ICPD + 10

The Dakar/Ngor Declaration on Population, Family and Sustainable Development (DND) and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) have been important landmarks in the efforts by African countries to advance their efforts in the population and development areas. The DND reviewed the experiences gained from implementing the Kilimanjaro Programme of Action adopted by the African countries in 1984. The DND expressed concern about "the persistent high population growth rate, and associated high fertility levels, high infant, child and maternal mortality levels, high morbidity, incidence of AIDS, significant imbalance in the geographic distribution of population in the region, inadequate policies for the improvement of the legal status of women in the family, its integration into the development process, ineffective programmes for children and young people, problems of refugees and displaced persons, inadequate information systems and low level of data utilization".

The DND, which emanated from the Third African Population Conference (APC.3) held in Dakar, Senegal in December 1992, formed the basis of the African Common Position submitted to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, in 1994.

The ICPD, adopted a twenty year Programme of Action (ICPD-PoA) whose main goals emphasize the linkages between population and development and meeting the needs of individual women and men. The DND and the ICPD-PoA has since guided the implementation of health, population, environment and related development policies in Africa.

The year 2004 marks the tenth anniversary of the ICPD i.e. ICPD+10 and, as mandated by the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will undertake, in collaboration with the UNFPA, a ten-year review of the implementation of the Programme of Action in the Africa region.

The monitoring of the implementation of the recommendations of the ICPD on a regular basis is based on the need for member States to learn from each other, to identify success stories as well as constraints that impede progress. Indeed, the factors that either promote or inhibit the implementation of the DND/ICPD recommendations, as identified from the various assessments undertaken at the global and regional levels have been shared with African countries during the review meetings organized by ECA and through the associated reports, which have been published and widely disseminated. To facilitate the monitoring process, the ECA Conference of Ministers created a Follow-up Committee on the implementation of the DND and its first meeting was held in March 1994 in Addis Ababa--. This Committee has also served to monitor the implementation of ICPD-PoA.

At the global level, the UN General Assembly undertook in 1999 a five-year review of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action (ICPD+5), and adopted a set of Key Actions in support of the further implementation of the Programme.

At the regional level, post-Cairo follow-up activities, which have been undertaken by ECA in collaboration with AU, ADB and UNFPA; the Organizations that were mandated to cooperate with the Commission in the activities of the Follow-up Committee include the following:

The present review, like the one undertaken in the context of ICPD+5, aims at reviewing African experiences in the implementation of the DND/ICPD-PoA and identifying successes, best practices and constraints.

Specifically, the review is aimed at producing a Regional Review Report on ICPD+10 as Africa's input to the global ten-year review and appraisal of the ICPD. The report will:

The review and validation process as implied in the objectives of the assessment will take place at various fora. First, the Review Report was presented to the African Population experts attending the Union for African population Studies (UAPS) Conference in Tunis in December 2003 for their comments. Second, the Report will be circulated to all African countries for their review and comments. Third, it will be presented to the Meeting of the Expanded Follow-up Committee in Dakar in June 2004, which will be attended by representatives of all the African countries. This meeting will take place just before the Regional Ministerial Review Conference, which is also scheduled to meet in Dakar, Senegal in June 2004. This Ministerial Conference will formally adopt the Regional Review Report as Africa's input to the global ICPD+10 process.

Accordingly, as a build-up to the Regional Review Report on ICPD+10, a series of activities and consultations were undertaken at national, and sub-regional levels, including the (i) analysis of data and information collected through a questionnaire survey of the African Countries. Forty-three African countries out of fifty-three responded to this survey. Submission of the questionnaires took a long time and the delays experienced, in spite of several reminders, affected the review process (ii) the countries were also requested to submit a qualitative Country Report to supplement the questionnaire survey. Twenty countries submitted such reports (iii) The Sustainable Development Division of the Economic Commission for Africa analysed both the questionnaires and country reports and produced a first draft of the Regional Review Report (iv) this first draft was reviewed and revised substantially by a Drafting Committee.

