Transcript AFRICA REPORT ON INSTITUTIONAL AND STRATEGIC …

PRESENTATION OF THE
AFRICA REPORT ON INSTITUTIONAL AND STRATEGIC
FRAMEWORKS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Background Document Commissioned by the UNECA
and Prepared by Omar Alieu Touray
Africa Regional Preparatory Conference for Rio+20
20-25 October 2011
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Methodology and objectives of the
Report
Methodology:
• The study is based on desk review and field work;
Objectives:
• Assess how the institutional and strategic frameworks
1. promote the integration of the three pillars of sustainable
development in a balanced manner;
2. Enhance institutional linkages;
3. Encourage multi-stakeholder participation and decentralization in
the planning and implementation of programmes;
4. Cater for inter-generational and intra-generational equity through
long-term planning and strategies that bridge the equality gaps
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Institutions
• The Study focuses on regional, sub-regional and
national institutions.
• Regional Institutions: AU (Including the AUC, NPCA),
AMCOW and AMSEN, AfDB, and UN institutions such
as the UNECA, UNDP, UNEP and FAO. (The treatment of
these institutions is limited to their regional activities)
• Subregional Institutions: Mainly RECs: ECOWAS, ECCAS,
SADC, COMESA, EAC,IGAD, UMA
• National Institutions: National Councils for Sustainable
Development and national institutions.
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Main Findings:Regional Level
AU strategies include:
• AUC-led programmes such asThe African Monitoring of the Environment for
Sustainable Development;The Great Green Wall initiative for the Sahara
• NEPAD: NEPAD has proven to be both an institution and a strategy for sustainable
development, and gained wide recognition. In addition it has put in place the
CAADP programme, the Action Plan on the environment, energy programme, and
the APRM.
Progress Made:
• AUC-led initiatives such as the Africa Monitoring of the Environment for
Sustainable Development (AMSED) have enhanced vertical and horizontal linkages,
while the Green Wall of the Sahara programme has promoted multi-stakeholder
participation;
• Since its inception, NEPAD has proven to be both an institution and a strategy for
sustainable development, and has increasingly gained recognition from the
international community and Africa’s development partners. The Johannesburg
Plan of Implementation also recognized that NEPAD provides a framework for
sustainable development in Africa
• Through the CAADP programme, the Action Plan on the environment, and the
energy programme, NEPAD has promoted the integration of economic, social and
environmental dimensions of development, enhanced partnerships and multistakeholder participation, established horizontal and vertical linkages at
institutional and programmatic levels.
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Regional Level Cont.
• Main Challenges: the difficulty of inter-
departmental and inter-agency coordination to
ensure better synergy and integration.
• AUC has mainstreamed the participation of the
major groups in many ways – with gender parity
having been attained at the level of the college of
commissioners. But the participation of major
groups in programme implementation across all
sectors remains inadequate;
• Inadequacy of funds, with the AU depending on
partners for the bulk of its programmes
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AU cont
• Recommendations:
• Institutional collaboration should be sustained beyond the
design phase of programmes;
• AUC should also scale up its coordination function, establish
effective outreach and communication channels with the
RECs;
• African governments should demonstrate ownership by
budgeting for and exploring alternative sources of funding for
NEPAD programmes;
• The Concept of Champions, developed in the context of the
PICI, should be extended to other sectors.
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Specialized Technical Committees
(STCs)
• AMCEN and AMCOW have made progress with regard to
integrating environmental and water issues in the programmes of
the AU and the RECs.
• They have also built linkages with other regional and subregional
institution
• Main Challenges: overlapping and unclear mandate; unclear
status within the AU Organs; inadequate financial and human resources;
• Recommendations:
building synergy through greater
programme coordination; linkages with other structures such as
the group of African Ambassadors in New York and the African
members of the CSD.
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Regional inst cont
• African Development Bank
• Progress made: Through it MTS, the Green Growth
strategy and other sectoral programmes, the AfDB has
made significant strides in developing horizontal and
vertical programmatic linkages and enhancing
integrated delivery of programmes and projects that
satisfy sustainability and poverty reduction objectives.
• Recommendation: AfDB should increase funding;
enhance capacity building; promote multi-stakeholder
participation in project design and implementation;
and expand the scope of the EIA to cover social
dimensions.
