Background Document Commissioned by the UNECA and Prepared by Omar Alieu Touray

1. PRESENTATION OF THE AFRICA REPORT ON INSTITUTIONAL AND STRATEGIC FRAMEWORKS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Background Document Commissioned by the UNECA and Prepared by Omar Alieu Touray Africa Regional Preparatory Conference for Rio+20 20-25 October 2011

2. Methodology and objectives of the Report Methodology: • The study is based on desk review and field work; Objectives: • Assess how the institutional and strategic frameworks • promote the integration of the three pillars of sustainable development in a balanced manner; • Enhance institutional linkages; • Encourage multi-stakeholder participation and decentralization in the planning and implementation of programmes; • Cater for inter-generational and intra-generational equity through long-term planning and strategies that bridge the equality gaps

3. Institutions • The Study focuses on regional, sub-regional and national institutions. • Regional Institutions: AU (Including the AUC, NPCA), AMCOW and AMSEN, AfDB, and UN institutions such as the UNECA, UNDP, UNEP and FAO. (The treatment of these institutions is limited to their regional activities) • Subregional Institutions: Mainly RECs: ECOWAS, ECCAS, SADC, COMESA, EAC,IGAD, UMA • National Institutions: National Councils for Sustainable Development and national institutions.

4. Main Findings:Regional Level AU strategies include: • AUC-led programmes such asThe African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development;The Great Green Wall initiative for the Sahara • NEPAD: NEPAD has proven to be both an institution and a strategy for sustainable development, and gained wide recognition. In addition it has put in place the CAADP programme, the Action Plan on the environment, energy programme, and the APRM. Progress Made: • AUC-led initiatives such as the Africa Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development (AMSED) have enhanced vertical and horizontal linkages, while the Green Wall of the Sahara programme has promoted multi-stakeholder participation; • Since its inception, NEPAD has proven to be both an institution and a strategy for sustainable development, and has increasingly gained recognition from the international community and Africa’s development partners. The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation also recognized that NEPAD provides a framework for sustainable development in Africa • Through the CAADP programme, the Action Plan on the environment, and the energy programme, NEPAD has promoted the integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions of development, enhanced partnerships and multi-stakeholder participation, established horizontal and vertical linkages at institutional and programmatic levels.

5. Regional Level Cont. • Main Challenges: the difficulty of inter-departmental and inter-agency coordination to ensure better synergy and integration. • AUC has mainstreamed the participation of the major groups in many ways – with gender parity having been attained at the level of the college of commissioners. But the participation of major groups in programme implementation across all sectors remains inadequate; • Inadequacy of funds, with the AU depending on partners for the bulk of its programmes

6. AU cont • Recommendations: • Institutional collaboration should be sustained beyond the design phase of programmes; • AUC should also scale up its coordination function, establish effective outreach and communication channels with the RECs; • African governments should demonstrate ownership by budgeting for and exploring alternative sources of funding for NEPAD programmes; • The Concept of Champions, developed in the context of the PICI, should be extended to other sectors.

7. Specialized Technical Committees (STCs) • AMCEN and AMCOW have made progress with regard to integrating environmental and water issues in the programmes of the AU and the RECs. • They have also built linkages with other regional and subregional institution • Main Challenges: overlapping and unclear mandate; unclear status within the AU Organs; inadequate financial and human resources; • Recommendations: building synergy through greater programme coordination; linkages with other structures such as the group of African Ambassadors in New York and the African members of the CSD.

8. Regional inst cont • African Development Bank • Progress made: Through it MTS, the Green Growth strategy and other sectoralprogrammes, the AfDB has made significant strides in developing horizontal and vertical programmatic linkages and enhancing integrated delivery of programmes and projects that satisfy sustainability and poverty reduction objectives. • Recommendation: AfDB should increase funding; enhance capacity building; promote multi-stakeholder participation in project design and implementation; and expand the scope of the EIA to cover social dimensions.

9. UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTIONS • UNECA: In response to the mandate given to it by both the WSSD and the UN General Assembly, the UNECA has put in place a number of mechanisms including: CFSSD, RIMs, RCMs, SDRA, • In addition, the ECA embarked upon a repositioning exercise that consists in realigning its programme of work with the priorities of the African Union and its NEPAD Programme.

