategic framework for enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs in regional and global markets.

In response to the strong demand for enhancing the capacity of African CSOs, a number of operational activities were undertaken by the secretariat. These included seminars and workshops, some of which were country-focused and targeted at addressing the policy analysis and advocacy capacity of CSOs to enable them participate effectively in the process of policy and programme formulation and implementation. Other activities were subregional and regional in scope and used as outlets for developing, publishing and disseminating a series of guidelines, and technical manuals on critical development issues with the aim of strengthening the operational capacity of CSOs. In this regard, the secretariat organized and serviced the first meeting of the Committee on Human Development and Civil Society in Addis Ababa in June 1999 on the theme, "Popular Participation for Sustainable Social and Human Development in Africa." The meeting examined issues from the subregional follow-up conferences to the Copenhagen Summit; the report on ECA's work in the area of human and social development including civil society in the period 1988-1999; and strategies for building the capacity of African CSOs. Alongside the meeting, a guest lecture was delivered on the topic, "Promoting public/private partnership for enhanced and sustained economic, social and human development in Africa.

Activities undertaken in support of strengthening the policy analysis and advocacy capacity of CSOs included a national workshop which was jointly organized by ECA and the National Association of Non-governmental Organizations (NANGO) of Zimbabwe held in Harare in October 1998; a subregional training workshop on conflict prevention and resolution in Lusaka, Zambia in June 2000; an ad hoc experts group meeting on the development implications of civil conflict in Addis Ababa in April 2000; a consultative meeting between ECA and the African Civil Society community to discuss the modalities for the participation of CSOs in the programmes and activities of ACCS.

In response to the directive of the UN General Assembly, the secretariat organized the Africa regional hearings for the Millennium Assembly in Addis Ababa. The event brought together representatives of governments, CSOs, academic institutions and community leaders to review and assess the institutional weaknesses of the United Nations in order to identify the challenges to the Africa region that should form part of the overall vision of the United Nations in the twenty-first century. The dialogue brought out innovative ideas and specific goals that the United Nations was expected to achieve in the coming decades, particularly in the five core areas of its work, namely development cooperation, economic and social affairs, humanitarian affairs, peace and security and human rights.

The secretariat has initiated a number of activities which will culminate in a major meeting on participation and development to mark the tenth anniversary of the Arusha Declaration on Participatory Development. Among these activities are five sub-regional studies on the role and comparative advantages of African CSOs in development and governance in Africa. The five subregional studies will be synthesized into one regional paper which will serve as a background document for the forthcoming meeting.

The secretariat also strengthened its partnership with other United Nations agencies and organizations through collaborative activities that were aimed at promoting good governance and democracy as conditions for sustainable development. Collaboration took the form of preparation of papers on critical issues presented at various meetings and workshops to which ECA was invited. Papers on which the secretariat collaborated in preparing included one on governance and public sector management reforms, presented at a workshop organized by the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD); the scope and limitations of the market in the public sector; measures to be adopted to improve the quality of service delivered by the public sector, presented at the second biennial conference of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in September 1998; and on methods and techniques of policy analysis in development, presented at the fourth African workshop on local and regional development planning organized by UNCRD at Karen, Kenya in November 1998. In addition, the secretariat prepared a background paper for a conference organized by the Africa Leadership Forum in Cotonou, Benin Republic in November 1998; presented materials on a broad range of governance and public sector management reform issues to participants of a Senior Executive Programme of the Swaziland Institute of Management and Public Administration in February 1999; and a training workshop organized by UNCRD in Karen, Kenya, in October 2000. The secretariat also participated in a World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored consultative meeting on the policy, institutional and management implications of decentralization in the health sector which was held in the Hague in December 1998; and the biennial conference of the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management in Capetown, South Africa. It collaborated with the Government of the Gambia, UNDP and the African Centre for Administrative Training and Research for Development (CAFRAD) in organizing a subregional workshop on decentralization held in Banjul in February 1999.

Advisory services were rendered by the secretariat to several member States and their IGOs during the period under review. These services took the form of studies and training programmes designed to strengthen the public sector's delivery capacity in support of the private sector as the engine of growth, as well as helping to enhance the effectiveness of SMEs at national and subregional levels. In this regard, assistance was provided to Swaziland in redefining the strategic objectives of its civil service reform programme; to Lesotho, in reviewing the institutional support requirements of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the National University of Lesotho and in designing a management capacity building training module; and to the Government of Morocco and CAFRAD, in organizing and servicing the second Pan African Conference of Ministers for Civil Service held in Rabat in November 1998. In addition, several capacity building needs assessment missions were mounted by the secretariat during the period under review. Beneficiaries included the Bayelsa State of Nigeria (on employment generation strategy); the Transit and Transport Coordination Authority, in restructuring its secretariat; and the West African Health Organization, in assessing the institutional capacity needs of its new secretariat.

Regional Advisory Services were provided to ECOWAS and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in restructuring their secretariats and in the assessment of staff training, to Zambia, in the preparation of a study on policies, incentives and support mechanisms for SMEs in Zambia; to IDEP, in the preparation of a study on the revitalization of the Institute as well as in the finalization of a report and project document on building and enhancing entrepreneurial capacity of indigenous African entrepreneurs for effective operation in regional and international markets; to Ethiopia in the preparation of a project document for ethics education for the civil service; to Nigeria, in the preparation of a study on the establishment of a technical cooperation fund as well as a training workshop for Directors in the Federal civil services; and to the Tigray Development Orgainzation in the preparation of a study and business plan for the launching of the Mekalle Institute of Technology. In addition, Nigeria, Namibia, Ethiopia and MIDROC-Ethiopia (the largest private sector concern in Ethiopia) benefited from capacity-building training and workshops in the area of ethics and accountability, service delivery improvements and public-private sector partnership in combating corruption.

D. Harnessing information for development

ECA's work in the area of harnessing information for development during the period under review was aimed at promoting policies, methods and strategies for efficient utilization of modern information and communication technologies and disseminating information, including geoinformation and statistics for sustainable development. Activities undertaken in pursuit of this objective covered such areas as statistical development, database development and management, promoting information and communications technology for development, geoinformation, and library services.

In the area of statistical development, two major studies were undertaken which focused on methodological issues involved in the compilation and maintenance of national establishment registers, and on the compilation and maintenance of international trade indices. Other publications and technical materials prepared and disseminated by the secretariat during the period under review included the African Statistical Yearbook, 1998; African Statistical Yearbook, 1999; Statistical Annex to the Survey of Economic and Social Conditions in Africa, 1999; Africa in Figures, 1998; Integrated National and Subregional Economic, Social and Environmental indicators for 1998, 1999, and 2000 in the form of print-outs; evaluation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa, Africa CD 2000; and best practices in the formulation of statistical development plans. The technical materials issued included the Africa Statistical Yearbook on CD-ROM; national accounts data for the Economic Report on Africa, 1999 and 2000; and the Development Information newsletter for October and November 1999 in electronic and printed formats.

A number of capacity-building activities were also undertaken in the area of statistical development. These included an ad hoc experts group meeting on measures to improve intra-African trade statistics held in Addis Ababa from 4 to 8 October 1999; training workshop for national census personnel in Addis Ababa from 1 to 5 November 1999; workshop on environmental statistics indicators and accounting in African countries held in Addis Ababa from 5 to 11 November 1999; workshop on international, economic and social classifications held in Addis Ababa in December 2000; and training workshop for francophone African countries on the implementation of the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA) in Addis Ababa from 20 to 24 March 2000. Several workshops were organized at various times during the period under review with the aim of strengthening and refining the process for further implementation of the 1993 SNA, population and household census, and environmental statistical indicators and accounting in African countries. In addition, the secretariat organized and serviced the eighth (May 1998) and ninth (June 1999) meetings of the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development in Addis Ababa. The meetings reviewed the activities of the secretariat in the area of statistical development in the respective preceding year and considered the reports of the Task Force on monitoring the implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa.

The secretariat also participated and made contributions to other meetings, conferences and seminars in the area of statistical development in the period under review. These included the AFRISTAT expert group meeting on harmonization of activities and product classification in Bamako, Mali in March 2000; the National Accountants Association's eighth colloquia on national accounts held in Paris in January 2000; the inter-secretariat Working Group on national accounts in New York in April 2000; the Joint ECE/EUROSTAT/OECD meeting on national accounts held in Geneva in April 2000; the Millennium Conference of Commonwealth Statisticians in Gaborone, Botswana in May 2000; and the meeting to launch the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the twenty-first century (PARIS 21) in Paris in November 2000.

During the period under review, several member States and their intergovernmental organizations received technical support and training in the organization and management of national statistical services. Four training workshops were organized by the secretariat to cover various topics in statistics including a workshop on the implementation of the 1993 SNA, with more than 120 experts from various countries and IGOs benefiting. In addition, the secretariat completed assessments of national statistical systems for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritania, Chad, Rwanda and Lesotho; and conducted a survey of the statistical systems of Reunion, Mauritius and Mombasa seaports during the period under review.

Statistical database development and management is an important component of the work on statistical development. The activities of the secretariat in this area focused on the maintenance, networking and dissemination of the ECA multi-sectoral regional database and the derived products, international cooperation, policy coordination, liaison and harmonization of standards, concepts and methods, and technical cooperation. Activities undertaken in this regard, included the implementation of the United Nations Economic and Social Information System (UNESIS); implementation of the 1993 SNA; development of economic classifications; development of manuals; development of indicators; development of minimum statistical standards; development of national and regional live databases. Some of these activities were undertaken in collaboration with other United Nations agencies and other organizations, including the United Nations Statistics Division, OECD, IMF and the World Bank.

Several databases were developed and maintained by the secretariat during the period under review. Among them were the ECA multi-sectoral regional statistical database; bibliographic databases developed in the context of the PADIS project; Directory of educational and training facilities in the area of spatially referenced information in Africa, status of mapping and spatial baseline information on Africa; and cartographic inventory atlas for Africa.

Activities undertaken in the area of promoting information and communication technologies for development were geared towards raising awareness of the information age in Africa; encouraging the establishment of internet hosts in the region; encouraging and facilitating the establishment of African web sites with local content; development of national information and communications infrastructure plans (NICI), policies, programmes and strategies, sector applications and connectivity. To this end, four country studies (covering Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania) were undertaken to measure the impact of electronic connectivity and the Internet on development. The studies noted the growing spread of the communication media in these countries and underlined the need to make them more accessible to the people of the region. Similarly, ECA began a major study in 1999 entitled, "ICT-SCAN on the status of information and communication technologies for Africa". In addition, six country studies on the relationship between gender and information technologies for development were completed and presented at ECA's fortieth anniversary conference, which was devoted to the theme, "African Women and Economic Development."

The secretariat also organized and hosted the first meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI) in Addis Ababa which focused on the theme, "Harnessing Information for Development." Under this overall theme, the following sub-themes were addressed: African statistical development: A review and the road ahead in the new millennium; the economic and social benefits of geographic information systems; and content development and dissemination in Africa: Key issues (this was the sub-theme in the area of information and communications technology). The meeting put forward a number of recommendations aimed at enhancing the contributions of these three areas to the socio-economic development of Africa.

During the period under review, the secretariat organized or participated in several workshops, symposia and conferences in the area of promoting information for development (see annex I).

ECA continued to play a leadership role in the implementation of AISI particularly through such collaborative partnerships as the Partnership for Information and Communication Technologies in Africa (PICTA) and the Global Knowledge Partnership, an informal association of United Nations, bilateral and multilateral donors and executing agencies as well as the Global Information Infrastructure Commission representing the private sector. PICTA met online through a closed electronic discussion list supplemented by a website. The association also held an annual meeting in Tunisia in the same period, and participated in several other global meetings relating to ICT development.

Through PICTA, the secretariat developed strong partnerships with other institutions to ensure effective implementation of AISI. For example, the secretariat worked closely with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in organizing seminars, workshops and other activities to promote the CDS-ISS and IDAMS software; with UNDP, in the implementation of the African Internet Initiative, in organizing the Africa internet governance meeting in Cotonou, Republic of Benin in December 1998, and in the conceptualization of the African Regional Strategic Decision Information System. As a member of the Global Information Infrastructure Commission, Africa Steering Committee, ECA also worked with the global private sector in telecommunications, in the organization of the Global Connectivity for Africa conference and the presentation on AISI to the African Business and Development Forum held in Marrakech, Morocco in May 1999. ECA's work with NGOs included collaboration with ENDA to provide advisory services on connectivity for NGOs in Africa, as well as in organizing a regional telehealth conference in Nairobi in February 1999.

