Documents

UN Regional Consultations on NEPAD

I. Introduction

An important component of the UN Secretary-General's reform agenda is the need to achieve improved coherence in the activities of the various UN agencies at the regional level. Building on the reform agenda launched by the Secretary-General in 1999, the ECOSOC in resolution 1998/46 urged the establishment of regional consultative meetings among UN agencies working in each region. The overall purpose of these regional consultative meetings is to promote synergy and coordination among the agencies and organizations of the UN system, so as to improve the collective response by the UN system in addressing priority needs of each of the five regions.

The first series of consultative meetings were held in 1999 in the five regions of the world, under the chairmanship of the Deputy Secretary-General. Subsequently, the Executive Secretaries of the Regional Commissions were asked to lead the effort. Hence beginning in 2000, the Executive Secretaries assumed chairmanship of the Regional Consultative Meetings.

The Regional Consultations of UN Agencies working in Africa established, to date, seven thematic clusters around the priority areas of NEPAD, to serve as operational framework to support NEPAD, and as reporting mechanism, and identified the convening agencies as follows:

(i.) Infrastructure Development convened by ECA;

(ii.) Governance, Peace and Security, convened by UNDP;

(iii.) Agriculture, Trade and Market Access, convened by FAO;

(iv.) Environment, Population and Urbanization, convened by UN-Habitat;

(v.) Human Resource Development, Employment and HIV/AIDS, convened by UNICEF;

(vi.) Science and Technology, convened by UNESCO with ECA as vice-convener; and

(vii.) Advocacy and Communications convened by OSAA.

The paper highlights major activities undertaken by the UN-NEPAD Clusters since the 2004 meeting of the UN regional consultations among UN agencies working in Africa; assesses the level of collaboration and support of the Clusters to NEPAD; and provides some recommendations on the way forward for the SG Panel on international support to NEPAD. The paper is by no means exhaustive as ECA is yet to receive inputs/updates from the Clusters conveners.

II. UN-NEPAD Clusters' Activity reports

Infrastructure Development Cluster (Convener: ECA)

This Cluster includes the following three sub-clusters:

• Water and Sanitation:

Major achievements:

The UN Water/Africa is actively monitoring and promoting the implementation of the African Water Vision 2025. It is worth noting that the African Water Vision formed the basis for the formulation of the Water components of NEPAD and has been endorsed the African Union Extraordinary Summit on Agriculture and Water. The UN Water/Africa group in collaboration with major regional partners such as the African Development Bank, the African Union and African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) successfully organized the Pan-African Implementation and Partnership Conference (PANAFCON).

The major achievements of the group include::

1. Support to the African Union Commission for preparing the Sirte Declaration on Agriculture and Water, the resulting Heads of |State Summit endorsed most of the Outcomes of the PANAFCON.

2. Support for the African Minister's Council on Water (AMCOW), Individual UN Water agencies with UNEP acting as the Task Manager have provided technical and some cases financial support for all AMCOW Session on a continuing basis. This has involved aligning the joint activities to the priorities of AMCOW and promoting synergies between AMCOW and the AU/NEPAD.

3. Support for River/Lake Basin Organizations such as Lake Victoria, Chad and Niger

4. The Development of National Water Policies and Strategies for post-conflict countries such as Sierra Leone.

5. Establishment of the African Water Information Clearing House (AWICH) and through the organization of five Sub regional Workshops, the creation of the Sub regional Networks for sustaining the Clearing House and devolving it to the national level.

6. Advocating Africa's priorities in Global for a such as the World Water Forum and within the UN system at the Global level. In the latter case it is worth noting that Africa has been designated as the only geographic focus for the global UN Water group.

Sub groups of UN Water/Africa agencies have also been active in executing specific technical activities within their mandates. An example of this is the UNEP/UNESCO project and seminars of Groundwater Pollution in Africa, and the ECA/UNESCO/WMO/AFDB support for the development of the TIGER Project which aims at implementing commitments by the Centres of Earth Observation Systems (CEOS) led by the European Space Agency to application space tools for water management in Africa.

Assessment of the status of the collaboration and support to NEPAD:

Overall, UN-Watery/Africa continues to serve as a model for sectoral inter-agency coherence within the UN System and compared to other (sub) clusters has reached the maturing stage of development. It has been instrumental in promoting institutional development within various categories of stakeholders in the African water sector (Governmental - AMCOW, Civil Society- African Network on Water (ANEW) and Development Partners - The African Water Facility hosted by the African Development Bank.). However, some important constraints to achieving more results remain. They include:

Financial and budgetary constraints: The UN Water/Africa group has relatively been less constrained because of its success in acquiring extra-budgetary funding at both the secretariat and agency levels. This situation will however change since these results will be exhausted in 2006 and despite good intentions very few member agencies have been able to mainstream the groups' activities in their regular budgets.

Participation of non-UN organizations in the collaboration: After adopting the new Terms of Reference (TOR) of the UN Water Global group in 2004, it is intended to resuscitate the formal membership of the African Development Bank, which was a member of the original Inter-Agency Group on Water in Africa (IGWA). Similarly participation by the African Union in the groups has diminished since the joint development of the African Water Vision 2025 and needs to be reactivated especially in light of the new ECA Executive Secretary's call for "full harmony with the African priorities and seamlessly woven into the work fabric of the AU Commission. AU Commission and ECA must therefore be prepared to think, plan and work closely together in support of Africa". This extended to the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) can become analogous to the African Tripod Stool which is only in balance when the legs are of equal heights.

Recommendations on the way forward:

The Panel could provide assistance in promoting:

1. Assist the Clusters in finding modalities for prioritizing joint activities in individual agency programming and budgeting processes to ensure long-term sustainability.

2. Advocating both within ECA and member agencies the need for strengthening the UN Water/Africa Secretariat with regular 100 series staff either by appointment or secondment.

• UN-Energy Africa:

Major achievements:

In November 2004, members of UN Energy/Africa adopted a work programme for the period 2004-2006. All activities in the work programme were to be implemented by at least two agencies, which collaborated in defining the outcomes. Activities implemented in 2005include:

• The development of a UN Energy/Africa web site and an electronic forum;

• The development of the first mini/micro hydropower capacity building and investment project in Africa;

• The completion of a study titled "Making Africa's Power Sector Sustainable";

• The implementation of a high-level Stakeholders' Policy Dialogue Forum on power sector reforms in Africa; and

• A joint programming agreement between IAEA and ECA for the implementation of a regional training programme on capacity building in Integrated Resource Planning.

