United Nations Economic Commission for Africa - CD - Policy Dialogue

High Level Conference on Conflict and Development in the Horn of Africa

cdd.editor — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 06:40:21 +0000

13 November 2017 to 15 November 2017

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

During the past two decades, the African continent has registered impressive economic growth, which qualified it for the designation one of the fastest growing regions in the world. The impressive economic growth would not have been possible, without an equally remarkable progress in economic and political governance, as well as improvements in the peace and security, accompanied with a considerable reduction in the magnitude and scale of violent conflicts. This commendable progress has however remained unsustainable and in some instances, potentially reversible. Consider for example, the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa, which have witnessed violent and intractable conflicts, and as yet to emerge as fully stable and peaceful despite long years of regional and global mediation, peacekeeping and peace building efforts.

Notwithstanding the progress made thus far, new conflicts emerged along the Sahel Belt parts of the Horn of Africa, led by relatively new actors, vying to combine conventional and non-conventional warfare, targeting innocent civilians. Overall, the persistence of conflicts in some parts of the continent has had far reaching implications on the continent’s aspirations to achieving socio-economic transformation and sustainable development. The leadership of the continent, at all levels, has been acutely aware of the constraints conflicts and associated instability have continued to impose on development efforts, including the negative on efforts to actualize the continent’s long-term development and transformation agenda embodied in Agenda 2063.

It is against this background and within the framework of the longstanding strategic partnership between the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), that ECA has undertaken an in-depth research and analyses of the root causes of conflicts in some regions of the continent. The research focused particularly, on the Great Lakes, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa with an allied aim of assessing the cost and consequences of conflict on development. It also aims at the broader African continent, including on its transformative agenda. In addition to contributing to the discourse on the nexus between conflict and development, it is envisioned that these studies would also assist in the articulation of clear strategies and policy recommendations that would contribute to ongoing regional, continental and global efforts to entrench long-term peace and stability on the continent, which is critical for sustainable economic growth and socio-economic transformation.

The Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes and New Fringe Pastoralism Reports are chosen because on the one hand, it has been an arc and a theatre of intractable conflict over decades. A deliberate and conscious decision was therefore made for the studies to focus on analyzing and unpacking the root causes of conflict and their developmental impact, with the ultimate goal of deepening understanding of the causes of war and informing strategies towards enduring solutions to conflicts in Africa and in particular these three regions. The Governance and Human Security Cluster of ECA’s budding Capacity Development Division (CDD) was charged with the responsibility to execute this very important assignment, within the framework of the Division’s mandate to provide focused and coherent capacity development support to member states and Pan-African institutions such as the African Union.

In achieving the objectives of its broad conflict and development research programmes, ECA is organizing a High level policy Dialogue, in order to share the findings of the knowledge generated during the last three years. It is hoped that this High-Level Policy Dialogue create an opportunity for RECs and countries to access and internalize the knowledge contained in the Reports and exchange experience pertaining to their own strategies and policy responses to the nexus between conflict and development. More specifically, the objectives of the High level are as follows:

Provide new insights on the root causes of conflict and its impact on development as well as human and economic cost;
Engender greater appreciation of the nexus between conflict and development, particularly the constraints that conflicts impose on the Sahel region., particularly in the frontline states;
Facilitate the exchange of views and country experiences (successes, challenges and lessons) in the design and implementation of policies on the impact and cost of conflict on development within and outside of Africa;
Engage e subject matter experts in the fields of conflict and development, peace and security, permanent secretaries and foreign affairs ministries to exchange experiences and knowledge on the current development in peace-building in some of the troubled regions of the continent;
Inform the potential for undertaking tailored context-specific and cross-country advisory services based on the outcome of the discussions; and
Serve as a platform for rebuilding a Pan-African network at the most senior policy and technical levels on conflict and development

The deliberations and discussions during the High Level Policy Dialogue will be structured around the substance of the findings of the study. It adopts interactive sessions allowing for an engaged and critically constructive discussions on the findings of the studies and the experiences of the stakeholders. This Dialogue will be co-hosted by the Peace and Security Division of the IGAD secretariat.

