Home    About SIA   Programmes   SIA News   Publications    Lead Agencies

Report on the deliberations and decisions of the Zambia United Nations Country Team with regard to the implementation of UNSIA in Zambia, held in Mukambi Safari Lodge, Kafue National Park, Zambia, 21-23 August 1998

Session 1: Introduction to the UN System-wide Special Initiative on Africa 5

The Mukambi Initiative takes its title from one of Zambia’s beautiful venues, the Mukambi plains along the Kafue River in Western Zambia, where the senior management of the Zambia United Nations Country Team (UNCT) met 21 to 23 August 1998, to consider the UN Special Initiative on Africa (UNSIA).

As an output of the retreat, the Mukambi Initiative is an action plan to enhance UN system assistance to Zambia, based on a translation of the UNSIA to fit Zambia, focusing on the following essential national development priorities:

• Water access & management
• Food security
• HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and mitigation
• Basic education for all Zambian children
• Health reforms
• Employment generation opportunities
• Capacity-building for governance

Specifically, the Mukambi Initiative serves to:

• gear the UN system in Zambia to better address these priorities;
• enhance support for relevant national programmes, including plans for internal resource mobilisation; and
• positively promote the UN system in Zambia.

As an action plan, the Mukambi Initiative assigns action responsibility to specific entities of the UN system in Zambia. The assignments under the Initiative are posted schematically at the end of this report in a matrix with the agreed objectives, actions, responsibilities, and time frames. The other parts of this report record the background, objectives, and programme for, and discussions of, the August meeting at Mukambi.

The integration of UNSIA into the activities of the UN system in Zambia has been a Work Plan activity of the UNCT for the past two years. In 1997, the team commissioned two consultants to carry out an "Assessment of the Actual and Potential Implementation of the UNSIA in Zambia". The Assessment emphasises that UNSIA is poorly known in Zambia, and suggested, inter alia, that the Resident Coordinator (RC) organise a retreat for representatives of Government and civil society to bring to their attention its contents, implementation plans and modalities. In considering this recommendation, the UNCT judged that it was important first to have a retreat for the UN agencies alone. In July 1998, a regular Heads of Agency (HoA) meeting agreed that the retreat should provide an opportunity for the HoAs to:

• educate themselves on the UNSIA;
• customise the Initiative for Zambia; and
• operationalise it in context of the Turin Consensus.

Two major concerns made the July HoA meeting opt to override the recommendation of the Assessment for broader initial consultations. Apart from appreciating an opportunity to develop a common understanding of the Initiative before approaching the government and civil society with yet another UN initiative, there was concern about whether the Initiative would add value to its own ongoing efforts to reform UN system assistance to Zambia, notably, the implementation of the so called Turin Consensus.

Developed in September 1997, the Turin Consensus is a compact between the UNCT agencies aimed at enhancing the focus, image, and impact of UN system assistance to Zambia. Stressing the common UN system mission statement for the country—which is to promote capacity-building for poverty reduction and sustainable human development (SHD)—the Consensus is UNCT’s operational response to the 1996 Country Strategy Note (CSN) and Common Country Assessment (CCA), encouraged further by the 1997 global UN Reform. Its main features are:

• an analysis and clustering of operational activities for development of the UN system agencies represented in Zambia;
• the establishment of generic objectives and Terms of References (ToRs) for thematic Interagency Working Groups (IWGs);
• the constitution of lead and member agencies for a total of 13 IWGs; and
• action plans for IWG operationalisation, supportive staff training, and advocacy campaigns.

Since the inauguration of most IWGs in December 1997, by August 1998, nine IWGs had proposed Work Plans which specify areas for cooperation and pertinent objectives, actions, responsibilities and time-frames. This process and the individual Work Plan activities continue to be subject for review by monthly HoAs meetings. Accordingly, all IWGs are expected to be confirmed fully operational in the near future. The majority of the IWGs have already proved to facilitate better coordination and nurse positive collaboration among the UN system agencies, and with a variety of non-UN partners, in support of specific national priorities.

