Abidjan — The New Partnership for Africa's Development, NEPAD, is a pledge by African leaders based on a common vision and firm and shared conviction that they have a pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to place their countries, both individually and collectively on a path of sustained growth and development and at the same time to participate actively in the world economy and body politic. NEPAD's focus on partnership serves to ensure space and voice for all key development partners and stakeholders. In this regard, the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in giving full and rich expressions of stakeholder perspectives is recognized and provided for.
The African Development Bank has actively supported the NEPAD Initiative since its inception and will play a Lead role in the Infrastructure and Banking and Financial Standards activities of NEPAD; as well as collaborate with other institutions in other areas. CSOs on the other hand have also taken it upon themselves to analyse and discuss NEPAD and relate their activities to its activities.
In view of the fact that the Bank, the ECA and the NEPAD Secretariat are part of the official organs, their roles have already been defined. CSOs on the other have yet to find their way of contributing to enriching the Initiative as well as popularizing NEPAD through country, sub-regional and regional level dialogues. Given the Bank's partnership with CSOs, through the ADB/NGO Committee it was decided to have the Consultation that would define the role of CSOs in enriching NEPAD and also popularizing it in their constituencies. The Consultation was organized in consultation with the Bank's partner regional institutions including the ECA, the OAU and the NEPAD Secretariat. The Consultation was to build on similar discussions just previously held by the ECA in Addis Ababa in March 2002.
The Consultation was attended by 27 African Networks, 3 NGOs and representatives of the Bank, the ECA and the OAU. Due to previous commitments the NEPAD Secretariat was not able to attend the Consultation.
In his opening remarks the Honourable Minister of State for Interior and Decentralisation, welcomed participants to Abidjan for the regional Consultation. He thanked the Bank for taking the initiative to organize the Consultation which was an opportunity for the deep aspirations of the African peoples to be expressed in NEPAD. He officially declared the Meeting open and wished the participants well.
The Co-Chairman of the ADB/NGO Committee Mr. Fadel Diame expressed gratitude to the Bank for facilitating the realization of the ADB/NGO Committee; a framework essential for engagement and collaborative work between the Bank and African civil society as in the case of the Consultation on NEPAD.
In the opening remarks to the Consultation, the President of the Bank Mr. Omar Kabbaj noted that the Consultation represented the concrete outcome of the deliberations and strategic partnership between the Bank and African civil society through the ADB/NGO Committee. He informed the Consultation that the Bank serves as the lead agency in the areas of Infrastructure and Banking and Financial Standards in NEPAD. The Bank will encourage African countries to adopt policy and institutional reforms, assist in the preparation of projects and programs and the development of financial criteria. It will also strengthen donor coordination in resource mobilization.
He noted that CSOs had a special role in building a broad based constituency for NEPAD which is vital to the programme activities and confidence building measures that will build the sound economies and democratic credentials of the new Africa. Building popular support for NEPAD will require concerted efforts to initiate stakeholder dialogue at national and local levels aimed at elaborating and enriching its content and process. In this respect civil society value added role is to convey the full and rich expressions of all stakeholders into NEPAD process, thereby ensuring that it reflects the true will and aspirations of all Africa's peoples.
The Consultation was made up of presentations and discussions on NEPAD and the related activities of regional African institutions (ADB, ECA, OAU) and that of CSOs. CSOs consulted among themselves on strategic agenda for their involvement in NEPAD and way forward.
On NEPAD:
It was recalled that NEPAD is merger of the Millenium Partnership Plan for the African Recovery Programme (MAP) and the OMEGA Plan. It is an integrated Africa strategic development plan that addresses the economic, political and development dimensions of Africa's future development and the synergy between these dimensions. It is a fresh start for Africa to meet the globally agreed millennium development goals and targets. The vision and way forward include building a political consensus, the necessary institutions and determining the pace of implementation of the programme.