Other operational activities undertaken in the area of information and communications technology for development included the launch of the ECA intranet; the establishment of the Technology Centre for Africa; and the completion of the evaluation and selection of a state-of-the-art integrated library management system designed to make the ECA Library the hub for the development of the African Virtual Library and Information Network (ALVIN). In addition, advisory support was provided to some member States in the formulation and adoption of NICI plans and policies. Swaziland, Burundi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique and Uganda benefited from technical support in the development of their NICI plans and policies.

As part of its activities to enhance Africa's participation in the global information economy, ECA organized the first ADF in Addis Ababa in October 1999 on the theme, "The Challenge to Africa of Globalization and the Information Age." The Forum is an annual event that brings together high level policy and decision makers and practitioners to focus on topical issues in Africa's development. ADF'99 was attended by over 950 participants, including a full gamut of stakeholders who are making knowledge for development a reality in Africa, from civil society and academia, to the private sector and high-level public sector officials. Among the high level participants were two Heads of State and Government (Ethiopia and Mali), one Vice-President (Malawi) and the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. The event included plenary sessions and keynote addresses, as well as working group sessions on the Forum theme areas, in addition to an exhibition. Under the overall theme, ADF 1999 had four sub-themes, namely Africa and the information society; strengthening Africa's information infrastructure; information and communication technologies for improved governance; and democratizing access to the information society.

A number of initiatives were spawned at ADF'99, including a plan for a regional School Net Africa, an African Distance Learning Programme, discussion lists and activities related to gender and the information age in the context of Beijing + 5, NgoNET Africa (an action group to engage civil society in the promotion of information and communication technology for African development), a telecentre network, activities to support the involvement of the African diaspora in knowledge and development in Africa, the formation of a business to business network, the Alliance for African Business and the formation of national action groups with the specific aim of preparing for the Global Knowledge Information Infrastructure.

ADF'99 would be followed by a Post-Forum Summit to be held in Morocco in early 2001. The Summit would provide African political leaders with the opportunity to assess the results of ADF and reach consensus on the most promising initiatives for follow-up at the national, subregional and regional levels. The first post-Forum Summit would examine the information society strategies that were considered by ADF participants to be among the most promising in Africa's search for its own definition of the information society. Between 15 and 20 African Heads of State will be invited to the Summit, along with other leaders from the private sector and development agencies.

ECA is developing position papers and proposals on four sets of issues that emerged from ADF'99: Policy and regulation within a broad information and communication policy context; applications to support education processes and meet the needs of Africa's youth; electronic commerce - the experience and the potential for Africa; and ICT applications in the area of health. Preliminary results have been assessed at the preparatory meeting for the post-Forum Summit in Addis Ababa in March 2000.

In the area of geoinformation, the secretariat undertook several activities with the aim of raising awareness in the member States of the real and potential benefits of geographical information for development. The activities included an ad hoc experts group meeting in Addis Ababa in November 1998 to discuss a working document on integrated geographic information systems with special attention to cadastre and land information systems for African decision makers; two reports on the social and economic benefits of geoinformation and the commercial aspects of geoinformation; a study on land information system for decision makers; and maintenance of databases on the status of mapping coverage and programmes in Africa, and educational training facilities in the area of geoinformation in Africa. Also during the same period, the secretariat published one issue of the Cartography and Remote Sensing Bulletin.

Collaboration with regional institutions working in the area of geoinformation - the Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace Surveys (RECTAS); the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD); United Nations Centre for Human Settlement (UNCHS-HABITAT); and the African Organization for Cartography and Remote Sensing (AOCRS) - was also strengthened during the period.

During the period under review, the ECA Library continued to deliver on its mandate to provide library and information services to the secretariat and member States of the Commission, through its participation in numerous UN system-wide initiatives in the area of libraries and information services. In this regard, the secretariat established a multimedia centre and developed independent bibliographic databases for the management of information systems for use in acquisition, cataloguing, circulation and serial control. The secretariat also printed and distributed a number of publications for use by staff and member States during the period under review. These included ECA in Print, Index to African Official publications, Africa Index, New Acquisitions, Table of Contents, and Lib Alert. As a member of the United Nations System Electronic Information Acquisition Consortium (UNSEIAC), the ECA Library provided access to a variety of technical information on electronic media, including CD-Roms like ECONLIT and BOOKS IN PRINT.

E. Promoting regional cooperation and integration

During the period under review, ECA's work in the area of promoting regional cooperation and integration in Africa was aimed at facilitating and enhancing the process of regional integration through the implementation of the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC); promoting the coordinated building and effective utilization of regional networks of transport and communications infrastructure; promoting the adoption of policies and financing mechanisms for mining and energy projects; promoting cooperation for the management, development and utilization of trans-border water resources including river and lake basins.

Activities undertaken in support of facilitating the implementation of the Abuja Treaty included the first meeting of the Committee on Regional Cooperation and Integration in Addis Ababa in April 1999, which reviewed the state of regional economic integration on the continent with particular emphasis on such key issues as tariff and non-tariff barriers and their impact on the regional integration process. Other activities undertaken in this area included the convening of an ad hoc experts group meeting on trade liberalization and production factor mobility within Africa in November 1998; a training workshop on the costs and benefits of regional economic integration in October 1998; an ad hoc experts group meeting on tapping private sector resources, market forces and international capital to accelerate African economic integration in July 1999; and a regional seminar on the harmonization of the commitments made by African countries under the Treaty establishing AEC and international multilateral trade agreements held in November 1999. As a member of the OAU/ECA/ADB Joint Secretariat, ECA participated in meetings and activities organized by the Secretariat, including the ninth Consultative Meeting of the Chief Executives of the Joint Secretariat which took place in Ouagadougou in February 1999.

Several member States and their intergovernmental organizations received assistance on the institutional and substantive issues of economic cooperation and integration, particularly as they relate to the establishment of AEC. Assistance took the form of policy briefs and studies which identified and analyzed the factors constraining or facilitating the integration process at the country, subregional and regional levels. Activities undertaken in this regard included the preparation of two feasibility studies on the establishment of self-financing mechanisms for COMESA and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The studies were aimed at identifying sources and mechanisms to ensure cost-effectiveness in the integration process in the two subregions. The SADC Secretariat also received assistance in the area of debt management; ECOWAS, in the formulation of a regional development programme; the East African Community (EAC), in the preparation of a study on transport development on Lake Victoria, as well as on programme development and implementation; and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), in carrying out a study on the establishment of a financing mechanism for the proposed Congo River Basin International Commission. In addition, several member States received support on global trade and other relevant negotiations. For example, ECA, in collaboration with OAU and ADB provided technical backstopping to African negotiators participating in the negotiations for the successor agreement to the Lome Convention which was signed in Cotonou in June 2000.

In addition, several studies and policy briefs dealing with emerging issues in the new global trading arrangements were prepared to support African trade negotiators in their negotiations on issues arising in the context of WTO. These studies were also aimed at preparing African countries for compliance with WTO provisions while pursuing their regional integration objectives, and making the required adjustments to attune the integration process to the WTO provisions. One new issue of the policy brief was published in 1998, while two issues are being finalized. Each issue addressed a specific theme and provided general information on topics of relevance in international trade.

During the period under review, the secretariat began preparing an annual report on the state of regional integration in Africa. The report, which will become one of ECA's annual flagship publications starting from 2001, will be entitled,"Annual Report on Integration in Africa". The report will assess and monitor the state of regional integration in Africa from a quantitative and qualitative standpoint, by addressing practical issues that hamper the process of integration. It will cover such issues as the absence of a mechanism for monitoring and assessing economic integration in Africa; the persistence of non-tariff barriers including physical impediments to the flow of goods and services, the divergent national macroeconomic policies; the overlapping membership of regional economic communities and its demand on member States; and the inability of the regional economic communities to launch and sustain programmes. The report will serve as a useful tool for policy makers, the regional economic communities and other IGOs, the private sector, support and advocacy institutions such as ECA and other research institutions, on issues of regional cooperation and integration.

The major activities in the area of promoting integration in the transport and communications sector focused on building management capacities for infrastructure development and operations; improving regional transport linkages and facilitation of traffic; building transport data systems; and developing intellectual partnership and strategic alliances.

With regard to building management capacities for infrastructure development and operations, ECA undertook three major activities, namely the preparation of policy framework reports; the organization of policy meetings to promote awareness and build consensus on various issues with the aim of promoting the development of transport and communications in Africa; and providing advisory services to member States. The activities included the preparation of studies on the impact of improved rural transport on women in Africa; needs assessment for modernization of rail track rolling stocks, telecommunications and signalling equipment in West and Central Africa; framework report for the development and implementation of transit agreements in Africa; privatization of ports and railway in selected African countries; and a study assessing progress on the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Declaration on a new air transport policy.

During the period under review, ECA, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Port Management Association for Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA), organized two workshops - one in Maputo, Mozambique from 22 to 24 April 1998 and the other in Mombassa, Kenya from 28 to 30 April 1998 on port commercialization issues. The workshops brought together all concerned stakeholders from the subregion to discuss and prepare the most appropriate programme for the gradual privatization of the various ports, including developing the appropriate institutional and regulatory frameworks for the management of the ports.

In the area of improving regional transport linkages and facilitation of traffic, the major activity undertaken by ECA during the period under review related to the coordination of the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Declaration on a new African air transport policy which was aimed at creating an enabling environment for cooperation and coordination among African air transport operators and for gradual liberalization of traffic rights within Africa. As lead agency for the coordination of the implementation of the Declaration, ECA kept policy makers regularly informed about the status of the implementation of the Declaration. In this regard, the secretariat organized and serviced a meeting of African Ministers of Civil Aviation in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire in November 1999 to review and evaluate progress in the implementation of the Declaration. Other meetings organized by the secretariat or in which it participated during the period included an ad hoc experts group meeting on private sector participation in infrastructure development in Africa in Lusaka, Zambia in May 2000; seminar on transport facilitation for Eastern Africa in Mombassa, Kenya in November 2000; the OAU Summit of Heads of State and Government in Lomé in July 2000 which endorsed the Yamoussoukro Declaration on the liberalization of the air transport market in Africa; the annual meeting of the sub-Saharan African Transport Policy Programme (SSATP) in Washington, D.C. in June 2000; and the International Transportation Symposium, organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., in October 2000.

Several member States received technical assistance in implementing policy reforms in the area of transport and communications. Comoros, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Mali benefited from advisory services related to the development of national transport data banks and policy reforms in the transport and communications sector within the context of the Second United Nations Transport and Communications Decade in Africa (UNTACDA II) Transport Database Programme; ECOWAS, CEMAC, COMESA and the South African Transport and Communication Commission (SATCC), in liberalizing the air transport market of their member States; and Mozambique and Zambia, in developing a common transport policy and infrastructure programme, as part of the UNDP - sponsored Growth Triangle Initiative. In addition, the secretariat fielded a mission to Djibouti in December 1999, along with the European Union, to assist in the restructuring and modernization of the Djibouti - Ethiopia Railways Corporation. Technical support was also provided to member States in the adoption of a common African position for the US - Africa Ministerial meeting on infrastructure development; and to the three subregional port management associations in Africa, in strengthening cooperation for the development of maritime ports in the region, which has resulted in the establishment of the Pan African Association for Port Cooperation (PAPC) in November 1999, a regional organization responsible for the development of port programmes and activities in Africa.

