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UN System-Wide Special Initiative on Africa

UNFPA Progress Report ­ 1997

UNFPA's Role as part of the UN Country Team

As the lead agency for population within the UN system, UNFPA plays an important role in all sub-groups of the Initiative, particularly by ensuring the mainstreaming of reproductive health, population and gender concerns in all sub-groups of the Initiative. Due to its mandate, UNFPA's participation in the subgroups related to health and education is particularly important.

While the Initiative is still at the initial stage of operationalization, some important steps have been undertaken by UNFPA as part of the UN agencies' coordinated effort. At the country level, UNFPA has worked closely with UN country teams in consultation meetings and retreats to hold in-depth discussion on the actual modality of cooperation and particularly to mainstream population and gender issues in the Initiative's main cluster areas. Furthermore, UNFPA have collaborated with the other UN agencies to promote UNSIA through development of common situation analyses or establishing baseline data for the Special Initiative's objectives. Such efforts are undertaken through the existing channel of communication and framework of collaboration, such as Country Strategy Note (CSN), Common Country Assessment (CCA), Donors' Round Table, and in Thematic Working Groups. In some countries, development of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) will also take UNSIA into account.

For instance, in Mozambique, UNFPA participated in the CCA exercise initiated in December 1996. UNFPA played a vital role in ensuring incorporation of demographic and reproductive health issues into the analyses of the socio-economic situation in the country and contributed to the elaboration of workplans based on priorities identified by the CCA and CSN, as well as those of the UN global conferences and UNSIA.

Another example, in Cape Verde, UNFPA participated in the UN agencies' meeting to thoroughly discuss the Initiative based on an issue paper prepared by a national consultant.

UNFPA Cameroon has been involved in the CCA in order to develop a database for socio-economic, population and health indicators. The Joint Consultative Group on Policy (JCGP) serves as another important channel for harmonizing country assistance among UN agencies on issues directly relevant to the objectives of the Initiative: i.e. Basic Social Services, Environment for Economic and Social Development, Employment and Sustainable Livelihood, Women and Gender Equality.

In Zimbabwe, there has been a substantial amount of inter-agency collaboration involving all the 18 UN agencies in the country, through heads of agencies monthly meetings as well as thematic working groups formed in 1994. The most notable thematic group has been the one on gender which has moved beyond information sharing to organizing joint training activities. In late September 1997, the first UN retreat was organized with participation of all 18 agencies. At the retreat, it was confirmed that the areas covered by the Initiative were rather wide and that the process of operationalizing the Initiative needed to be further clarified. It was therefore decided to identify with the government specific areas for collaboration. Recently UNDP through UNESCO had been requested by the ministry of Education to support the process of reforming the education system in the country. Generally, issues raised under UNSIA is being addressed under UNDAF. UNDAF involves all the agencies represented in Zimbabwe and will serve as the framework under which improved inter-agency coordination and collaboration will take place through identified theme groups as well as working groups. The UNDAF document will be finalized by October 1998.

UNFPA, as a member of the UN country team in Ghana, took part in a retreat organized by the UN Resident Coordinator in April 1997, where the government, NGOs and representatives of the civil society fully participated in the discussion of the UNSIA progress in Ghana. Candid discussion took place on issues relating to the coordination of UN resources at the country level and the financial contributions of UN agencies of Sector Investment Programs (SIPs). There was a general consensus that UNSIA is a credible vehicle for development, and the participants focused on how to further translate the Initiative into successful programmes that would respond to the needs of the community. It was also agreed that the CSN was moving beyond UN coordination to include other donors, through linkages with SIA and other coordinated mechanisms.

As part of UN country team, UNFPA has also made common advocacy efforts for the Initiative at the national level. Such efforts entail workshops and seminars involving government officials in developing programmes and national capacity building.

In Malawi, when the Initiative was initially launched in 1996, it was first felt by the UN country team that an advocacy campaign to secure Government support and commitment for the Initiative was most necessary. As part of the campaign, a study on the "UN Special Initiative on Africa and its relevance to Malawi" has been commissioned. It is close to completion and will be discussed with the Government once finalized. Following the study, it is envisaged that, with government support, activities will be undertaken collaboratively in the areas of Education, Governance, and possibly Health as part of the implementation of the Initiative in Malawi.