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UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTIONS
• UNECA: In response to the mandate given to
it by both the WSSD and the UN General
Assembly, the UNECA has put in place a
number of mechanisms including: CFSSD,
RIMs, RCMs, SDRA,
• In addition, the ECA embarked upon a
repositioning exercise that consists in
realigning its programme of work with the
priorities of the African Union and its NEPAD
Programme.
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UN Institutions Cont.
• Progress Made:
• CFSSD: fostered institutional linkages; ensured that
africa’s concerns and priorities are well articulated in
the outcomes of the various sessions of UNCSD;
created awareness, enhanced advocacy and capacity
building in the application of integration tools;
• RIMs: have facilitated the review of progress in the
implementation of Agenda 21, PFIA21 and the JPOI;
• SDRA’s Provide good analysis of priority SD issues; is
the output of joint initiatives of UNECA,UNEP,FAO,
UNDP, AUC, AfDB, NPCA.
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ctd
• RCM: The RCM has ensured the increased and
high level participation of some 30 agencies and
organizations in support of the AU and NEPAD,
especially in priority areas such as CAADP and the
APRM; It has also enhanced institutional linkages.
• Repositioning : facilitated integrated programme
implementation, fostered linkages with AUC
NPCA, AfDB and other sub-regional institutions,
and enhanced partner with bilateral donors as
manifested in a scaled up donor funding support.
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Cont.
• Challenges: lack of adequate data to facilitate tracking of
progress on sustainable development; inadequate funding;
and general lack of capacity at various levels.
• Recommendations: Stronger linkages should be established
between the global, regional, sub-regional and national
processes;
• Member-states should be assisted to participate meaningfully
in the RIMs;
• Sustainable development indicator framework for Africa
should be developed;
• Coordination between UNECA and NPCA should be enhanced;
• Non resident agencies should take part in the RCM process.
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Other UN Institutions
UNDP
• Is one of the institutions identified by Agenda 21 for delivering
sustainable development at the global, regional and sub-regional
levels;
Progress made:
• UNDP has supported countries within the framework of the Capacity
21 to establish their National Councils for Sustainable Development
and develop national strategies for sustainable development;
• The UNDP also plays crucial role in programmatic and institutional
linkages through the coordinating role it plays at the country level,
where UNDP Resident Representatives also serve as the Resident
Coordinator of development activities for the United Nations system as
a whole.
Recommendation
• The evaluation of the United Nations Delivering as One pilot phase in
eight countries shows that it is indeed important that the United
Nations delivers as one. The United Nations development system
should therefore coordinate and collaborate closely to ensure synergy
and coherence at the national level
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Cont.
UNEP
• The delivery of UNEP’s programme in Acfrica is done through a coordinated and
multistakeholder process that involves UNEP and various partners.
• Through the Africa regional programme, UNEP ensures that there is better
coherence and coordination in the effective delivery of environmental capacitybuilding and technical support at all levels in response to country needs and
priorities.
Recommendation
• There is need to ensure synergy through streamlined mandates, focusing on
commonalities, and creating mechanisms to influence decision making processes
at all levels.
FAO
• The FAO collaborated with NEPAD to develop CAADP and with member-states to
develop national CAADP compacts which are considered an important step
towards ensuring agricultural stability and economic development.
Recommendation
• As the main UN body dealing with Agriculture, the FAO’s support to African
agriculture and food security is crucial. The organization should deepen its support
to African countries to put in place policies that best address development, food
security, poverty reduction and natural resource use in an integrated manner, and
to identify how aid and public expenditures ensure balance between socioeconomic development and environmental protection
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INSTITUTIONAL AND STRATEGIC FRAMEWORKS FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL
Progress Made at the RECs Level
• All the RECs have programmes on the environment, agriculture, natural
resources, energy, disaster reduction, peace and security, governance and
socioeconomic development. The sectoral programmes are anchored in
long-term strategies that constitute the main regional development
frameworks.
• These include
– SADC’s Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP),
Strategic Indicative Plan of the Organ (SIPO),
– Vision 2020 and the Community Development Programme (CDP) of
ECOWAS,
– ECCAS Vision 2025, and Regional Economic Programme (REP) of
CEMAC
– The Five Year Development Plans of EAC,
– IGAD’s Environment and Natural Resources Strategy,
– the 2011-2015 Strategic Plan of COMESA.
