Planning experts from key ministries in three Central African countries concluded a five-day training focused on digitalizing National Development Plans (NDPs) and using the Integrated Planning and Reporting Toolkit (IPRT) designed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Organised by the ECA in collaboration with the Ministries of Planning of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Central African Republic from 17 – 21 July 2023 in Kinshasa, the training was aimed at building the capacity of planning experts on how to align the NDPs to regional and international commitments and financing frameworks and be able to use the IPRT in planning, aligning and monitoring the NDPs of these countries in relation to Agendas 2030 and 2063.
Jean Luc Namegabe Mastaki, director of the ECA Subregional Office for Central Africa reaffirmed commitment to consolidating partnership with the Ministries of Planning in the region, noting that ECA aims to provide continued support in the design of future NDPs. This will include support to enabling robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks for NDPs and leveraging the IPRT for data gathering on the UN’s Voluntary National and Local Reviews.
Participants were equipped with the skills to effectively use IPRT functionalities. The training also resulted in the identification of the goals, targets, and indicators of the NDPs of the three countries as per the structure of Agendas 2030 and 2063, and all three countries completed the alignment exercise of their NDPs with the two agendas in the IPRT.
Marcel Kanda Mukanya, Chief of Staff of the Minister of Planning in the DRC highlighted the usefulness and importance of IPRT in his remarks, and thanked ECA for choosing the DRC to host the training.
The IPRT has been deployed in 30 Member States and one Regional Economic Community (SADC) with ongoing efforts to ensure its use by the remaining countries on the continent. Countries that have so far engaged with the IPRT with the support of ECA are Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, The Central African Republic, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.