Addis Ababa, 30 January 2018 (ECA) - Experts from the national planning and statistics institutions of Cameroon, Benin, Egypt, Kenya, Zambia, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and other international organizations converged in Addis Ababa on 30 January for a two-day intergovernmental meeting on development planning.
The five nations are pilot countries for the 10th UN Development Account project on “Strengthening the Capacities of African Governments for Integration of Accountability in National Development Planning.”
ECA’s principal regional advisor, Sylvain Boko, stated - in his opening remarks - that the Commission’s collaboration with the five pilot countries has been going on for over two years and that he was “happy we’ve reached this point where we gather to evaluate the different products we have worked hard to achieve.”
Thus far, two technical studies have been done in each pilot country to evaluate and asses the status of their planning and statistics systems; and a national strategy for integrating accountability in national development planning has been developed in collaboration with each country, based on the findings of the technical studies.
The third phase of the project consists of working with each government to implement training programs to address the capacity gaps identified in the national strategies, which will need to be addressed for a successful implementation of the national strategies.
Mr. Boko said the meeting provides opportunity to “share results and recommendations from the Planning and Statistics Technical Studies of each country, and present the draft national strategies for integrating accountability in national development planning.”
Stakeholders will also make recommendations to finalize the draft national strategies to ensure national ownership and implementation.
Stephen Karingi, ECA”s Director of Regional Integration and Trade, noted that “the project builds on ECA’s track record in providing advisory services and technical support to member States.”
“It rests on specific interventions that mainly focus on people and institutions that are central to the success of the implementation of member states’ national development goals,” he added.
Mr. Karingi said the project looks at planning as an instrument to enhance accountability in order to achieve the best possible outcomes, adding:
“National Development Strategies (NDS) have now gone beyond the narrow objective of poverty reduction to encompass objectives such as accelerated growth, employment creation, structural transformation and sustainable development.”
The Development Account was established by the UN General Assembly in 1997 and provides a mechanism for promoting the exchange and transfer of skills, knowledge and good practices among target countries through cooperation with a wide range of partners in the broader development assistance community.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org