Assessment of the status of the collaboration and support to NEPAD:

Overall, UN-Energy/Africa has achieved some very tangible results in support of the African community and the achievement of the NEPAD energy priorities. However, some important constraints to achieving more results remain. They include, inter alia:

Financial and budgetary constraints: Many agencies have found it difficult to participate in coordination meetings because of limited budgetary resources dedicated to interagency activities (e.g. travel). Notwithstanding the usage of remote communications tools such e-forum, tele/videoconferencing, e-mail, physical exchanges are the most effective way to "sell" activities to sister agencies. This limited budget has also restricted the amount of time that agencies that have volunteered to chair or serve as secretariat could allow performing their role.

Budget cycle and agencies work programme constraints: In order to achieve efficiency in supporting NEPAD, agencies need to create better coherence and complementarities in their regular activities in support of NEPAD. This can effectively be done only at the earliest stage of programming/design of activities. The different programming/implementation cycles of agencies often prevent the establishment of key partnerships for providing efficient and coherent support to NEPAD.

Participation of non-UN organizations in the collaboration: Though the terms of reference of UN Energy/Africa call for the collective engagement of UN and non-UN organizations, the effective participation of non-UN organizations such as the ADB and the NEPAD Secretariat has not materialized. Acknowledging the strategic advantage of some non-UN organizations in the development of the energy sector in Africa, finding solutions to lift the barriers for their effective involvement in the collaborative mechanism must remain an important objective of UN Energy/Africa.

Institutional and Human constraints internal to NEPAD and the RECs: According to the last "African Review Report on Energy for Sustainable Development for the CSD14", some of the shortcomings in the various initiatives undertaken in support of NEPAD Energy initiatives, derive from many factors, including:

• Evolving institutional status of the NEPAD with respect to the African Union and other regional organizations;

• Low and insufficient human and institutional capacity at the NEPAD secretariat and in its technical divisions;

• Slow progress in the design and formulation of priority energy projects of the NEPAD;

• Unclear procedure and framework on how best development partners can assist NEPAD; and

• Regional Economic Communities, which are the implementation arms of NEPAD, generally, do not have the required human, technical, financial and institutional capacities to play an effective role in the work of UN- Energy/Africa.

Recommendations on the way forward:

The Panel could provide assistance in promoting:

1. Specific budget provision for interagency collaboration in support of NEPAD that takes into account coordination and consultation activities leading to effective joint programming and implementation in support of NEPAD;

2. The definition/clarification of modalities for the effective participation of non-UN organization in the collaborative mechanism in support of NEPAD; and

3. Strengthening of the institutional and human capacities of NEPAD and the RECs in order to increase their participation in the planning and implementation of activities led by their international partners, in particular for NEPAD energy planners to be actively involved in UN Energy/Africa sessions.

The energy sector, unlike sectors such as Agriculture or industry, is characterized by fact that no single UN entity is responsible for the development of the sector. Therefore, there is no "natural" coordination/lead entity. A large variety of international organizations are active at country, sub-regional and regional levels on various aspects of the development of the energy sector. Only a limited number of them are involved in UN Energy/Africa, or in any type of collaborative mechanism. This, of course, presents a challenge for African governments, the AU/NEPAD and other regional organizations in developing coherent policies and efficient activities optimizing the support of the international community.

• Transport:

Major achievements:

ECA has played, and continues to play, an active role in this sector, first through its extensive work and support within the framework of the United Nations Transport and Communications Decades (UNTACDA), and second through its continued assistance to successor arrangements to the Decade programmes including the NEPAD infrastructure component. In this regard, the Commission collaborated actively with the African Development Bank (AfDB) in developing this sub-cluster under the NEPAD infrastructural agenda. ECA has championed or provided active support to the Yamoussoukro Decision for Air Transport Liberalization; the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Programme (SSATP) as Chair; and transport facilitation and corridors development in closely collaboration with the RECs.

• ICTs:

Major achievements:

ICT is a sub-cluster of the NEPAD Short-term Action Plan (STAP) on infrastructure. The major activities carried out by ECA in this area deal with the STAP section on "Programme to Enhance Africa's Participation in the Global ICT Policy and Decision-making Forums". ECA convened and facilitated several meetings of the sub-cluster in October 2002 (Addis Ababa), May 2003 (Addis Ababa), July and September 2003 (Geneva) and July 2004 (Addis Ababa). It has also set up an online discussion list for members of the sub-cluster to share information, exchange ideas and coordinate activities on ICT issues. It has provided support to Africa throughout the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). This culminated in ECA sponsoring and/or coordinating several conferences, including the African Regional Preparatory Conference for the WSIS held in Bamako from 26-30 May 2002, the African Ministerial Conference on the follow up to WSIS, held in Dakar from 19 -20 April 2004 and the second African Regional Preparatory Conference for the WSIS held in Accra from 2-4 February 2005.

ECA also facilitated various negotiations on contentious WSIS issues faced by the Africa Group and between the Africa Group and other continents. This resulted in commitment and cohesion in the Africa Group during the various WSIS Preparatory Committee meetings and the two phases of the Summit. Some of the concrete results of the ECA facilitation and involvement in this area have been; (i) the establishment under NEPAD Infrastructure cluster of the African Ministerial Oversight Committee on ICT in April 2004 for which ECA hosts the secretariat, (ii) the adoption by the WSIS of the Digital Solidarity Fund as a NEPAD initiative, and (iii) the adoption by the African ICT Ministers of the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy (ARAPKE), developed by ECA as Africa's Roadmap on ICTs up to 2015. During the adoption of the Action Plan the African Union Commissioner on Human Resources Science and Technology congratulated ECA for "the sterling work done".

Assessment of the status of the collaboration and support to NEPAD:

The problem encountered by ECA in collaborating with NEPAD on ICT activities is that the ECA-led activities are neither reported in the Head of States Implementation Committee's report nor in the Secretary General's report. This may be due to the confusion between the NEPAD ICT sub-cluster activities and those of the e-Africa Commission, which is also implementing ICT activities at the NEPAD secretariat. Since the last CODI meeting held from 25-28 April 2005 in Addis Ababa, discussions are underway with the e-Africa Commission on ways to harmonize activities. In this context the e-Africa Commission has requested ECA to provide support in organizing the meeting of its Commissioners during the first quarter of 2006 in Pretoria. This may lead to a better visibility of our activities in the report of the Head of States Implementation Committee. In the meantime, we believe the Secretary General's report should give an account of the support provided by ECA in the framework of the NEPAD ICT component. It should be noted that all the above activities were undertaken without specific budgetary allocation to the division. However we need additional resources to provide support to NEPAD.