In order to avoid duplication across sectors as well as subregions, a number of joint activities with key actors in the field of transport and communications were undertaken. In this regard, ECA participated in the technical meetings of major partners and assisted in the preparation of documents on issues of concern to Africa. Among the partners were the World Bank, in the implementation of the sub-Saharan Transport Programme (SSATP) and the launching of the Global Road Safety Partnership; African Airlines Association (AfrAA); African Civil Aviation Commission (AfCAC); Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA); SATCC; COMESA; ECOWAS and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), within the framework of the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Declaration and the Communication Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) systems; PMAESA and ECLAC, in the field of ports; the Union of African Railways (UAR) and UIC, within the framework of the implementation of the Cairo Ministerial resolution on railways development; PAPU; PATU and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in the field of postal services and telecommunications; German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), in the field of road transport; with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the introduction and implementation of the maritime port state and flag state control systems in Africa.

Four studies were prepared during the period under review to support policies aimed at promoting the development of the mining and energy sectors. These included best practices in policy, legal and regulatory framework to sustained development of mineral resources; case studies of alternative approaches to financing energy and power development; contribution of transnational corporations in the mining and energy sectors in selected African countries; and modalities for accessing new sources of capital for the development of Africa's mineral resources. The studies noted that, in spite of the improved policy environment in most African countries and the favourable regulatory framework for private investments in these sectors, the flow of investments into these sectors remains largely insufficient. The studies further underscored the need to intensify efforts to maximize the benefits accruing from liberalization and privatization through attracting higher levels of investment to these sectors.

Several joint activities were undertaken in support of strengthening subregional and regional cooperation in the area of mineral resources development and utilization. Collaborating agencies or organizations included African IGOs, regional organizations such as OAU and ADB as well as other United Nations agencies. For example, the secretariat collaborated with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to organize a conference on investment in the African mining sector in Marrakech, Morocco in November 1998; and participated in the ILO tripartite meeting on social and labour issues in small-scale mining held in Geneva in May 1999. Other meetings and conferences organized in support of the development of the mining sector in Africa included an ad hoc experts group meeting on mobilizing resources for the development of the mineral and energy sector in Africa held in Addis Ababa in June 1999; first meeting of the Committee on Natural Resources and Science and Technology in Addis Ababa in November 1999; meeting of the Bureau of the second Conference of African Ministers responsible for the Development and Utilization of Mineral Energy Resources in Africa in Cape Town, South Africa in February 2000; a meeting to review the draft study on the World Energy Assessment, jointly organized by UN-DESA and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi in January 2000; the mining sector meeting of SADC; and the meeting of the Ministers of Energy of ECOWAS.

Several studies were undertaken in the area of mineral resources and energy development. These included an assessment of adequacy of the environmental regulatory frameworks governing mineral and energy resources extraction and processing: A comparative study of selected countries in Africa and other developing regions; and review of the models for Africa's energy demand and supply analysis.

The study on environmental regulatory frameworks examined environmental issues related to mineral and energy resources development, including the regulatory framework enacted by African countries to protect the environment, and concluded that a lack of resources was a constraining factor in the enactment of protective laws. The study suggested guidelines to strengthen environmental management and human resources capacity, and established accountability standards for the operations of mining companies.

Several IGOs and member States reviewed technical support in the area of energy and mineral resources development. This included ECOWAS, in the formulation of an action plan for the interconnection of energy grids in the subregion; the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), in the formulation of a common subregional programme for the development of energy and mineral resources; the Southern and Eastern Africa Mineral Centre (SEAMIC), in the definition of its work programme and backstopping of its activities; Benin, Burkina Faso, and the United Republic of Tanzania, in the areas of utilizing solar energy, promoting investment in the mining sector and improving conditions for small-scale mining respectively; Rwanda, in setting up a data bank and a regulatory framework in support of the privatization of the mineral sector; and to Burkina Faso, in servicing the meeting of the Conference of Ministers responsible for the development and utilization of Minerals and Energy in Ouagadougou in December 2000. ECA also prepared a study, "Mineral Resources and the Alleviation of Poverty in Africa" which served as a background document for the Conference.

In the area of water resources management, several reports and discussion papers were prepared for presentation at various international fora. These included a report assessing the existing transboundary River/Lake Basin Organization in Africa; a report based on a study in intercountry cooperation for integrated development of water resources of the Zambezi river basin; Africa Water Vision for 2025: Equitable and sustainable use of water for socio-economic development; study on the control and management of water hyacinth in the Lake Victoria Basin; study on the options and prospects for inter-basin water transfer to Lake Chad Basin; and a study on the prospects, problems and achievements of trans-boundary water development in Africa; a report on the activities of ECA in the water sector in Africa; and a paper on the role of ECA in promoting cooperation for the Nile water development. The meetings and conferences in which the secretariat participated or contributed to included the fifth joint UNESCO/World Meteorological Organization (WMO) International Conference on Hydrology and Water Resources, held in Geneva in February 1999; the seventh meeting of the Nile 2002 series of conferences held in Cairo, Egypt in March 1999; the meeting of senior water officials from the Zambezi River Basin countries; a meeting of Chief Executives of Transboundary River/Lake Basin Organizations in Africa; a subregional workshop on the problem of water hyacinth in the Great Lakes region; a national seminar and donors conference on water supply and sanitation; the eighth annual meeting of the Inter-agency Group for Water in Africa, Accra, Ghana, January 2000; second World Water Forum organized by the World Water Council at the Hague in March 2000; and the preparatory meetings for the finalization of an African Water Vision in 2025, jointly organized with OAU and ADB in Abidjan in January 2000; the African regional meeting which addressed the special issue of Lake Chad Basin water resources; the second World Water Forum where a "water vision" for Africa in the twenty-first century and a framework for action for 2000-2005 were formulated; and the seventh annual meeting of the Nile Basin Council of Ministers. In addition, ECA provided secretariat support to the Inter-agency Group on Water in Africa, and also collaborated with member agencies of the Working Group on Water of the United Nations Special Initiative on Africa (UN-SIA) on various issues.

F. Promoting the advancement of Women

The work of the secretariat under this subprogramme was aimed at improving the knowledge base on African women's issues through training, research, awareness-raising among policy makers, publications and information dissemination, and the provision of advisory services.

Activities undertaken by the secretariat under this subprogramme during the period under review were aimed at achieving the following specific objectives: Mainstreaming gender issues into policies and programmes of ECA member States; promoting the economic and social empowerment of women; promoting the role of women in the peace-making process; and information dissemination on progress made on the implementation of globally and regionally agreed Plans of Action. In fulfilment of its mandate to monitor and provide technical support to member States in the implementation of the global and regional Platforms for Action, the secretariat organized follow-up meetings for three subregions in the period under review. These included the subregional follow-up meeting for Central and North Africa in June and October 1998 respectively; and for Eastern and Southern Africa, which was held in Seychelles in February 1999. The meetings were organized to provide an opportunity for participants, including Ministers responsible for Women's Affairs, women parliamentarians, representatives of NGOs and IGOs, to assess the progress made in the implementation of the Beijing and Dakar Platforms for Action. The meetings also reviewed the status of the formulation of national plans of action and developed guidelines for monitoring progress in the implementation of the Platforms at the country level.

The various subregional meetings culminated in the sixth Africa Regional Conference on Women which was held in Addis Ababa in November 1999. The Conference was organized with the aim of undertaking a mid-decade review of progress in the implementation of the Platforms for Action. Against this background, the Conference reviewed and evaluated progress made by African countries in formulating and implementing gender-sensitive policies and programmes in the 12 priority areas of concern identified in the Beijing Platform of Action. Progress reports were submitted to the Conference by the Governments of most African countries. Evaluation reports covering the 12 critical areas of concern were also submitted to the Conference by OAU, ADB, several NGOs and United Nations specialized agencies, including ECA. The 12 critical areas of concern which were ranked in order of priority included poverty reduction, education for women, health, human rights, women in decision-making, violence against women, institutions, women in economic activity, media, environment, the girl-child and conflicts.

A major outcome of the Conference was the adoption of an African Plan of Action for accelerating the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms of Action over the period 2000-2004 at national, subregional and regional levels. The plan proposed strategies and mechanisms for dealing with problems which had been identified as impediments in the implementation of the platforms. The African Plan of Action was adopted by the OAU Council of Ministers at its meeting held in Addis Ababa in March 2000.

In the context of evaluating the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms of Action, ECA participated in an ad hoc experts group meeting organized by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women on Beijing + 5 which took place in Beirut, Lebanon in November 1999; and in the special session on Beijing + 5 in New York in June 2000.

During the period under review, the ECA secretariat organized an international conference on African women and economic development as part of activities held to mark its fortieth anniversary in Addis Ababa in May 1998. The Conference, which brought together over 1,000 women and men representing African governments, civil society, non-governmental and private sector organizations, international organizations, as well as the Heads of State of some African countries, singled out areas where governments need to expedite action to honour commitments made in support of facilitating the implementation of the platforms. As a follow-up to one of the decisions taken at the Conference to establish a mechanism for women to channel their inputs into the peace process at the decision-making level, a 16-member African Women's Committee on Peace and Development was formally launched in November 1998 with advisory status to the highest bodies of OAU and ECA. The Committee, which has its secretariat at ECA, held its first meeting in December 1998 during which it elected its first Bureau, and formulated and adopted a two-year programme of work. The mandate of the Committee includes ensuring that a gender dimension is reflected in all conflict resolution initiatives on the continent.

Within the context of fostering the economic and social empowerment of women, the secretariat organized, in June 1998, a three week study tour of India and Sri-Lanka for Women entrepreneurs focusing on food processing technologies. Twenty-eight participants drawn from Benin, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania took part in the tour which was aimed at creating opportunities for African women to share their know-how with their Asian counterparts, and establishing learning partnerships with them. The study tour enabled them to learn new entrepreneurial principles and general manufacturing practices. They also had hands-on technical training in fruits processing, confectionery and dairy products' processing and packaging. Participants were also acquainted with the concept of Export Production Villages that has made it possible for Sri-Lanka to export goods directly from rural areas to international markets. Concrete commitments were made by Indian technological institutions and local authorities to sponsor show cases on technology, award scholarships for short-term courses and give concessions on equipment ordered by African women entrepreneurs.

Also within the context of promoting the economic and social empowerment of women, the secretariat conducted six surveys on women's access to land and agricultural technologies in Eastern and West Africa. The surveys highlighted constraints faced by women in accessing these resources and suggested relevant measures and actions to address the problems. Follow-up actions to the surveys were initiated in November 1998, when an ad hoc experts group meeting was held in Addis Ababa to exchange information on the findings of the surveys and adopt strategies to promote access to productive resources by women. Similarly, the survey findings were discussed at the subregional follow-up meeting on the Beijing Summit for Eastern and Southern Africa held in February 1999.

Other activities undertaken by the secretariat in support of fostering the economic and social empowerment of women included the establishment of two subregional business development centres - one for West Africa and another for East and Southern Africa, to provide training, information and enhance networking among women entrepreneurs; follow-up meeting to the study tour of India and Sri-Lanka in Bujumbura, Burundi in June 1999; training workshop on leadership skills development for women entrepreneurs and managers in Entebbe, Uganda in December 1998; Forum on policy options for the economic empowerment of women in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in July 1999: and training workshop on the development and application of gender indicators for monitoring the economic empowerment of Women in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 1999. In addition, the secretariat participated in the following meeting and events: FAO Forum on rural women and information held in Rome in October 1999; the second Global Trade Fair and Investment Forum held in Addis Ababa in October 1998; and the follow-up meeting to the "Gender and Law" conference which was organized by the World Bank in Washington D.C. in September 1999.

During the period under review, the secretariat, provided technical assistance to several member States and non-governmental organizations in the area of promoting the economic and social advancement of women. For example, Mauritius received assistance in designing a micro-credit programme for women entrepreneurs and the African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (AFWE), in organizing the second global trade fair and investment forum in October 1998; and Botswana, Lesotho and Rwanda, in various aspects of economic empowerment of women.

Following requests from some member States and relevant institutions, the secretariat provided technical advisory services in mainstreaming gender concerns into national policies and programmes, and in the formulation of national gender plans of action. Beneficiaries included Malawi, Mauritius, Uganda, IDEP, ADB, and the International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

As gender is one of the cross-cutting themes that defines the renewed ECA, the African Centre for Women (ACW) was given the mandate to build the capacity of ECA's substantive divisions and SRDCs in mainstreaming gender concerns into their programmes in order to ensure gender-sensitive delivery of ECA's wide range of services. To this end, several sensitization workshops were organized for ECA senior professional staff on the basic principles of gender analysis, while supporting them in developing indicators and tools for monitoring the mainstreaming of gender concerns in their programme of work.

