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The
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) -
Part 3
Contents
I.
Introduction
II.
Africa in today's world: Between poverty and prosperity
III.
The new political will of African leaders
IV.
Appeal to the Peoples of Africa
V.
Programme of action: The strategy for achieving sustainable
development in the 21st century
-
Conditions
for sustainable development
-
Sectoral
priorities
-
Mobilising
resources
VI.
A new global partnership
VII.
Implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development
VIII.
Conclusions
Abbreviations
and acronyms
Human
Resource Development Initiative including reversing
the Brain Drain
(i) Poverty Reduction
118.
Objectives
-
To provide focused leadership by prioritising poverty
reduction in all the programmes and priorities of
the New Partnership for Africa's Development
as well as national macroeconomic and sectoral policies;
-
To give special attention to the reduction of poverty
among women;
-
To ensure empowerment of the poor in poverty reduction
strategies;
-
To support existing poverty reduction initiatives
at the multilateral level, such as the Comprehensive
Development Framework of the World Bank and the
Poverty Reduction Strategy approach linked to the
HIPC debt relief initiative.
119.
Actions
-
Require that country plans prepared for initiatives
in this programme of action assess their poverty
reduction impact, both before and after implementation;
-
Work with the World Bank, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), the ADB, and the United Nations (UN)
agencies to accelerate implementation and adoption
of the Comprehensive Development Framework, the
Poverty Reduction Strategy and related approaches;
-
Establish a gender task team to ensure that the
specific issues faced by poor women are addressed
in the poverty reduction strategies, of the New
Partnership for Africa's Development;
-
Establish a task team to accelerate the adoption
of participatory and decentralised processes for
the provision of infrastructural and social services.
(ii)
Bridging the Education Gap
120.
Objectives
-
To work with donors and multilateral institutions
to ensure that the IDG of achieving universal primary
education by 2015 is realised;
-
To work for improvements in curriculum development,
quality improvements and access to ICT;
-
To expand access to secondary education and improve
its relevance to Africa's development;
-
Promote networks of specialised research and higher
education institutions.
121.
Actions
-
Review current initiatives jointly with the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) and other major international donors;
-
Review levels of expenditure on education by African
countries, and lead the process of developing norms
and standards for government expenditure on education;
-
Set up a task force to accelerate the introduction
of ICT in primary schools;
-
Set up a task force to review and put forward proposals
for the research capacity needed in each region
of the continent.
122.
The key problems in education in Africa are the poor
facilities and inadequate systems under which the
vast majority of Africans receive their training.
Africans who have had the opportunity of obtaining
training elsewhere in the world have demonstrated
their ability to compete successfully.
123.
The plan supports the immediate strengthening of the
university system across Africa, including the creation
of specialised universities where needed, building
on available African teaching staff. The need to establish
and strengthen institutes of technology is especially
emphasised.
(iii)
Reversing the Brain Drain
124.
Objectives
- To
reverse the brain drain and turn it into a "brain
gain" for Africa
-
To build and retain within the continent critical
human capacities for Africa's development
-
To develop strategies for utilising the scientific
and technological know-how and skills of Africans
in the diaspora for the development of Africa
125.
Actions
-
Create the necessary political, social and economic
conditions in Africa that would serve as incentives
to curb the brain drain and attract much-needed
investment.
-
Establish a reliable data base on the brain drain
both to determine the magnitude of the problem,
and to promote networking and collaboration between
experts in the country - of - origin and those in
the diaspora.
-
Develop scientific and technical networks to channel
the repatriation of scientific knowledge to the
home country, and establish cooperation between
those abroad and at home.
-
Ensure that the expertise of Africans living in
the developed countries is utilised in the execution
of some of the projects envisaged under the New
Partnership for Africa's Development.
(iv)
Health
126.
Objectives
-
To strengthen programmes for containing communicable
diseases, so that they do not fall short of the
scale required in order to reduce the burden of
disease;
-
To have a secure health system that meets needs
and supports disease control effectively;
-
To ensure the necessary support capacity for the
sustainable development of an effective health care
delivery system;
-
To empower the people of Africa to act to improve
their own health and to achieve health literacy;
-
To successfully reduce the burden of disease on
the poorest people in Africa;
-
To encourage cooperation between medical doctors
and traditional practitioners.
127.