Governance, Peace and Security (Convener: UNDP)

• Sub-Cluster on Humanitarian Response and Post-Conflict Recovery (Leading agency: UNHCR)

Violent conflict and its unresolved consequences rank among the top few factors seriously obstructing a large number of African countries from achieving their aspirations to peace and security and socio-economic progress. Countries emerging from conflict and in post-conflict situations are over-burdened with complex problems including political instability, insecurity, human rights, justice and rule of law, reconciliation, reintegration and rehabilitation of displaced populations and, socio-economic challenges including rebuilding critical physical and institutional infrastructure, corruption, war economies and large unemployment problems.

While it is well recognized that the stabilization of societies emerging from conflict requires more than peace agreements, peace-keeping troops and short-term humanitarian assistance, responses to such situations continue to be security and military oriented in spite of the increasingly articulate rhetoric for comprehensive solutions. As a result, very little attention is given to recovery and reconstruction needs and civilian population in these countries may, at best, expect to benefit only from limited and poorly coordinated humanitarian assistance.

Weak strategic planning, severely limited capacities of internal actors, lack of significant and sustained international support and funding and, poor coordination between humanitarian, reconstruction and development initiatives leave most of the recovery and reconstruction needs unattended. As a result most post-conflict countries will not be able to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In fact their socio-economic situation could even worsen further unless immediate and comprehensive action is taken to stem the downward trend. The impact of conflict on neighbouring countries and sub-regions including the burden of hosting large numbers of refugees could also have serious consequences on their socio-economic progress.

Need for a comprehensive and integrated approach

Addressing the needs of African countries in transition from conflict to sustainable peace would require a comprehensive and integrated approach, commitment of the concerned countries themselves and strong international support encompassing humanitarian assistance, recovery/reconstruction and development. It is in an effort to provide a broad and strategic policy blueprint for such a comprehensive approach that the African Union is currently developing a strategic framework on post-conflict reconstruction. The AU framework could also serve as a strategic tool that will guide the systematic identification of needs and gaps in post-conflict countries and the development of further integrated programmes and projects to meet critical needs and gaps.

The Sub-Cluster on Humanitarian Response and Post-Conflict Recovery

The Sub-Cluster on Humanitarian Response and Post-Conflict Recovery, under the Cluster on Governance, Peace and Security, advocates for increased attention to the needs of countries emerging from conflict, and provides support to the AU in its effort to bring about increased policy-level coordination and the mobilization of international support required to address the needs of post-conflict societies. The Sub-Cluster's priority activities in the short/medium-term include providing support to the African Union in the development and dissemination of a strategic Framework for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development, compiling preliminary assessment reports on critical needs and gaps in selected post-conflict countries, conducting (or participating in) assessment missions, advocacy and capacity building.

The Sub-Cluster's activities were invigorated at the beginning of 2005 with the appointment by UNHCR of a Senior Programme Coordinator and an earlier secondment by JICA, to UNHCR, of an expert on post-conflict issues. The Sub-Cluster held its first formal coordination meeting on 30 March 2005 to review current challenges, endorse its work plan and establish a smaller and more agile Inter-Agency Technical Support Cell comprised of six agencies (IOM, UNHCR, UNDP, UNICEF, ILO, and WFP) that would carry forward the Sub-Cluster's work. The IATSC has met twice in 2005 to exchange information about each agency's activities relating to post-conflict recovery and review progress in implementation of its work plan.

The draft AU framework on post-conflict reconstruction and development has already been reviewed by members of the AU Peace and Security Council and other AU Member States during the PSC's 4^th Brainstorming meeting held on 4 and 5 September in Durban, South Africa. The framework will shortly be reviewed by two separate meetings of international experts and experts of AU Member States during the first half of 2006. The Framework is expected to be endorsed by AU's decision-making organs during the June/July 2006 AU Summit. Official endorsement of the draft Framework and the creation of monitoring and implementation mechanisms by the AU would pave the way for an increased and more systematic engagement of the NEPAD Sub-Cluster in the Framework's dissemination and implementation.

As part of the build-up to the current state of affairs, UNHCR has also made contributions to the Post-Conflict Recovery Workshop convened by the NEPAD Secretariat in Johannesburg from 13-15 October 2004. The main discussions in this meeting focused on the core areas of intervention in post-conflict recovery.

Preliminary assessment of situation in post-conflict countries

Recognizing the massive recovery, reconstruction and development needs in the Continent, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) seconded a Senior Technical Expert on Post-Conflict Recovery to UNHCR Regional Liaison Office in Addis Ababa in May 2004. The JICA expert provides support to the work of the Sub-Cluster and UNHCR including in undertaking preparatory work such as developing criteria for selection and classification of post-conflict countries¹, organization of a socio-economic databases in these countries and coordination of the preparation of preliminary assessment and analytical reports on the status of recovery and reconstruction in selected post-conflict countries.

The preliminary assessment reports mentioned above would provide a background for the development of integrated and comprehensive programmes and projects that could address critical needs and gaps in past/present recovery and reconstruction initiatives. Compilation of basic socio-economic database on selected post-conflict countries was completed during the first half of 2005. A report on Angola was prepared and shared for comment during the 3^rd quarter of 2005. Reports on Sudan, DRC, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire and Burundi are expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2006.

Country-Specific initiatives

The Sub-Cluster and UNHCR also work closely with the AU in support of its initiatives in specific Countries such as the Sudan and Central African Republic. At the Meeting of Experts on Post-Conflict Reconstruction in the Sudan held by the AU 5-6 December 2005, a draft "Framework for the Involvement of AU Member States and Relevant African Institutions in Post-Conflict Reconstruction of the Sudan" was discussed. This Framework, being developed under the auspices of the AU Committee on post-conflict reconstruction in Sudan, contains guidelines that aim to facilitate efforts of AU member states in providing support to the Sudan in its post-conflict recovery and reconstruction efforts following conclusion of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement at the beginning of 2005. 44^th meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council held on 29 December 2005 was also devoted to discussing the situation in the Central African Republic and called for increased international support to meet humanitarian and recovery needs in that country.

UNHCR's framework for durable solutions

In order to enhance closer cooperation and coordination with other UN System agencies, government departments, NGOs and other partners involved in humanitarian, recovery and development activities, UNHCR developed a strategic policy in the past few years dubbed as Framework for Durable Solutions. This Framework aims to enhance burden and responsibility sharing, building capacities to receive and protect refugees and find sustainable durable solutions to their problems. The Framework includes methodologies such as Development Assistance for Refugees (DAR) and Development through Local Integration (DLI) in asylum countries and, Repatriation, Reintegration, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (4Rs) in countries of origin. In particular, the 4Rs methodology is intended to serve as an overarching framework for institutional collaboration in the planning and implementation of reintegration activities in post-conflict situations.