10. UN Institutions Cont. • Progress Made: • CFSSD: fostered institutional linkages; ensured that africa’s concerns and priorities are well articulated in the outcomes of the various sessions of UNCSD; created awareness, enhanced advocacy and capacity building in the application of integration tools; • RIMs: have facilitated the review of progress in the implementation of Agenda 21, PFIA21 and the JPOI; • SDRA’s Provide good analysis of priority SD issues; is the output of joint initiatives of UNECA,UNEP,FAO, UNDP, AUC, AfDB, NPCA.

11. ctd • RCM: The RCM has ensured the increased and high level participation of some 30 agencies and organizations in support of the AU and NEPAD, especially in priority areas such as CAADP and the APRM; It has also enhanced institutional linkages. • Repositioning : facilitated integrated programme implementation, fostered linkages with AUC NPCA, AfDB and other sub-regional institutions, and enhanced partner with bilateral donors as manifested in a scaled up donor funding support.

12. Cont. • Challenges: lack of adequate data to facilitate tracking of progress on sustainable development; inadequate funding; and general lack of capacity at various levels. • Recommendations: Stronger linkages should be established between the global, regional, sub-regional and national processes; • Member-states should be assisted to participate meaningfully in the RIMs; • Sustainable development indicator framework for Africa should be developed; • Coordination between UNECA and NPCA should be enhanced; • Non resident agencies should take part in the RCM process.

13. Other UN Institutions UNDP • Is one of the institutions identified by Agenda 21 for delivering sustainable development at the global, regional and sub-regional levels; Progress made: • UNDP has supported countries within the framework of the Capacity 21 to establish their National Councils for Sustainable Development and develop national strategies for sustainable development; • The UNDP also plays crucial role in programmatic and institutional linkages through the coordinating role it plays at the country level, where UNDP Resident Representatives also serve as the Resident Coordinator of development activities for the United Nations system as a whole. Recommendation • The evaluation of the United Nations Delivering as One pilot phase in eight countries shows that it is indeed important that the United Nations delivers as one. The United Nations development system should therefore coordinate and collaborate closely to ensure synergy and coherence at the national level

14. Cont. UNEP • The delivery of UNEP’s programme in Acfrica is done through a coordinated and multistakeholder process that involves UNEP and various partners. • Through the Africa regional programme, UNEP ensures that there is better coherence and coordination in the effective delivery of environmental capacity-building and technical support at all levels in response to country needs and priorities. Recommendation • There is need to ensure synergy through streamlined mandates, focusing on commonalities, and creating mechanisms to influence decision making processes at all levels. FAO • The FAO collaborated with NEPAD to develop CAADP and with member-states to develop national CAADP compacts which are considered an important step towards ensuring agricultural stability and economic development. Recommendation • As the main UN body dealing with Agriculture, the FAO’s support to African agriculture and food security is crucial. The organization should deepen its support to African countries to put in place policies that best address development, food security, poverty reduction and natural resource use in an integrated manner, and to identify how aid and public expenditures ensure balance between socio-economic development and environmental protection

15. INSTITUTIONAL AND STRATEGIC FRAMEWORKS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL Progress Made at the RECs Level • All the RECs have programmes on the environment, agriculture, natural resources, energy, disaster reduction, peace and security, governance and socioeconomic development. The sectoralprogrammes are anchored in long-term strategies that constitute the main regional development frameworks. • These include • SADC’s Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), Strategic Indicative Plan of the Organ (SIPO), • Vision 2020 and the Community Development Programme (CDP) of ECOWAS, • ECCAS Vision 2025, and Regional Economic Programme (REP) of CEMAC • The Five Year Development Plans of EAC, • IGAD’s Environment and Natural Resources Strategy, • the 2011-2015 Strategic Plan of COMESA.

16. cont • The review shows the subregional institutions have, with varying degrees of success, encouraged multi-stakeholder participation, built institutional linkages and sought the balanced integration of the three pillars of sustainable development. Challenges: • challenges include the difficulty of integrating all three dimensions of sustainable development in a balanced manner; • the complexity of the notion of sustainable development; • inadequate financial resources. Recommendations: There is the need to develop and train RECs on integration tools, elaborate possible financing mechanisms for sustainable development programmes, and promote institutional coherence and programme harmonization.