The participants at this High Level Policy Dialogue, include representatives from IGAD member states, staff members of IGAD Secretariat, Special envoys, members of the Peace and Security Council of the Africa Union, as well as select numbers of experts, academia, think tanks, research institutions, UN agencies and development partners.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Jalal Abdel-Latif

Head

Governance and Human Security Cluster

Capacity Development Division, ECA

Tel: + 251-11- 544 3367

Email: jabdel-latif@uneca.org

Zewditu Befekadu (Ms.)
Capacity Development Division. ECA
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ext.: 35785
Tel: (251) 11 5 44 5785
Email: befekaduz@un.org

High Level Policy Dialogue on Conflict and Development in the Sahel Region

cdd.editor — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 11:51:43 +0000

13 September 2017 to 14 September 2017

Niamey, Niger

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) together with the government of Niger as the host, are organizing a High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) for countries severely affected by the security crisis in the Sahel. The High Level Policy Dialogue will be held in Niamey, Niger from 13-14 September 2017.

It is within the framework of the longstanding strategic partnership between the African Union (AU) and (ECA), and in response to the AU’s request for in-depth research and analyses of the root causes of conflicts in the Sahel Region and assessment of the costs and consequences of these conflicts on development, that the study was undertaken. Aside from contributing to the discourse on the nexus between conflict and development, it was envisioned that the study would also assist in the articulation of clear strategies and policy recommendations to contribute to ongoing regional, continental and global efforts to entrench long-term peace and stability on the continent, which is critical for sustainable economic growth and socio-economic transformation.

The Sahel research focuses on frontline States in relation to two conflict corridors, namely Northern Mali and Northeast Nigeria (Lake Chad Basin), where large-scale armed conflicts and violence are rife. Some generic features and characteristics define these two corridors. ECA identified two central themes for the research, namely, an assessment of the root causes of the conflicts in the Sahel region, and the impacts of the conflicts on the economic development of the Sahel region. In assessing the root causes, the Commission emphasized the need to analyses the economic and non-economic causes and the domestic, regional and international destabilizing factors. A distinction should also to be made between the structural issues and the trigger (proximate) factors. It was expected that by analyzing the impacts and consequences of the conflicts on development, the study would identify the mechanisms and ways in which conflicts have affected economic growth, and where possible, quantify the human and material cost of the conflicts and examine the consequences on social and economic development patterns.

The purpose of the dialogue will be to discuss the findings, and proposed comprehensive strategies and policy responses to conflict in support of economic development, of the report on Conflict and Development in the Sahel Region. The High Level Policy Dialogue aims to enable key stakeholders and member states to fully appreciate the findings of the Sahel study. More specifically, the objectives of the dialogue are as follows:

Provide insight on the root causes of conflict and its impact on development as well as human and economic cost;
Engender greater appreciation of the nexus between conflict and development, particularly the constraints that conflicts impose on the Sahel region., particularly in the frontline states;
Facilitate the exchange of views and country experiences (successes, challenges and lessons) in the design and implementation of policies on the impact and cost of conflict on development within and outside of Africa;
Engagement with subject matter experts in the fields of conflict and development, peace and security, permanent secretaries and foreign affairs ministries;
Inform the tailoring of advisory services based on the outcome of the discussions; and
Serve as a platform for rebuilding a Pan-African network at the most senior technical level on conflict and development

The HLPD will be interactive in nature and allow for a robust discussion on the findings of the study and the experiences of the stakeholders. The participants at this High Level Policy Dialogue will be representatives from the frontline member states, UN Office for the West Africa and the Sahel, G5 Sahel Secretariat, the AU Special envoy, members of the Peace and Security Council of the Africa Union, Regional Economic Communities, as well as select numbers of experts, academia, think tanks, research institutions, UN agencies and development partners.

For more information, please contact:

Jalal Abdel-Latif

Head, Governance and Human Security Cluster

Capacity development Division, UNECA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Tel: +251-11-543 3367

Email : abdel-latif@un.org

Ochozias Ggaguidi,

Chef de la section des Initiatives sous régionales,

Bureau Sous régional pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest, CEA

Niamey, Niger

Email: ochozias@un.org

Tel : +227 2072 7316 ; Mob : +227 9219 5762

New horizons for urbanization and development planning in Africa

sroca.editor — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 07:42:08 +0000

Language English

Featured Image:

Theme category:

Capacity Development

Focus Group:

CD - Policy Dialogue

Linked Content:

New horizons for urbanization and development planning in Africa

Sub Regional Office:

Central Africa

New horizons for urbanization and development planning in Africa

sroca.editor — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 22:47:13 +0000

Yaounde, 9 June 2016 (ECA) – In a rather upbeat High Policy Dialogue that ended in Yaounde today, close to 40 senior state planning officials from across Africa concurred that urbanization must be harnessed in development planning for its potential to deliver growth, improve livelihoods and accelerate structural transformation.