To provide timely and reliable information on the role of women in the development process in Africa, the secretariat produced a CD-ROM on the status of women in Africa. The CD-ROM is a complement to the country brochures launched in April 1998 during ECA's fortieth anniversary celebrations which focused on the theme, "African Women and Economic Development: Investing in our Future."

G. Supporting Subregional Activities for Development

The activities of this subprogramme were implemented by ECA's Subregional Development Centres. Based in Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa, ECA's five SRDCs are important links between the Commission and various regional economic communities at the subregional level, thus enhancing ECA's outreach.

The primary function of SRDCs is to promote regional cooperation and integration by providing effective technical support to collective approaches in tackling common developmental problems at the subregional level, in collaboration with IGOs and regional economic communities established to spearhead economic integration in the various subregions of the continent. The Centres also facilitate networking and information-sharing, the dissemination of ECA's policy recommendations and technical publications on regional cooperation and integration issues, as well as engage in advocacy and capacity-building through the convening of policy fora, seminars, training workshops and technical advisory services to the regional economic communities, IGOs and NGOs. The next section of this report highlights the major activities undertaken by each of the five SRDCs during the period under review.

1. Subregional Development Centre for Central Africa (SRDC-CA)

Activities undertaken by the SRDC for Central Africa during the period under review were aimed at providing effective technical support to the regional economic communities in order to promote synergy in the subregion and ensure the achievement of regional integration objectives. In this regard, the Centre provided assistance to ECCAS in organizing and servicing the meetings of Ministers and the Summit of the Heads of State in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in June 1999 as part of the programme of relaunching the subregional body. This programme of assistance responds to the request of the ECCAS Conference of Heads of State and Government made in February 1998.

As part of efforts aimed at strengthening regional cooperation in mineral resources development and utilization, the Centre and the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Petroleum of Gabon signed a technical cooperation agreement in October 1998, under which the Centre will provide assistance in relaunching the Central Africa Mineral Resources Development Centre (CAMRDC).

The Centre held three meetings of its Intergovernmental Committee of Experts during the period under review. The sixteenth and seventeenth meetings were held on 10 and 11 June 1999 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, while the eighteenth meeting took place in N'Djamena, Republic of Chad from 10 to 12 April 2000. The meetings reviewed the activities of the Centre in 1998 and 1999 and the work programme for the 2000-2001 biennium. The meetings also reviewed and discussed the following reports and studies prepared by the Centre: rapport d'activités du Centre de développement sous-régional pour l'Afrique Centrale; rôle des ONG dans le renforcement du processus de l'intégration régionale en Afrique Centrale; les conflits en Afrique Centrale et l'intégration sous-régionale; joint SRDC-CA/Central African Customs and Economic Union (UDEAC)/CEMAC technical publication on the mining industry in the Central African region; rôle des technologies nouvelles de l'information et de la communication dans le renforcement du processus de l'intégration régionale en Afrique Centrale; rôle et place des réseaux de femmes dans le développement national et l'intégration régionale; rapport sur l'industrie du pétrole en Afrique Centrale; the internet and Africa's development; relance de la CEMAC: Cadre stratégique pour l'intégration régionale et la coopération; sous-régionale en Afrique Centrale; and assessment of the adequacy of environmental regulatory frameworks governing mineral and energy resource extraction and processing.

In addition to these reports, the Centre prepared three reports which were presented for discussion at the eighteenth meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts in April 2000. These included the Report on the Economic and Social Conditions in Central Africa, 1998; Report on Economic and Social Conditions in Central Africa, 1999; IPA net et Plink (MIGA networks models); projet de règlement intérieur du Réseau des Femmes d'Afrique Centrale; relance de la Communauté Economique des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale, un élément capital pour faire de l'intégration un puissant moteur de développement en Afrique Centrale; rôle des nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la communication dans le renforcement du processus de l'intégration régionale en Afrique Centrale; croissance, convergence et intégration dans les pays de la CEMAC; croissance et convergence et intégration économique en Afrique Centrale; les femmes et le micro-crédit au Cameroon; and a general equilibrium model on the Central African Republic.

The Centre organized or participated in a number of activities in support of capacity-building during the period under review. These included meetings, conferences, seminars and workshops designed to build the capacity of member States in several areas. The areas covered included the role of the new information and communication technologies in development; the nexus issues of food security, population and the environment; capacity-building for public sector management and NGOs; and issues of gender and development. (For a comprehensive list of activities undertaken by the Centre during the period under review, see the relevant section of the Annex to this report).

The Centre was also engaged in activities of the United Nations coordination system in the subregion. The Centre serves as the lead agency in promoting regional integration and cooperation and internet connectivity for United Nations agencies based in Yaounde. Collaboration with other United Nations agencies involved the organization of meetings, conferences and preparation of reports such as the Report on the Economic and Social Conditions in Africa, which focused on such topical issues as liberalization, privatization, globalization, the Uruguay Round, the CFA franc and the European single currency, as well as issues of integration and cooperation in the subregion.

The Centre is also cooperating with MIGA in promoting investments through the establishment of institutional mechanisms to facilitate investment in the subregion. To this end, the Centre provided technical assistance to some member States in the establishment of national investment promotion agencies.

2. Subregional Development Centre for Eastern Africa (SRDC-EA)

During the period under review, the work of the Kigali-based SRDC focused on supporting the efforts of its member States in promoting economic cooperation and integration through harmonization of monetary, fiscal, trade and investment policies; promoting private sector development; promoting the development of physical and social infrastructures; providing assistance in gender mainstreaming into the programmes and policies of member States; and providing capacity-building support to the regional economic communities and IGOs to enable them function effectively. In pursuit of these objectives, the Centre undertook a number of activities, often in collaboration with such major regional economic communities/IGOs as COMESA, EAC, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), Kagera Basin Organization (KBO), Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL), and the Transit Transport Coordination Authority- Northern Corridor (TTCA-NC).

The Centre prepared a number of important studies in support of promoting the harmonization of policies and programmes in the transport and communications sector. These included a market study on transportation on the Tanganyika and Kivu lakes; an assessment of the waterways of Tanganyika and Kivu Lakes for COMESA/CEPGL/TTCA-NC; a study on subregional cooperation in the maintenance and buoyage of navigable waters; and an assessment of Lake Victoria ports for EAC and the Transit Transport Coordination Authority-Central Corridor (TTCA-CC).

The Centre also prepared several reports and studies in support of facilitating development networking and information exchange. These included an assessment of urban development in the Great Lakes region; an assessment of Lake Victoria ports; modalities for women's access to and ownership of land in Eastern Africa; a study on the feasibility of decentralized financing mechanisms in support of decentralization in Rwanda; Report on the Economic and Social Conditions in Eastern Africa; policies, strategies and methodologies for the control and management of water hyacinth with reference to the Lake Victoria Basin; assessment of the socio-economic impact on water hyacinth in the Lake Victoria Basin; gender profile of Eastern African countries; report on food security, population and environment in selected countries of Eastern Africa.

The Centre also published a survey of economic and social conditions in the subregion, which provided useful data and information for country assessment reports prepared by the United Nations and other development agencies. Other activities in this area included the organization of a high-level seminar on information technology; organization of a conference on Gender and Law; a seminar on the development of leadership skills for women; and a symposium on capacity building for gender initiatives and subregional cooperation. In addition, surveys on women's human and legal rights and women's access to productive assets were conducted in Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda.

Furthermore, the Centre contributed to organizing the subregional follow-up meetings to the Copenhagen Summit and the Beijing Conference for the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions; and prepared progress reports which were presented at the meetings.

Collaboration with other United Nations agencies involved joint work on the common country assessment of countries in the subregion and in the harmonization of programming cycles and the elaboration of a common assistance framework.

The Centre undertook a number of major activities in the areas of gender in development, transport, communication and information technologies, environment and sustainable development and economic surveys and analysis.

The major activities undertaken in the area of gender in development included:

1. Drawing up of methodological approaches and collecting data for the preparation of statistical compendia and qualitative data sets - gender profiles of Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda were subsequently discussed at an Expert Group meeting;

2. Preparing lecture notes and participating in two meetings on gender budgeting, one at the Rwandan Parliament and the other, under the auspices of the International Union of Parliaments (IUP) in Nairobi, Kenya;

3. Supporting the Beijing Process by organizing a subregional symposium preparatory to the Beijing + 5 Regional Conference. National status reports were reviewed at the symposium and various issues for women in Eastern Africa were discussed (land rights, reproductive health, leadership and participation etc.); and

4. Preparing a framework on gender mainstreaming in development strategies policies and programmes in Rwanda as a basis for the finalization of the national gender policy.

In the area of transport, communication and information technologies, the main activities undertaken by the Centre included:

1. Providing advisory services to the secretariat of the Northern Corridor Transit Transport Agreement (NC-TTA) and member-States; on ways and means of nationalizing and streamlining further facilitation procedures along the Corridor;

2. Finalizing a study initiated earlier on Lake Victoria Ports. The study was aimed at preparing the Lake Authority for restructuring to enable it play a major role in multimodal transport systems in the subregion. The report was discussed by EAC members;

3. Preparing in close cooperation with UNDP, UNCTAD, NC-TTA, COMESA, CEPGL and the government of Rwanda various topical reports on trade and transport facilitation and organizing a seminar with the participation of member-countries utilizing the Northern and central Corridors. This seminar reviewed facilitation issues along the Northern, Central and Southern Corridors and elicited various Projects of direct interest for Rwanda including: The establishment of a Backbone Information System for Rwanda as part of the COMESA ACIS Project; the establishment of trade points to provide information and streamline trade and transport support services; study on the navigability of the Kagera River through Lake Victoria as a way of diversifying routes for member countries of KBO including Rwanda and Burundi; and improving navigation safety on Lake Tanganyika.

In the area of environment and sustainable development, the key activities of the Centre included:

1. Preparing studies on the control and management of water hyacinth and organizing an Expert Working Group on the subject;

2. Preparing a report and convening an Experts Working Group on urban development planning and management in Eastern Africa; giving support to an expert working on the impact of urbanization on environment around Lake Victoria;

3. Preparing country reports (Madagascar, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda) on food security, population and the environment and preparing for a subregional seminar.

In the areas of economic surveys and analysis, the Centre prepared the 1999-2000 Report on Economic and Social Conditions in Eastern Africa; and organized a national seminar to discuss the findings of a feasibility study prepared by the Centre on a decentralized financial system. The Centre also provided assistance to DRC-Congo and member States of CEMAC for the establishment of an International Authority of the Congo River Basin and the harmonization of the inland waterways regulations, and backstopped the work that led to the preparation of Rwanda's national ICT policy and laid the foundation for the preparation of the first NICI Development Plan (2000-2005).

3. Subregional Development Centre for North Africa (SRDC-NA)

The Subregional Development Centre for North Africa, based in Tangiers, Morocco made considerable effort in widening the scope of its activities and services to promote subregional cooperation, integration and socio-economic development of countries in the North Africa subregion. Accordingly, the Centre carried out a range of activities within and outside the region. These included the organization and servicing of the subregional follow-up meetings of the World Conference on Women and the World Summit on Social Development which took place in October 1998 and March 1999 respectively. The follow-up meeting to the World Summit adopted the Marrakech Declaration, in which member States reaffirmed their commitment to implement the Copenhagen Plan of Action for the attainment of the social objectives of employment generation, poverty reduction, education and health.

The Centre also organized or participated in the following meetings or seminars during the period under review: two workshops organized by Spain, one on desertification in North Africa and the other on the impact of the Euro on the economies of the subregion; the Conference of African Ministers for Civil Service (December 1998); the National Conference on Employment (December 1998); workshop on poverty reduction (June 1999); Afro-Arab Trade Fair (April 1999); third meeting of the Follow-up Committee on the implementation of the Dakar/Ngor Declaration on ICPD which was held in Addis Ababa in October 1998; the FAO meeting on the development and coordination of regional activities on forestry products excluding wood in the Middle East; the conference on science and technology in Africa in the twenty-first century organized by the African Academy of Sciences in Tunisia in April 1999; a seminar on irrigation and water management in North Africa held in Cairo, Egypt in October 1999; a subregional conference on HIV/AIDS in Tripoli, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in November 2000, organized in collaboration with the African Centre for Applied Research and Training in Social Development (ACARTSOD) and Maghreb University; and a seminar on trade, investment and debt management in North Africa held in Tangiers, Morocco in November 1999.