Actions
-
Strengthen Africa's participation in processes aimed
at procuring affordable drugs, including those involving
the international pharmaceutical companies and the
international civil society, and explore the use
of alternative delivery systems for essential drugs
and supplies;
-
Mobilise the resources required to build effective
disease interventions and secure health systems;
-
Lead the campaign for increased international financial
support for the struggle against HIV/AIDS and other
communicable diseases;
-
Join forces with other international agencies such
as the WHO and donors to ensure support for the
continent is increased by at least US $10 billion
per annum;
-
Encourage African countries to give higher priority
to health in their own budgets and to phase such
increases in expenditure to a level to be mutually
determined;
-
Jointly mobilise resources for capacity-building
in order to enable all African countries to improve
their health infrastructures and management.
128.
Africa is home to major endemic diseases. Bacteria
and parasites carried by insects, the movement of
people and other carriers thrive, favoured as they
are by weak environmental policies and poor living
conditions. One of the major impediments facing African
development efforts is the widespread incidence of
communicable diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis
and malaria. Unless these epidemics are brought under
control, real gains in human development will remain
a pipe dream.
129.
In the health sector, Africa compares very poorly
with the rest of the world. In 1997, child and juvenile
death rates were 105 and 169 per 1000, as against
6 and 7 per 1000 respectively in developed countries.
Life expectancy is 48.9 years, as against 77.7 years
in developed countries. Only 16 doctors are available
per 100 000 inhabitants against 253 in industrialised
countries. Poverty, reflected in very low per capita
incomes, is one of the major factors limiting the
populations' capacity to address their health problems.
130.
Nutrition is an important ingredient of good health.
The average daily intake of calories varies from 2384
in low-income countries to 2846 in middle-income countries
to 3390 in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) countries.
131.
Health, defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO)
as a state of complete physical and mental well-being,
contributes to increase in productivity and consequently
to economic growth. The most obvious effects of health
improvement on the working population are the reduction
in lost working days due to sick leave, the increase
in productivity, and the chance to get better paid
jobs. Eventually, improvement in health and nutrition
directly contributes to improved well-being as the
spread of diseases is controlled, infant mortality
rates are reduced, and life expectancy is higher.
The link with poverty reduction is clearly established.
Agriculture
132.
The majority of Africa's people live in rural areas.
However, the agrarian systems are generally weak and
unproductive. Coupled with external setbacks such
as climatic uncertainty, biases in economic policy
and instability in world commodity prices, these systems
have held back agricultural supply and incomes in
the rural areas, leading to poverty.
133.
The urgent need to achieve food security in African
countries requires that the problem of inadequate
agricultural systems be addressed, so that food production
can be increased and nutritional standards raised.
134.
Improvement in agricultural performance is a prerequisite
of economic development on the continent. The resulting
increase in rural peoples' purchasing power will also
lead to higher effective demand for African industrial
goods. The induced dynamics would constitute a significant
source of economic growth.
135.
Productivity improvement in agriculture rests on the
removal of a number of structural constraints affecting
the sector. A key constraint is climatic uncertainty,
which raises the risk factor facing intensive agriculture
based on the significant inflow of private investment.
Consequently, governments must support the provision
of irrigation equipments and develop arable lands
when private agents are unwilling to do so. The improvement
of other rural infrastructure (roads, rural electrification,
etc.) is also essential.
136.
The institutional environment for agriculture also
significantly affects the sector's productivity and
performance. Institutional support in the form of
research centres and institutes, the provision of
extension and support services, and agricultural trade
fairs will further boost the production of marketable
surpluses. The regulatory framework for agriculture
must also be taken into account, including the encouragement
of local community leadership in rural areas, and
the involvement of these communities in policy and
the provision of services.
137.
Too little attention has been paid by bilateral donors
and multilateral institutions to the agriculture sector
and rural development, where more than 70 per cent
of the poor people in Africa reside. For example,
in the World Bank lending portfolio, credits to agriculture
amounted to 39 per cent in 1978, but dropped to 12
per cent in 1996 and even further to 7 per cent in
2000. The entire donor community must reverse such
negative trends.
The
Environment Initiative
138.
It has been recognised that a healthy and productive
environment is a prerequisite for the New Partnership
for Africa's Development. It is further recognised
that the range of issues necessary to nurture this
environmental base is vast and complex, and that a
systematic combination of initiatives is necessary
in order to develop a coherent environmental programme.