Following decisions reached in the IASC, UNHCR is also gearing up its activities to strengthen the key roles it will play in the protection of and assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in conflict situations within the UN Collaborative Approach. UNHCR will have a leading coordination role in protection, camp management and administration and emergency shelter.

Major Challenges relating to the work of the Sub-Cluster

1.As clearly mentioned at the opening session of the Brainstorming Retreat on the FPCRD held in Durban in September 2005, post-conflict reconstruction and development in Africa is primarily a political process. It requires, therefore, full commitment and further support by all parties if the efforts were to make a difference on the situation of post-conflict countries in any significant way.

The Advisory Panel could play a key role in raising the profile of the post-conflict reconstruction issue on the political agenda of the United Nations and other international partners.

The African Union has made post-conflict reconstruction one of its key objectives in ensuring stable peace and security in the Continent by including it in the mandate of the Peace and Security Council as well as its strategic plan for the 2004-2007 period. As indicated above, progress is being made in putting in place a strategic policy framework on PCRD and mechanisms for implementation and monitoring. This progress, however, should be complemented by strong international support and the mobilization of resources to implement the framework, meet actual needs and bridge gaps on the ground. In this regard, consideration may also be given to strengthening the synergy of effort between the AU Commission and NEPAD secretariat.

The Advisory Panel can play a key role in highlighting the problems of countries in post-conflict situations and calling for a particular attention of the international community in the mobilization of support and resources to help Africa's development.

In light of the immensity of the post-conflict reconstruction challenge in AFrica and the primary focus of AU's effort on policy, monitoring, and strategic coordination, the Sub-Cluster can play a pivotal role in connecting this effort with initiatives that can make a tangible difference on the ground. While all members of the Sub-Cluster have strong support for its objectives, they are often constrained by absence of clear policy guidelines support from their respective headquarters as well as resource limitations at the field level (especially in Addis Ababa) to engage in concrete activities such as field missions and project/programme development.

The challenges facing the Sub-Cluster are closely related to weaknesses observed in the Cluster approach to NEPAD support in general. If the sub-cluster is to be effective in its initiatives, all member agencies of the cluster system should provide it full support including by providing offices in the field with clear policy guidelines, establishing support and follow-up mechanisms at Headquarters level and the necessary resources to enable them participate in sub-cluster activities more substantively.

The Regional Consultation of UN Agencies Working in Africa, in our view, does not provide an adequate platform to effectively support the NEPAD initiative. Very little information is disseminated regarding the existence and activities of the Clusters and their sub-clusters including between and within the Clusters themselves. It would be crucial to expand and strengthen this forum if the mechanism is to serve the need for effective dialogue and collaboration. As a minimum, sufficient time should be allocated for the annual consultations which could, in our view, also be more productive if they were held into two phases - the first at a technical level (examine progress, prepare agenda, make proposals and recommendations) and the second at the level of Principals.

As an entity entrusted with the immense responsibility of coordinating the Cluster System, ECA should be given a clear and strong mandate by the CEB, or perhaps even by the General Assembly. ECA should also be provided with adequate resources if it is to effectively and efficiently discharge its coordination responsibilities. Coordination of the Cluster approach may also benefit from the broad experiences of field-based agencies such as UNDP. Participation and commitment of the Breton Woods institutions, within the Cluster system or through another mechanism, would be critical for the success the effort to support NEPAD.

The Advisory Panel may recommend that all UN system agencies, including the Breton Woods Institutions, increase their commitment to the supporting the NEPAD vision.

• Agriculture, Trade and Market Access (Convener: FAO)

Several agencies and programmes of the United Nations have been involved in the development and implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, the centrepiece of the NEPAD food and agriculture plan. Organized under the umbrella of the Programme's Support Group, the agencies and programmes include mainly the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The group also includes African Development Bank. There is a complementary overlap between the membership of the Support Group, which is chaired by the NEPAD secretariat, and that of this cluster, which is convened by FAO.

• Agriculture:

Major achievements:

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Programme (CAADP) was adopted by the Summit of the African Union in 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique. Thereafter, an Extraordinary Summit was held in February 2004 in Sirte on Agriculture and Water to further enhance the implementation of integrated and sustainable development on agriculture and water in Africa.

ECA : In addition to its regular work programme that contributes to advancing agricultural development, ECA has partnered since 2001 with the AU/NEPAD Secretariat to develop CAADP and to organize the Extraordinary Summit on Agriculture and Water. In 2005, ECA partnered with the AU/NEPAD Secretariat to develop the CAADP Implementation Process. ECA took active participation in the 5 Regional Implementation Meetings, the Accra Summit in May 2005 that resulted in the preparation of the Post Accra Action Plan. ECA also participated in a NEPAD Retreat on the Post Accra Action Plan to advance the implementation of the CAADP Agenda at regional and country levels, which was held on 24-25 October 2005 in Pretoria, South Africa.

ECA is contributing to the organization of an AU/NEPAD African Fertilizer Summit to be held from 9 to 13 June 2006. The Commission is a core member of the preparatory Technical Committee of the Summit. In addition, the Executive Secretary of ECA has accepted an invitation from President Obasanjo, Chairman of the NEPAD Heads of State Implementation Committee, to be a member of the Eminent Persons Advisory Group, which was established with a view to attracting the necessary political and financial support to promoting the Africa's Green Revolution.

Under the leadership of the AU/NEPAD Secretariat, ECA is being called upon to further advance the CAADP implementation process. In this regard, a major challenge remains to convince the AU/NEPAD Secretariat to further promote public-private trade and investment partnerships at local, national and regional levels to transform business and investment opportunities into wealth creation. As Africa needs to develop primarily from its own resources and resourcefulness, African leaders need to engage development partners to structurally transform global partnerships to enhance the capacity of the continent to create wealth and to retain a larger share of global wealth generated from the exploitation of its markets, investment opportunities, and human and natural resources. ECA would need to strengthen its advocacy efforts to bring about such a change of attitude towards structural agricultural development and transformation in Africa.

IFAD: Since its creation in 1977, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has been involved with funding agricultural and rural development in developing countries, particularly in Africa. From the initial onset, Africa has been a key priority for IFAD. By the end of 2004, African countries had received IFAD loans totalling approximately USD 3.72 billion, to finance 328 projects in 51 countries. In April 2005, out of 220 ongoing IFAD supported projects worldwide, 108 are carried out in Africa, representing almost 50% of IFAD's overall current financing. IFAD has also been providing grants to countries and institutions in the African region, supporting agricultural research, environmental impact assessment, training, rural poverty assessment studies and community development.