The three-day Dialogue, which is the fourth installment of a continent-wide initiative by ECA for policy coherence in Africa provided a platform for countries to share experiences as they come to terms with the stark reality that they cannot effectively emerge if they continue to overlook urbanization concerns in development planning. In Nigeria, for instance, the challenge is one of a fast growing population and rapid urbanization but the country’s planners at the Dialogue said they want to put premium on leveraging industrial cities and strengthening public-private partnerships. As for Burundi, rapid urbanization is mounting pressure on land use for agricultural growth, while Egypt faces problems with its legal framework, limited decentralized planning and lower provision of services among other things. Cameroonian officials who participated in the Dialogue said urbanization is already integrated in their national development framework but there is need to make it cut across all sectors.

The models of the ‘class’ would apparently be Kenya and South Africa. According to experts, Kenya has already embedded urbanization into its development vision for 2030 but needs address youth unemployment in informal settlement areas. South Africa has elaborated its Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF) and only needs to commit to its implementation.

Mindful of these difficulties, the planners brainstormed ways in which the continent could start tying the lose ends. First, they proposed that decision-makers and policy-makers make use of geospatial information to tease out the challenges and opportunities brought by urbanization.

The planners also underscored the need to improve the connectivity of urban areas to rural, regional and global spheres in order to attract investments. This is even more so, given that better connectivity would go hand in love with greater regional integration and cooperation which they said are e crucial for shared infrastructure such as energy supply, as well as for overall growth.

They intimated that since urbanization is crosscutting, it requires national planning to achieve effective inter-sectoral coordination. They also called on African countries’ generation of better quality data as well as the setting up of strong and effective national planning institutions with political legitimacy.

At the end of the discussions, Mr. Sylvain Boko, Principal Regional Advisor in the Capacity Development Division of ECA summarized issues raised during the Policy Dialogue and possible concrete actions, including a call on African countries to harness the opportunities and minimize negative externalities of urbanization.

Meanwhile raging calls were made for ECA to further guide African member States on factoring urbanisation in development planning by developing tools, methodologies and indicators that can serve countries practically.

-ENDS-

Issued by:
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org

Contact for its Sub-Regional Office for Central Africa

P.O. Box 14935 Yaounde, Cameroon

Tel: +237 2 22231461

E-mail: sroca@uneca.org

Africa must privilege urbanization in development planning

sroca.editor — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 17:54:10 +0000

Language English

Featured Image:

Theme category:

Capacity Development

Focus Group:

CD - Policy Dialogue

Linked Content:

Africa must privilege urbanization in development planning

Sub Regional Office:

Central Africa

Africa must privilege urbanization in development planning

sroca.editor — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 17:40:37 +0000

Yaounde, 7 June 2016 (ECA) - Africa can no longer afford to watch its « 55 per cent galloping urban sprawl» go without factoring urbanization into its core development planning processes.

And it is high time the continent fixed « the imbalance between the modest volume of urban investments and the huge contribution of cities to GDP » said Cameroon’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development – Mr. Jean Claude Mbwentchou – at the start of an ECA-convened High Level Policy Dialogue dedicated to mainstreaming urbanization into overall development planning on the continent.

“The important role that urbanization plays in the transformation of the Continent has also been underlined in Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Objectives” echoed Mr. Louis Paul Motaze – Cameroon’s Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, who opened the Dialogue. He concurred that urbanization concerns are yet to be well articulated into development planning across Africa, hence the merit of the on-going meeting to tease out the needed ingredients for a future of “productive, inclusive and sustainable cities, which will contribute to the diversification of our economies.”

The Acting Resident Coordinator of the UN system in Cameroon Mr. Moussa Abari used the occasion to re-echo the UN’s campaign for inclusive growth on the continent by making use of the opportunities that urban centers offer for structural transformation.

As the ECA has posited over the past years, such structural transformation implies, among other things, the re-allocation of growth factors from low to high productive economic activities; a declining share of low-key agriculture in employment; the rise of a modern industrial economy; as well as a demographic transition to lower birth and death rates. It also entails a shift in economic activity from rural to urban areas.