The Centre convened the fifteenth meeting of its Intergovernmental Committee of Experts during the period review. In addition to reviewing the work programme for the preceding biennium and setting priorities for the next biennium, the meeting provided the following studies and reports: the Economic and Social Conditions in North Africa; Irrigation and Water Management in North Africa; Long-term Perspective Studies; Report of the Ad hoc Experts Group Meeting on Gender Equity and the Economic and Social Empowerment of Women; Debt, Investment and Trade in North African Countries; and North Africa Development Bulletin (Issue No. 5 and 6).

As an arid area, the North Africa subregion is particularly prone to land degradation and deforestation - trends that are intensified by rapid population growth. Consequently, the subregion faces the challenges of food security and a fragile vegetation cover. A considerable part of the work of the Centre is, therefore, aimed at sensitizing policy makers on these issues, and to making recommendations based on best practices. To this end, the fourteenth meeting of the Centre's Intergovernmental Committee of Experts focused on the nexus issues of food security, population and environmental sustainability, in addition to addressing the issue of external debts. The meeting adopted a subregional policy framework for dealing with these issues. A study entitled, "Report on the coordination and harmonization of food and agriculture policies, strategies and production in North Africa was also presented to the meeting.

Other publications and background papers prepared and presented by the Centre at various fora included a yearbook on the management of the nexus issues which contains political and strategic guidelines for Governments and NGOs to strengthen activities towards achieving sustainable development; annual subregional and country reports on economic and social trends (for seven countries); a bi-annual bulletin on development issues; a paper on service trade between Africa and the Arab world presented at the Afro-Arab Trade Fair in April 1999; a document on forestry production excluding wood; a study on Long-term Perspectives and Employment in North Africa; and a study on European Union-Arab Maghreb Union integration process.

These publications have become effective channels of disseminating and exchanging information on development and current economic and social trends for a wide audience including government, civil society and the private sector. The positive feedback from readers is a clear indication that these publications contribute to strengthening ECA's outreach in the subregion.

Collaboration with other United Nations agencies as well as other organizations in the subregion was strengthened during the period under review through the Centre's participation in the various inter-agency meetings organized periodically by the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Morocco, and through the Centre's contribution to the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in various sectors. The Centre also participated in the meetings of the Governing Board of the African Centre for Administrative Training and Research for Development (CAFRAD); and collaborated with the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) in organizing a workshop on the harmonization of fiscal policies in the UMA region.

Several meetings were held with the Government of Morocco during the period under review, culminating in the signing of a Headquarters Agreement in March 1999. In addition, the Centre facilitated a tripartite high-level meeting of the Secretary-General of UMA, the Deputy Executive Secretary of ECA and the UNDP Resident Representative in Morocco in June 2000 after which a joint communiqué was issued outlining a programme of activities to operationalize cooperation and integration arrangements through the implementation of projects in such areas as transport, desertification and the environment, water resources management, promoting new information and communication technologies as well as gender issues.

4. Subregional Development Centre for Southern Africa (SRDC-SA)

During the period under review, the Subregional Development Centre for Southern Africa convened and serviced the fifth and sixth meetings of its Intergovernmental Committee of Experts. The fifth meeting, which was held in Lusaka, Zambia in October 1998 emphasized the importance of networking and effective coordination between ECA and the regional economic communities in the subregion in order to enhance synergies and minimize duplication. The sixth meeting which took place in Windhoek, Namibia in April 2000 considered such issues as the economic and social conditions in the Southern Africa subregion with particular emphasis on the impact of crime on the social and economic development of the subregion. Other issues considered by the meeting included population, gender and social issues emanating from decisions of various regional and global conferences; application of the PEDA model in developing policy options to ensure food security; and national planning for information and communications technology in Southern Africa. Key regional and subregional organizations including OAU, COMESA, IOC and SADC also attended the meeting.

Several ad hoc experts group meetings and workshops were organized to facilitate networking and information exchange. These included a high-level policy seminar on gender equity, social and economic empowerment of women which took place in April 1998; ad hoc expert group meeting on policy options towards integrated national policies to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Southern Africa Subregion; ad hoc experts group meeting on the management of the nexus issues, organized in collaboration with FAO, UNEP and UNFPA to develop a draft regional policy framework for integrating the nexus issues of population, food security and environmental sustainability into the national development planning of the member States; subregional workshop on the development of NICI in southern Africa; Forum on policy options for promoting the economic empowerment of women, using information and communications technology, held in June 1999; workshop on trade and investment promotion in Southern Africa held in Lusaka, Zambia in November 1999; and a subregional seminar on integrated economic and social development in Southern Africa which provided a forum for sharing experiences on the adoption and effective implementation of National Long-term Perspective Studies (NLTPS).

Several publications were prepared by the Centre to facilitate information exchange in the subregion during the period under review. These included the Report on the Economic and Social Conditions in Southern Africa, 1998-1999; the Southern Africa Development bulletin (3 issues), a medium for disseminating development information to member States of the subregion; policy framework on the nexus issues of population, food security and the environment in Southern Africa: Proceedings of the ad hoc experts group meeting on the nexus issues; and institutional framework for cooperation in minerals development in Southern Africa.

During the period under review, the Centre organized the follow-up meetings to the fourth World Summit on Women and the World Summit on Social Development for the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions, and also participated in the annual summit meetings of the policy organs of COMESA and SADC as well as the meetings of their respective Council of Ministers and selected sectoral meetings. These meetings provided opportunities for the Centre to make inputs to the policy formulation process, as well as identify areas of possible assistance to these institutions.

Technical assistance was provided to several member States and their IGOs during the period under review. For instance, COMESA received assistance in restructuring its secretariat, including training needs assessment for its staff; while SADC received assistance in the preparation of its Economic Report for 1998 and 2000, its Annual Economic Survey for 1999, and in organizing its annual Conference of Ministers responsible for Population and Development; in developing measures to implement the SADC strategic framework for HIV/AIDS towards a gender networking approach; and SADC/SATCC and COMESA in designing a joint programme for the development of an efficient transport system in Eastern and Southern Africa; and to COMESA and SADC in the development of a framework for a road safety programme in the southern Africa region under the umbrella of the African Road Safety Initiative. The Centre also provided technical assistance to some member States in the area of road and traffic safety management, in the formulation of a national information and communications policy; in the development of a national gender policy; population and development policy; the preparation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers; and in the establishment of a micro-financing fund for SMEs. Among the beneficiaries were Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia. In addition, two national workshops were organized during the period under review - one in Zambia in March 1998 on the promotion of the informal sector in Africa and the second for senior officials of the Ministry of Finance of Lesotho in August 1999.

Collaboration with the United Nations Country Team in Zambia involved undertaking joint activities in support of the implementation of UN-SIA and other selected activities such as the monthly coordination meetings of Heads of UN agencies, and the various Inter-Agency Working Groups, on Agricultural Sector Investment Programme (ASIP), Inter-Agency Media Committee, Road Sector Investment Programme (ROADSIP), HIV/AIDS, Private Sector Development Programme, Employment and Sustainable Livelihoods, Gender and Good Governance. The Centre also played an active role in the development of the UNDP-led Zambia-Malawi-Mozambique Growth Triangle project, aimed at promoting sustainable growth and development through increased trade and investment in the three countries.

In support of strengthening ECA's outreach in the subregion, the Centre provided backstopping to the project on promoting informal sector development in Zambia, which is being undertaken by ECA's Development Management Division. The Centre hosted a number of workshops and media briefs in this regard.

The various activities undertaken during the period under review have been useful in improving the institutional capacity of the regional economic communities for better programme delivery; increasing the awareness of key development issues in the subregion; and enhancing ECA's profile in the subregion.

5. Subregional Development Centre for West Africa (SRDC-WA)

During the period under review, the Subregional Development Centre for West Africa, located in Niamey, the Niger organized two meetings of its legislative organ, the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts. The first meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts which was held in Conakry, Guinea in March 1999 considered the following reports: Report on Economic and Social Conditions in West Africa, 1998; promotion of gender perspectives and sustainable database network; techno-economic study of the pilot project for the production and utilization of xanthan gum; and the prevalence, causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS in the West Africa subregion. The second meeting of the Centre's Intergovernmental Committee of Experts took place in Abuja, Nigeria from 5 to 11 June 2000. The meeting reviewed the Centre's work programme for the preceding biennium, including the priorities for its work programme for the next biennium.

Several ad hoc experts group meetings were held during the period under review focusing on various issues in development. The Centre prepared a number of reports and studies which served as background documents for these meetings. These included a study on the expansion of intraregional and external trade as well as investment transfers in West Africa; a feasibility study and business plan for the establishment of subregional coastal shipping services in West and Central Africa; a progress report on the implementation of the ICPD-PA and the Dakar/Ngor Declaration; guidelines for enhancing information exchange and networking in the West African website; and a study on informal sector development in West Africa which was reviewed by an ad hoc experts group meeting held in Abuja in June 2000.

A seminar on physical integration in West Africa (Abuja, Nigeria, June 2000) underscored the importance of integrated network of transport and communications in the socio-economic development of the subregion. Other meetings, conferences and seminars in which the Centre participated and made valuable contributions included the regional ad hoc experts group meeting on Africa's development strategies in Addis Ababa in March 2000; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) meeting to commemorate the twenty-first anniversary of the Convention on Refugees in Conakry, Guinea in March 2000; the second meeting of the Ministerial Follow-up Committee of the ECA Conference of Ministers in Abuja in May 2000, which discussed preparations for Copenhagen + 5 and adopted the Medium-Term Plan 2000-2005; the nineteenth session of the Conference of Ministers of the Niger Basin Authority in Cotonou, Republic of Benin in September 2000; the fiftieth session of the regional committee of the WHO-Africa Region in Ouagadougou in September 2000; a forum for the validation of the National Programme of Action for combating desertification and the management of natural resources in Niamey in September 2000; and a workshop on access of women to legal and judicial services in sub-Saharan Africa in Lome in November 2000.

As the coordinating unit of ECA's programme on post-conflict peace-building and reconstruction in the Mano River Basin countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Centre organized the second consultative meeting of United Nations agencies as well as other regional and subregional bodies working on the initiative in Conakry, Guinea in March 2000. The meeting examined, among other things, the inventory of ongoing activities and programmes of the various agencies in the three countries; reviewed proposals for projects with a subregional dimension and considered a proposal for Stability and Solidarity Pact for the West African subregion. In addition, the Centre participated in the meetings of the policy organs of the Mano River Union which considered and adopted resolutions that formed the basis for the resumption of cooperation among the three countries, and the revitalization of the Mano River Union to promote confidence-building and post-conflict reconstruction.

The Centre published several recurrent and non-recurrent publications. The recurrent publications included the Report on the Economic and Social Conditions in West Africa 1998, which reviewed the macroeconomic performance of the countries of the subregion focusing on several key indicators and policy changes; two issues of the West African Development Bulletin, 1998; the 1998 directory of West African IGOs; and the Compendium of the Results of West African Research Centres in the Field of Improved Seeds and Modalities, 1998. The non-recurrent publications included a report on food security and sustainable development (Population, Agriculture and Environment): incorporation of population and environmental dimensions in sustainable agricultural development plans, projects and programmes; report on the seminar on physical integration in West Africa: Agenda for development of infrastructures; report on progress in establishing a West African Web Site on sustainable development; food security and sustainable development with special reference to women and vulnerable groups in conflict and post-conflict countries in West Africa: Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone; managing issues in the nexus of population, food security, and the environment in West Africa: towards a regional policy framework.