Given the success accorded to the IWGs, the July HoA meeting was determined to consider UNSIA in context of the Turin Consensus. In that regard, with about 60% of the HoAs having arrived in Zambia only after the Turin Consensus was achieved, the retreat was seen as an opportunity for the team to reaffirm its commitment to the Consensus, and, where necessary, to adjust it. Accordingly, the July HoA meeting agreed that the following documents should provide background for participants in the retreat:

• The United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa
• The Assessment of Actual and Potential Implementation of the UNSIA in Zambia
• The Turin Consensus
• The UN System-wide Special Initiative Retreat: Issues Paper, February 1998, and
• The Report on Country Retreats in Ethiopia-Ghana-Mozambique

The RC was charged with the practical arrangements for the retreat, including proposing a programme and distributing the documents to all HoAs. In preparing for Mukambi, the RC enjoyed support from the UNSIA secretariat in New York and Addis Ababa. The UN Office of Communications and Public Information and the Sub-Regional Development Centre of UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA/SRDC) kindly supplied additional publications, focused on the implementation of UNSIA, which were distributed along with the proposed programme and a retreat compendium to HoAs on 14 August 1998.

The retreat programme as suggested by the RC contained the following five main sessions:

• Introduction to the UN System-wide Special Initiative on Africa
• Review of the Assessment of UNSIA Implementation in Zambia
• Discussion and consolidation of UNSIA priorities for implementation in Zambia
• Strategy for UNCT support for UNSIA in context of the Turin Consensus
• Discussion of elements of Action Plans for implementation

Prior to the retreat, four HoAs agreed to chair a session each, the RC volunteering for session 3. About two hours were allocated for each session. The proposed programme was adopted by the retreat.

The following section provides brief records of the presentations and discussions of the five retreat sessions.

The Acting Director for ECA/SRDC briefed the meeting on the background for the 1996 UNSIA; gave account of what is special about it; and pointed out some of its positive effects and shortcomings. He emphasised that UNSIA has been implemented differently in a number of countries and that experience suggests that UNCTs wanting to support implementation should prepare thoroughly before involving national authorities/constituencies. The real success of UNSIA implementation depends on the level of commitment by each UN system partner at the country-level, he said, adding that in his opinion the Turin Consensus provides a good background and hope for implementation of the Initiative in Zambia.

The retreat observed that UNSIA:

• is based on the wish of Africans to do something for Africans themselves;
• serves to attract international attention and funds to the development of the continent; and
• is designed for coherent implementation of the 1991 UN New Agenda for Development in Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF), and other UN agendas of this decade.

With regard to the latter, the meeting noted that the Initiative does not contain any reflections on "lessons learned" from the launch and implementation of these earlier agendas; rather, UNSIA appears to have been designed in isolation. The meeting pointed out that during the past ten years, in fact, many global initiatives have been implemented. While, for sure, additional funding would enhance such efforts, the meeting was disturbed by the fact that no funding of the US$ 22-25 billion Initiative has been ensured; that is, the resources of the Initiative are mainly national programmes.

The meeting agreed that an agile and united UN system at all levels would contribute international attention and funds to Africa. It took notice of the UNSIA interagency collaboration established at Headquarters-level. The close collaboration of UN agencies with the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs) was appreciated as a prerequisite for the Initiative to become effective. The meeting took further notice that UNSIA has generated only a few regional initiatives, such as the Governance Forum, the Alliance for Africa’s Industrialisation, and the UNSIA secretariat. With positive UN-BWI relations in advocacy and four major Sector Investment Programmes in Zambia, and keen UNCT collaboration in support of other national programmes too, the meeting suggested that collaboration at HQs-level be strengthened vertically, with a view to better sustain regional and country-level initiatives, and expanded horizontally, to promote collaboration in all sectors of common interest.