Indeed, the spending power of just 18 of such urban areas in Africa is projected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2030, said Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah Director and Officer in Charge of the Capacity Development Division at ECA who placed the meeting in its strategic context. This, she said indicates how crucial it is for African countries to « capitalize on urbanization and strive to become high-income urbanized nations. »

The Yaounde meeting brings together close to 40 senior state officials from across Africa, with the objective of making them champion the case for African leaders to systematically mainstream urbanization issues into overall development policy planning.

-ENDS-

Issued by:

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org

Contact for its Sub-Regional Office for Central Africa

P.O. Box 14935 Yaounde, Cameroon

Tel: +237 2 22231461

E-mail: sroca@uneca.org

Green industrialisation in Africa is doable and affordable

sroea.editor — Thu, 26 May 2016 08:16:20 +0000

Kigali, Rwanda 26 May 2016 (ECA) - Three ECA publications were launched this week in Kigali. These are the Economic Report on Africa 2016 subtitled ‘ Greening Africa’s Industrialization’, the report on Transformative Industrial Policy for Africa and the Country Profile for Rwanda.

The Deputy Executive Secretary of ECA, Ms. Giovanie Biha, who presided over the launch, described the three reports as useful materials that could “help to debunk the myths that Africa is not ready for green industrialisation”.

The three publications acknowledge Africa as a latecomer continent to industrialization, which on the other hand, has opportunities to avoid mistakes made by some of its predecessors.

The Economic Report on Africa 2016 presents ‘green industrialisation’as an opportunity to achieve the type of carbon-neutral structural transformation that yields sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa. The report offers a concrete package of policy options for decarbonising Africa’s industrialisation efforts.

Transformative Industrial Policy for Africa is a think piece, which offers historical and contemporary insights on the implementation of industrial policies for transformative development. In particular, the report provides concrete strategies for the integration of industrial policies into national development plans across the continent.

The Country Profile –Rwanda offers an independent narrative of the country’s recent economic and social achievements and challenges, with a particular focus on regional integration and economic transformation.

In her remarks, Ms. Biha said that greening Africa’s industrialisation is the only viable conduit through which the development objectives of the continent can be met. She emphasized that if Africa takes and implements the right type of policies, it could turn the present adverse conditions into “a catalytic springboard for leapfrogging the fourth industrial revolution for the Africa we want”.

Three Rwandan ministers namely, Minister of Trade and Industry; Minister for Natural Resource and Minister of State in charge of Economic Planning who attended the event lauded the ECA for the efforts and affirmed that these publications "are very key to informing the transformative agenda of many African countries."

In his remarks, the Minister of Economic Planning of Rwanda, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana thanked the ECA for organising the launch in Rwanda. “This discussion provides insights into ways of implementing our vision of green industrialization”, he said. “Rwanda has the target of reducing agriculture employment to 50 per cent. In doing so, the country has to transform its economy structurally with increased contribution from manufacturing,” said Ndagijimana.

The Kigali launch gathered senior officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the National Bank of Rwanda, high level representatives from the UN and other international organisations, ECA senior economists, academia, media as well as other economists and experts.

Issued by:

Communications Section

Economic Commission for Africa

PO Box 3001

Addis Ababa

Ethiopia

Tel: +251 11 551 5826

E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org

Time for collective leadership in Eastern Africa

sroea.editor — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 08:12:59 +0000

In a Davos-style debate, experts attending the 20^th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) of Eastern Africa, co-organised by ECA and the Government of Kenya called for an end to the disconnect between leaders and followers; and for massive investment in education.

Nairobi, Kenya, 11 February 2016 (ECA) – The era of individual leadership is gone; and, carrying everyone along is the new leadership, concluded experts at a high-level round table co-organised by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) as part of the 20^th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) of Eastern Africa.

The event, hosted by Kenya Broadcasting Corporation news anchor – Julie Gichuru – was held under the theme “The Followers and Leaders’ Pact: Towards new Horizons” and featured contributions from experts in academia and the civil society, as well as from government officials in the sub-region and leaders from the organising institutions.

The discussion cut across the relationship between leaders and followers, qualities of good leadership in the present dispensation, the rights and responsibilities of leaders and followers as well as on tools to enable participation in leadership.

According to Mr Antonio Pedro, Director of the Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa of ECA, the relationship between followers and leaders should be a dynamic one that “requires new types of organisations beyond the top-down and heavily-centralised forms of government that we are used to.

“This is about new platforms for multi-stakeholder participation,” Mr Pedro went on, while stating that in today’s world, leaders must follow at some point, while followers must lead at another.

