Coordination of the action of the United Nations system in Africa

1. Since the adoption of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s by the General Assembly on 18 December 1991, numerous initiatives have been taken to meet the corresponding commitments undertaken by the developing African countries and their partners. The large number of such initiatives, in fields which are sometimes connected and frequently complementary, has given rise to a growing concern with coordinating the relevant programmes and projects.

2. As regards action by the African countries themselves in the intergovernmental context, examples are the adoption of:

The OAU machinery for conflict prevention, management and settlement, and the Cairo Programme of Action concerning development in Africa. Activities in both these contexts are linked with those being conducted under other programmes. Here, one might quote from among the initiatives taken by the development partners; the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD); the United Kingdom Initiative entitled: Elimination of World Poverty, a Challenge for the Twenty-first Century; the United States action in support of Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa; and the Swedish Initiative to promote a partnership with Africa.

3. Similarly, to illustrate the scope of the efforts to be made as regards coordination, one might mention multilateral initiatives linked either to global stimulating and coordinating action in the United Nations framework (UNPAAERD, Revised Plan of Action, United Nations Special Initiative for Africa), or to regional coordination measures under sectoral or thematic programmes launched by United Nations bodies or Bretton Woods institutions.

4. Under the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development (UNPAAERD - 1986-1990), all United Nations system agencies were invited to prepare and carry out in their fields of competence programmes in keeping with the main aims of the Programme of Action. As a follow-up to the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF - 1991), (www.un.org/esa:africa/unnadaf.htm) a Plan of Action revised on the scale of the United Nations system for the economic recovery of Africa was adopted by the United Nations in 1994. This involved appropriate measures to coordinate programmes of activity, avoid overlapping and create the desired synergies. This revised Plan of Action was replaced in 1996 by the United Nations Special Initiative for Africa (www.unsia.org/about/index.htm).

5. As regards the thematic and sectoral programmes to be taken into account in coordinating action on behalf of Africa, examples are (i) the African Information Society Initiative of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), with participation by UNESCO, ITU, FAO, UNIDO, UNDP, the World Bank and the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC), (ii) the UNIDO Alliance for the Industrialization of Africa, with support from ADB, ECA and UNDP, (iii) UNESCO’s support for the Pan-African News Agency and national news agencies, (iv) the United Nations Transport and Communications Decade in Africa, with participation by ECA, UNCTAD, ICAO, IMO, ILO, UNDP and ITU.

6. All these initiatives, implemented at different speeds and in very varying conditions depending on the country or group of countries and the programme under consideration, have always enjoyed substantial efforts by the United Nations system to ensure satisfactory coordination. Here, one should note the vital role at national level of the resident coordinator, who harmonizes the different projects and programmes and cooperation between national authorities, including in particular agencies of the United Nations system.

7. Globally, and as a follow-up to resolution 1998/46 of the Economic and Social Council, the First Annual Regional Coordination Meeting of the United Nations system in Africa was held in Nairobi in March 1999, under the chairmanship of the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations (Coordination and Collaboration among UN agencies at the regional and subregional levels in Africa). On completing its work, the meeting decided that UNSIA provided an appropriate framework for coordinating the activities of the United Nations system in Africa; all that was necessary was to simplify present coordination procedures (Report of the First Annual Regional Coordination Meeting of the United Nations system in Africa, Nairobi, 5 March 1999 - www.un.org/Depts/eca/news/pr199.htm and Report of the 8th ACC Steering Committee).

8. At its substantive session in July 1999 (Geneva), the Economic and Social Council examined the follow-up to the recommendations contained in the Report by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on The Causes of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa. Here, the importance accorded to coordination was particularly emphasized, since the report discussed at the meeting comprised three sections, one of which is entitled “Coordinated follow-up by the United Nations system of initiatives on Africa” (www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc/doc99-afr.htm).