Governance Peace and Security

Documents

Period of Report: August 2004 to January 2006

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP)

Support to NEPAD

Although the cluster on Governance, Peace and Security has not met recently, UNDP has been

actively supporting the NEPAD and APRM, both institutionally as well as in terms of programmes. It has also provided support to the African Union Commission, including activities related to the transition of the OAU to AU and support to its Peace and Security programme. UNDP, as the convener of the cluster, has organized a series of meetings with other UN agencies and had also collaborated with the ECA in the overall organization of the Annual Regional Consultations as well as the preparation of reports.

Institutional support to NEPAD Secretariat

The UNDP support project to prepare programmes and projects in areas defined by the Steering Committee and Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee of NEPAD continued throughout 2004 and early 2005. The key objectives are:

• To strengthen the capacity of NEPAD to deploy quickly and flexibly the human and financial resources required to effectively push the NEPAD strategic agenda forward;

• To provide NEPAD with systemic access to advice from a full spectrum of key stakeholders in all regions;

• To integrate and synergise the AU and NEPAD communication and popularisation strategies;

• To strengthen the capacity of NEPAD to manage and conduct the promotion ofdemocracy and political governance in Africa, including the related processes and mechanisms for monitoring, assessment and review under the APRM;

• To translate the concept of "new partnership" into policies, principles and practices of development cooperation that ensures mutual trust, accountability and Africanownership and management of its own development;

• To promote NEPAD goals at country level, focusing on the MDGs as an initialrallying point.Under the technical support facility (TSF) a fund was put in place to provide small grants to finance studies in the areas of interest to NEPAD. A total of 20 studies were funded for about US$ 560,000. A roster of 3,000 African Experts is established for recruitment of staff and consultants. The project also supported the revamping of the NEPAD websiteand developed a register of NEPAD sponsored programmes and projects. In addition, the UNDP project financed the preparation and drafting of the NEPAD 4-year Strategic Plan. Finally, the project has also finalised a Programme Support Document for a 5-year multi-partner programme for the implementation of the NEPAD strategic plan.

A NEPAD Advisory Panel was established taking into account geographical and gender criteria, as well as representation from different background. The panel met in June and in October 2004. Following a NEPAD sponsored stakeholder conference held in October 2004 to evaluate the progress NEPAD had achieved so far, the Panel was charged with the responsibility of reflecting on what the direction of NEPAD should be in theforeseeable future. The project has also organized sensitization workshops and supported the APRMs ecretariat and country missions. A draft concept paper on "New Partnership" has been prepared.

On the Millennium Development Goals, UNDP supported NEPAD in the preparation of a report on the progress of Countries. Three sub-regional workshops were held. With ECA, NEPAD and AU the common position on the MDGs was prepared. Plans are underway for follow up activities.

The Africa Partnership Forum:

UNDP has participated in all the African Partnership Forum meetings and in response to the G8 Gleaneagles commitments, it has also provided technical support to AU and NEPAD in the preparation Joint Action Plan that is currently under discussion with the Support Unit at the OECD.

Support to APRM Secretariat and country processes

UNDP has been actively engaged in providing direct technical and administrative support to the APR Panel and Secretariat. The African Peer Review Panel (APR) in collaboration with UNDP organised a workshop on Sharing National Experiences in Implementing the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in November 2004. The workshop was supported by UNDP through its flagship programme, the African Governance Forum (AGF), which provides a platform for African governments, civil society, NGOs and their external partners to discuss and build consensus on the state of governance at the national and regional levels.

The workshop brought together delegates from the twenty-three APRM accedingcountries including officials from other strategic partner agencies ADB and ECA, and had the following strategic objectives:

• Facilitating a common understanding of the APRM;

• Sharing of experiences on the national processes that have taken place (Ghana, Rwanda, Mauritius and Kenya) with a view to providing an instructive guide for other countries as they embark on the implementation of the APRM;

• Distilling the main recommendations from the workshop as an instructive guide for the structuring of the APR process and activities of AGF VI.

The next forum, AGF VI will focus on the Implementation of the APRM and is scheduled to be held in Kigali, Rwanda in April 2006. Dates have to be confirmed.

UNDP has also been an active participant in the APRM process. To date 26 African countries have acceded to the APRM. These countries are Agnola, Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Republic of Cong, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leione, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan and Zambia. Of the nine countries that have received Country Support Missions led by a Panel Member, UNDP has participated in seven (Algeria, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda). UNDP has been supporting all the countries in the countrypreparations, including institutional support to the APR Focal points, setting up ofnational structures to oversee the process, as well as organization of sensitizationworkshops. UNDP as one of the key strategic partners has provided technical support to the Panel and the APRM Secretariat on a continuous basis. It has participated in the review of Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya as well as in the preparation of the Panel Reports.