Giving a practical example of a survey that demonstrated a disconnect between the vision of leaders of a certain political party in Tanzania and the aspirations of their followers, Professor Kitila Mkumbo of the University of Dar Es Salaam noted that “some of the solutions to problems are sitting with the people, so the point is trusting them and adopting a shared leadership approach.” He argued that to avoid the disconnect, citizens’ voices must be taken into consideration in the design of policy visions.

Speaking of the qualities of leaders, two notions polarised opinions at the debate: that of the visionary leader who ‘whips’ followers into the direction of their vision and that of the ethical leader who functions on the demands of the citizenry. But ECA’s Antonio Pedro was quick to point out that good leadership is a crossroads between the two and more options. He noted that a leader must be open to differences on the perception of what constitutes value among the citizenry, must consider the views of other stakeholders and must be committed to producing results.

In this area, the Head of Public and Private Dialogue at the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) – Ms Agatha Juma, gave a caveat: “We cannot expect to have visionary leadership, whether it is political, economic or within the civil society, if we as a society do not espouse the values that we want to see in them.”

On the rights and responsibilities of leaders and followers, the panellists all pointed to the need for shared leadership. Dr Grace Maingi of Uraia Trust Kenya said that, while it is the responsibility of federal and local governments, civil society and the private sector to provide public education that will lead to drive citizens’ participation in policy processes, it is the responsibility of the citizens to engage leaders in policy dialogues that would help improve delivery.

Such “education is the single most important instrument for engagement,” concluded Prof Mkumbo, who regretted the fact that less than 10 per cent of Eastern Africa’s population have a college degree. Without proper education, citizens fall short in understanding issues on governance and engaging leaders profitably. Governments in the sub-region were therefore called upon to invest heavily in their human resources.

Issued by:

Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa; Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa

To view the Video of the roundtable discussion. please click at the following link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc3UjuLRELo&feature=youtu.be

Dialogue on conflict and development to discuss three ECA studies

cdd.editor — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:36:57 +0000

Addis Ababa, 14 September 2015 (ECA) - The Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) will be hosting a High Level Policy Dialogue on Conflict and Development in Africa, in Accra, Ghana from 2 - 3 October 2015.

At the request of the African Union, the Capacity Development Division of ECA, prepared three regional studies on the costs and consequences of conflict on development in the Sahel, Great Lakes, and the Horn of Africa. The three landmark regional studies focused on the costs and consequences of conflict on development in the Sahel, Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa region.

The reports also concluded that with the exception of the Great Lakes Regional, all major continuing long-term conflicts are located in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa and are fought by pastoralists or agro-pastoralists. For example, in Sudan and much of the African Sahel, pastoralists have taken the route of armed struggle, seeking autonomy, while others opted for self-rule.

The three studies will be tabled to practitioners at the high level dialogue for discussion and with the ultimate goal of facilitating the uptake and implementations of the major finding and policy recommendations of the studies.

The High Level Policy dialogue aims to gather views of high-level conflict experts at regional, continental and international levels including civil society and other critical stakeholders, on the findings of the studies.

The key messages and recommendations arising from the dialogue will feed into the processes of the African Union and other key regional organizations and provide the basis on which to design comprehensive strategies and policy responses for stakeholders.

For any queries about the Policy Dialogue, please contact:

Mr. Jalal Abdel-Latif
Programme Officer
Capacity Development Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
P.O. Box 3005
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel.: +251 (0)115 443363
E-mail: jabdel-latif@uneca.org

Issued by:

ECA External Communications and Media Relations Section
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826

Governance and Human Security

cdd.editor — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:08:42 +0000

Conflict and Development in Africa

The Capacity Development Division (CDD) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) hosted a High Level Policy Dialogue on Conflict and Development in Africa, in Accra, Ghana from 2 -3 October 2015. This follows three landmark regional studies on the costs and consequences of conflict on development in the Sahel, Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa region produced by UNECA at the request of the African Union.

The High Level Policy dialogue aimed at gathering views of high level conflict experts at regional, continental and international levels including civil society and other critical stakeholders, on the findings of the studies. The key messages and recommendations arising from the dialogue feed into the processes of the African Union and other key regional organizations and provide the basis on which to design comprehensive strategies and policy responses for stakeholders.

Maps:

Major conflicts which involve pastoralists in the Greater Horn of Africa and the Sahel

Major Animal Markets in the Greater Horn of Africa and the Sahel