NATIONAL LEVEL
UNFPA Field Inquiry Questionnaire filled and returned by 30 April 2003
ECA Country questionnaire completed and returned by 30 June 2003
ECA Country evaluation report prepared and returned by 31 August 2003

	REGIONAL LEVEL
	Draft Regional Review Report produced in French and English by March 2004
	Draft Regional Review Report edited and translated into French by April 2004, and subsequently circulated to all African countries
	Fifth meeting of the Expanded Follow-up Committee followed by Ministerial Conference, organized by June 2004 to review and adopt the Regional Review Report
	Regional Review Report finalized and printed in French and English by end of July 2004
	Regional Review Report disseminated to all stake holders in August 2004

All African countries designated an Institution or established a Steering Committee to coordinate the preparation of the country's substantive input to ICPD+10, including the preparation and return of the UNFPA Field Inquiry questionnaire, the ECA country questionnaire and country evaluation report.

Each participating Government will also be required to nominate experts/policy makers/ NGOs to present and discuss countries experiences in the implementation of the DND/ICPD at the Expanded Follow-up Committee Meeting and the Minister's Conference.

The questionnaire prepared by ECA complemented the UNFPA Field Inquiry questionnaire and sought quantitative data and information on important issues and concerns included in the DND such as the family, refugees and conflicts. The questionnaire covered the following 10 themes: Poverty, population, environment and sustainable development; Gender equality, equity and empowerment of women; The family, its roles, rights, composition and structure; Children and Youth; Reproductive rights and reproductive health; HIV/AIDS; Population distribution, urbanization and migration; crisis situation and population consequences; Resource mobilization for the implementation of population policies and programmes; and, Factors affecting national implementation of the DND/ICPD recommendations and the ICPD+5 Key Actions.

The country report was designed to provide more qualitative information than the country questionnaire. It reported on the policy changes that have occurred since ICPD, documented constraints encountered and success stories, identified priority issues and suggested future directions for the further implementation of the DND/ICDP in the following 8 areas: Population and poverty; Gender equality, equity and development; The family, its roles, rights, composition and structure; Children and youth; Reproductive rights and reproductive health; Demographic, economic and social impact of HIV/AIDS; Population distribution, urbanization and migration; Resource mobilization for the implementation of population policies and programmes.

After the receipt of the completed questionnaires from the countries they were computerized and tables produced for analysis. Sub-regional variations and perspectives have been captured through the data analysis of the questionnaires supplemented by the country reports. A draft report was then produced by Sustainable Development Division of ECA. The Africa Regional Review Report, has also benefited from inputs from the CST Advisers.

All African countries will be invited to participate at the Expanded Follow-up Committee Meeting and the Ministerial Conference (1-2 government representatives from each country: experts/policy-makers), the UNFPA/CSTs and ECA/SROs. Selected observers (Active NGOs in the sub-regions, regional and sub-regional Organizations including population and development institutions, Regional Economic Communities, selected non-African countries, etc,) will also be invited.

Invited observers including non-African countries will not participate in the debates. However, if time permits, they may be invited to report briefly on the technical and/or financial assistance provided to African countries and their perspectives and experiences in the implementation of the ICPD.

At the regional level, the process involved the following: (i) preparation and dissemination to all African countries of guidelines for the preparation of substantive input to ICPD+10 i.e., a country questionnaire and guidelines for the preparation of the country reports; (ii) Holding of ECA/SRO/UNFPA Consultative Meeting on ICPD+10 Review Process, (iii) preparation of the Regional Review Report on ICPD+10; (iv) organization of the Fifth meeting of the Follow-up Committee; and subsequently, (v) Organization of a Ministerial Conference that would reaffirm Africa's commitment to the ICPD Programme of Action and by formally adopting the Regional Review Report as Africa's input to the global ICPD+10 process.

4.6 Guidelines for the preparation of country substantive input to ICPD+10

The country questionnaire for the ten year review and appraisal of the implementation of DND/ICPD and the guidelines for the preparation of the County reports were produced in both French and English in March-April 2003 and sent to all African countries for completion and return by 30.