The issues involved in NEPAD are complex and will need to be further elaborated on and agreed. Success will require special focus on building political consensus between the African countries themselves on the one hand and then Africa as a whole with the outside world. Institution building and strengthening to enable African institutions undertake the difficult and critical tasks required to implement activities to achieve the NEPAD goals is yet another challenge to be faced.
There are so far some 13 economic groupings in Africa. There is unevenness in their strengths and synergies. They, nevertheless need rationalization if they are to constitute strong building blocks for NEPAD.
The bottom-line is that NEPAD is not an opportunity given to stakeholders; rather, the stakeholders must sieze the opportunity to make this new start for Africa become realized by doing things differently from what has been done before. This will require clear mechanisms for various stakeholder interventions to secure shared and agreed on development strategies and their implementation.
NEPAD Priority Areas are: - Peace and Security (management, prevention and resolution of conflict) - Political Governance and Democracy - Economic and Corporate Governance, including Banking and Financial Standards - Regional Cooperation and Integration - Human Resources Development: Education and Health - Regional Infrastructure: including Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Energy, Transport, Water and Sanitation - Agriculture and Environment - Market Access and Export diversification - Capital flows
Leadership and Management structures:
Heads of State and Government constituting themselves as African Union An implementation Committee of 15 African Heads of State (including the African Union Chair and Secretary General as ex-Officials) to meet annually reporting to the AU Summit) Steering Committee of 5 countries (but with the ECA, ADB and the AU Secretariat attending the Meetings). A Secretariat to service NEPAD is based in Johannesburg. It is more a Facilitating Secretariat rather than an implementing one.
Roles and Responsibilities for the Lead Agencies:
AU/OAU: Peace and Security Political Governance and Democracy ECA: Economic and Corporate Governance Human Resources Development ADB: Regional Infrastructure Banking and Financial Standards
The roles and Activities of the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa and the OAU/AU in the context of NEPAD:
The African Development Bank Group (ADB):
The Bank's initial involvement in NEPAD took the form of participation in meetings and conferences that culminated in the design of NEPAD from the two original initiatives (MAP and OMEGA). The Heads of State Implementation Committee (HSIC) later assigned the Bank the task of Lead agency for development of infrastructure projects and fostering implementation of Banking and Financial standards. The Bank liaises closely with Senegalese Government on Infrastructure and Nigeria on Economic and Corporate Governance.
The present and future role of the Bank in NEPAD will be to provide technical assistance and advisory services; assist the Committee to develop and operationalise mechanisms for the mobilization of resources and implementation of programmes; and to foster implementation of economic and corporate governance. The Bank's role will be transitional until NEPAD is fully integrated within the African Union. In-house the President has designated a management Task Force and a Focal Point on NEPAD at Vice President level (supported by a Secretariat). Tow Task Forces have been established for Infrastructure and Development and Banking and Financial Standards. A Third Task Force on Economic and Corporate Governance is being established.
With regard to Infrastructure development and as a lead agency, the Bank is expected to identify and elaborate on policy and institutional measures and reforms for infrastructure development; establish the criteria for selection of projects to be presented to potential financiers; assist countries in preparation of projects and programmes through studies and sector reviews; strengthen donor coordination and establish methods for effective resource mobilization; and suggest strategies to promote Public Private partnerships (PPPs).
The short term consists of four phases: Phase 1: December 2001 to January 2002: Consultations with Regional Economic Communities to secure list of potential infrastructure projects, programmes and initiatives Phase 2: February to June 2002: More detailed analysis and proiritisation of the long list of potential projects/program Phase 3: June 2002 - December 2002: Project cycle activities including mobilizing funding Phase 4: January 2003+: Project implementation, monitoring, completion and feedback
The medium to long term goal actions include activities that would be undertaken to allow a steady, continuous and sustained development of infrastructure in the continent and the development of a coherent NEPAD strategy programme for the region's infrastructure development . This would entail detailed studies on regional and sectoral lines; and developing a comprehensive strategy and detailed actions and programs to ensure concerted actions to develop infrastructure in Africa.