The Centre implemented two operational projects in the area of food security with regional and subregional dimensions. The projects are being financial by the Governments of the Netherlands and Japan and related to the composite flour and xanthan gum production and utilization for technological development. The objectives of these projects are to: (a) provide member States, national planners and civil society with a model pre-feasibility study for proper formulation and implementation of projects related to indigenous food staples transformation into modern food products; (b) bring to the attention of food research institutes, latest world-wide technological research and development results in the field of composite flours production and utilization for strengthening food security programmes in the subregion; (c) provide national standards organizations and food processing enterprises with guidelines on composite flour standards in order to respond to the growing awareness of the need for national and international standardization of processed local cereals and tubers into high quality products. These guidelines are intended to serve as a basis for the elaboration of national standards based on local conditions such as consumer acceptability, provide vocational schools and flour-based industrial sector with a trainer's manual on composite flour technology and management, and monitor the implementation of the xanthan gum project, the objective of which is to use local tropical gluten-free flours. In its final report on the implementation of the project, the Centre recommended that the findings of the project be scaled up in order to improve, master and control the technology at pre-industrial level and identify the conditions and the parameters for its introduction to the industrial sectors.

In the context of strengthening regional cooperaion and integration, the Centre, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Mano River Union prepared a study on the revitalization of the Union as a vehicle for promoting regional cooperation among the three member States of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The study is an integral part of the ECA-led initiative on post-conflict peace-building and reconstruction in the three Mano River Basin countries.

The Centre was also active in promoting coordination in the operational activities of the United Nations system and its specialized agencies as well as strengthening subregional IGOs. Cooperation with other UN agencies during the period under review involved the improvement of programme harmonization, particularly in the preparation of missions and follow-up activities. For example, the Centre collaborated with the UNDP Resident Coordinator in Niamey, in the elaboration of the Country Strategy Note for the Niger in organizing a workshop on the costs and benefits of subregional cooperation and integration; and in organizing a meeting of experts in preparation for the third UN Conference on LDCs and the high-level event on financing for development. This experience revealed the importance of joint programming exercises among United Nations agencies in support of subregional development efforts. The Centre also provided technical assistance to UEMOA and the Liptako-Gourma Development Authority on several issues, and participated in the meetings of their respective legislative organs. Joint programming exercises in various areas are also planned with ECOWAS in view of the fact that it covers the same member States as the Centre.

The Centre also launched a programme of collaboration with the Secretariat of ECOWAS, the main thrust of which is to provide technical assistance to the Secretariat in such priority areas as monetary integration, macroeconomic convergence criteria and capacity building in gender mainstreaming. In this context, the Centre is already collaborating with other ECA Divisions to provide assistance to two specialized institutions of ECOWAS, namely the West African Women's Association and the West African Health Organization.

H. Other Programmes:

1. United Nations - New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF)

Activities undertaken in support of UN-NADAF during the period under review included the organization (jointly with UNDP) of three subregional follow-up conferences to the World Social Summit for Social Development. The three conferences were held in Nairobi, Kenya (March 1999); Marrakech, Morocco (March 1999); and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (September 1999).

The subregional follow-up conferences reviewed progress made in the areas of poverty reduction, employment generation, and achieving social sector objectives in education, health and good governance. African Governments renewed their commitment to achieving these objectives at the various conferences. ECA's follow-up work on the conferences helped to prepare African delegations for the Preparatory Committee and special session of the General Assembly on the World Summit for Social Development which was tagged Geneva-2000. A key issue that emerged from ECA's work in this area was the need to build capacity of the member States in the collection and dissemination of accurate and reliable data on social development issues.

In the context of the current debate on the brain drain phenomenon and capacity-building in Africa, ECA, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Development Research Centre of Canada (IDRC) organized a regional conference in Addis Ababa in February 2000. The conference brought together participants with a wide range of expertise and experience - ranging from education, policy making, public administration and research to experts from NGOs and other international organizations to examine the causes, trends, extent and implications of the brain drain phenomenon in Africa's development. The conference made several practical recommendations for reversing the brain drain and turning it into "brain gain." The conference set up a Steering Committee comprising ECA, IOM and IDRC, as well as other international organizaitons and institutions working in the area of capacity-building to coordinate follow-up activities and assist in the implementation of the recommendation adopted by the conference.

As a follow-up to the conference, two follow-up meetings of the co-organizers were held, the first one in Geneva in June 2000, and a second one in Dakar, Senegal in October 2000 to review progress and agree upon further measures for achieving set objectives. An important outcome of these meetings was the preparation, review and finalization of a draft programme document on the partnership for brain drain and capacity-building in Africa, which underscored the importance of capacity-building as a prerequisite for Africa's participation in the knowledge-based and information-driven economy of the twenty-first century. In addition, reflections of several African experts and scholars on theoretical and practical issues of the subject were compiled in a book (to be published soon) by ECA, IOM and IDRC. The book will provide a rich menu of experiences and country case studies on the topic.

As part of activities to prepare for ADF-2000, which was on the theme, "AIDS - The Greatest Leadership Challenge", the secretariat, in collaboration with UNDP, and the National Aids Commission of Uganda organized an ad hoc experts group meeting on the development impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector in Africa which was held in Entebbe, Uganda in September 2000. The meeting reviewed a report prepared by the ECA secretariat entitled, "HIV/AIDS and Education in Eastern and Southern Africa: The Leadership Challenge and the Way Forward", which focused on the social and economic consequences of the epidemic, particularly as it affects the education sector in the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions. The report highlighted some policy responses adopted in the education sector to confront the epidemic, and noted that these responses remained largely inadequate to address the problem. The report stressed the importance of mobilizing Leadership at all levels to halt the advance of the epidemic and manage its impact effectively. The report concluded by mapping out the elements of an effective strategy for confronting the epidemic in the education sector, which proved useful in the ADF dialogue on the challenges posed by the epidemic to leadership in the education sector.

As a follow-up to a study commissioned by UN-NADAF/SIA in 1999 entitled, "State Reforms and Status of Policy Reforms in sub-Saharan Francophone Countries: African Public Administration on the eve of the twenty-first Century," the secretariat organized an ad hoc experts group meeting in Niamey, the Niger in May 2000 for participants drawn from 11 West African countries and one East African country. The meeting examined major trends in public sector policy reforms, identified impediments to their effective implementation and concluded with useful recommendations for reforms in the public sector. Other meetings organized by the secretariat in the period under review included the ad hoc experts group meeting on the development implications of civil conflicts in Africa in April 2000; and a high-level seminar on external trade promotion and monitoring tools in Central Africa in November 2000 in Douala, Cameroon. The seminar was organized as part of activities undertaken in furtherance of the Memorandum of Understanding between ECA, UNCTAD and WTO, aimed at supporting Africa's integration into the world economy through enhanced trade and competitiveness. During the period under review, the secretariat participated in meetings and conferences organized by other agencies and institutions in support of Africa's recovery and development. These included: The OAU/ECOWAS West African Regional Seminar on the Decade of Education in Banjul, the Gambia, in January 2000; UNESCO's International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa Interim Executive Board meeting in Dakar, Senegal, in April 2000; the World Education Forum to boost the drive for Education for All in Dakar, Senegal in April 2000; the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the Education Decade on Africa in Dakar, Senegal in April 2000; the meeting of Experts for the establishment of the International Centre for Girls and Women's Education in Africa in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in July 2000; second session of the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the General Assembly on the Implementation of the Outcome of the World Summit on Social Development in New York, in April 2000; and World Summit on Social Development and Beyond: Achieving Social Development for all in a Globalizing World in Geneva, in June/July 2000.

2. The United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa

With the re-launching of the annual consultations of UN system agencies at the regional level - introduced by the UN Secretary-General as part of the reform of the UN and mandated by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1998 - and following the outcome of the first Africa Regional Consultation of UN Agencies working in the continent in 1999, it was decided that the Special Initiative on Africa (SIA) would be the most appropriate framework for all future annual consultations of UN agencies working in Africa. This decision was subsequently endorsed by ACC.

The objective of ACC is to use these consultations as fora for arriving at a shared vision of how UN system agencies working within a collaborative framework could support Africa's development priorities. Through systematic information sharing within and among priority clusters, the annual consultations are also expected to facilitate greater coherence and enhanced synergies in the efforts of UN system agencies in the continent. The activities of the SIA Secretariat in the year 2000 are derived from this vision. The future work of the Secretariat will also be driven by this vision.

As such, the SIA Secretariat provided substantive and logistical support to the Annual Regional Consultations to be chaired by the Executive Secretary; facilitated the convening of a technical workshop on one SIA priority area (Water Cluster Technical Working Meeting); and encouraged a more inclusive collaborative arrangement under a modified SIA Initiative by involving agencies that were not included in the original design of the Initiative in the annual consultations. In addition, communication and outreach remained a core function of the Secretariat. Below are the highlights of the activities undertaken in the year 2000.

Second Regional Consultation of UN agencies working in Africa: This meeting, convened in Addis Ababa on 26 and 27 June 2000 and chaired by the ECA Executive Secretary, was attended by representatives of 21 UN system agencies, including the Bretton Woods Institutions. The meeting presented the first opportunity to put into practice the ACC decision to make SIA the framework for the annual regional consultation on Africa. The background and objectives of the meeting were outlined in a background paper prepared by the SIA Secretariat.

The meeting, which convened within the framework of the modified Initiative provided an opportunity to exchange information on the activities over the past year, and to discuss the work plans for the coming year, in five priority areas under the Initiative - education, health, water, governance, and information technology. The meeting highlighted best practices and the progress achieved over the previous year in the water cluster. A special session on AIDS: The Greatest Leadership Challenge, the theme for the second ADF in December 2000 was also included.

The meeting agreed to convene cluster meetings in the area of education, health, and information technology in order to refocus the objectives to be achieved through the collaborative action of the UN system in these areas. The meeting also agreed on the need to set benchmarks on the basis of which progress towards these objectives would be assessed. The co-lead agencies for the SIA work on education, health, and information technology convened their meetings prior to the third annual consultation meeting in June/July 2000.

The Chairman also requested ECA and UNDP, as the co-lead agencies for the governance work under SIA, to initiate an evaluation of the process under the African Governance Forum. Drawing on this evaluation and taking into account other governance-related activities being carried out by entities within the UN system, the co-lead agencies have been requested to come out with a clear programme objective for UN's collaborative work in the area of governance under SIA. Consultation on the review of the fourth African Governance Forum process was started at a parallel meeting that took place on the occasion of the fourth African Governance Forum conference in Kampala in August 2000.

The meeting recalled that the Executive Committee of the United Nations Development Group at its meeting in April 2000 had expressed the desire for the Initiative to be more closely linked with ADF. Against this background, the meeting decided that the theme chosen for the annual ADF would also reflect the priority development theme for consideration by the entire UN system at their annual regional consultation for that particular year.

At the suggestion of UNCTAD, there was also a discussion of how the issue of diversification could best be handled under the SIA framework. UNCTAD has been encouraged to continue these consultations with interested agencies and report back next year on the outcome of these consultations. Similarly, the second Annual Regional Consultation encouraged collaborative action in other areas. The Chairman called on agencies working in the other clusters to forge alliances for collaborative action where possible, define a forward-looking programme of work with a shared vision, and agree on specific activities that they could report on at the third regional consultation meeting in 2001.

SIA Water Cluster technical working meeting. This meeting, chaired by the Executive Secretary, helped to define a clear way forward in the work of the UN in the water cluster. This was articulated in a water sector strategy paper entitled, "Equitable and Sustained Access to Water in Africa" prepared by UNEP and the World Bank.

UNDAF Workshop (Linking SIA to UNDAF Country Process). A training workshop on the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and UNDAF was convened at the ECA Headquarters in Addis Ababa on 9 June 2000. The purpose of the workshop was to familiarize ECA staff with the process and content of CCA and UNDAF, discuss how these instruments fit into the overall UN reform programme, and explore ways of implementing these instruments in the context of ECA's work programme.

Thirty-eight participants from ECA, including five Heads of Divisions were engaged in highly stimulating and fruitful discussions during the two-day workshop that was facilitated by a representative from the UN Staff College in Turin. The Executive Secretary took part in the opening and the wrap-up sessions. The SIA Secretariat used the opportunity to explain how SIA is an integral part of the CCA and UNDAF process.

