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| UNDP regional workshop aims to accelerate Africa's | |
27 Feb 2006
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania -- With Africa lagging behind all other regions in efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a training workshop, which kicked off here today, seeks to boost the capacities of African governments to move their countries more quickly towards these global benchmarks. The Capacity Development Workshop for MDG-based Planning has brought together senior government officials, United Nations economists, academics, civil society leaders and representatives of international financial institutions from 22 countries mainly in East and Southern Africa. It is organized by the Regional Bureau for Africa of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy and the UN Millennium Project. A similar workshop will be organized for other countries in West and Central Africa in Niamey, Niger on 7-11 March. The training comes six months after the UN World Summit in New York, where all governments pledged their unambiguous commitment to achieving the MDGs by 2015. At the same time, developing countries agreed to put in place by the end of 2006 action plans that align the Goals to national development priorities, a recommendation first made by the Millennium Project Report "Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals". These national plans will take into account actions to be taken by African governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, and the development partners. "There is a manifestation of good will to support Africa. Obviously, Africa has to provide coherent development plans, strategies and programmes to enable the international good will to be translated into effective support," said Gilbert Houngbo, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa during the opening ceremony today. "And that is where you should see this workshop differently and not treat it as just another routine event. This MDG training should contribute to the preparation and implementation of better national strategies that lead to achieving the MDGs and thus contributes to providing an effective and lasting break from Africa’s dependence on the vagaries of the weather." The workshop is part of a new, three-pronged "integrated package of services", which UNDP is implementing to help African countries prepare MDG-based poverty reduction strategies. The package focuses on: - MDG-based investment and policy planning - widening economic and governance policy options - and capacity development, including investing in national ownership and implementation. "For the Regional Bureau of Africa and UNDP as a whole this workshop provides another tool and renewed impetus to our efforts to play a critical role in supporting African countries in their efforts towards achieving the MDGs. We will thus continue to support countries to nurture effective, capable and sustainable institutions which can drive the development process to ensure a better life for all," Mr. Houngbo said. During the five-day Dar Es Salaam workshop, participants will learn techniques and methodologies for estimating resources needed to meet the MDGs, review policy options for supporting pro-poor growth strategies and study poverty diagnostics, monitoring and evaluation. The training is expected to equip them with the key tools, knowledge and expertise they will need to conduct MDG-based planning processes and pro-poor policy planning and, ultimately, raise the capacity of countries in the region to prepare MDG-based plans by 2006. "The Government of United Republic of Tanzania has been implementing a number of policy initiatives and strategies, including the recently adopted National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty, which is commonly known as MKUKUTA in its Kiswahili acronym," said Salome Mbatia, Deputy Minister of Planning, Economy and Empowerment. "MKUKUTA is a five year outcome-based framework that is built on country ownership and effective participation of civil society, private sector development and fruitful local and external partnerships in development and commitment to regional and other international initiatives for social and economic development. Tanzania’s experience highlights the need for more innovative ways of involvement and participation in social and economic development." According to Mr. Houngbo, Tanzania was selected as a venue for the training the country has taken steps toward MDG-based national planning, including reviewing its poverty reduction strategy and designing a National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty through a wide, consultative process which allowed people at all levels of Tanzanian society to contribute. UNDP |
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