Addis Ababa — The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is fielding its first mission to an African member state since the Commission's new, strategically focused structure came into effect in January 1997.
An ECA team leaves Addis Ababa Saturday 23 August for Malawi, with the task of identifying concrete areas in which ECA can offer substantive assistance to the Government of Malawi in its development strategy in four agreed policy areas:
- Poverty Alleviation - Promoting Liberalization and Investment in the subregional Trade context - Information Technology and Connectivity - Gender issues
The ECA mission will be led Mr. Ali Abdel Gadir Ali, Chief of the Economic and Social Division, one of the six new senior staff recruited from outside the UN system to head the newly-created Divisions that represent ECA's strategic focus.
The team also includes staff from the African Centre for Women, which implements ECA's Gender programme; Development Information Services Division, responsible for the African Information Society Initiative; Food Security and Sustainable Development Division, which deals with the nexus issues of environment, population and food security, among others; and the Programme Planning, Finance and Evaluation Division.
The Officer-in-charge of the Subregional Development Centre for Southern Africa in Lusaka Zambia, a Senior Transport and Communications Specialist as well as ECA's Senior Programme Manager for the United Nations Special Initiative on Africa (UNSIA) will form part of the team.
The Malawi mission follows a visit by UN Under-Secretary General and ECA Executive Secretary K.Y. Amoako to Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania in February this year, where discussions were held with senior government officials on how ECA could technically assist.
Following a request from the Government of Uganda, ECA is preparing to send a mission to Kampala shortly. An in-depth report will be distributed after the return of the mission.
For further information please contact Peter da Costa, Cabinet Office of the Executive Secretary, UN ECA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: +251-1-51-29-17 (direct) or 251-1-51-72-00 (main switchboard), Ext. 476 Fax: +251-1-51-22-33 E-Mail: ipspdc@harare.iafrica.com