The Meeting was held from 26 to 27 August 2003.It reviewed the activities undertaken and the delays experienced in the ICPD+10 review process in Africa due to the human resource constraints faced by the Sustainable Development Division. It decided that sub-regional specificities could be captured through the analysis of the data on a sub-regional basis.

The Meeting thus revised the work programme for the ICPD review process. The Meeting was informed of the experiences of the Asia-Pacific Region in their review of the ICPD. The Meeting decided to recommend (1) that participants to the Review Meeting should be well selected and briefed through advocacy activities (2) that care should be taken about the role of invited observers (3) that chairpersons and facilitators should be knowledgeable about the ICPD and be strong enough to manage discussions at the Meeting.

Due to the delays experienced in the receipt by ECA of the Country Questionnaires and Reports, the Meeting decided to undertake special efforts to get the countries to respond.

The meeting also decided that a Task Force/Drafting Committee be created to review and revise the first draft of the Review Report to be produced by ECA.

The Drafting Committee met from 27 October to 7 November 2003 to review and revise the first draft of the Regional Review Report prepared by the Sustainable Development Division (SDD) of ECA. The participants came from each of the CSTs, two African Union staff members, one UNFPA Country Representative, one UNFPA Deputy Country Representative, one UNFPA-Africa Division, New York, staff member and staff of the SDD and one of the ECA Sub-regional Offices.

The SDD also prepared guidelines on how the revision work should proceed. Each chapter of the report was allocated to either a CST Adviser, a UNFPA Country Representative, a UNFPA Deputy Country Representative, or the AU participants as the lead analysts. Each of these persons was assigned an SDD staff member to work with. This was because the SDD staff members had already been involved in the preparation of the first draft and it was felt that the other members of the Drafting Committee could bring new ideas into the report revision.

The Drafting Committee members used the draft report and tables prepared from the questionnaire data, prepared by SDD, the country reports and other relevant reports and papers, to revise the draft report. During the course of the work of the Drafting Committee, the report was revised three times as the Drafting Committee frequently met to discuss and comment on each revised version. By the end of the two weeks during which the Committee worked, it was felt that the Fourth Draft of the Report was fairly robust.

An external Reader's Group that was made up of experts from Ghana, Uganda, and Cameron then reviewed the Fourth Draft. The Readers Group met with SDD staff and other members of the Drafting Committee in Tunis during the UAPS Fourth African Population Conference to discuss the areas of the Review Report that needed to be strengthened. In addition, the major findings of the Review Report were presented at the UAPS Fourth African Population Conference. A result of this process, SDD received valuable comments and suggestions on how to strengthen the Review Report. The SDD staff has since been revising the draft report after the UAPS Conference in Tunis.

A Draft of the Regional Review Report assessing African experiences in the implementation of the DND/ICPD was prepared by ECA and submitted to the Drafting Committee, which met in August 2003. The report synthesizes the findings from the analysis of the completed field enquiry, the ECA country questionnaires and other in-country data and information contained in the country evaluation reports, etc.... Thereafter, the report was revised based on the comments from the UAPS Conference and a Readers Group of high-level African Population Experts.

The report highlights the main achievements in the goals of the DND and ICPD Programme of Action as well as constraints which have hindered progress in the following key areas, which form chapters of the Review Report: Population, Poverty, Environment and Sustainable Development; Gender equality, equity and Empowerment of Women; The Family, its roles, rights, composition and structure; Children and Youth; Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health; HIV/AIDS; Population distribution, urbanization and migration; Crisis Situation and Population Consequences; Resource Mobilization for the implementation of Population Policies and Programmes; Factors affecting National Implementation of the DND/ICPD and ICPD+5 Key Actions. The Report makes recommendations and points to the way forward.