The meeting was encouraged by the consensus identification of African governments and civil societies of five main challenges for Africa’s development, recorded in UNSIA: Water, Food Security, Governance, Social and Human Development, and Internal Resource Mobilisation. While it was felt that these priority areas apply to Zambia too, the meeting regretted that African communities have not participated in the translation of these priorities into UNSIA. In the absence of broader consultations in this process and of substantial external funding for the Initiative, the meeting found UNSIA an unfulfilled move to bring about added value and national ownership of essential development priorities of the continent. As such, in the context of Zambia, the meeting felt that UNCT should aim at integrating UNSIA into its ongoing activities, rather than encumber government with it as a completely separate undertaking.

It was agreed, therefore, to continue the meeting by addressing the challenges of how best to produce added value of the UN system and promote national ownership of essential development priorities, including the UNSIA priorities, by building on the existing framework for UN system interagency collaboration in Zambia.

The FAO Representative introduced the "Assessment of the Actual and Potential Implementation of the UNSIA in Zambia" in context of the consensus of Session 1. He noted that the purpose of Session 2 would be to review and discuss the recommendations of the Assessment, with a view to identifying ways for UNCT to better promote national ownership of UNSIA priorities for Zambia. He further noted that the Assessment suggests that UNSIA is being implemented in Zambia, albeit not consciously by Government. The report breaks down the Initiative into its individual concerns and gives account of Government action in respect of each. The assessment is that action is being taken with regard to all priorities identified in UNSIA.

The meeting agreed with the chairman’s appraisal of the Assessment report. It was recognised to be a descriptive report, a check-list, which altogether avoids evaluating the relevance of UNSIA in view of Zambia’s development challenges. The retreat was of the opinion that by implication of this approach, the eleven recommendations of the report represent a mixed bag of proposals for UNCT and Government action, lacking evident strategic and operational purpose. Apart from the proposal that the RC organises a retreat for government and civil society representatives, the meeting noted that the UN system is specifically encouraged to:

• support resource mobilisation;
• assist in capacity-building in order for Government to be able to prepare comprehensive programmes that are implementable;
• assist Zambia lobby to be one of five pilot African countries to be assisted in preparing Country Profiles for attracting investment; and
• continue with its advocacy role for Zambia to quickly qualify for the HIPC initiative.

The meeting agreed that while the above items 1 and 2 are being addressed as a matter of highest priority already, through the individual UNCT agencies and existing mechanisms for interagency collaboration, reinforcement of UN system support in these areas should be considered seriously for action. The meeting was unaware of the Country Profile pilot project, but reaffirmed its intention to continue to advocate in support for Zambia’s qualification for the HIPC initiative, inter alia, through common UNCT representation at CG meetings.

The UN Resident Coordinator proposed on the basis of the foregoing sessions that the retreat proceed by analysing what priorities the Government has set for itself, and how they match those of UNSIA. He led a brainstorm session which identified the following pressing Government priorities for development (each priority listed under the general policy focus):

Having identified government priorities for development, the retreat moved on to review the various priority areas of UNSIA, of which there are 20. In that regard, it was observed that no specific attention is given to HIV/AIDS in the Initiative. Insisting that this shortcoming be redressed, since the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS pervades all development efforts in the country, the following list shows which UNSIA priorities for Zambia emerged from the analysis (priorities listed according to main UNSIA themes):

The UNFPA Representative asked the meeting (i) to review the Turin Consensus as modality for interagency collaboration; (ii) to identify what role it could play for UNSIA support; (iii) to reaffirm or revise it; and (iv) to suggest any other actions in support of the identified UNSIA priorities for Zambia. As things turned out, item (iv) was deferred to the fifth and final session.

The Assistant to the RC summarised the Turin Consensus in its historical context. Participants in the meeting expressed concern over the work load and time involved in active IWG participation. The meeting agreed that 14 IWGs may be too many. However, it was unable to suggest how to meaningfully reduce the number since, on paper, each of the IWGs makes sense. It was decided to look into this matter again, when the preparation of the first Work Plan by all IWGs has completed. It was noted that the training of staff members to support the Turin process had not yet been carried out, and that patterns of different requirements and target groups for such training had just started to emerge. All participants in the meeting confirmed their commitment to implement common training for UNCT staff members and, in this regard, committed themselves to urgently provide input to the training plan proposed by UNICEF in July 1998.