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cont
• The review shows the subregional institutions have, with varying
degrees of success, encouraged multi-stakeholder participation,
built institutional linkages and sought the balanced integration of
the three pillars of sustainable development.
Challenges:
• challenges include the difficulty of integrating all three dimensions
of sustainable development in a balanced manner;
• the complexity of the notion of sustainable development;
• inadequate financial resources.
Recommendations:
There is the need to develop and train RECs on integration tools,
elaborate possible financing mechanisms for sustainable
development programmes, and promote institutional coherence
and programme harmonization.
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INSTITUTIONAL AND STRATEGIC FRAMEWORKS FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL
Progress Made at the National Level
• The majority of African countries have established NCSD and other structures that
deal with sustainable development.
• the mandates of the NCSDs and of bodies responsible for sustainable development
at the national level cover a broad range of issues, but none of the bodies has a
broad mandate.
Challenges:
• insufficient capacity at all levels; inadequate human, institutional and financial
resources; lack of targeted technical assistance; low level of awareness among
policy makers and the general public; limited or unknown best practices or
successful pilot projects; limited foreign direct investment and low level of
international cooperation, and dormant NCSDs.
• The relatively weak involvement of planning and finance ministries in sustainable
development issues;
Recommendation
• Countries should be supported to develop NCSD and integrated strategies;
• finance and planning ministries should be givenleadership role in sustainable
development at the national level.
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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOVERNANCE
• The enabling framework for integration of all three pillars
of sustainable development has been weak at all levels; as
a result various reform proposals have been made including
• creating new structures,
• strengthening existing structures
• elevating the existing structures to a higher level.
• Specific proposals:
• change the ECOSOC into a Sustainable Development
Council
• create a forum within ECOSOC that would deal with
sustainable development.
• elevate the CSD to a Sustainable Development Council as a
subsidiary body of the General Assembly.
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Cont.
There have also been proposals to strengthen
UNEP by
• elevating UNEP to specialized agency status
• creating a UN Environmental Organization
(UNEO) or a World Environmental
Organization (WEO), and
• revising UNEP’s mandate within its current
structure.
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Position of African Environment Ministers on International
Environment Governance
• At the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in
Malabo in June 2011, a decision was taken concerning the revision
of institutional frameworks for sustainable development that will
take into consideration the need to strengthen, consolidate and
transform UNEP into an international specialized institution for the
environment based in Nairobi.
• During the 4th Special Session of AMCEN in Bamako, in September
2011, the African Environment Ministers did not only support the
Assembly decision, they went further to indicate what shape the
proposed body should take.
• Most importantly, they stressed that a new specialized institution
does not imply the establishment of an environment inspection
body, compliance mechanism for developing countries, or the
putting in place of green conditionalities or trade barriers, and
should not lead to additional financial burdens for Africa.
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Sustainable Development Governance
at the Regional and Sub-regional level
Regional Level
• Paragraphs 158-161 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
(JPOI) provides for a range of measures for strengthening the
institutional framework for sustainable development at the regional
level and calls for the Regional Commissions to promote the
integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development
into their work in a balanced way; facilitate and promote a balanced
integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions
of sustainable development in member states.
Sub-regional Level
• At the sub-regional level, the Regional Economic Communities
(RECs) take the lead in planning for regional integration and policy
harmonization;
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Reform Proposals at Regional and Sub-regional level
• There is need to strengthen the capacity of the regional institutions,
including the UNECA, to support the multi-stakeholder and
multidisciplinary forums such as the African Development Forum,
the Regional Coordination Mechanism of UN Agencies working in
Africa, in Support of the African Union and its NEPAD Programme,
the joint meetings of the African Union Conference of Ministers of
Economy and Finance and the ECA Conference of African Ministers
of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the ECA
Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development, and the
associated Africa Regional Implementation Meetings (RIMs).
• RECs can play an important role in spurring the establishment and
development of institutional and strategic frameworks for
sustainable development, as well as in ensuring their effective
operationalization and implementation. They should, therefore, be
supported to enhance institutional coherence and harmonize
relevant development policies, plans and programmes among their
member States.
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Governance of Sustainable Development at the National Level
• National Councils on Sustainable Development (NCSDs)
have proven to be an effective way for governments to
consult with stakeholders and sectors of society. By doing
so they have helped to build support for potentially difficult
legislation. They have also produced important national
policies and strategies on sustainable development which
have advanced parts of Agenda 21 and the WSSD JPoI.