UNSIA Brainstorming Session on Resource Mobilization. The SIA Secretariat provided substantive input to the SIA brainstorming session on resource mobilization held in New York on 25 February 2000. The objective of the meeting was to adopt a strategy for mobilizing resources. The meeting noted that resource mobilization was best done at the country level based on country-led activities consistent with the country's development priorities.

Reporting and Briefing on SIA. The secretariat provided inputs to the CPC report on SIA, and attended the CPC meeting when the report was discussed. Briefings on SIA were also provided to other intergovernmental and inter-agency meetings. This included SIA presentations at key meetings, such as the National Summit on Africa held in Washington, D.C. in February 2000.

Communication and Outreach. Through its ongoing collaborative work programme with the ECA Communication Team, the Secretariat provided substantive support to ECA's advocacy work on Africa. In addition, through a range of electronic activities, the Secretariat continued to provide relevant information on SIA as well as African development issues in general in the following manner:

1. Special Initiatives on Africa Web site: The SIA web site is designed to inform stakeholders and disseminate information widely. As it is one of the communication and outreach tools the Secretariat uses, it carries information on activities in each SIA programme cluster, conferences, workshops and important speeches; it is also the home of the SIA newsletter and other publications. The web site hosted at http://www.uneca.org/unsia in 1998. The SIA Secretariat updates the site on a regular basis, drawing on the reports of various SIA activities.

2. The Secretariat also registered the web site on different search engines to market and popularize the site. In addition, the SIA web master designed and based two new sites in the year 2000 -- the African Knowledge Forum under the main SIA web sites at http://www.uneca.org/aknf and the ACCS Web site which will be published under the ECA main web site and linked to the main SIA web site.

3. Economic Commission for Africa Web site: The ECA web site at http://www.un.org/depts/eca continued to be one of the communication tools for the Commission to report, document and disseminate its activities in the various sectors. Working as a member of the ECA Web Team, the SIA Secretariat staff member was responsible for redesigning, updating and maintaining the site. This staff member is also in charge of maintaining and updating SRDCs and ECA's divisional web pages under the main ECA Web site. In addition, the Secretariat also provided substantive contribution to the new ECA web site redesign project, which was published at the end of September 2000 at http://www.uneca.org.

4. The Major Meetings and Events Web database: In addition to maintaining and updating this site at http://www.uneca.org/event which is designed to give information on key planned and recent meetings on Africa, the Secretariat is involved in searching and adding Africa-related events to the database, giving access to users to update the database online and moderate the database by filtering and deleting wrong or outdated information. From the records entered uphill August 2000, the database contained more than 45 events related to Africa in the year 2000.

5. Database on Development Initiatives on Africa: In the past several years, various UN agencies, bilateral and multilateral organizations, and NGOs have launched a number of initiatives on Africa, which have been compiled into a database for easy reference. This database, available in a matrix form, is designed and maintained by the SIA Secretariat. It contains titles of the initiatives, objectives, recent activities, contact information, as well as other vital information about the Initiative.

6. ECOSOC 2000 ICT for the World Exhibition: A high-tech exhibition was held at the United Nations Headquarters from 5 to 7 July 2000. The exhibition was designed to create awareness among UN Member States on the use of information technology for economic development and improving the living standards of people. The SIA Secretariat set up the ECA booth which included a multimedia presentation describing ECA's IT-related activities over the past four years and featured various ECA web sites online, video films, CD-ROMs and publications. The SIA staff also gave two interviews on the UN radio on the ICT programme at ECA and ECA's activities in the area of ICT in Africa.

The SIA work programme is supported by one higher level staff member, one local consultant (Web Master/Communication Specialist) shared with the Communication Team, and one staff assistant who works as part of the Office of the Executive Secretary secretarial support team. With the exception of the post of the staff assistant, which was funded by uncommitted funds from previous years' UNDP support to the SIA Secretariat, the SIA work programme has been fully supported by ECA resources.

CHAPTER IV

PROGRAMME SUPPORT ACTIVITIES

Programme support encompasses the functions and structures relating to the administration and management of the secretariat of the Commission. These services are provided by the Office of Policy Planning and Resource Management and the Conference and General Services Division. The Office of Policy Planning and Resource Management undertakes policy planning and programme development, financial resources management, human resources management, and programme monitoring and evaluation. The Conference and General Services Division provides support for the secretariat in the areas of conference and general services, including the management and maintenance of the new Conference Centre in Addis Ababa as well as responsibility for information services and facilities management.

A. Policy Planning and Programme Development

The main activities in this area relate to facilitating the articulation and review of the strategic orientation of ECA and providing support for translating that orientation into the Medium-Term Plans (MTPs) and biennial work programmes of the Commission. Fulfilling these objectives is achieved by performing three main functions, namely: policy planning, programme development and policy coordination. The policy planning function relates to scanning the regional environment with a view to anticipating issues of major significance for the work of the Commission and articulating these as objectives to be pursued in the context of the MTP. The programme development function pertains to translating the results of policy analysis into concrete activities, which are usually reflected in the biennial work programme of the Commission. The policy coordination role covers the various activities relating to collaboration with regional and international organizations as well as consultations with member States.

The main activities undertaken in the area of policy planning included preparing ECA's contributions to various reports of the Secretary-General particularly the report on the causes of conflict and promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa issued in April 1998, preparation and coordination of reports and major policy documents to various legislative bodies; preparation of policy papers on a variety of issues that are relevant to the Commission's work; and bringing to the attention of the substantive Divisions, the implications for their work, of the resolutions and decisions adopted by various intergovernmental bodies including the General Assembly and ECOSOC.

The main activities in the area of programme development included the preparation of the Medium-Term Plan, 2002-2005 as well as the biennial programmes of work for 2000, 2001 and 2002-2003; and providing support to the substantive Divisions in programme implementation. In the area of policy coordination, the main tasks included organizing the meeting of the Ministerial Follow-up Committee of the Conference of African Ministers responsible for Economic and Social Development held in Abuja, Nigeria from 1 to 5 May 2000.

Other major activities undertaken during this period included consultation with member States on a regular basis, particularly with regard to the development of the MTP, and sustained dialogue on a broad range of policy issues with relevant UN departments and agencies, including representing ECA in the meetings organized by the various departments and offices of the United Nations. In addition, the Section served as focal point for ECA's participation in the development and implementation of a post-conflict reconstruction programme for the countries of the Mano River Basin and in the Ministerial Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa held in Abuja in May 2000.

B. Financial resources management and mobilization

The resources for the implementation of ECA activities derive from two sources: the regular budget and extrabudgetary. The regular budget resources are voted by the UN General Assembly on the basis of the activities proposed by the Secretary-General to be carried out in a specific period. On the other hand, extrabudgetary resources are those which the secretariat negotiates with bilateral donors and multilateral agencies, including the specialized agencies of the United Nations system. They are organized under special funds such as trust funds, for the purpose of implementing specific activities in which the donors indicate interest. While the General Assembly is interested in the source and amount of such funds (because of their impact on the work programme funded with the regular budget), the determination of the amount of the funds and the conditions for their use are matters of negotiation between the donors, recipient member States and the secretariat of the Commission.

1. Regular budget allocations by the General Assembly

The total regular budget appropriations by the UN General Assembly for both biennia 1998-1999 and 2000-2001 remained largely unchanged at $87.0 million and $88.5 million respectively. These allocations represent a slight decline from the sum of $94.6 million and $91.0 million that were appropriated in the biennia 1994-1995 and 1996-1997 respectively. A total sum of $2.8 million allocated in the biennium 2000-2001 under section 35: Construction alteration, improvement, and major maintenance represents an increase of 44.18 per cent over the allocation of $1.9 million in the 1998-1999 biennium. This increase was necessitated by major maintenance, alterations and improvements currently being undertaken in the ECA old building which is over 35 years old. Similarly the increase of 56 per cent under Section 43: African critical economic situation in the biennium 2000-2001 was to cover the cost of the increase in programme activities under UN-NADAF and UN-SIA. No further allocation has been made for Section 15: Transnational Corporations, after the 1996-97 biennium when the sum of $0.7 million was granted for that section (see Table 1).

2. Extrabudgetary resource allocations: Allocations by funding agencies and trust funds of the United Nations

The total extrabudgetary resources remain on the downward trend. These declined from $6.7 million in 1998 to $6.1 million in 1999 and $5.8 million in 2000. Nevertheless, the contributions made by bilateral and multilateral donors as a group increased steadily from $1.4 million in 1998 to $2.1 million in 1999 and $2.1 million in 2000. This was due to a new orientation on the part of donors to support specific development activities such as the fight against HIV/AIDS as well as other vital issues.

Although the contributions of UNFPA and UNDP decreased in 2000, they remain the main contributors of extrabudgetary resources, which are geared towards the implementation of operational projects. The decline in the contribution from UNFPA to $1.6 million in 2000 resulted from the termination of a project in support of IFORD. The completion of the project on sustainable agriculture and environmental rehabilitation programme in Ethiopia, as well as the reduction in the number of projects funded by UNDP resulted in a decrease in the agency's contribution in 2000 to a mere $0.8 million. Other UN agencies made special contributions towards the organization of the first and second ADF. Total contributions from these sources amounted to $0.67 million in 1999 and 2000. The contribution under the United Nations Trust Fund for Africa Development (UNTFAD) declined steadily from $1.0 million in 1998 to $0.7 million in 2000 owing to economic crises and armed conflicts that characterized the situation in most African countries during this period. Nevertheless, the contributions from Japan and South Korea remained constant over the three-year period (see Table 3).

Table 1. Allocation of resources by source (in thousands of $US)

Table 2. Aggregate trend in regular budget expenditures by programme of activity

from the period 1986-1987 to 2000-2001 (projection)

(in thousands of $US)

Table 3. Aggregate trends in the utilization of extrabudgetary resources for the implementation of the work programme from 1994-1995 to 2000-2001(projected) (in thousands of $US)

C. Human Resources Management

1. Organizational changes in the Human Resources Management Division during the period under review

During the period under review, following close consultation with the Department of Administration and Management at Headquarters, there was a merger of Programme Planning, Finance and Evaluation Division (PPFED), Human Resources Services Section (HRSS), and the United Nations Health Care Centre (UNHCC) and the new Division which came into being on 15 March 2000 is now called Office of Policy Planning and Resources Management (OPRM). This new Division brought together the related functions of policy coordination, programme development and monitoring budget and finance, human resources management, technical assistance, coordination and evaluation. The office is to ensure among other things that the management of human resources is an integral part of the strategic planning, decision-making and follow-up function.

On 1 May 2000 following a review of its functions and structure, HRSS was restructured into five teams with each team being responsible for specific divisions/SRDCs and performing the totality of human resources management functions for the particular work unit. The premise underlying the new structure is to have a `one stop service' where as the human resource needs of staff are met within a team. The Human Resource Offices have been delegated authority to take action on and sign correspondences between HRSS and Programme Managers and Staff of client divisions. Each Human Resource Officer is designated as a focal point/resource person for specific human resource functions.

The new structure puts more emphasis not only on client orientation which requires HRSS to be more responsive to the needs of the clients, but also to anticipate and respond to their needs, promote teamwork within and across teams, increase accountability and establish a better framework for communication with the client divisions etc. Emphasis is also put on performance management, transparency, staff development, more participation by line managers, improving the quality and timeliness of services through streamlining and automation of processes and in-house conflict resolution. To assist this effort, a staff counsellor has been recruited and is taking care of personal and work related problems of staff. This new structure has made human resources management in ECA more efficiency-driven, user-friendly and responsive not only to the programme delivery; it has also opened new avenues for improving the staff management relationship. A variety of training programmes was arranged for the staff of the secretariat to enable them perform their tasks (see tables 4 and 5).

2. Posts for the implementation of the 2000-2001 programme budget

The secretariat had a total of 218 established posts at the Professional level and 343 General Service posts for the implementation of its programme of work for the period 2000-2001. This reflected an increase from the previous biennium (1998-1999) by five posts at the Professional level and three posts at the General Service level.

ECA negotiated with UN Headquarters to offer an early separation programme to staff members on Regular Budget posts. This was approved by the Under Secretary-General for Management in early 2000. This separation programme was initiated in order to streamline its operations and revitalize the human resources of the secretariat of the Commission. Seven professional staff and 18 General Service staff took advantage of this agreed termination and were paid indemnity in accordance with the relevant rules.