With regard to Banking and Financial Standards the main activities are planned as follows: Phase 1: December 2001 - February 2002: In-house preparatory activities Phase 2: March - May 2002: Consultations with stakeholders to formulate a framework for implementation standards in African countries Phase 3: June 2002 onwards: Mainstreaming activities to foster implementation of standards as well as technical assistance towards dissemination capacity building and resource mobilization and the establishment of the mechanism for peer review.
The Bank will collaborate with the ECA on Economic and Corporate Governance.
As a financial institution the Bank will use financial resources at its disposal to finance the implementation of the NEPAD programs in Agriculture and rural development; private sector operations; education and health; regional infrastructure; economic and corporate governance; cross-cutting issues including environment and gender.; as well as sensitizing civil society organisations.
The Bank Group is solidly behind NEPAD process and will continue to work with Regional Economic Communities, NGOs and other development partners to foster NEPAD.
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA):
In the earlier discussions on Africa's development the ECA had been requested to provide the Compact for Africa's development in which there would be some definition of the nature of the relationship between various stakeholders in Africa and between Africa as a whole and the outside world. The thinking in the Compact found some meaning in the development of the New African Initiative (NAI) and consequently NEPAD.
Within the NEPAD framework, the ECA is responsible for Economic and Corporate Governance. The key activities are to develop indicators and the monitoring of such indicators on governance. Governance in the NEPAD context meaning commitment to AFRICA'S revitalisation and renewal in the 21st century; ownership and management of the development process and having governance as a precondition for Africa's renewal. Preconditions include peace security, democracy and political governance; economic and corporate governance, with focus on public financial management; and the need for institutional capacity building. Essential elements of good governance including political representativeness, institutional effectiveness and economic governance.
Measuring governance poses challenges that are not encountered in economic or social development fields. More and better data is required to build indicators on good governance assumptions.
So far the ECA framework is to have developed a conceptual framework on defining governance; developing governance indicators as well as crafting the research instruments and addressing the issues of ownership and commitment by selecting national research institutions to work with; having national workshops to launch the process at the national level; and having in-country conferences of stakeholders to discuss Draft country reports. Research instruments include seeking expert opinions, seeking the perception of the general public in the country (through a representative sample); desk studies to provide, inter alia, background information on the country's recent governance history.
Countries already covered under phase one are: Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
Those yet to come under phase two are: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Swaziland, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Governance monitoring is expected to build a capable state, provide a systematic collection and analysis of data on key capable state indicators; provide the needed information for Peer Review process and also for building further interventions in the governance arena. This should also secure that there is predictability of state policy and actions based on transparency, accountability and proper functioning of governance structures such as parliaments, the Judiciary and the Presidencies.
CSOs have a key role to play in this process as watch dogs, development and validation of indicators, monitoring of governance (e.g. securing that there is no corruption in revenue collection and expenditures).
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU):
The origins of NEPAD are in the OAU Extraordinary Summit in Sirte, Libya in September 1999, followed by discussions in the South Summit in Havana, Cuba (April 2000), OAU Summit in Lome, Togo (July 2000), mandate for the merger of MAP, OMEGA and the ECA Compact Initiative for Africa for Africa's Renewal at the OAU Extraordinary Summit, Sirte, Libya in March 2001. The merger was completed on 3 July into the New African Initiative (NAI) and presented and approved by the OAU Summit in Lusaka on 11 July, 2001.
Inspite of the apparent confusion, NEPAD is a project of the OAU or the forthcoming African Union. The Implementation Committee has to report annually to the AU Summit. The AU Chair and Secretary General are ex-official members of the implementation Committee. The AU Secretariat participates in the NEPAD Steering Committee meetings.
The OAU is currently the lead agency on Peace and Stability; political governance and democracy as well as Market access and Agricultural Development aspects of NEPAD.