The International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in September 1994, whose overarching goals emphasized the integral linkages between population and development also focused attention on meeting the needs of individual women and men, rather than on achieving specific demographic targets. An African preparatory conference to ICPD held in Dakar in December 1992 adopted the Dakar-Ngor Declaration (DND). The DND/ICPD-PoA have since guided the implementation of health, population, environment and related development policies across Africa. Since the adoption of the DND/ICPD-PoA, African countries have accordingly held a series of meetings and conferences to assess their experiences in the implementation of the DND/ICPD-PoA. These assessments focused on factors that either promoted or hampered the implementation of the ICPD-PoA as well as on early achievements and best practices. The present assessment is initiated with a view to presenting a ten-year review of the cumulative experience of African countries in the implementation of the DND/ICPD-PoA and ICPD+5 Key Actions. This ten-year review is based on an analysis of data generated from the ECA administered country questionnaire and country reports as well as a review of several documents. Forty-three African countries (out of 53) replied to the ICPD+10 ECA country survey and 20 countries submitted detailed country reports.

The ICPD highlighted the significance of population, environment and development issues in its PoA. Specifically it called on member States to integrate population issues into the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all policies and programmes relating to sustainable development. Thirty-three African countries have prepared and adopted national population policies. To ensure the successful coordination and follow up of the implementation of national population policies, 41 countries report that they have put in place the necessary institutional arrangements. In 12 countries, these arrangements were at the ministerial/parliamentary committee level.

In terms of the types of polices, strategies and measures adopted to integrate the nexus issues of population, environment and agriculture, a total of 40 African countries indicate that they have put in place policies/strategies and measures dealing with these nexus issues. To effectively monitor and assess the linkages between population, agriculture and environment and their impact on sustainable development, 33 countries have put in place the necessary institutional arrangements. In 17 countries, these institutional arrangements have been established at the national, inter-ministerial or government department level. Fourteen countries have established national environmental units or authorities. To strengthen these institutional frameworks, 17 countries have also incorporated NGOs and other groups in these institutional arrangements. While progress is being made in terms of the conceptual understanding of the relationship between population and reproductive health, gender, HIV/AIDS and poverty, actual research and data on these relationships are still not sufficiently advanced. Thus, there is still a significant need to improve data quality for monitoring progress of the ICPD-PoA and national policies and targets. Besides, technical and institutional limitations, poor coordination among government departments, NGOs, the civil society, the private sector and external partners; and inadequate political will related to the use of available human and institutional capacity are also major constraints encountered by African countries.

The DND/ICPD-PoA considers empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of their political, social, economic and health status as essential ingredients in realizing the full potential of economic, political and social development and the attainment of sustainable development. Hence the DND/ICPD-PoA included in its recommendations increasing the participation of women in the labor market and political life, as well as promoting equality and equity in education, and empowering women to ensure that they play a more active role in decision-making both within and outside the family. Forty-one African countries have put in place institutional arrangements for the successful implementation of the DND/ICPD recommendations and the ICPD+5 Key Actions related to gender. A total of twenty-four countries have institutionalized these arrangements at the level of the President's Office. Women's participation in political and administrative areas has also increased considerably in countries like the Seychelles, Botswana and Tanzania. Many countries have also developed policies and action plans on gender and empowerment of women. Forty-one African countries report that they have ratified CEDAW. To promote gender equity and the empowerment of women, countries have pursued a policy mix that includes promoting the full and equal participation of women in the economy (42 countries), protecting girls against harmful practices such as female genital cutting (32 countries), early marriage and early childbearing; and ensuring that public and private institutions provide equal access to women. A large number of these countries have also raised the minimum legal age at marriage to 18 years and some to 21 years. Equally important, a large number of African countries report that they have taken appropriate measures to promote men's involvement in responsible parenthood, preventing unwanted and high-risk pregnancies as well as preventing all forms of domestic violence. Despite these positive changes, some constraints encountered include insufficient investment in reproductive health services in particular family planning and childbirth, limited or no access to credit, institutional constraints, lack of access to and control over productive resources such as land, and low levels of educational and entrepreneurial skills.

