Draft Annotated Provisional Agenda - Conference of Ministers

The Joint Conference of Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Economic Development and Planning will be held in Algiers, Algeria from 8 to 10 May 2001. The Conference will be opened at 9:30 a.m. by H.E. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria; Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and Mr. K.Y Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa.

Plenary Session I: The Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Programme

The initiative to launch the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Porgramme (MAP) has been spearheaded by the Governments of Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa. MAP is inspired by the firm and shared conviction that African leaders have a pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to launch their countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustained growth and development at the dawn of a new century. MAP will build on the momentum of change and progress in the continent, reflected in the adoption of economic reforms, consolidation of democracy and the new resolve to dealing with conflicts. MAP recognizes that a new and effective partnership with the international community is essential to its success, even as it stresses that African governments and people have the primary responsibility for its implementation.

The representatives of the Governments of Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa will make a presentation of MAP, which will be followed by a general discussion.

Plenary Session II: Implementing MAP: Compact for Africa's Recovery

The mandate to articulate a Compact emanated from the eighth session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance held from 21 to 22 November 2000. The Compact represents an important component of ECA's response to the implementation of the Millennium Declaration, in particular the section on Africa, adopted by the UN General Assembly at the Millennium Summit. The Compact shares the same objectives as MAP.

The Compact will focus on selected key priority areas that would enable Africa to achieve sustainable growth and development. These are promoting good governance; peace and security; tackling diseases that accentuate poverty; improving the quality of human capital; transforming the economy; maintaining high rates of growth; deepening regional integration; and information and communication technologies.

The Compact will be guided by the following principles: African ownership of the development process; mutually agreed goals rooted in the international development targets; mutual accountability towards defined outcomes (in place of one-sided conditionality); long-term commitments, moving away from stop and go relations and restricted project finance; channelling resources through the budgetary process so that aid is fully integrated into overall public expenditures; allowing for greater flexibility in the use of resources by recipients, which will require a demonstrated recipient capacity to monitor and manage resource flows.

MAP and the Compact are intimately linked. While MAP provides the political vision of Africa's development, the Compact will provide the analytical underpinning and the implementation mechanism for the MAP. The Compact will thus address such issues as what should be key strategic national actions to be implemented by governments? What strategic actions are required on the part of Africa's international development partners? How should the partnership with Africa be transformed? How should practical effects be given to the guiding principles of the Compact? How should linkages between MAP and the Compact be strengthened?

The Executive Secretary will introduce the Compact, and discussions will be moderated by the Chairman of the eighth session of the Conference of Ministers of Finance. His Excellency, Mr. Simba Makoni, Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Zimbabwe.

Plenary session III Mobilizing Resources for a Major Response to AIDS in Africa

ADF 2000 on the theme of AIDS: the Greatest Leadership Challenge adopted the "African Consensus and Plan of Action" which stressed the need for leadership in every sector and at every level: from family to community to national to regional to international. One key recommendation of the "Consensus" was that multisectoral strategies to prevent HIV/AIDS and care for those who live with HIV/AIDS must be adopted. Such strategies should involve virtually every part of national governments in one way or another. The finance and planning functions were identified as particularly important. Recent estimates put the annual resource requirements to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa in the order of $3-4 billion. This panel session will be chaired jointly by UNAIDS and ECA, and will include two African Ministers.

Part 1: Vastly expanded financial resources for AIDS - Why and How?

This session will focus on the level of effort required for an effective response across the continent, the estimated resource gaps and potential sources of funds to meet the needs. More specifically, it would cover the following: Estimated financial needs: annual and total for 2001-2006; benefits of such resource mobilization, in terms of coverage with prevention and affordable care: who will gain what?; a feasible funding plan, including domestic and external sources; what external grants/finances might be available and or created?; what external credits might be reasonable as sources of funds in the fight against HIV/AIDS?; and what are the next steps?

Part 2: Putting HIV/AIDS in the Mainstream of the Development Agenda

This session will focus on the rationale, experiences to date and opportunities for mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into the development agenda at the country level. Specifically, it would cover the following: the links between HIV/AIDS and poverty as a reason for more vigorous action against the epidemic; poverty Reduction Strategies as central instruments of development - and the rationale for putting HIV/AIDS at the core of these strategies at the country level; debt relief as an opportunity to commit public funds to the fight against AIDS; and propose next steps in mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into development instruments.

Plenary session IV: Briefing by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the Second Regional Cooperation Framework (RCF II)

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Bureau for Africa will provide a briefing on its regional cooperation framework. Full presentation will be made at the preceding meeting of the Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole and will outline the objectives and activities of UNDP during the period 2002-2005 in Africa. The briefing will be made by the Assistant Administrator of UNDP.

Plenary session V: Consideration of the Ministerial Statement

A draft Ministerial Statement which articulates the views of the Ministers on the theme of the conference and policy and operational issues will be presented for the consideration of the Ministers. The Ministerial statement will derive from the Ministerial policy debate on the theme, the outcome of the panel discussions and the report of the experts.

Plenary session VI: Consideration and adoption of the report and recommendations of the Meeting of the Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole

A meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts will be held from 2 to 7 May 2001 to prepare the Joint Conference. Its report will encompass the full range of issues on the agenda of the Joint Conference. The experts will recommend what decisions need to be considered and adopted by the Conference.

The report will be presented by the Chairman of the meeting of the Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole.

Plenary VII: Adoption of the Ministerial Statement and Closure of the Meeting.