The OAU Secretariat is working out the modalities and key parameters of its areas of intervention in NEPAD. Existing structures include the Committee of Ambassadors and formation of linkages between the NEPAD activities under political governance and democracy with those on the series of OAU Calabashes on democracy. The OAU sees NEPAD as an instrument of operationalisation and implementation of the AU's socio-economic development blue print and the acceleration of the implementation of the Abuja Treaty.
The OAU further cautions that NEPAD is an African programme that Africans should implement without too much expectations from beyond existing framework of cooperation with the developed countries, namely, the African Opportunities and Growth Act in its relationship with the USA; TICAD framework with the Japanese and Cotonou with the European Union.
What some CSOs have done and are doing on NEPAD:
African Leadership Forum (ALF):
The African Leadership Forum has recently held a seminar on NEPAD and plans to hold others to elaborate on various aspects of NEPAD including gender aspects. This is part of its programme to enable its constituency to engage in the process.
Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) :
The organisation of African Trade Union Unity recently organised a seminar in which the issues raised below raised. The Declaration from the Meeting was later presented to the Heads of State Implementing Committee which met in Abuja in March.
a). African experience shows that we cannot trust neo-liberalism on which NEPAD seems to hinge heavily. NEPAD needs to be reoriented.
b). Lack of reference to African experiences in NEPAD is a matter of concern. NEPAD should be built on past experiences to inform the future. Social dimensions of Africa's development must be visible.
c). There is no clear linkage between NEPAD and the African Union. The institutional framework should be clear.
d). NEPAD is donor oriented. Africa must plan its future on the basis of mobilising and utilising local resources rather than entrenching dependency on the donors. So far partnership with donors has not been symetrical. Focus of NEPAD should therefore be on the role of African governments and the people.
e). CSOs are willing to play a role and contribute to NEPAD but there should be legitimate space for CSO participation and influence.
The organisation intends to continue to participate fully in the reshaping of NEPAD.
African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD).
AFRODAD undertook a survey in Zimbabwe and Botswana on the extent to which Government officials, Parliamentarians and Civil Society was aware and engaged in NEPAD. The absence of knowledge and engagement raised concerns about the grounding of NEPAD. It was clear from the survey that more needed to be done to have NEPAD discussed at national and sub-regional level. AFRODAD will therefore organise a regional workshop in May on NEPAD and will engage with other CSOs on NEPAD.
It was also clear from the survey that the institutional framework was unclear. Since NEPAD is an African Union project it should be part of the building blocks of the African Union: the national REC focal points (e.g. SADC National Committees), Regional Economic Communities (e.g. SADC and ECOWAS) and finally through Africa Union ECOSOC to the Heads of State Summit of the African Union.
AFRODAD welcomes the NEPAD Debt and ODA Initiative. The framework has many shortfalls but AFRODAD supports the limiting of Debt service to a small percentage of Government budgetary expenditures. More could be said and done regarding Debt cancellation and establishing of Arbitration mechanisms on Debt. AFRODAD will play a role in this specific area of NEPAD activities.
African Federation of Women's Entreprenuers (FAWE):
FAWE has undertaken a series of NEPAD awarenessnes campaigns for both its membership and broadly. Through the Radio outreach programme the organisation has been able to reach women beyond its membership. This awareness has itself had a spin off effect of increasing coverage of awareness and interest in NEPAD.
The organisation is looking for space for making contribution to the enhancement of the NEPAD process.
CONGAD:
CONGAD has played a role in providing African civil society thinking on NEPAD in the Canadian civil society and government through its involvement in Partnership Africa-Canada. Given that Canada will host the next G8 Summit and that NEPAD will be up for discussions and decisions, the Canadian civil society has been lobbying its government for support to NEPAD. Through this process the Canadian government has provided C$ 500,000 to cover African civil society awareness and engagement in NEPAD. These resources are available at the various Canadian High Commissions and Embassies in many parts of Africa. CSOs should take advantage of these resources to hold sensitization and awareness building in their various countries.
