African Church Information Service
4 March 2002
Addis Ababa — The Economic Commission for Africa has launched an on-line discussion in the run-up to the Third African Development Forum (ADF III), which was scheduled to take place here from March 3 - 8 under the theme "Defining Priorities for Regional Integration".
The discussion, organized in conjunction with AllAfrica.com and Bellanet, is the latest in a series of Internet-enabled opportunities for dialogue organized by the ECA in the last four years around key policy findings and forums.
The programme, launched on February 19, aims to broaden participation and provide space for a wider and greater range of African development stakeholder views. Recommendations from the regional integration will feed into the main forum, as well as into ECA's programmatic work.
In his welcome message to participants, ECA Executive Secretary K.Y. Amoako explained the rationale behind the discussion: "While only a small cross-section of those interested in African development issues is actually present at ADF, on-line discussion can be tremendously effective as a means of broadening participation and including voices that might otherwise not be heard".
The discussion is structured around the five main ADF III themes: the History and Prospects for Regional Integration; Physical Integration through Infrastructural Development; Economic Policies for Accelerating Regional Integration; Building an Effective Union; and Peace and Security Architecture.
AllAfrica.com, a leading Web content provider on Africa based in the United States., is featuring a special ADF home page as part of its site, and is conducting a parallel debate drawing on the ADF III themes.
Bellanet, a Canada-based international initiative specializing in effective use of ICTs for development based in Canada, is hosting the electronic discussion list and providing a web archive.
Meanwhile, preparations are being stepped up for ADF III itself, which will bring together a wide spectrum of stakeholders - government, parliaments, business, finance, labour, civil society, international organizations and the Diaspora, including experts from different part of the world - to discuss the milestones, bring clarity to the issues and chart the future of Africa's regional integration.
Pre-forum events were expected to include a meeting of transport experts, an ICTs workshop on electronic commerce and Internet governance, media briefings and an African Union (AU) symposium scheduled for March 3.
The symposium would provide an opportunity to clarify the status, process and objectives of the establishment of the AU, to obtain input from a range of stakeholders, and chart the way forward.
Speakers scheduled to address the official opening ceremony on March 4 are Ethiopian Prime Minister Mr Meles Zenawi, OAU Secretary-General Mr Amara Essy, and African Development Bank President Mr Omar Kabbaj.
The Forum then begins in earnest with Plenary sessions on the main themes, featuring presentations and discussions led by prominent figures and leading specialists in regional integration.
The third plenary session, titled "Assessing Economic Integration in Africa", would feature the unveiling of preliminary findings of a major regional integration research project undertaken by ECA.
The 12th meeting of the Conference of African Ministers of Transport and Communication, organized by ECA's Regional Co-operation and Integration Division, was scheduled to commence on March 6.
There would also be a Heads of States Forum, where representatives of stakeholder focus groups will have the opportunity to ask the attending Heads of State and Government how they believe integration should proceed in Africa.
The final session on March 8 would include a presentation by Prof Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate for Literature. (ADF3)
SOURCE: ECA, Addis Ababa - To join the ECA on-line discussion on regional integration, send a blank e-mail to join-adf3@lyris.bellanet.org and you'll receive an automated response explaining next steps.
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