3. Status of recruitment and placement

During the period under review, ECA had 61 vacant posts at the professional level, out of a total of 218 posts, representing a vacancy rate of 28 per cent. The relatively high vacancy rate is attributable to several factors, one of which was the restructuring that was undertaken in ECA in 1998, and the freeze in recruitment that preceded it. The need to reduce this vacancy rate was addressed by launching a Recruitment Campaign early in the year 2000. By December 2000, about half of the posts under the Campaign had gone though the appointment and promotion bodies and would be filled by February or March of 2001. The other half are under process and are expected to be considered by the appointment and promotion bodies during the first quarter of 2001.

A key feature of the recruitment campaign was the establishment of the Advisory Selection Panel to assist Programme Managers in the selection of candidates for their posts. Panel members were chosen from the Divisions concerned, as well as from other substantive Divisions, from the Cabinet Office of the Executive Secretary and HRSS. Experts were also invited in their individual capacity to participate when needed. The procedure has proved to be both transparent and fair in the selection of candidates for posts. The panel members also participated at telephone and face-to-face interviews for short-listed candidates.

Induction was given to interviewees during the recruitment campaign for the purpose of equipping them with the tools to make the right decisions should they be offered the job. As part of the induction, the interviewees were provided with information on the workplace and its rules, as well as responding to their queries.

A classification committee was established whose objectives, among others, is to provide advice and technical assistance to manage on job analysis and job design, classify all posts at levels G1-G7 using the job descriptions submitted by the programme managers, and in accordance with the applicable classification standards established by the International Civil Service Commission and align all functions of regular budget posts in the divisions and other work units to ensure uniformity and consistency, so as to ascertain "equal pay for work of equal value."

Table 4. List of training activities on upgrading substantive skills For the year 2000

Table 5. List of human resources workshops/training held during 1999/2000

4. Gender balance in Professional Staff composition

Table 6 below shows the current (December 2000) gender distribution of professional and higher level encumbered posts subject to geographical distribution and with special language requirements. As can be gleaned from Table 7, ECA has made significant strides towards the attainment of gender parity, particularly at senior level (D-1 and above) with nearly 35 per cent of senior level positions currently occupied by women. In addition, women accounted for 42 posts or 30 per cent of the total number of encumbered posts at ECA of 140. Although, these figures represent a slight drop from those of previous biennia, much needs to be done to meet the targets set by the United Nations Secretary-General on gender parity in staff composition. In this context, ECA established Task Force on the Status of Women in ECA (TAFWE) whose terms of reference include making specific proposals on how gender balance could be achieved. ECA, like other UN offices has also designated a focal point for women who attend APC and DRP meetings as ex-officio members, to allow women have an input in the selection process. Of particular importance in this regard, is the appointment in 1998, of a female as the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Commission. Efforts will continue in the years ahead to reach the expected targets of gender parity.

Table 6. Gender distribution of professional and higher level staff in posts subject to geographical distribution

Table 7. Gender distribution of professional and higher level staff in posts with special language requirements

D. Programme Monitoring and Evaluation

Following the issuance of the guidelines on the basic elements for internal programme monitoring procedures in departments and offices, by the Office of Internal Oversight Services and the Department of Administrative Management in November 1997, ECA adopted its own internal programme monitoring guidelines entitled "Programme management: Operational guidelines".

These guidelines set out the rules within which ECA programme managers plan their strategic directions, programme their activities, budget and allocate their resources, and ensure that the work produced is timely, cost effective, and of the highest quality standards. The guidelines are designed to facilitate the transition to a renewed ECA, and, taken together, cover all the essential management areas such as: planning; programming and budgeting; delegation of budget and finance authority, programme and budget implementation; programme monitoring; evaluation and auditing; management information system; human resource management; service standards; procurement; and publication policy.

The Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Section in OPRM is entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring adherence to the provisions of the Programme management guidelines. The guidelines reflect current thinking and will, in due course require review as management practices change.

With regard to the monitoring of programme implementation, the guidelines have established a number of monitoring tools. These are: the programme implementation plans; the task briefs; the quarterly travel and consultancy plans; the established procedure for mission travel clearance and the engagement of consultants, quality assurance mechanism; and the programme performance reviews.

Emphasis is increasingly placed on quality assurance pursuant to the need to sustain the momentum towards excellence as stipulated in ECA's Strategic Directions. The aim is to ensure the systematic peer review of major products. These products are subjected to internal and/or external peer review as appropriate. OPRM monitors the adherence to the process.

In addition, review meetings on programme performance are held periodically, bringing together all the monitoring tools for a comprehensive assessment of actual programme performance. They are organized for each Division/Centre/Office with all staff members of the division or unit present. The Executive Secretary or the Deputy Executive Secretary chairs the meetings. Representatives of the Office of Policy Planning and Resource Management, the Division of Conference and General Services, as well as the Communication Team are in attendance at the review meetings to handle relevant programme support questions.

A major purpose of these reviews is to assess overall performance against the set objectives of each programme including highlighting the difficulties encountered in programme delivery. The issues addressed during these meetings are centred around the following: (a) analysis of programme performance by individual subprogrammes at the output/activity level including the management of resources; (b) quality of output including substance and presentation mechanism in place for peer review, quality assurance and dissemination measures adopted; (c) effectiveness in the planning and preparation of travel and the use of consultants; (d) assessment of programme performance at the 20-20 priority output level; (e) analysis of the activities and achievements of regional advisory services; (f) progress in the implementation of operational projects; (g) extent of interdivisional cooperation and team work; (h) effectiveness of partnership initiatives in coordinating and collaborating with relevant partners; (i) cost-effectiveness in the utilization of financial resources; and (j) administrative issues including vacancy management, procurement, service standards, etc.

The review meetings culminate in a formal session between the Executive Secretary and the ECA senior management team to discuss the major outcomes, decisions and directives as well as emerging issues that may require the Executive Secretary's intervention or action. The senior management team also reviews the follow-up actions to be taken to implement relevant decisions and directives of the review exercise.

E. Conference and General Service

Following the recent restructuring of the Conference and General Services Division (CGSD) which brought the functions of the Information Technology Services Section under the purview of CGSD, the Division now comprises seven essentially service-oriented sections. These include Translation and Interpretation Services, General Service, UN Conference Centre, Facilities Management, Security and Safety Services, Security Plan Office and Information Services Section.

The restructuring thus brought together related management factions for enhanced synergies, enhanced management accountability and improved service delivery in several areas including procurement, shipping, travel and protocol, security and safety, as well as improved information technology services.

In the area of information technology and systems, the Division continued to improve operations and communications within the secretariat and the outside world during the period under review. Access to the internet has been significantly improved during the period, and is expected to improve further with the planned installation of a dedicated VSAT to connect ECA's five Subregional Development Centres (SRDCs) in Younde, Niamey, Lusaka Tangiers and Kigali.

The current hardware configuration is Pentium III, with software and anti-virus updates completely automated via Novell ZEN works. Internal training services were improved during the period under review, with training offered in the administration of NT services, IP routing, Lotus Notes/Domino administration, Lotus Notes and Cisco routing and switching. A fully-fledged training programme on IT and all ECA standard software remains a continuous exercise and will continue in the years ahead.

IMIS Release 3, a cornerstone of the Management Information Systems in ECA was introduced and upgraded to IMIS Release 4 in December 2000 to facilitate the implementation of the payroll system using IMIS starting from early 2001.

CHAPTER V

THE 2002-2003 WORK PROGRAMME IN PERSPECTIVE
Work Programme in Perspective

A. Objectives

The main objectives of the 2002-2003 programme are to contribute to reducing poverty, to sustaining economic recovery, growth and development in the region and to help the countries cope with the challenges and opportunities of globalization. This programme is based on the Medium-Term Plan for the Economic Commission for Africa, 2002-2005.

B. Strategy

The overall strategy for the implementation of the programme is built around eight mutually complementary subprogrammes, which encompass the key priorities in Africa's development. These include facilitating economic and social policy analysis; promoting trade and mobilizing finance for development; enhancing food security and sustainable development; strengthening development management; harnessing information for development; promoting regional cooperation and Integration; promoting the advancement of women; and supporting subregional activities for development.

A specific strategy for the implementation of each subprogramme has been defined with a view to enhancing programme delivery and impact, as follows:

Subprogramme 1: Facilitating Economic and Social Policy Analysis

The strategy will include systematic monitoring, review, and assessment of economic developments in the member countries in order to identify the strategies and policy options for meeting the development challenges in the region. ECA will work closely with other development partners, especially in the context of the African Knowledge Network Forum (AKNF), and its SRDCs to disseminate the research findings. Technical advisory services will be provided to member States to help them formulate policies and programmes for poverty reducing economic growth. Special attention will also be paid to assisting member States in the implementation of regional and international programmes of action for social development.

Subprogramme 2: Promoting Trade and Mobilizing Finance for Development

The strategy will include the preparation and dissemination of research studies and policy position papers focusing on the functioning of the global trading system, enhancing Africa's international competitiveness and effective participation in the international trading system, debt sustainability, and investment promotion. Special emphasis will be given to the monitoring of the programme of action for the LDCs, and land-locked and island developing countries. Policy seminars, conferences, and training workshops will be key vehicles for disseminating best practices in private sector development and for promoting dialogue among policy makers from government, private sector and civil society.

Subprogramme 3: Enhancing Food Security and Sustainable Development

The course of action envisaged will include the dissemination of studies as well as the development and refinement of analytical models on the inter-relationship between the PEDA model; building consensus and promoting the exchange of experiences through the convening of meetings to monitor progress in the implementation of measures relating to regional and global platforms adopted in the areas of population, environment, food, and human settlements.

Subprogramme 4: Strengthening Development Management

The course of action would include undertaking and disseminating an in-depth and exhaustive assessment of the state of governance in member countries, highlighting best practices and successful reform measures; preparing and disseminating peer-reviewed technical publications on aspects of governance, public sector performance, private sector and CSO operations; convening seminars, training sessions, meetings and conferences at regional, subregional and national levels on the themes of governance, public sector performance and CSOs activities.

Subprogramme 5: Harnessing Information for Development

Emphasis will be placed on improving the availability, accessibility and quality of statistical, geo-information and other development information to enhance decision-making and planning of member States; promoting policy methodologies and strategies towards an enabling environment for improving access to ICTs for poverty reduction; providing technical information and knowledge management support: building capacity and promoting the development of infrastructures to facilitate availability of development information.

Subprogramme 6: Promoting Regional Cooperation and Integration

The strategy will include monitoring and assessing the progress in regional cooperation and integration in Africa, in particular by undertaking comparative analyses of the experiences of regional economic communities and the lessons learnt. The framework for this analytical work will be the Annual Report on Integration in Africa. Particular attention will be paid to strengthening the regional economic communities to implement the Abuja Treaty establishing AEC, with focus on targeted policies and actions to develop infrastructure, notably transport and communications services, and the strengthening of the mineral, energy and water resources sectors.

Subprogramme 7: Promoting the Advancement of Women

The strategy will include advocacy and policy analysis for gender mainstreaming within national development plans; convening stakeholders to exchange information on best practices in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action; to provide advisory services and technical support to member States in the formulation of gender responsive policies; capacity-building of public services, intergovernmental organizations, parliamentarians and civil society organizations on issues related to the development of national, subregional and regional gender policies, including the participation of women's organizations in conflict resolution and post-conflicts programmes.

Subprogramme 8: Supporting Subregional activities for development

The subregional development centres of ECA will enhance cooperation and integration, facilitate networking and information exchange between public sector, civil society and private sector development partners, and provide technical advisory services for institution-building and policy reforms of the regional economic communities. SRDCs will also convene policy forums to bring together representatives of Governments, non-governmental organizations and private sector agencies to discuss regional development problems and prospects. In undertaking these activities, SRDCs will cooperate with established organizations and institutions for development in the subregions, other United Nations agencies operating in the various subregions and bilateral development agencies active in the different subregions. The centres will undertake to implement in their respective subregions the activities tailored specifically to the priorities and circumstances of individual subregions.

1 For only year 2000

2 For only year 2000