Regarding the institution's core business, IFAD has identified national and regional priority sectors within its ongoing lending programme - as for example rural infrastructure - and supports their promotion through highly concessionary loans and grants. About 50% of IFAD's lending programme is devoted to African countries. Furthermore, continuous efforts are being made to mobilise additional resources to support stakeholder dialogue/involvement as well as the Secretariat's activities in the formulation of regional programmes.

IFAD's most significant contribution to the NEPAD process is to enable major stakeholders advocating for the rural poor, particularly national and regional Farmer Organisations (FOs) as well as International Governmental Organisations (IGOs), to play a more proactive role in supporting the process. IFAD's support focuses at strengthening their capacity in agricultural policy formulation and enabling them to contribute grassroots input to the African consultative forums.

Regional consultations took place in 2003, and a continental synthesis workshop was held in Johannesburg in February 2004. Aside from the shared farmers' continental vision of African agriculture, a key outcome of the workshop was the FOs commitment to continue supporting the NEPAD agenda by further organising the provision of grassroots inputs to the regional, sub-regional and national levels. Representatives of the regional FOs recently visited the President of IFAD to express their appreciation for the process.

A Memorandum of Understanding between IFAD and NEPAD, to collaborate in organising stakeholder dialogue as well as participatory project design, was signed on 28 June 2004. To help the NEPAD Secretariat access and use the contributions from the African Civil Society, IFAD has prepared a Support Programme for partnership building and collaboration with civil society, including farmers' organisations, the private sector and other key stakeholders in participatory programme inception and design. More specifically, this programme consists in the provision of technical assistance in organising the participatory design of selected agricultural projects. In addition, the concrete outputs in the form of projects and programmes will help expand the institutional framework for the implementation of NEPAD-sanctioned projects and programmes.

These activities are backed by thematic studies, for example on innovative approaches for agricultural water use, on competitiveness of agricultural products and access to markets, on rural finance, as well as on empowerment of the rural poor through community-based participatory approaches or farmer field schools.

IFAD continued to collaborate closely with the other core partners in the NEPAD-led CAADP Support Group (FAO, WFP, AfDB, WB, UNECA, UNIDO, etc.), particularly benefiting from the well-established traditional working relationship with the other two Rome-based agencies, which are meeting regularly to share information and coordinate their activities together.

During 2005 IFAD continued to support the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), in particular working to ensure that farmers' organizations are fully involved in implementation planning for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

IFAD supported consultations among national and sub-regional farmers' organizations to enable them to agree on a common vision for African agricultural development. Based on these consultations, delegates were prepared to represent the grassroots position at a series of CAADP regional implementation planning meetings held by NEPAD.

In May 2005, IFAD took part in the G8/NEPAD Summit on the Implementation of the CAADP held in Accra, Ghana. The summit brought together government representatives, private sector leaders, G8 members, heads of bilateral and multilateral development organizations, regional economic communities, and civil society and farmers' organizations, whose contributions were among the highlights of the meeting.

At the summit, IFAD's Vice President stressed that the organization would continue its work to support the CAADP implementation process, enabling farmers' and professional organizations to play an active part, and strengthening the capacities of regional economic communities.

IFAD is committed to provide continued support to NEPAD's stakeholders' capacity strengthening. By doing this, special attention will be given to regional NEPAD initiatives aiming at up-scaling innovations, such as New Rice for Africa (NERICA), the dissemination of processing technologies and the development of regional markets for cassava, improved approaches for agricultural water use and the promotion of rural finance at regional and continental levels.

• Trade and market access:

Major achievements:

ECA has implemented various programmes to enhance member-states' capacities for effective participation in bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations as well as to promote intra-African trade. In particular, working closely with the African Union, TRID has been spearheading activities aimed at ensuring that African countries achieve the best results possible from the on-going negotiations at the WTO and with the EU on the Economic Partnership Agreements. These programmes include training workshops and High-Level Brainstorming Sessions that bring together African experts and negotiators to build common positions and strengthen the negotiating position of African countries, analytical studies, policy recommendations and strategies to improve competitiveness, and the mainstreaming of trade in development policies at the national, sub-regional and regional levels.

More specifically, ECA has been assisting African countries through studies and workshops aimed at determining ways of improving market access within the region and internationally, including the removal of agricultural subsidies by developed countries, and support for capacity building in trade analysis and negotiations. The Commission continues to provide advisory services that help the Africa Geneva Group in their day-to-day negotiations within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and was instrumental in preparing the African countries on their way the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.

• Environnent, Population and Urbanization (Convener: UN-HABITAT)

The objectives of the cluster are to address the challenges posed by population growth and movement; rapid and uncontrolled growth of human settlements; environmental degradation and pollution; and the lack of demographic statistics. These are consistent with the NEPAD goals.

Major achievements:

ECA is coordinating the UN system-wide cluster support for NEPAD on environment, urbanization and population. Major achievements of this cluster include the following:

• Development of an action plan for implementation of the environmental initiative of NEPAD;

• Development of the NEPAD Sustainable Cities Initiative. This initiative includes seven cities (Bamako, Douala, Durban, Lagos, Lusaka, Nairobi and Rabat) that were selected and endorsed by the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee;

• Undertaking research that monitors sustainable development issues in Africa as well as developing a sustainable development monitoring index to monitor the JPOI within the context of NEPAD AND MDGs; and

• Collaborating with the AU to develop the "Great Green Wall for Africa" initiative aimed at combating desertification and land degradation.

• Monitoring and evaluating the implementation of internationally agreed development goals contained in the ICPD Program of Action, including the convening in 2004 of the Regional Ministerial Review Conference on Implementation of Dakar/Ngor Declaration and the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Declaration in Dakar, Senegal.

• Substantive contributions to regional and global processes aimed at enhancing the capacity of member States to implement the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses.

ECA played an instrumental role in the inaugural Expert Group Meeting and High-Level African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD), held in Durban in 2005. These activities have led to the formulation of an enhanced framework for implementation and institutionalization of AMCHUD as a regional consultative mechanism.

ECA also played a major role in the Assembly of the African Population (APC) Commissions held in Addis Ababa. The activities of the assembly cover national reviews of the AU regional report on the MDGs, and review of the statute and work program of the APC.

