ECA Convenes PRS/MDGs Knowledge Sharing Training Workshops

Addis Ababa, 17 September 2007 (ECA) - The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is this week conducting training sessions on “Capacity Building to Enhance Knowledge Sharing on Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs) and the MDGs in Africa” for senior PRS/MDGs practitioners from a cross-section of ECA member States.

The training sessions will be held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa on 17-18 September 2007 for Anglophone countries and on 20-21 September for Francophone countries. Participants include civil servants, researchers, civil society organizations, and representatives of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

The United Nations project on “ Enhancing Kn owledge Sharing to Support the Poverty Reduction Process in Africa ”, which ECA is implementing, serves as a medium for information sharing, discussion and peer learning among African experts involved in the preparation and execution of Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs) or National Development Strategies (NDS).

One of the major achievements of the project, since its inception in 2005, is a Knowledge Audit, undertaken through a consultative process in 15 African countries among 118 senior government officials and non-governmental practitioners working directly on PRS and MDGs. The audit resulted in a Knowledge Sharing web-based platform , which enables PRS/MDG Communities of Practice to continuously generate, contribute, archive and disseminate their knowledge and expertise based on their country experiences, lessons learned, best practices and relevant documents on PRSs and MDGs in Africa.

The platform has now been broadened to include the MDG Mapper, a tool developed for tracking the region's progress towards MDG targets. For countries where sub-national data are available, the Mapper analyzes MDG progress at the sub-national, provincial or district level.

Around 200 experts are currently registered and actively participating in the PRS/MDG Community of Practice, sharing their knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned on PRSs and MDGs, thereby contributing to the articulation of an African perspective on these processes.

Given that an integral component of this project is training of practioners, this training workshop aims to highlight the importance of knowledge sharing and management for improved decision-making on poverty reduction strategies and MDG-based planning. It also aims to give participants a deep appreciation of the contribution of knowledge to improved policy-making and national competitiveness as well as provide skills in knowledge generation, management and sharing.

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Background

The PRS/KSP is supported by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). It is a direct product of a series of meetings of the African Learning Group on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP-LG) , established in 1999 to provide a forum for the exchange of views and articulation of an African position on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSPs). The KSP is managed by the MDGs/Poverty Analysis and Monitoring Section in the African Centre for Gender and Social Development.

Knowledge is a crucial driver of economic growth and development. Furthermore, the generation, management and sharing of knowledge in a network is conducive to enhancing the role of knowledge in the development agenda. In Africa, the connection between knowledge producers and end-users, policy makers, remains weak. Filling this gap will make a critical contribution to the quest to meet the development challenges of the continent and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).