In Niger, UN agencies are planning to hold meetings to coordinate the input for the four themes of the Initiative and also conduct awareness raising information seminars for government officials, representatives of civil society and other development partners. In these seminars, each theme of the Initiative will be highlighted with the objective to develop an implementation strategy for Niger. These seminars will be followed by four mini-workshops (one per theme) targeted for government officials responsible for programme development and resource mobilization. During the workshops, participants will also discuss possible programmes to be developed under the framework of the Initiative and mechanisms to be used for monitoring and evaluating such programmes at the national level.

UNFPA shares the view of the UN country team in Sao Tome and Principe that further strengthening of the nation's capacity to absorb the Initiative would be most necessary, in light of the current human and institutional capacity in the country. The government has already expressed the willingness to undertake sectoral reforms under the leadership of international donors, particularly in the context of the Public Expenditure Review conducted with the assistance of the World Bank and its partners. In the meantime, a number of initiates linked to the implementation of the UNSIA have been undertaken. For instance, the government, with UNDP support, will organize a Donor's Round Table during the first half of 1998, where global development strategies and priorities for Sao Tome and Principe will be elaborated. Health, education, water and sanitation will be among the sectors included. UNFPA is assisting the national counterparts to integrate population and gender issues in those strategies.

Health Sector Reform:

The African Health Ministers at the September 1996 meeting of the WHO Afro-Regioanl Committee endorsed the Special Initiative Implementation Strategy for Health Sector Reform. In line with the recommendations of the Programme of Action (POA) of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICID), UNFPA has began to play a vital role in advocating and working for the incorporation of reproductive health care as part of a minimum package of health services in health sector reform.

In Zimbabwe, UNFPA has been participating in a donors' group which meets regularly under the chairmanship of WHO, to review progress with MOH and donors on the health sector reform and other topical issues facing the sector such as decentralization and health financing.

UNFPA Country Office in Madagascar collaborates with the government, NGOs, private sector, and other donors in developing the strategic priorities for the national health sector reform to focus: (i) decentralization, (ii) popular participation, (iii) cost recovery, (iv) availability of medial equipment and supplies, (v) human resources development and (vi) health promotion and protection.

In case of Benin, UNFPA has been working closely with the ministry of Health in elaborating the new "Policies and National Strategies of Health Sector Development" (1997-2001) and "Policies, Norms and Standards of Family Health in the Republic of Benin." There is a consensus among Benin's partners in development that the implementation of UNSIA should be made on the basis of a coordination framework involving the UN System and the government and that such framework is expected to facilitate the identification of specific actions to be carried out under the Initiative and potential resources to be mobilized. In order to facilitate the implementation of the UNSIA activities, an expert has been assigned to make specific recommendations to the Government, the UN system, and Benin's partners in development.

UNFPA has been participating in the negotiations on the proposed Ghana Health Sector Programme. It is a 5-year programme (1997-2001) based on the reform programme outlined in the Medium term Health Strategy, which is again part of the framework of national development outlined in Ghana Vision 2020. During the negotiations, the modality of financing of the programme has been discussed extensively. The Government proposed that all donors (within the next five years) pool all funds into a common Health Account from which funds would be disbursed. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the Ghana Health Sector Programme, which provides an outline for common planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting procedures, has been drafted. UNFPA has played a proactive role of ensuring the UNFPA country programme priorities are included in the health and education investment programmes.

Through UNFPA Country Programme

In addition to the above, UNFPA contribution to UNSIA has also been channeled through on-going country programme activity, in that UNFPA extends assistance to countries through three main areas of work: to help ensure universal; access to reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health to all couples and individuals; to support population and development strategies that enable capacity building in population programming; to promote awareness of population and development issues and to advocate for the mobilization of the resources and political will necessary to accomplish its areas of work. UNFPA also provides advocacy support for closely related social and development goals concerning human rights, people's participation and environmental preservation. UNFPA continue to make contribution to the implementation of the Initiative. For purposes of complementarily, collaboration with other UN Agencies and bilateral donors is ensured in programme design and implementation.