NEPAD Today - 29 May 2013

29 May 2013

Editor
Yinka Adeyemi
Assistant Editor
Meseret Arega
Editorial Board: Yinka Adeyemi (ECA), ADOU Jean Yves (AUC), Meseret Arega (ECA)

21st AU Summit: NEPAD launches website on Africa’s infrastructure projects

A web-based portal, called Virtual PIDA Information Centre (VPiC), was launched in Addis Ababa on May 25 as an innovative approach to storing and disseminating information about the African Union’s regional infrastructure programmes.
Senegal’s President Macky Sall and the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Dr. Nkosazana-Dlamini, officiated at the launch during a breakfast meeting for the Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
President Sall chairs the committee which provides leadership to the NEPAD process and sets policies, priorities and programmes of action. Members of the committee are elected on the basis of the AU five regions.
Sall stressed the importance of VPiC as a critical tool for gathering and making available information related to projects undertaken under the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).
The new site provides access to up-to-date information on the implementation status of the 51 PIDA projects, and its users will be able to search for projects by name, country or regional economic community.

For full story: http://www.africanmanager.com/site_eng/detail_article.php?art_id=20256

“Hold the Government accountable”, says NPCA’s Rosalie Lo

NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) Advisor for Gender, Parliamentary Affairs and Civil Society Organisations, Ms Ndeye Rosalie Lo has applauded the new gender-sensitive constitution of Zimbabwe.
Addressing a four-woman delegation on an information sharing and solidarity mission, Ms Rosalie Lo, on 15 May 2013, urged civil society organizations including women’s groups to push government for the implementation of the provisions of the new constitution.
 She stressed the need to set up of the Gender Commission and ensure harmonisation with the current electoral laws.
 “This is a positive breakthrough that the new constitution of Zimbabwe has ensured gender parity and women’s empowerment. However we need to be realistic and acknowledge that the biggest challenge that we have in Africa is implementation of the provisions of these constitutions. The big question is: what are the strategies for civil society organisations to ensure that the government and political parties respect the constitutional provisions and embrace its principles in government and their own political parties,” said Advisor Rosalie

For full story: http://www.crisiszimbabwe.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&...

A production of the RCM-Africa Secretariat, AU and NEPAD Support Team, Capacity Development Division (CDD),
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Director: Adeyemi Dipeolu
Email: ecanepad@uneca.org