Both the DND and the ICPD-PoA reaffirm the family as the basic unit of society. The attainment of several of the MDGs depends on the viability of the family as the basic social unit of society. However, with urbanization, civil conflict, increasing levels of poverty, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the welfare and quality of African family life is under threat.

Since the DND/ICPD-PoA adoption, African Governments have enacted and implemented, in collaboration with civil society organizations, a number of policies and strategies to protect the family from socio-economic stresses and disintegration. These include measures to assist families affected by extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, and long-term unemployment. However, the vicious cycle of poverty and high levels of fertility, in addition to the strain on extended families to provide support, decreased social sector spending, and scarcity of focused research, as well as other constraints to achieving the goals laid out in the DND and ICPD-PoA.

The DND and the ICPD-PoA, as well as the ICPD+5 Key Actions, acknowledge the special needs of children, adolescents and youth including their social, family and community support, as well as their access to education, employment, counseling and health, including high-quality reproductive health services.

Since the ICPD and in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, African countries have taken steps to implement programmes aimed at meeting the needs of children, youth and adolescents. In accordance with this, the majority of countries report adopting policy frameworks, strategies and programmes addressing issues such as lowering infant mortality, increasing school enrolment, as well as addressing adolescent fertility, child marriage and female genital cutting. The major challenges identified in attaining the goals laid out in the DND and the ICPD-PoA and the ICPD+5 Key Actions, lie in a number of traditional values, beliefs and practices which affect the reproductive health of adolescents and youth, as well as the spread of HIV/AIDS, especially among young women. Lack of widespread youth-friendly reproductive health services, as well as war and civil unrest, humanitarian crises and widespread poverty on the African continent, are also constraints encountered.

The ICPD-PoA sets 2015 as the deadline for making reproductive health accessible for all persons through the primary health care system. Reports from the African countries indicate that greater attention is being paid to women's reproductive health since the DND and ICPD, particularly at the policy level. Most countries have adopted national population policies, and programmes to increase access to contraceptives and other family planning services. Skilled birth attendants attend less than half of all births in many African countries. This is an important indicator of the quality of maternal health services. Contraceptive use also remains low, and access to reproductive health care services is also low and unevenly distributed. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is both partly a consequence of the low levels of reproductive health, and at the same time exacerbates it. Constraints to attaining reproductive health for men and women in Africa include the shortage of resources, inadequate policy implementation, the need to address HIV/AIDS and reproductive health issues, and unmet needs for contraception and other supplies, within a framework of general inadequacy of health care on the African continent.

The DND/ICPD-PoA called on governments, in partnership with donors and UNAIDS, to develop and implement national policies and action plans, and to take adequate legislative and institutional measures to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The ICPD+5-Key Actions set specific quantitative benchmarks for combating the epidemic. The MDG benchmarks and the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS reinforced the initiatives adopted at the DND/ICP-PoA and the ICPD+5.

The HIV/AIDS has progressed in African at an unprecedented rate between 1994 and 2003. Its demographic and social-economic impact in the hardest-hit regions of Southern and Eastern Africa have attained such a level, that it has reversed the progress that had been made since World War II in terms of reducing infant, child and adult mortality and increasing life expectancy. With such a picture, there are no indications that African nations will, with the exception of Uganda, meet the ICPD+5 goal for 2005 of 25 per cent reduced prevalence in the 15-24 age cohort.

The majority (42 out of 43) of responding countries to the 2003 ECA questionnaire survey have put in place national policies and strategies for HIV prevention and to promote care and treatment of persons living with HIV/AIDS. An increased political commitment, changes in legislation, high-level institutional frameworks to coordinate the national response and multi-sectoral institutional frameworks have been created in many countries. These efforts are often supported and complemented by those of NGOs, religious groups, civil society associations of people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as donors. These actions are strengthened by growing partnerships support of resource mobilization within and from outside Africa.

Despite the intensified efforts made to respond to the epidemic, over the past decade, they have been revealed to be insufficient. The main constraints have been insufficient human, financial and material resources, late political commitment, gender inequality, cultural obstacles, poverty and inequality, mobility and conflict and post conflict situations.

