Addis Ababa — The following document was released by the UN Economic Commission for Africa:

First Annual Regional Coordination Meeting of the United Nations System in Africa, Nairobi, Kenya 5 March 1999

1. The first Annual Regional Coordination Meeting of the United Nations system in Africa was held at the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON), Kenya. The gathering, part of a series of meetings convened to discuss enhanced coordination of the activities of the UN system at the regional level, was held in response to ECOSOC Resolution 1998/46. The meeting was chaired by Ms. Louise Frechette, the UN Deputy Secretary-General and was attended by representatives of 23 UN agencies working in Africa. In her introductory statement, Ms. Frechette stressed that the meeting was in line with the UN programme of reforms and was intended to improve coordination and collaboration among the entities active in the Africa region.

2. The meeting revolved around three main questions: What was the vision of the UN's work in Africa? Was there a coherent UN approach in implementing the vision? How effective were the coordinating mechanisms? Participants engaged in frank discussions on these questions. Noting the proliferation of programmes and initiatives, they questioned whether the existing coordinating mechanisms for these programmes were effective. They underscored the need for enhanced coordination and collaboration, at the country as well as the regional and subregional levels. They also stressed the need for periodic review of the achievement of the system's commonly agreed goals and objectives for Africa.

3. The meeting agreed that the vision for the UN's work in Africa must be shaped and determined by Africa's agreed priorities. Since such priorities were continuously evolving, there was a need for the UN system to review and adjust its activities accordingly. It was however emphasized that in view of the existing coordination arrangements and mechanisms, new structures for this purpose should not be created. Instead, existing ones should be used and strengthened as appropriate.

4. The meeting agreed that the UN system-wide Special Initiative on Africa (SIA) could provisionally constitute an appropriate mechanism for coordination of the UN system's work in Africa. The existing SIA sub-themes or clusters would be reviewed and augmented to include other priority areas as desirable. This modified mechanism would: facilitate the sharing of information among agencies; establish goals and identify priorities; and periodically monitor achievements of targets.

5. The co-chairs of the ACC Steering Committee on SIA were requested to prepare a report containing detailed proposals on how the SIA could play this coordinating role. The report, to be prepared in consultation with the participating entities, would be submitted to the Deputy Secretary-General for approval within three months. The role of the SIA as the coordinating mechanism would be subject to review after two years.

6. In view of the high priority accorded to Africa by the UN system, and to demonstrate to member States the effectiveness of the work of the UN in the region, the meeting underscored the necessity for the entities of the UN system to work together more coherently.

For more information, please contact:

Peter K.A. da Costa, Senior Communication Adviser, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), United Nations, P.O. Box 3001 (official) or 3005 (personal), Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Tel: +251-1-51 58 26 Fax: +251-1-51 03 65. E-Mail: dacosta@un.org dacosta@igc.apc.org. Web: http://www.un.org/depts/eca