The potential of the United Nations Convention to Combat desertification (UNCCD) to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs, in particular that of halving the number of people living in poverty by 2015, has been recognized by the international community (WSSD 2002). In this regard, particular attention has been given to the integration of UNCCD action programmes to combat desertification into sustainable development frameworks, policies and programmes of African countries, including NEPAD. So far, 33 countries have finalized their Action Programmes, and the remaining countries are planning to do so in the course of this year. In addition, 4 sub-regional action programmes are under implementation, and the fifth will be adopted before the end of 2006. The regional action programme is also in the process of formulation.

The UNCCD secretariat was requested by African countries to promote relevant policies and to provide the necessary framework for activities towards combating desertification in the framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). In this regard, the secretariat, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), facilitated consultative meetings, which provided representatives of African countries and sub regional organizations with an opportunity to review the process for formulation of proposals to combat desertification in the context of NEPAD. The overall objective of these consultations was to review and finalize the project proposals identified to combat desertification. The secretariat also assisted the African countries in finalizing the action plan for the NEPAD Environment Initiative, which emphasizes that the effort to combat desertification is a critical component in the eradication of poverty in the vast majority of African countries.

As a follow up to the partners' conference on the implementation of the Action Plan of the environment initiative of the NEPAD (Algiers, Algeria 15 -16 December, 2003), the Secretariat has facilitated the development of an initiative to support the implementation of priority activities to combat desertification in Africa. Through this initiative the government of Italy has pledged one (1) million USD.

The Secretariat has also strengthened its partnership with the African Development Bank, which has demonstrated great interest in supporting action programmes to combat desertification following the adoption of the Action Plan of the Environment initiative of NEPAD. In collaboration with the relevant sub regional organizations (CILSS/ECOWAS; SADC; UMA; CEMAC-UDEAC; IGAD) as well as UNEP, WMO, the GEF, ICRISAT; the Islamic Development Bank, bilateral partners such as Italy and the United Arab Emirates, the Secretariat is currently facilitating the development and implementation of number of priority activities as identified in the respective subregions and included in the Action Plan.

During 2005 the UNCCD Secretariat continued to support the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), in particular in actively participating in the second Partnership Conference for the implementation of the Action Plan of the Environment initiative held in Dakar, Senegal in March 2005.

In addition, NEPAD has become a key partner in TerrAfrica (http://www.terrafrica.org), a multi-partner initiative aiming to increase the scale, efficiency and effectiveness of investments towards sustainable land management (SLM) in sub-Saharan Africa. Other partners are the UNCCD Secretariat, the World Bank, the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD, GEF, IFAD, FAO, UNDP, UNEP, AfDB as well as multilateral organizations. TerrAfrica was officially launched, in parallel, at NEPAD's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) retreat in Pretoria and during the high level segment of COP 7 in October 2005.

Assessment of the status of the collaboration and support to NEPAD:

The consciousness of working within the cluster is not captured by individual agencies in their work plans and budgets, therefore staff and financial resources are not adequately devoted to service the clusters. Consequently, business goes on as usual without the desired "joint" working of agencies in the cluster.

Due to the above constraint, agencies do not feel obliged to share information on what may be perceived as exclusive (or not of much relevant interest to other agencies)

Linkage with the programming priorities of NEPAD is based on individual agency initiatives, and these are reported as stand alone outputs and not consolidated as output of the cluster.

At the regional level, there is need to have a clearer guidance on the operations of NEPAD within the AU structures to avoid the continued supply driven rather than demand driven approach.

Weak prioritization of the social sector: Population dynamics, urbanization and the environmental, spatial and social impacts of the interplay of increasing population on development is not given commensurate priority as other "economic" sectors.

The RECs who see their role as primarily "economic" do not have the capacity to respond to the challenges of the social sector on the development of the continent. Their participation in the activities of the sector are therefore not as prominent as it should be.

The channel to access funding of NEPAD programmes need to be understood both within individual agencies and at country level.

NEPAD needs to be integrated into the country coordination system and the relationship between country focal points of NEPAD and the line ministries clearly defined to avoid gaps and duplications in programme implementation.

Recommendations on the way forward:

The following actions need to be taken to improve the work and maximize the results of the cluster as per its mandate and objectives:

(i) Secure agencies' commitment to coordinated and consolidated reporting;

(ii) Improve on the delivery of outputs and set a task force of few persons drawn from the agencies to deliver and follow up specific components of the programme output and report to the cluster;

(iii) Build cluster consciousness through improving on information and communication with each other about on-going activities, and through joint representation of missions, conferences, etc, and sharing of mission reports;

(iv) Engage with the RECs on a representational manner, i.e. agencies will inform each other of missions with dates for information sharing and coordinated discussion of cluster programs with the RECs.

• Human Resources Development, Employment and HIV/AIDS (Convener: UNICEF)

This Cluster includes the following three sub-clusters:

• HIV/AIDS Sub-Cluster:

Major achievements:

Under the leadership of AU, and supported by core members of the cluster, notably, WHO, UNAIDS and ECA, a joint report on HIV/AIDS in Africa, Scoring African Leadership for Better Health, was successfully completed. This report was presented to the Heads of State of the AU Summit held in Abuja in January 2005, alongside the NEPAD report, "Interim Situational Report on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, malaria and Polio: Framework on Action to Accelerate Health Improvement in Africa". The central objective of Scoring Africa was to highlight gaps in areas of intervention and the need to mainstream health in general in economic and social policies of member states. A follow-up report focusing on indicators of performance in the health has also been completed under the joint effort of AU, WHO and UNAIDS.

Assessment of the status of the collaboration and support to NEPAD:

Collaboration and coordination among cluster members have been usually loose and weak at the implementation stage, after solid cooperation on initiation of strategies.

Recommendations on the way forward:

1. There is need to establish firm guidelines for coordinating roles of members of the cluster in the implementation of the NEPAD Health Strategy. In particular, the comparative advantage of each of the cluster members should be recognized and exploited for the advancement of better health on the continent.

2. In the light of 1) above it should be possible to differentiate between cluster members who have comparative advantage in supporting project implementation in terms of funding and those with comparative advantage in advancing frameworks, for effective implementation of the overall NEPAD Health Strategy, such as developing frameworks for embedding health in national development strategies.

3. Overlaps and gaps in UN support for NEPAD could be reduced and the implementation process be facilitated if NEPAD (and AU) would provide periodic report or matrix summarizing which UN agency is doing what.

• Education Sub-Cluster:

Major achievements:

The cluster supported in technical and financial terms the evaluation of the first Decade of Education in Africa 1997-2006 as well as the development of the proposals for launching of the second Decade of Education and the associated Action Plan 2006-2015, which is to be placed before the AU heads of State Summit in Khartoum in January 2006.