The meeting recognised that the generic objectives and ToRs for the IWGs suit the overall intentions of UNSIA, that is: forging national ownership, attracting donor support, and ensuring coherent assistance to essential development priorities. In this context, the meeting agreed that the best way forward would be to list all IWGs and see what UNSIA priorities for Zambia fit in where. The following match of UNSIA priorities for Zambia with IWGs was produced:

It should be noted that the assignment of internal resource mobilisation to the IWG on SHD was established only in Session 5, and with that crucial modification that internal resource mobilisation will be an activity of all UNSIA-IWGs, within their specific theme, while the IWG on SHD will coordinate and address general issues relating to this priority.

The meeting reaffirmed its commitment to the Turin Consensus. Inspired by the Mozambique-model, the meeting briefly discussed the possibility of "framing" the Turin Consensus with some cross-cutting initiatives, with a view to sustaining and relieving existing IWGs. Specifically, it was proposed to establish a permanent forum for staff training and another for monitoring, evaluation & information (ME&I) activities. It was argued that the current IWG on SHD could be redefined relatively easily to serve the ME&I purposes. While these ideas were welcomed by the retreat, it was agreed to postpone this discussion until the arrival of the new RC in November, and to have it in context of the agreed revision of the IWGs.

The UNICEF Representative started out the final session by summarising retreat consensus so far. The main points were:

• that UNSIA should be integrated into ongoing activities of the UN system;
• that UNCT should consider reinforcing its support for resource mobilisation and capacity-building in Zambia;
• the consolidation of UNSIA priorities for the country; and
• the assignment of UNSIA priorities for Zambia to specific IWGs.

He noted that since the executing entities had already been identified as the IWGs, the main challenge of the meeting was now to identify appropriate actions to be taken for these entities to be better able to address the UNSIA priorities. To this effect, a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis of the current mechanisms for interagency collaboration was undertaken. The output of this analysis was the identification the following items for action:

• Strengthening of the Interagency Working Groups
• Enhancing support for national programmes and the development of internal resource mobilisation plans
• Better promotion of the UN system in Zambia

With regard to item 1, the meeting agreed that the RC should call all UNCT staff members represented in IWGs and brief them on the Turin Consensus and the discussions held at Mukambi. The meeting reaffirmed its commitment to implement common staff training and to set-up regular interagency introduction courses for new staff members. It was also agreed that there is a need to firm IWG meeting attendance, for which HoAs have an important role to play. While HoAs can ensure that the Turin Consensus and UNSIA is translated into the Work Plans of their agencies, IWGs, and staff members, the Office of the Resident Coordinator was charged with regular e-mail broadcasting of monthly IWG meeting schedules to HoAs.

With regard to item 2, it was agreed that the UNSIA-IWGs should contact the respective government partners within their area and brief them on UNSIA. UNSIA should be promoted as a conceptual framework for seeking better support of national programmes including resource mobilisation. In this regard, it was agreed that each UNSIA-IWG should update tables on resource mobilisation for their priority area, and that the IWG on SHD should play a coordinating role in this regard. In addition, it was agreed that each IWG, on an annual basis, should report back to the Country Team on UNSIA implementation progress in their priority area.

Finally, with regard to item 3, the retreat agreed that based on the annual UNSIA reports by the UNSIA-IWGs, the HoAs should produce an annual UNSIA implementation progress report for Zambia, inter alia, for HQs circulation. Also, it was agreed that UNDP and ECA/SRDC should collectively prepare for the inclusion in the Development Cooperation Report of data illustrating actual funding of UNSIA priorities in Zambia. Finally, it was agreed that all the above decisions of the retreat as well as the reaffirmed Turin Consensus should be made subject for a comprehensive media brief, aimed at positive promotion of the United Nations in Zambia.

The agreed actions and responsibilities with time frames of what will be known as the Mukambi Initiative, are listed in the matrix below.