The DND/ICPD-PoA and the ICPD+5 Key Actions call on governments to adopt effective policies in these areas. The recommendations also call for the respect of the existing international convention relative to protection and respect for human rights, and addressing the causes of internal displacement.

Rapid urbanization is a major concern of African governments. It is mainly due to the unbalanced development strategies implemented in many African countries, armed conflicts and civil strife, that have led to socio-economic stagnation, insecurity and many other urban problems. Consequently migration has become a problematic and sensitive issue in Africa.

Thus, in line with of commitments made in the DND, ICPD and MDG, a number of African countries have adopted strategies, legislation, as well as explicit policies and programmes designed, to modify the distribution of their populations, to promote rural development, and to ensure successful economic and social reintegration of returning nationals. They are also engaged in regional economic integration, and human resource development in order to reduce the brain drain and finally are addressing the problem of managing cities and urban areas.

Despite these efforts however, the effective implementation of these measure, policies and programs is still to be addressed satisfactorily. Thus, the successful implementation of the DND/ICPD-PoA in Africa, still faces constraints such: the lack of effective information systems, the inadequate capacity of in urban management, the inadequate capacity in implementing local development programmes, the lack of satisfactory sustainable development strategies and poor institutionalization of good political and financial governance.

The DND/ICPD-PoA, and the ICPD+5 Key Actions mention refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons (IDPs) as priority issues whose root causes need to be addressed. As a result of internal conflicts, natural disasters and environmental degradation etc., the refugee crisis continues to grow and is a major developmental problem across Africa. The population and development consequences of such humanitarian crises are enormous. They range from lack of security, environmental degradation, increase in forced population movements, increase in mortality, and increase in reproductive health problems, sex-based violence favorable to spread of HIV/AIDS and the emergence of the child-soldier phenomenon.

In response to such crisis situations, African States have taken various steps to improve crisis prevention and crisis management mechanisms, through the AU and sub regional organizations such as the regional economic communities. Thus, in this respect, the creation of the Peace and Security Council of the AU in 2002, the proposal to create an African Standby Force, and the African peacekeeping efforts are noteworthy.

At the country level, in response to the influx of internally displaced persons and refugees, African governments have taken various measures such as: providing protection and assistance to these vulnerable groups, such as the provision of basic education, basic health care and resettlement programmes. It is also noteworthy that many government have put in place measures to facilitate the work of NGOs and IGOs active in these areas, to guarantee adequate protection and assistance to displaced persons, and through the ratification the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (49 countries) or a regional or sub-regional protocol on refugees and displaced persons (11 countries).

However, many constraints still impede the attainment of DND/ICPD goals in Africa. These include: the high level of poverty, disparity in income distribution, inadequate development policies as well as weak early warning systems for the prediction of disasters. Other constraints to attaining DND/ICPD-PoA goals, include HIV/AIDS which is both a cause and a consequence of the humanitarian crisis, as well as the lack of financial and logistical resources required for quickly responding to crisis situations, the easy circulation and trade in illegal small arms across borders and within countries, the weak democratic institutions and the lack of good governance.

J. Resource Mobilization for the Implementation of Population Policies and Programmes

Although the ICPD-PoA calls on both Governments and the international community to devote an increased share of their resources to population and development programmes, most African countries (79%) consider their needs as exceeding the available resources for meeting ICPD-PoA Goals (UNFPA, 2003). Furthermore, even though resource mobilization started soon after 1994, monitoring the allocation of resources to population and reproductive health programmes still remains problematic. The translation of commitment to the goals of the ICPD into commensurate levels of donor funding has also not been forthcoming.

UNFPA (2003) data shows that 91% of African countries have increased their domestic resources for the implementation of population and reproductive health programmes. ECA data from the country reports shows that Ethiopia increased its allocation from $4.5 million in 1999 to $15.1 million in 2002. Similarly Algeria's domestic resource allocation increased from $10 million in 1999 to $15 million in 2003.

