| New NEPAD official says integration into African Union on course Addis Ababa, 27 March 2009 - The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has revealed that studies on the integration of the development framework into the African Union structures shall be completed by the end of April 2009. Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki made the revelation in Addis Ababa Friday during a meeting with members of the UN Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) and Cluster coordinators. Addressing the concerns of some cluster members as to the integration of NEPAD into the structures and processes of the African Union (AU), Mr. Mayaki explained that the analysis of the studies and the proposals for the way forward would be tabled for further discussion by African Union. He explained that the integration process would mainly be at the managerial level, entailing the harmonization of norms and procedures such as human resources and finance. He said that in order for the NEPAD Secretariat to play its role effectively in supporting sustainable social and economic development in Africa, it would continue to rely on the strong support of the UN system. Ambassador Olukorede Willoughby, NEPAD’s Deputy Chief Executive, who accompanied Mayaki to the meeting, assured members of the cluster that “since March 2007, the integration process has gone beyond what he called “the irreversible turning point”, and is “now not a matter of questioning the rationale but of deciding on the operational modalities of the integration”. Ambassador Willoughby stressed the fact that it is not the nomenclature that matters but the content of the work the ability of the new NEPAD structure that emerges after integration to continue to push for a move from decisions to actions within and outside the continent. It was Dr. Mayaki’s first official contact with members of the UN family in Addis Ababa since his appointment last January and he used the occasion to thank the UN (through) cluster coordinators and members for the assistance the Partnership has received from the UN over the years. Following the introduction of the CEO by Mr. Abdalla Hamdok, Director of the NEPAD and Regional Integration Division of UNECA, UN agencies and organizations participating in the RCM welcomed the new CEO and reiterated their continued commitment to work with the NEPAD Secretariat. Dr. Mayaki earlier paid a courtesy call to Ms. Lalla Ben Barka, Deputy Executive Secretary of UNECA. The RCM Secretariat is based at the UNECA and is dedicated to coordinating UN support to AU and its NEPAD programme. It provides institutional support to the RCM and its UN clusters, including following up on the implementation of RCM meeting recommendations and facilitating networking and consultations.
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