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UNICEF GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM-WIDE

SPECIAL INITIATIVE ON AFRICA

(COUNTRY LEVEL)

I. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

On 15 March 1996, the United Nations launched the System-wide Special Initiative on Africa (UNSIA), a set of concrete actions congruent with African priorities designed to maximize support for African development over the next ten years. UNSIA is the product of consultations at the Administrative Committee on Coordinations (ACC), which has set up a Steering Committee chaired by James Gustave Speth, the Administrator of UNDP, and K.Y.Amoako, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa. A special UNSIA Secretariat has been set up in UNDP, New York, All agree that it is now time to move forward as quickly as possible with the implementation of the Initiative at the country level.

UNSIA is intended to operationalize and not replace the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa (UN-NADAF). One of its most distinctive features is its aim to introduce partnership innovations for more effective development cooperation at the country level under the leadership of governments. Most important of these is the sectoral investment programme (SIP) concept, which, it is hoped, would increase the effectiveness and efficiency of donor support to African development, underscore the leadership of governments in defining their priorities, bring African governments and their partners together to work out modalities for the implementation and monitoring of these priorities and enhance opportunities for mobilizing resources within agreed programme frameworks.

Agencies are already reporting greater interagency cooperation and consultation as a result of the UNSIA. This is particularly true in the area of water and food security. In other developments, African Education Ministers met in early November in Geneva to decide on implementation structures t reinforce meetings with African Health Ministers and drafted implementation strategies for health sector reform as part of UNSIA. These have been circulated to African countries and to the international community and the UNSIA programme has been endorsed by African Health Ministers.

These guidelines are a response to several requests by country offices for guidance on UNICEF's participation in the UNSIA and the modalities for collaboration with other agencies involved.

II. SCOPE OF UNSIA

The UNSIA is the latest initiative by the UN system to provide renewed impetus for concerted action and active collaboration at the country level primarily within the framework of SIPs. It is envisaged that donor support would be provided within the context of these SIPs. Governments would lead in the preparation and management of the programmes. The agencies will lead in helping to build national capacity for programme development and implementation. It is significant that the World Bank is committed to working collaboratively with the UN agencies to implement concrete priorities on the ground. The UNSIA however, should not be equated to SIPs alone. The non-SIP dimension of the Initiative requires that UNICEF funding support for activities for children should not be held up in anticipation of the development of SIPs. In non-SIPs countries, therefore, the core of UNICEF's programmes should be strengthened while advocacy, policy dialogue and national capacity building proceed.

The UNSIA has 14 specific components for action concentrated around the following sectors: basic education, basic health, governance, food security, water and sanitation, peace-building and informatics. However, the major thrust of the Initiative in the areas of basic education and basic health Poverty alleviation, disparity reduction, gender and population, and malnutrition constitute cross-cutting priority issues which should be emphasized in policy and strategy discussions with governments and other partners. These cross-cutting issues should permeate all sectoral interventions.

Financing the UNSIA is expected to come mainly from a redirection of existing resources at national and international levels, including governments' own funds. International funding will be negotiated on a country-by-country basis and through Consultative Group and Round Table meetings. In a number of countries, SIP-like operations pre-date the UNSIA and the current emphasis on sector-wide strategies and programmes while some new SIPs propound a common financing modality also known as "common fund". UNICEF's involvement and participation in these schemes should be guided by the organizations financial rules and regulations. Outside the SIPs framework, UNICEF should continue to mobilize supplementary funds through its existing resources mobilization machinery including the 20/20 initiative. A position paper on SIPs is being developed and will be shared with country offices soon [see my memorandum ref: PD/SR/097-76 of 16 April 1997]

Through its decentralized country programming approach,k and its key focus on communities, UNICEF brings to the UNSIA its operational field capacity and experience in implementing programmes in the main areas of the Initiative in all countries in Africa.

III. UNICEF PARTICIPATION

The UNSIA aims to build upon what has already been achieved individually and collectively by governments and their development partners, including communities. At the country level, the Initiatives characterized by efforts to strengthen, better co-ordinate and rationalize multi-agency support for national programmes.

The Initiative is designed to mobilize coordinated action and the collective resources of collaborating partners for the implementation of sector-wide programmes. This includes activities and programmes that are pat of the mandate of each participating agency but whose impact can be strengthened by coordination with related activities of other partners. However, UNSIA activities should continue to be compatible and consistent with the regular programme activities of each agency.

UNICEF will cooperate ink the implementation of the following areas, within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the strategy and programme of cooperation approved by the UNICEF Executive Board:

basic education for all African children;

health sector reform;

assuring sustainable and equitable freshwater and household water security;

food security, with special emphasis on women;

communication for peace-building;

strengthening civil society for development; and

support the government in the preparation of common strategies and quality SIPs.