CONGAD will participate fully in the forthcoming Canadian G8 Preparatory meetings in Canada where at least 100 African civil society representatives will be present. The lobby and advocacy work for support of NEPAD by the G8 will dominate CONGAD work through its involvement in PAC over the next weeks.
Other CSOs Activities:
Many activities are taking place in various parts of Africa either organized by CSOs or in which CSOs are participating on NEPAD. CODESRIA and the Third World Network are hosting a Meeting of intellectuals and researchers in May to discuss Africa's long term development. NEPAD will feature prominently in that discussion.
Since the appearance of the NEPAD document, there have been various commentaries within the CSO community floating on the Internet and being passed around via emails. These ideas and commentaries need to find space for consolidation.
Commentaries on NEPAD:
During this Consultation CSOs recognized the new political will and vision of African leaders that is apparent from the launching of NEPAD. African leaders were commended for taking the initiative aimed at African renewal with an agenda for poverty eradication.
CSOs share the vision for African renewal and express their commitment to contribute to this process. Consistent with the spirit of the African Charter on Popular Participation in Development and Transformation and the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community as well as the Constitutive Act of the African Union CSOs commited to engage with other social economic partners in the NEPAD process.
Recalling that the New partnership for Africa will only be successful if it is owned by the African peoples united in their diversity, CSOs critically reviewed the current NEPAD document with the intention of finding ways of contributing to its content, popularizing it and mobilizing support for it.
The current analysis draws attention to the following:
1). While the document indicates that the analysis is African, there are concerns regarding the process and the framework. The vision is built on selling Africa to the outside. There is a lack of internal strategy. In this regard the building up of NEPAD should have first been subjected to stakeholder consultations at the national, sub-regional and regional levels prior to engaging with the outside world. This would have provided the necessary broader African political consensus.
Thus for NEPAD to have the full ownership of the African peoples it should be more rigorously subjected to stakeholder consultations at the national, sub-regional and regional levels to provide for necessary broader African political consensus in which all stakeholders should do their best to work towards finding their role in addressing the challenges.
2). NEPAD should be built on the issues and principles of the Lagos Plan of Action/Final Act of Lagos, the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes and the African Charter on Popular Participation (Arusha). These will always constitute the solid foundations and therefore building blocks of African renewal process.
3). There are clear tensions in the NEPAD document that will need to be resolved. Examples include: - while NEPAD recognizes the limitations of Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the developed countries, a significant part of NEPAD financing targets ODA.
- While recognizing the constraints on market access, NEPAD does not address the underlying mechanisms within the global trading system which prevent Africa from getting the full benefits of participating in the global economy. NEPAD should, for example examine the impact of WTO rules and therefore strategise on how Africa should engage. The relationship between regional integration and globalisation are not articulated as would be expected. - The analysis of the historical impoverishment of the continent in the NEPAD document highlights social economic and political strategies that have hampered Africa's development. Yet the development strategies proposed are based on the same principle and instruments (current neo-liberal framework and institutions).
- In general, while the analysis of the underlying conditions contributing to the continent's current condition of poverty might be correct, the prescriptions are actually totally wrong because they do not address the underlying causes in the first place.
4). The financing of the NEPAD activities is not articulated. The focus and attention paid to the G8 as a possible source of finance may be appropriate but not necessarily warranted. It does not indicate a renewal process that should reduce external vulnerability of the continent. In any case, credibility with the G8 is dependent on NEPAD's local credibility. NEPAD must be credible to the African people first before it is sold to the outside world. So far a broader African consensus on NEPAD has not yet been achieved.
Equally, attention paid to the external private sector is bound to undermine the potential to develop the African private sector, especially the development of the informal sector, as a basis for long term African development. The external attention makes Africa an arena for the extention of the liberalization philosophy. NEPAD may end up as an instrument of maintaining poverty on the continent.