Cluster members participated actively in events organized by AU and NEPAD in furtherance of education development. In particular, UNICEF, UNESCO and WFP supported and coordinated various efforts aimed at achieving EFA in member states.

A good number of regional and country-level projects, such as the Basic Education and Education for All" project has been initiated with the support of cluster members, notably UNESCO and UNICEF.

Assessment of the status of the collaboration and support to NEPAD:

There has been very little coordination of UN system inputs, especially technical inputs, to the process of framing NEPAD's education for Africa agenda. In view of the multi-dimensional nature of education programming, especially in Africa, coordination is critical to maximizing benefits from the various efforts being applied from UN agencies to education reforms and policy formulation processes on the continent.

Recommendations on the way forward:

AU (and NEPAD) should encourage cluster members to work together under the joint leadership of the AU Commission for Human Resources, Science and Technology and the NEPAD secretariat and help member states mainstream education in national development strategies.

Overlaps and gaps in UN support for NEPAD would be much reduced and the implementation process facilitated if NEPAD (and AU) could provide periodic report or matrix indicating which UN agency is doing what.

Management in various UN agencies should strengthen the hands of NEPAD focal points, in terms of administrative and financial capacity, to enable them provide timely information to facilitate the coordination effort.

• Employment Sub-Cluster

Major achievements:

A major achievement of the cluster is the Extraordinary AU Heads of State Summit on Employment Generation and Poverty Eradication held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in September 2004, which led to the AU Summit Declaration on Employment Generation and Poverty Eradication. Under the leadership of ILO, the cluster members jointly produced a background document on employment to inform discussions at the Summit. In September 2005 AU Commission for Social Affairs, with the support of ILO, held a review meeting, attended by al cluster members, to consider how best to capacitate the regional economic communities to support the implementation of the Ouagadougou Declaration.

In May 2006, under the leadership of ECA, the issue of implementation of the Ouagadougou Declaration will be placed again before the Conference of African Ministers of Finance at their annual meeting in Ouagadougou. It is expected that the Ministers would endorse a framework for collaboration among cluster members in the formulation of national employment action plans.

Assessment of the status of the collaboration and support to NEPAD:

ILO has been very active in terms of supporting AU (and NEPAD) employment agenda. Coordination with other cluster members needs to be strengthened, however, in view of the multifaceted nature of the employment issue in Africa.

Recommendations on the way forward:

A technical group including AU, ILO, ECA and relevant civil society organizations should be constituted as an employment monitoring group to provide periodic assessment reports and recommendations to strengthen coordination of effort for employment growth on the continent. This is necessary especially given the focus on the next ECOSOC on the issue of promoting full employment as the central focus of economic policy in member states.

Science and Technology (Convener: UNESCO and vice convener: UNECA)

Aside from backstopping the NEPAD S&T Action Plan, the cluster identified lead thematic areas for specific focus, namely: engineering education, entrepreneurship in higher education, the African Green Revolution, biotechnology, Centers of Excellence and the Brain Drain.

Major achievements:

Tracking/Monitoring the NEPAD S&T Plan of Action. After its 2003 initiation in which UNECA and UNESCO participated, 2005 saw the update and elaboration of Africa's Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action, 2006-2010, launched by the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) at its 2^nd meeting, 29-30 September 2005, Dakar, Senegal. The Consolidated Plan moves the strategic planning process forward towards implementation of the NEPAD S&T activities.

In particular, the Plan details the flagship programs to be implemented, and the institutional arrangements to be used. It spells out the roles, relationships and mechanisms between NEPAD, AU, implementing institutions and partners in achieving its objectives. While the AU provides the overall political leadership, policy direction and guidance, harmonization and advocacy, NEPAD takes a more technical and operational role in rolling out the Plan. Both do advocacy and mobilize resources together. An innovative feature of the Plan is that its final activities on the ground will be implemented by African Centres of Excellence identified, accredited and highlighted by NEPAD. Once flagged in this way, the implementing institutions then attract the resources to be mobilized by the AU, NEPAD and all the partners. Several centers of excellence/ implementation institutions have already taken off, e.g. the Biosciences Facility (biotechnology); African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), and the African Laser Center. This model appears promising for possible emulation by other Clusters.

Science, Technology and Innovation Systems. UNECA participated in review/restructuring/update of the STI systems and policies of Rwanda, South Africa and Ghana. In Rwanda a meeting to develop a new S&T policy was held (5-6 May 2005); in South Africa it was a Conference on Knowledge Production (23-24 June 2005); and in Ghana it was a data gathering mission (3-7 October 2005) for a series of Lectures by the UNECA Executive Secretary. UNECA, UNCTAD, NEPAD and others participated in the 8^th Session of the UN Commission on S&T for Development, Geneva, 23-27 May 2005. Two Centers of Excellence were visited - a research/teaching laboratory on tissue culture biotech at University of Ghana, and a commercial tissue culture biotech laboratory at Bomarts Farms, Accra, an indigenous pineapple exporter. Both have been designed by a Ghanaian scientist, Dr Elizabeth Acheampong.

Intellectual Property Rights. WIPO supported, and UNECA participated in, the National Conference on the role of invention and innovation in the national economic development of Ethiopia, organized by the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office and the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office and the Ethiopian Inventors Association, Addis Ababa, 9-11 February 2005. An African center of excellence, Dan Technologies, was visited. Pioneered and led by an African industrialist, Eng. Daniel Mebrahtu, it designs and manufactures most of the elevators and traffic lights of Ethiopia.

Engineering Education: UNECA participated in the UNESCO ANSTI 1^st Regional Conference of Vice Chancellors, Provosts and Deans of Science, Engineering and Technology, Accra, Ghana, 15-17 November 2005, and the UNESCO ANSTI Governing Council, Accra/Kumasi, Ghana, 18-21 November 2005. This forum, to be continued biennially, and the ANSTI governing council are key instruments for the management of S&T in Africa with big potential to make a contribution to the development of S&T in Africa. Strong contacts were made with scientific communities and with an official of the AU Science and Technology Regional Centre (STRC) in Lagos, Nigeria.

As part of the project on capacity building for sustainable consumption and production in Africa, UNEP organized a one week intensive training for university faculty members and training institutions in the region on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods and tools. The training was given from 28 August to 02 September 2005 and was attended by a total of 32 participants from 22 African countries. The training was developed and conducted in partnership with the International Life Cycle Initiative with an Input from Harvard School of Public Health in the U.S. and the Royal Melbourne Institute of technology (RMIT) in Australia. At the end of the workshop the participants established the African Network on Life Cycle Assessment (ALCANET) with a purpose of facilitating knowledge sharing amongst the LCA community in the region.