In all of the above areas, the cross-cutting considerations of gender, and empowerment of women will need to be given special attention in programming. Similarly, UNICEF needs to support the documentation and dissemination of local innovation and pilot approaches to basic services, including community participation methodologies, in order to sharpen the policy can programmatic focus of the Initiative.

IV. APPROACH TO IMPLEMENTATION

Government leadership will be fundamental to the success of the Initiative. UNICEF country offices should consult with the Government and agencies concerned to agree on the best manner in which relevant pats of the country programme would fit within the collaborative framework of the UNSIA, particularly SIPs. Lead agencies for each sector may be designated at the country level, and they will be responsible for coordinating inputs and monitoring and reporting on specific programmes and goals. At this point, it is not UNICEF's intention to act as sectoral lead agency. Rather, UNICEF intends to concentrate its efforts in supporting implementation at the field and district levels. However, should UNICEF be designated as a sectoral lead agency at the country level, it will be responsible for coordinating agency activities and reporting information on verifiable goals to the participating agencies.

UNICEF is in favour of moving the UNSIA forward at the country level as soon as possible. This may call for an initial focus on countries well advanced in preparing sector investment programmes in health care, basic education, or water supply. However, no county should feed left out, whatever its state of readiness for implementing comprehensive sector programmes. To this end, the UNSIA has established the following typology of countries to develop and sustain implementation of SIPs at the country-level:

Group I: Countries with sustainable SIPs and willingness to move ahead with implementation of (SIPs);

Group II: Countries with good SIP formulation and implementation capacity but with key outstanding policy elements of readiness that need to be resolved;

Group III: Countries with weak institutional and human capacity and requiring multiple interventions to formulate and implement (SIPs);

Group IV: Countries in war and civil strife or without functioning government;

Group V: Countries where the World Bank has no lending programmes.

This categorization provides a framework to be adapted or modified in organizing sectoral activities of the UNSIA. Since SIPs may or may not be developed and implemented by all countries and all sectors, initiatives under the UNSIA framework can still be undertaken especially where agencies get together and improve coordination with Government for social sector programme implementation at the country-level.

Over the next two years, in collaboration with government and other agencies, and whether appropriate through the UN Resident Coordinator System, UNICEF Representatives and country teams are encouraged to undertake the following country-level actions:

(i) Be responsive to and join efforts aimed at better coordination of projects and activities of various donors and agencies within the framework of SIPs. These efforts are intended to move away form donor-driven and donor-led project funding to supporting collaborative/collective sectoral programmes led by governments.

(ii) Support national frameworks to promote participation in UNSIA, preferably as part of existing consultative mechanisms between the government and its partners. Such frameworks would normally oversee the implementation of UNSIA programmes, facilitate coordination and monitor overlaps and complementarities, identify constraints in programme implementation and take appropriate remedial action. The lead agency for the appropriate sector or area, as identified at eh country level, would carry the primary responsibility for assisting the national forum in these tasks.

(iii) Support for the development of national capacity and leadership to manage and coordinate comprehensive sectoral investment programmes to be included in the Initiative, and for tracking progress in achieving set objectives.

(iv) Support to Government for better coordination among bilateral donor and multilateral agencies in sector policy development and programmes implementation] This includes active UNICEF participation in the preparation of the government's Country Strategy Note and the CCA.

(v) Attendance at and participation in Consultative Group and Round Table meetings, where sector investment programmes, outstanding needs and funding for inter-country and regional activities may be discussed. It is vital that reports on such attendance reach the appropriate Region Office and the Programme Division as soon as possible.

(vi) Technical support and participation in the selection of appropriate monitoring indicators and evaluation methods for tracking and reporting on the progress and impact of UNSIA.

(vii) Document and report on experiences in UNSIA and SIPs implementation a part of country office Annual Reports.

(viii) Sensitize media managers and practitioners to increase coverage of UNSIA activities.

V. SUPPORT TO COUNTRY OFFICES

Regional Offices

Regional Office sectoral technical advisers are expected to make themselves available for participation in negotiations regarding sectoral investment programmes being developed by countries, once there is clear indication that the process in underway. The inviting country office should give sufficient lead time to the Regional office on sectoral programme formulation activities and mission, and specify its technical support needs. Regional Management Teams are expected to review UNSIA progress and make recommendations as appropriate to strengthen UNICEF's participation in the implementation of the UNSIA at the country, district and field levels.

UNICEF New York

A steering committee for the UNSIA has been established at UNICEF Headquarters. It is coordinated by the Director of Programme Division and comprises DFAM, DOC, EMOPS, EPP, PFO, and the Programme

Division. It will help to coordinate policy and ensure that progress in implementation is effectively monitored and evaluation while political mobilization in support of UNSIA and programme planning and development proceed at country level. Nicholas Alipui, Senior Programme Officer, Africa Section. Programme Division will act as Secretary of the committee. (telephone 212-824-6540)