Consultation on ECA 2006-2007 work programme fulfils African Ministers' desire, says Amoako
By Yinka Adeyemi, ECA, 09 December 2004

The Executive Secretary of ECA, K.Y Amoako said today that the two-day consultation on ECA's work programme for 2006-2007 which opened in Addis Ababa was a fulfillment of the desires expressed by African Ministers in May during the annual Conference of Ministers of Finance and National Planning which was held in Kampala .

At that meeting, said Mr. Amoako, “the Ministers requested that ECA involve experts more closely in the process of its work programme and strategic directions before sending it to the UN headquarters for finalization.”

About 25 experts from Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) and the six regional committees set up by African Ministers of Finance are participating in the informal consultation with ECA's substantive Divisions and its five sub-regional offices to get more familiar with their programmes and have a clearer picture of their relevance to African problems.

The Executive Secretary said the current strategic direction of ECA was a result of intense consultations. “We held a town hall meeting with ECA staff when I first assumed this position; we asked about the past, the needs of Africa and how ECA could help the continent.”

That town meeting was followed by another three-day meeting with experts from African countries and another round of meeting with ECA's strategic partners. “Consultation, therefore, is a vital part of our work,” Mr. Amoako told the delegates.

He told them not to consider the meeting a legislative one. “It is an informal consultation aimed at getting your views on aspects of our programme in order that we may reflect them in the final output,” he said.

“Are we putting enough attention on gender, ICT, regional trade? Have left something out that you would like us to emphasize,” Mr. Amoako said, urging the experts to give a feedback after meeting with the Divisions