The review reports of Ghana and Rwanda were presented at the APR Forum in Abuja, Nigeria in June 2005. Both reports were accepted by the Forum and scheduled for the actual peer review in August 2005. However, due to scheduling difficulty the APR Forum took place on 22 January 2006 at the eve of the AU Summit. The Ghana Report was reviewed and the Rwanda review will take place at the next Forum meeting. The date will be determined in consultation with member countries.

As a follow up to the Algiers workshop, UNDP in partnership with the APR Panel, ECA and the Africa Development Bank and other partners is planning to hold the AGF VI second half of April 06. The exact date is yet to be confirmed. Three preparatory meetings have taken place, two in Johannesburg and one in New York. The latest on 16 January 2006.

In accordance with the mandate given to UNDP by the APR Forum, UNDP has set up a trust fund to support the implementation of APRM. The Trust Fund has been operational. To date contributions have been received from Algeria, Lesotho, Senegal, Canada, DIFD and UNDP. Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa have also contributed to the APR Operations through the NEPAD Secretariat. The APR Secretariat expects all African countries will be making contributions.

Support for the implementation of the Peace and Security Agenda of the African Union

UNDP in partnership with other partners (Germany, Sweden, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK) is currently funding an AU support project, with a total budget of US$ 7.2 million. The three-year project seeks to provide technical and financial support to the African Union, aimed at enhancing its capacity for Conflict Prevention, Security and Peace-building in Africa. It also seeks to strengthen the operationalcapacities of the Peace and Security Council and related institutions by developinginternal capacities for data gathering, analysis and dissemination.

The projects' objectives are as follows:

• Building the capacity of the Peace and Security Department (PSD) to enhance its capabilities to collect and analyze information on conflict situation and contribute to policy development as well as give effective support to the AU Commission and the Peace and Security Council in peace and security initiatives;

• Ensuring the effective operation of the Peace and Security Council (PSC);

• Strengthening institutions and programmes for preventive diplomacy, peace and_security; and

• Developing and executing the strategy for creating greater awareness of AU'sefforts and raising resources for peace and security.

• The second phase of the project has so far achieved the following:

• Assisted and contributed immensely to the establishment and operationalization of the Peace and Security Council;

• Accorded financial, technical and logistical support to workshops organized by the African Union on the establishment of a continent-wide Early Warning System and on the Operationalization of the Africa Women Committee for Peace andDevelopment; as well as to a brainstorming on topical issues related to the AU Peace and Security Agenda;

• Provided financial and technical support to the First Meeting of the African Ministers of Defence and Security to establish an African Standby Force and to adopt the draft Framework on a Common African Defence and Security Policy.

• Succeeded to formulate a set of commonly agreed principles and objectives, which have been used to draft an MoU on Cooperation between the AU and the Regional Economic Communities (the RECs) on Peace and Security Matters.

• Continues to help in capacity building and the experts it has provided continue to contribute to the AU's search for peace in conflict areas like Darfur, the Great Lakes Region, Cote d' Ivoire, Sudan, Somalia, Liberia and Ethiopia and Eritrea.The total amount pledged so far by UNDP and the partners for the project is US$ 7,144,980. Of this amount US$ 3,727,278 has been received.

Support to the planning of the transition to the African Union

Since February 2002, UNDP has been providing support to the transition to the AU, with the following immediate objectives:

• Enable the rapid operationalization of the Transition Planning Support Team (TPST) and the High Level Advisory Panel (HAP) so that the transition planning can proceed effectively and timely;

• Support the development of key elements of the institutional and programme_framework of the AU transition;

• Stimulate and encourage support from other donors to the SPPT;

• Develop a programme proposal for longer-term support of the SPPT by UNDP and other donors;

• Provide support to the African Union Commission in the planning for its transformation and the production of the vision and strategic plan of the African Union.

The project has achieved the following output:

• Organized 3 meetings of the High Level Advisory Panel of the Secretary General and produced a final report submitted to the Heads of States prior to the AU Durban Summit in 2002 which launched the African Union;

• Provided consultants and resources for the working groups established by the OAU to carry out different assignments in preparation for the launching of the African Union;

Provided resources to the interim Commission and the Commission of the African Union to conduct studies and organize a series of brainstormings which culminated in the adoption of the visionand Strategic Programme of the African Union;

• Provided resources for the studies, consultations and preparation of the legalinstruments of the other institutions of the African Union such as Pan Africa Parliament, ECOSOC relations with RECs;

• Assisted the OAU and the AU to establish the African Union Website and hosted the Website in the UNDP server. The project is currently financing the Webmaster and an Assistant.