Addis Ababa — Some 35 experts from a wide cross-section of African research and capacity building institutions are to meet here tomorrow to launch the Africa Knowledge Networks Forum (AKNF).
This week's workshop is in preparation for the first Forum, scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa early next year. Its theme is "Knowledge sharing for enriched research, training and policy decision-making".
The rationale behind AKNF is that increased knowledge and local content are needed to solve public policy problems, enrich teaching curricula, stimulate the private sector, invigorate civil society, improve governance and strengthen the integration of African societies and economies, especially in the context of the intensely competitive global environment.
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has designed AKNF to facilitate knowledge-sharing and research partnerships between professional networks, and between them and key knowledge end-users -- including policy-makers, trainers at institutions of higher learning, civil society organizations and the private sector.
The following research papers will be presented and discussed at the workshop:
Regional Integration in Africa: Review of Outstanding Issues, and Monitoring Future Progress - La faisabilité de l'intégration économique en Afrique Centrale; Africa in the Global Economy: Issues on Trade and Development for Africa; Africa in the Global Economy: Challenges and Prospects for Financing Africa's Development; Gender &Governance in Africa: A Conceptual Framework for Policy Analysis &Research; Africa and the Information Economy: Foundations, Opportunities, Challenges and Research Agenda.
Among other things, the participants will deliberate on modalities and mechanisms for realizing the goal of the AKNF process, and will develop a draft business plan. It will also agree on research partnerships and a process for producing major policy reports in the areas addressed by the issues papers. The outcomes of the workshop will be disseminated within the knowledge networks and tabled at the first plenary of the full Forum membership.
The AKNF process aims to federate existing networks towards strengthening indigenous policy-oriented research and analysis for more effective use by African decision-makers. The Forum provides a continuous link between African research networks, policy-makers and training institutions (mainly universities) and supports centres of African expertise and think tanks, which are critical to the pooling of resources for effective knowledge production and use.
In addition to strengthening applied research and advisory services to policy-makers on African development, AKNF will also develop a comprehensive database of expertise across disciplines in Africa and the Diaspora, to link the supply and demand for knowledge-types in the continent.
All Issues Papers to be delivered during the workshop are now available on the AKNF website at www.unsia.org/aknf or can be e-mailed on request.
The site also includes more information on the AKNF process, a detailed workshop programme and a comprehensive contact list of participants.
For more information, please contact:
The Communication Team Economic Commission for Africa United Nations P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Tel: +251-1-51 58 26 Cell: +251-9-20 17 94 Fax: +251- 1-51 03 65 E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org Web: www.un.org/depts/eca
