| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Africa: UN-NADAF Mid-Term Review
Date Distributed (ymd): 960912
Partnership Africa Canada (PAC)
Overview of the Mid-Term Review
United Nations New Agenda for Development of Africa(UN-NADAF)
September 9, 1996
NGO Forum, New York, September 13-14, 1996
Mid-Term Review, New York, September 16-20, 1996
What is UN-NADAF?
The UN General Assembly adopted UN-NADAF in 1991 to serve as a catalyst for Africa's development in the 1990s. Priority objectives included the transformation of African economies, increased support for human resource development and encouragement for peace initiatives.
UN-NADAF set out goals and commitments for all concerned. African governments agreed to promote sustainable development, regional cooperation, democratization, human rights, food security and a greater role for NGOs. The international community agreed to develop innovative solutions to Africa's debt problem, provide adequate resource flows and improved access to markets and to support economic diversification.
Why is the Mid-Term Review important?
The Mid-Term Review is a crucial moment to take stock of the international community's commitment to Africa. The review will assess whether all parties have lived up to their part of the agreement. It will also recommend concrete measures to accelerate the pace of implementation.
In March 1996, the UN launched the Special Initiative on Africa which sought to mobilize $25 billion for Africa's development over the next decade. Criticism about the lack of consultation about the Special Initiative still lingers, and there is still uncertainty about its relationship to UN-NADAF. The Mid-Term Review is thus an opportunity to press for coherence in the UN's treatment of Africa.
The timing of the review is also opportune. At their meetings in September, in Washington, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are expected to make a final decision about their response to the multilateral debt crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. That gives NGOs a brief window of opportunity to use the momentum of the Mid-Term Review to influence the outcome of the Washington meetings.
How have NGOs been involved in the review process?
The UN invited 25 NGOs and networks to submit reports of their activities to feed into the UN-NADAF review (15 NGOs from Africa and 10 NGOs from OECD countries, including PAC. These NGO reports will be included as an annex to the UN Secretary General's report.
PAC has been working closely with the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for Africa and the Least Developed Countries to plan an NGO Forum to be held in New York just before the Mid-Term Review. In addition, PAC sought funding to bring 25 Africans to these meetings (the 15 NGOs already involved in the process, as well as major African NGO networks). Unfortunately, we were not successful. However, several of PAC's African Board members are expected to attend.
What's the next step for NGOs?
Over the past six weeks, PAC has been working with NGOs and networks in Canada, Africa, Europe and the United States to prepare a series of papers on key issues affecting Africa such as debt, gender, trade and human rights. These papers have been uploaded into the africa.forum conference on the APC networks. They will also be distributed over the next week through the Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List, and posted on the Africa Policy Web Site (http://www.igc.apc.org/apic/index.shmtl).
The NGO Forum takes place in New York on September 13 and 14. Statements emerging from that meeting will also be available on-line (more details on location will be noted in future postings).
Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), 1 Nicholas St., #1200, Ottawa, ON K1N 787, Canada. Phone: (613) 562-8242; Fax: (613) 532-8334; E-mail: pac@web.apc.org.
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ENV/DEV/376 9 September 1996
SECRETARY-GENERAL'S PANEL ON AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT TO MEET AT HEADQUARTERS
NEW YORK, 9 September (DPCSD) -- The implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and the United Nations System-Wide Special Initiative on Africa will be among the topics to be discussed by the Panel of High-Level Personalities on African Development as it meets at Headquarters on 12 September.
The High-Level Panel was established in 1992 by Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to advise and assist him in his efforts to ensure the effective implementation of the New Agenda and to foster Africa's development in general. The Panel is charged with developing new ideas and themes around which international responses can be mobilized, convincing governments to take action and encouraging agencies of the United Nations system to improve coordination.
The Secretary-General will open the Panel's meeting, which will review and discuss his report for the General Assembly's mid-term review of the New Agenda for Africa's Development, to be held from 16 to 20 September. In addition to presenting their views on progress made in the New Agenda's implementation, Panel members will also discuss the implementation of the Special Initiative, which was launched on 15 March. The Initiative, which seeks to mobilize international support and financing for development programmes mainly in the areas of health, education, water and capacitybuilding, was drawn from the objectives of New Agenda and is designed to boost its implementation.
The panel's current membership includes the following high- level personalities: Sir Ketumile Masire, President of Botswana; Poul Nielson, Denmark's Minister for Development Cooperation; Baroness Linda Chalker, Minister for Overseas Development of the United Kingdom; Ambassador Andrew Young, former United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations; Philippe Jurgensen, former Director-General of the Caisse francaise de developpement and current Director-General of the Societe francaise de garantie des financements des petites et moyennes entreprises; Mohammed Sadli, Adviser to the President of Indonesia for South-South and North-South Cooperation; R. Barthelt, Director-General for sub-Saharan Africa in Germany's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU); Graca Machel, Mozambique's former First Lady and current President of the Foundation for Community Development; Ambassador Yasushi Kurokochi of Japan, who served as chairman of the Tokyo International Conference on Aid and Development; K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA); Rubens Ricupero, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and Hazem El-Beblawi, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
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Note: Further information may be obtained from the Office of the Special Coordinator for Africa and the Least Developed Countries in the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, tel: (212) 963-5006 or (212) 963-4780.
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Message-Id: <199609130201.TAA01988@igc3.igc.apc.org> From: apic@igc.apc.org Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 21:58:12 -0500 Subject: Africa: UN-NADAF Mid-Term Review
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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