External population assistance to Sub-Saharan African countries increased from $2.5 billion in 1994 to $6.5 billion in 2001. Government sources and international assistance are the main sources of funding. In 77% of African countries, there is no increase in private sector/NGO funding.

Constraints encountered include insufficient technical and human resources, lack of resource mobilization mechanisms, crises, conflicts and war situations. These had disastrous consequences on social and economic infrastructures.

K. Factors affecting National Implementation of Population Policies and Programmes

African Governments continue to face inadequate human and financial resources and poor or inadequate institutional capacities. Economic and financial constraints were expresses by 77% of the countries responding. These included difficulties in mobilizing domestic resources (88%), insufficient external financial resources (60%) and persistence of socio-economic crises (77%).

As regards the lack of institutional and technical capacities, countries mentioned the high staff turnover (70%) and inadequate integration of population variables into development planning (70%).

Other constraints gleaned from the ECA survey include, a low degree of commitment to ICPD Goals by politicians (47% of countries responding) and by religious leaders (58% of countries responding), low literacy rates, low status of women, traditional customs and unfavorable socio-cultural practices.

Finally the countries mentioned inadequate coordination of the activities of sectoral ministries, NGOs and external partners, as constraints.

The following main recommendations have been proposed in order to improve the further implementation of the DND/ICPD-PoA:

4.10 Fifth meeting of the Expanded Follow-up Committee and Ministerial Conference

Contrary to the four previous meetings of the Follow-up Committee at which member States were invited on a rotational basis, all African countries will be invited to participate at the Expanded Fifth meeting of the Committee (1-2 government representatives from each country: experts/policy-makers), as well as other invited participants.

The main findings from the review of the implementation of the DND/ICPD will be presented to a Conference of Ministers responsible for Population Issues, which will follow immediately after the meeting of the Expanded Follow-up Committee. This Conference will formally adopt the Regional Review Report as Africa's position and input to the global ICPD+10 process.

As shown in the Agenda for the meeting, the emphasis of the meeting will be on reviewing the Draft Regional Review Report, such that all African countries will have the opportunity to comment on each chapter of the report. This will enhance African ownership of the report.

Each session will have a Chairperson and two Rapporteurs. The Rapporteurs will be assisted by the Secretariat to produce reports on each session by the morning of the following day.

The Draft Regional Review Report will first be presented and countries given the opportunity to make general comments on it. Subsequently each session will be preceded by a brief presentation (ten minutes) of one chapter of the report. This will be followed by an hour of discussions on the chapter. Given that there will be representatives of all the African countries, this time period may not be long enough. As such countries that do not have the opportunity to make their comments during this time period will be encouraged to submit their comments in writing to the Rapporteurs.

The Expanded Follow-up Committee will devote three and a half days of the Meeting to discussions. The afternoon of the fourth day will be used for putting together all the reports from the Rapporteurs.

The final day of the Meeting will be the Conference of the Ministers responsible for Population Issues. The Ministers will discuss and adopt the report from the Expanded Follow-up Committee during the course of this day. Any comments by the Ministers will be integrated into the Review Report by the rapporteurs, assisted by the Secretariat.

All documents on the monitoring and review of the implementation of the DND/ICPD will be posted on the POPIA Website of the Sustainable Development Division. The Draft Regional Review Report will be sent to all African countries before the holding of the Ministers Conference.

The ICPD+10 review process in Africa will be carried out in close collaboration with African countries; the Joint ECA/AU/ADB Secretariat; the ECA sub-regional Offices, the UNFPA Headquarters and its three CST Offices based in Africa (Addis Ababa, Dakar, Harare); and, representatives of regional population and development institutions and centers i.e., IDEP, IFORD, RIPS, CERPOD and UAPS.

Mr. Josué Dioné, Director
ECA/SDD, P.O. Box 3005
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: (251-1) 44 52 63
Fax: (251-1) 51 44 16
E-mail: jdione@uneca.org