5). NEPAD takes on far too much an economistic approach at the expense of the social and cultural aspects of African development. The earlier leaders of the African continent recognized the significance of paying attention to African cultural and social development.
6). NEPAD should secure integration of Africa in the global economy on Africa's terms and not integrate it on the basis and context which we know already marginalizes it. In this regard, NEPAD needs to secure genuine rather than satellite investments by foreign investors. It will be important also to secure that African resources are not owned by foreigners since this raises the risk of Africans being marginalized on their own soil.
Furthermore, the relationship between Africa and existing institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF that has actually played a role in Africa's marginalisation should be reshaped.
7). So far it would seem that NEPAD is outside the African Union orbit; dictating the AU and not the other way round. NEPAD is a project of the AU and accordingly the AU institutions and structures should be geared to servicing the NEPAD agenda including providing space for African civil society to engage the different levels of the AU on NEPAD. This way, Africa will stop the marginalisation trend through speaking with one voice (the State and CSOs).
8). There are many serious gaps in NEPAD. These include treatment of gender, assessment of the needs of the vulnerable groups and what to do about it, and Africa's industrialization strategies to name a few.
9). In terms of content there is an objective limitation to NEPAD. The commitments of the African Heads of State to NEPAD seems to be torn between those who can provide funds and their own people. For this, there are contradictions that need to be dealt with. CSOs will need to openly express themselves regarding what they agree on and what they do not agree on. It is not just the role of the CSOs to disseminate information on NEPAD in the first place. The leaders have a role to do so also.
10). Debt is not dealt with in a satisfactory way. NEPAD should recognize the limitations of current debt relief initiatives and go further to discuss Debt cancellation and define the limit on the repayment on Government budgets.
11). NEPAD takes on far too much an economistic approach at the expense of the social and cultural aspects of African development. The earlier leaders of this continent recognized the significance of paying attention to African cultural and social development. NEPAD should do the same.
12). African CSOs will define their roles in NEPAD beyond their expected role of disseminating information and popularising the Initiative. This role will include further analysis which might include basic issues such as how Africa will secure genuine rather than satellite investments by foreign investors and how to safeguard that African resources are not owned by foreigners.
13). It is going to be essential that structures for CSO involvement are explicit and accessible. This will secure that African CSO frustrations with NEPAD will not find expression in protests on the streets.
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15). NEPAD should make certain demands that will improve its position in the global arena. These include aspects of global governance that should enhance its negotiating power.
Plan of Action and Follow-up Activities:
It was noted that CSOs will inevitably become more involved in NEPAD activities. Various meetings are already planned to take place as part of making contributions to the NEPAD process. These include regional Meetings planned in West Africa (CODESRIA and Third World Network), SADC (AFRODAD) and also in the Eastern region (CRDA).
CSOs need an entry point for making serious contribution through reflection and analysis. Many Networks and NGOs have already started the process of reflection and analysis. This needs to be channeled in a way that will contribute to reshaping the analysis and mode of implementation involving as many stakeholders as possible. The mechanisms and process of intervention also need to be clear so that their various discussions and conclusions can be channelled in a way that will be useful and helpful to the whole process.
The first and easier thing to do is simply Information dissemination on NEPAD. This will be done through mailing seminars and roundtables etc. as part of the ongoing NEPAD work in CSOs. The ADB/NGO Committee country focal points will need to play a role in this process. The ADB/NGO Committee will have to include this activity in its work programme.
In terms of content, NEPAD provides an opportunity for civil society to engage with the leadership and redefine the totality of NEPAD. This means that there is a need for more analysis and proposals to be made. This may result in a separate document, an alternative view on NEPAD, that would then be available for discussion.
It is important to define how the various processes will play out at the national, sub-regional and global levels. It is important that mechanisms for CSO input and ironing out the various disagreements on NEPAD should not happen at the highest levels when CSO will meet with Heads of State. The issues should be dealt with at the national, sub-regional and regional levels and synthesised to contribute to a better NEPAD. Thus centralising CSO thinking on NEPAD is one very important follow-up action.