A Regional Workshop on Environmental Knowledge Sharing in Africa was held from 4-5 October 2005 at the Kumasi University of Science and Technology in Kumassi, Ghana. The Workship was organized by the United Nations University in collaboration with the Global Virtual University in Norway and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Workshop deliberated on the potential contribution of e-learning in facilitating environmental knowledge sharing and came up with proposals which include the establishment of an open platform that would facilitate exchange of existing experiences and course materials.

African Green Revolution. UNECA continued to promote and monitor the African Green Revolution. The African Green Revolution received the highest UN Mandate when it was endorsed by the UN Summit of September 2005 (par. 68g). A report "Africa's Green Revolution: A Call to Action" was published by the MDG Technical Support Centre. Mr Abdoulie Janneh, then UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa and now Executive Secretary of UNECA, played a pivotal role in the Report. He led the Way Forward section, which commits stakeholders to develop a 10-year Plan of Action to implement the African Green Revolution in the decade 2005-2015 as also called for by the UN Summit. UNECA has a draft Plan of Action for consideration.

A UNECA proposal to the UN Development Account on "African Green Revolution Network: Sustainable Modernization of Agriculture and Rural Transformation (SMART)" was approved, to be implemented in 2006-2008. UNECA hosted a visit of the Chief Scientific Advisory of UK DFID, centering on possible collaboration in science, technology and the African Green Revolution. The UNECA Executive Secretary was invited to join a Group of Eminent Persons on the African Green Revolution by H.E. President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, current Chair of the African Union and Chair, NEPAD HSGIC. UNECA made invited keynote presentations on the African Green Revolution at the meeting of the Advisory Committee on S&T of the EU-ACP Centre for Technical Cooperation (CTA), Wageningen, 7-11 November 2005, and at the 7^th Conference of the African Crop Science Society, Entebbe, Uganda, 5-9 December 2005. The scientific communities and S&T leaders participating, including from CGIAR and NEPAD, appreciated the promotional role UNECA is playing in the African Green Revolution.

Biotechnology: UNECA, UNIDO, WHO, UNCTAD and UNDP continued to consolidate the Inter-agency Network on Biotechnology, and UN Biotech Africa. A training workshop on biosafety and IPR was completed in Dakar.

Brain Drain: UNECA and UNESCO participated in the UNDP-SUSSC/SIG/AAS process to create the Global Science Corps (Africa component).

ECA assisted in establishing the NEPAD Science and Technology Plan of Action and its governing organs led by the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) and its Steering Committee. The Commission also participated in strategic planning for the AU Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture. Under the leadership of UNESCO as convener and ECA as vice-convener, this initiative has concretized concerted and coordinated UN support to the NEPAD S&T Action Plan, as well as monitoring AU/NEPAD developments in areas of science, technology and innovation policy; engineering education; entrepreneurship in higher education; the African Green Revolution; biotechnology; centers of excellence; and the brain drain. To advance some of these issues, ECA is promoting the establishment of an African Science Foundation (ASF) for the financing of African S&T, an African Green Revolution Centre (AGRC) to help implement the decisions of the recent UN Summit, and a UN Intellectual Capacity Fund for Africa (UNICFA) to help counter the African brain drain. ECA has participated in review and restructuring of the science, technology and innovation systems of several African countries (Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Ghana) in the spirit of NEPAD.

Assessment of the status of the collaboration and support to NEPAD:

Not all members of the UN S&T Cluster have fully internalized the meaning of coordination as yet. At the minimum, there should be more electronic information exchange about Cluster activities as agreed in the Clusters' Launch Document. UNECA will try to lead the way.

The upper level program management - Regional Consultations Section 11 - could help enhance coordination by sponsoring one physical cluster-level consultation meeting during the year (say mid-term between regional consultations), and/or electronically by reminding clusters to help update their web pages at least twice a year. The website is stale and the e-discussion group never took off.

On the NEPAD side, UN Cluster leaders, focal points or other members should be facilitated to attend high-level NEPAD meetings (in S&T case, steering committee and/or ministerial council) as appropriate. The presence and technical inputs of UNECA and UNESCO at the 2003 NEPAD meetings (Nairobi, Johannesburg) were highly appreciated by several member states. Observer status and/or more seamless formal arrangements to be negotiated and established between UN and AU/NEPAD.

• Advocacy and Communications (Convener: OSAA)

Following the endorsement by the 2004 meeting of the Regional Consultative Mechanism, the seventh Cluster of the Mechanism was established under the chairmanship of OSAA. ECA was requested to critique the strategy and fashion out a sub-strategy that could be implemented in Africa. Accordingly, ECA is responsible for the regional implementation of the NEPAD Advocacy and Communication Strategy, working with RECS, CSOs and other organizations with sub-regional characters.

Major achievements:

• ECA initiated a training programme for African Journalists who will specialize in reporting NEPAD. In 2006, with the active collaboration of OSAA, DPI, UNESCO, UNDP and ECA's five sub regional offices, about 100 journalists will be trained.

• ECA's Communication Team reviewed the original Advocacy and Communication Strategy and made critical technical recommendations relating to the applicability, audience-targeting, message building and construction of durable goodwill.

• ECA designed a dedicated website for the regional consultation on NEPAD (www.uneca.org/nepad). The website is a repository for information on various related initiatives such as the Omega Plan for Africa, the Millennium Partnership for the African recovery programme, the New African Initiative and the Compact for African Recover.

• ECA continues to render concrete assistance to NEPAD communications people in the area of capacity building, publications, printing, and video/radio.

• In 2005, ECA conducted a training workshop on NEPAD for East African Journalists under the Stanhope Fellowship Programme.

• In February 2006, ECA, in partnership with UNESCO, ISAA and other NGOs, will conduct a regional training workshop in how to report biotechnology. This training will build on the inter-agency initiative called UN-Biotech/Africa.

Assessment of the status of inter-agency collaboration and support to NEPAD:

ECA has been collaborating with other agencies from the inception of the Advocacy and Communication Cluster. The Commission serves on the Steering Committee of the Cluster and has consistently taken part in all cluster meetings and activities.

Recommendations on the way forward:

The key to a better understanding/appreciation of NEPAD and its activities is in achieving a critical mass of journalist-trainees who have deep knowledge of NEPAD and how to report its activities.

While a modest target of 100 journalists is planned for 2006, more efforts and resources should be directed at training more people across Africa. ECA's SROs should be extremely useful in this regard.

ECA should also consider co-publication of key materials with the NEPAS Secretariat and UN agencies active in the Cluster.

1 Angola, Burundi, Central African Rep., Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Liberia, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Sudan, and Uganda.