• the principal challenges is the relatively weak involvement
of planning and finance ministries in sustainable
development issues. In many countries, sustainable
development is still in the domain of environment
ministries as national authorities tend to view sustainable
development as dealing mostly with environment, rather
than viewing environment as one of three equally
important pillars of sustainable development.
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Recommendations on SD Governance
Global level:
• Africa should harnesses its resources to secure in Rio reformed governance architecture at the
global level that promotes coordination and synergies across various sectors and actors, and where
the voice of developing countries is adequately reflected, and is likely to promote integration at all
levels. Such a regime should address the fragmentation that characterizes the current international
environmental governance (IEG) framework and the international environment financing facilities.
Regional Level
• At the regional level, governance should be strengthened by leveraging upon the comparative
advantages of existing institutions to ensure effective vertical linkages, as well as efficiency and
effectiveness in sustainable development actions. More specifically, the leading role of the regional
commissions in coordinating regional and subregional activities towards sustainable development,
in accordance with chapter 38 of Agenda 21, must be preserved and strengthened to foster
balanced integration. Within the context of strengthening regional institutions, UNEP’s Regional
Offices should be further strengthened to support the growing number of regional-based
intergovernmental plans of actions, such as the environment initiative of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development.
Sub-regional level
• RECs should be supported to enhance institutional coherence and harmonize relevant development
policies, plans and programmes among their member States.
National Level
• At the national level, Rio+20 could reactivate and reinvigorate the National Councils for Sustainable
Development, to follow up UNCSD 2012
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Good Governance: an Essential Element for
Sustainable Development
Progress made
• Progress on good governance include new governance parameters and
benchmarks that the African Union and NEPAD have defined; the
establishment at the national level of competitive multiparty democracy
and watchdog institutions such as the ombudsman, human rights
commission, anti corruption commissions, auditor general, inspector of
governance or minister for good governance.
Challenges
• Despite the progress made, a number of challenges exist including fragile
and weak institutions, instruments and processes, and the dependence of
watchdog and advocacy agencies on governments for funding.
Recommendations
• There is need for greater tolerance for diversity and more guarantees for
gender equality; establishment of mechanisms that promote free and fair
election ; including post-election dispute adjudication, and exploring
alternative sources of funding for elections.
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CONCLUSIONS
• Africa has responded to the need for a balanced integration of the three
pillars of sustainable development with varying degrees of success.
Institutional reforms have been undertaken and sustainable development
strategies have been developed and implemented at all levels. To a large
extent, multi-stakeholder participation has been promoted and
institutional and programmatic linkages established. The various long term
visions, plans and strategies have also catered for inter-generational and
intra-generational equity..
• But the problem that is common across all levels is the difficulty of
balanced integration of the social, economic and environmental pillars of
sustainable development in planning, budgeting and implementation of
plans and programmes.
• The challenges in the balanced integration of the various dimensions also
relate to the complexity of the notion, and the lack of synergy between
the institutions at different levels.
• Limited financing is another persistent constraint in the integration of the
three pillars in a balanced manner in the development plans and
programmes at the subregional, just as it is at the national and local levels.
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What should Africa expect from Rio+20?
•
The upcoming Rio+20 provides a unique opportunity for Africa to effectively articulate its needs
and priorities.
Global Level
•
In particular, Africa should harness its resources to secure a reformed global governance for sustainable
development that promotes the balanced integration of the three pillars at all levels.
Regional Level
• At the regional level, governance should be strengthened by leveraging upon the comparative
advantages of existing institutions to ensure effective vertical linkages, as well as efficiency and
effectiveness in sustainable development actions. More specifically, the leading role of the regional
commissions in coordinating regional and subregional activities towards sustainable development,
in accordance with chapter 38 of Agenda 21, must be preserved and strengthened to foster
balanced integration. Within the context of strengthening regional institutions, UNEP’s Regional
Offices should be further strengthened to support the growing number of regional-based
intergovernmental plans of actions, such as the environment initiative of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development.
Sub-regional level
• RECs should be supported to enhance institutional coherence and harmonize relevant development
policies, plans and programmes among their member States.
National Level
• At the national level, Rio+20 could reactivate and reinvigorate the National Councils for Sustainable
Development, to follow up UNCSD 2012.
THANK YOU, MERCI, SHUKRAN
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