At the national level, the Networks present at the Consultation shall take it upon themselves to investigate what opportunities lie at the national level for engaging in NEPAD. In the SADC region for example, the various NGOs will be encouraged to participate in the SADC National Committees as the entry points for NEPAD engagement. Other channels might exist which will be opportune. It is important to note that in some countries governments and Heads of State not involved in NEPAD. CSOs could, at the national level encourage them to be interested and therefore be involved.
As already noted the Canadian government is providing CAD 500 million for activities on NEPAD. The funds will also be used for NEPAD sensitization, and popularisation. The funds can be accessed at the Canadian High Commissions and Embassies in Africa. CSOs should and will take advantage of this resource for their work on NEPAD at the national level.
At the Sub-regional level too, various channels will need to be investigated for CSO engagement in NEPAD.
At the broader regional level, various discussions will be taking place in the context of CSO relations with the Bank, the ECA and the OAU/AU. In this respect the Joint OAU/ECA/ADB Secretariat will have to play a role in centralizing and synthesizing CSO thinking. The Joint Secretariat already has thematic Groups including the Gender Group which is already active. A NEPAD Group could be supported by the Secretariat by facilitating participation and providing communications. The ADB/NGO Committee will need to play a role in securing this activity.
The most urgent issue and therefore a priority in this respect is the need for an institutional mapping of NEPAD activities and CSO ideas. Many CSOs are already working on NEPAD issues and it can be expected that more will come on board this process.
In the absence of a central CSO coordination organisation on NEPAD, the above framework will have to play some role in looking at NEPAD in relation to the Content of NEPAD; the analysis and strategies; the role of CSOs in resource mobilization, popularising NEPAD and monitoring what will be happening. It will also have to find a way of managing the tension in NEPAD between the external and internal. It would have to play some role on how the idea of a broader based CSO Think Tank could be manifested into reality to reflect on the issues and forge a way forward. The various sectors should also be subjected to discussions and possible changes through this framework. CODESRIA, as a Research institution could play some role in this process and help with gathering and synthesising information that could be useful in revitalising the NEPAD discussions.
Ultimately however, the CSOs will have to be a part of ECOSOC of the African Union, through which the Constitutive Act provides for their contribution to Economic and social policies affecting the continent such as NEPAD. ECOSOC provides the channel through which discussions on NEPAD at the highest level will take place. There is still the need for the terms of Reference for the committee or Group that will engage in the ECOSOC. The ADB/NGO Committee will submit the Terms of Reference to the OAU/AU in this regard.
As a build up to the launch of the African Union in June/July 2002 in Johannesburg where NEPAD will prominently feature, CSOs should have made their main contributions to the content and processes on NEPAD. In this respect CSOs present at the Consultation will have to take advantage of ongoing activities and various Meetings on NEPAD to gather information on people's responses to NEPAD and then put this all stuff together by some date, say end of May 2002. The ADB/NGO Committee should secure this in liaison with the Joint ADB/ECA/CSO Secretariat in Addis Ababa.
The following activities should be noted:
a). During the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank in Addis Ababa end of May, there will be a Symposium on NEPAD (June 1 and 2). While the Symposium should benefit from the various activities at the national, sub-regional and regional levels it will also be very important for contributing to the ideas on NEPAD.
b). Both the CSO preparatory Meetings (in May) and the actual the G8 Summit in Canada in June which are important for furthering the cause of NEPAD outside the African continent could provide some necessary feedback.
The need still remains for a cohesive and consistent way of obtaining information on NEPAD, packaging it and sharing it especially at the national level where many people, including Parliamentarians, Trade Unionists and others, are not aware of NEPAD. Both the CSOs and the African Governments have a role in this process. PANA, the Pan African News Agency with many networks all over Africa also stands ready to play a role in information dissemination on NEPAD.
