United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa (UNSIA)

After the launching of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF), UNSIA came into being in 1996, a year after the holding of Audience Africa. In consultation with the President of the World Bank, the United Nations Secretary-General established the Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa (UNSIA) to speed up development in Africa and coordinate the most widespread mobilization ever carried out by the United Nations system on behalf of the population of a continent.

The Initiative provides UNESCO with an additional framework in which to act in Africa. The Co-Presidents of the Steering Committee of the Initiative are the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). UNESCO is the co-lead agency responsible for implementing the following three components of UNSIA: basic education for all African children (with the World Bank), communications in the service of peace-building (with UNDP and ECA) and information technology in the service of development (with the World Bank, ECA and UNIDO).

As coordinator for UNESCO’s contribution to the Special Initiative, the Priority Africa Department represents UNESCO within the Steering Committee of the United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), monitors the progress achieved in implementing the three components and participates in the necessary mobilization and expressions of support for UNSIA.

Reference was made at the last meeting of the Steering Committee in May 1999 to the holding in Nairobi on 5 March 1999 of the first annual regional meeting of specialized agencies in Africa. It was agreed that UNSIA would be an appropriate mechanism to coordinate all the activities of the United Nations system in Africa and that ECA as co-president of UNSIA should play a paramount role. Information on ECA activities may be consulted on http://www.uneca.org/.

See : UN System-wide Special Initiative on Africa : Status Report of UNESCO Activities (April 1998)

See : UN System-wide Special Initiative on Africa : Progress Report of UNESCO Activities (May 1999)