This will necessitate that choices be made, and particular
issues be prioritised for initial interventions.
139.
It is also recognised that a core objective of the
Environment Initiative must be to held in combating
poverty and contributing to socio-economic development
in Africa. It has been demonstrated in other parts
of the world that measures taken to achieve a healthy
environmental base can contribute greatly to employment,
social and economic empowerment, and reduction of
poverty.
140.
It should be mentioned, here, that Africa will host
the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September
2002, and that environmental management form the basis
of the Summit. In this regard, we propose that the
event put particular emphasis on the deliberations
on this theme in the New Partnership for Africa's
Development.
141.
The Environment Initiative has targeted eight sub-themes
for priority interventions:
-
Combating Desertification. Initial interventions
are envisaged to rehabilitate degraded land and
to address the factors that led to such degradation.
Many of these steps will need to be labour intensive,
along the lines of "public works programmes",
thereby contributing to the social development needs
of the continent. The initial interventions will
serve as best practices or prototypes for future
interventions in this area;
-
Wetland Conservation. This involves implementation
of African best practices on wetland conservation,
where social and ecological benefits are derived
from private sector investment in this area;
-
Invasive Alien Species. Partnerships are sought
to prevent and control invasive alien species. These
partnerships are critical for both the preservation
of the eco systems and economic well-being. Major
labour-intensive initiatives are possible;
-
Coastal Management. In protecting and utilising
coastal resources to optimal effect, best practices
are again suggested from which a broader programme
can be drawn up;
-
Global Warming. The initial focus will be on monitoring
and regulating the impact of climate change. Labour-intensive
work is essential and critical to integrated fire
management projects;
-
Cross-border Conservation Areas. This sub-theme
seeks to build on the emerging initiatives, seeking
partnerships across countries to boost conservation
and tourism, and, therefore, create jobs;
-
Environmental Governance. This relates to the securing
of institutional, legal, planning, training and
capacity-building requirements that underpin all
of the above;
-
Financing. A carefully structured and fair system
for financing is required.
142.
The Environment Initiative has a distinct advantage
in that many of the projects can start within relatively
short time frames, and they also offer exceptionally
good returns on investment in terms of creating the
social and ecological base upon which the New Partnership
for Africa's Development can thrive.
Culture
143.
Culture is an integral part of development efforts
on the continent. Consequently, it is essential to
protect and effectively utilise indigenous knowledge
that represents a major dimension of the continent's
culture, and to share this knowledge for the benefit
of humankind. The New Partnership for Africa's
Development will give special attention to the
protection and nurturing of indigenous knowledge,
which includes tradition-based literacy, artistic
and scientific works, inventions, scientific discoveries,
designs, marks, names and symbols, undisclosed information
and all other tradition-based innovations and creations
resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial,
scientific, literary or artistic fields. The term
also includes genetic resources and associated knowledge.
144.
The New Partnership for Africa's Development
leaders will take urgent steps to ensure that indigenous
knowledge in Africa is protected through appropriate
legislation. They will also promote its protection
at the international level, by working closely with
the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Science
and Technology Platforms
145.
Objectives
-
To promote cross-border co-operation and connectivity
by utilising knowledge currently available in existing
centres of excellence on the continent;
-
To develop and adapt information collection and
analysis capacity to support productive activities
as well as for exports;
-
To generate a critical mass of technological expertise
in targeted areas that offer high growth potential,
especially in biotechnology and natural sciences;
-
To assimilate and adapt existing technologies to
diversify manufacturing production.
146.
Actions
-
Establish regional co-operation on product standards
development and dissemination, and on geographic
information systems (GIS);
-
Develop networks among existing centres of excellence,
especially through the Internet, for cross-border
staff exchanges and training programmes, and develop
schemes to assist displaced African scientists and
researchers;
-
Work with UNESCO, the Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO), and other international organisations to
harness biotechnology in order to develop Africa's
rich biodiversity and indigenous knowledge base
by improving agricultural productivity and developing
pharmaceutical products;
-
Expand geo-science research to enhance the exploitation
of the mineral wealth of the African continent;
-
Establish and develop skills-based product engineering
and quality control to support diversification in
manufacturing.
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