17. INSTITUTIONAL AND STRATEGIC FRAMEWORKS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL Progress Made at the National Level • The majority of African countries have established NCSD and other structures that deal with sustainable development. • the mandates of the NCSDs and of bodies responsible for sustainable development at the national level cover a broad range of issues, but none of the bodies has a broad mandate. Challenges: • insufficient capacity at all levels; inadequate human, institutional and financial resources; lack of targeted technical assistance; low level of awareness among policy makers and the general public; limited or unknown best practices or successful pilot projects; limited foreign direct investment and low level of international cooperation, and dormant NCSDs. • The relatively weak involvement of planning and finance ministries in sustainable development issues; Recommendation • Countries should be supported to develop NCSD and integrated strategies; • finance and planning ministries should be givenleadership role in sustainable development at the national level.

18. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOVERNANCE • The enabling framework for integration of all three pillars of sustainable development has been weak at all levels; as a result various reform proposals have been made including • creating new structures, • strengthening existing structures • elevating the existing structures to a higher level. • Specific proposals: • change the ECOSOC into a Sustainable Development Council • create a forum within ECOSOC that would deal with sustainable development. • elevate the CSD to a Sustainable Development Council as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly.

19. Cont. There have also been proposals to strengthen UNEP by • elevating UNEP to specialized agency status • creating a UN Environmental Organization (UNEO) or a World Environmental Organization (WEO), and • revising UNEP’s mandate within its current structure.

20. Position of African Environment Ministers on International Environment Governance • At the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Malabo in June 2011, a decision was taken concerning the revision of institutional frameworks for sustainable development that will take into consideration the need to strengthen, consolidate and transform UNEP into an international specialized institution for the environment based in Nairobi. • During the 4th Special Session of AMCEN in Bamako, in September 2011, the African Environment Ministers did not only support the Assembly decision, they went further to indicate what shape the proposed body should take. • Most importantly, they stressed that a new specialized institution does not imply the establishment of an environment inspection body, compliance mechanism for developing countries, or the putting in place of green conditionalities or trade barriers, and should not lead to additional financial burdens for Africa.

21. Sustainable Development Governance at the Regional and Sub-regional level Regional Level • Paragraphs 158-161 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) provides for a range of measures for strengthening the institutional framework for sustainable development at the regional level and calls for the Regional Commissions to promote the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development into their work in a balanced way; facilitate and promote a balanced integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in member states. Sub-regional Level • At the sub-regional level, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) take the lead in planning for regional integration and policy harmonization;

22. Reform Proposals at Regional and Sub-regional level • There is need to strengthen the capacity of the regional institutions, including the UNECA, to support the multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary forums such as the African Development Forum, the Regional Coordination Mechanism of UN Agencies working in Africa, in Support of the African Union and its NEPAD Programme, the joint meetings of the African Union Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the ECA Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development, and the associated Africa Regional Implementation Meetings (RIMs). • RECs can play an important role in spurring the establishment and development of institutional and strategic frameworks for sustainable development, as well as in ensuring their effective operationalization and implementation. They should, therefore, be supported to enhance institutional coherence and harmonize relevant development policies, plans and programmes among their member States.

23. Governance of Sustainable Development at the National Level • National Councils on Sustainable Development (NCSDs) have proven to be an effective way for governments to consult with stakeholders and sectors of society. By doing so they have helped to build support for potentially difficult legislation. They have also produced important national policies and strategies on sustainable development which have advanced parts of Agenda 21 and the WSSD JPoI. • the principal challenges is the relatively weak involvement of planning and finance ministries in sustainable development issues. In many countries, sustainable development is still in the domain of environment ministries as national authorities tend to view sustainable development as dealing mostly with environment, rather than viewing environment as one of three equally important pillars of sustainable development.

24. Recommendations on SD Governance Global level: • Africa should harnesses its resources to secure in Rio reformed governance architecture at the global level that promotes coordination and synergies across various sectors and actors, and where the voice of developing countries is adequately reflected, and is likely to promote integration at all levels. Such a regime should address the fragmentation that characterizes the current international environmental governance (IEG) framework and the international environment financing facilities.  Regional Level • At the regional level, governance should be strengthened by leveraging upon the comparative advantages of existing institutions to ensure effective vertical linkages, as well as efficiency and effectiveness in sustainable development actions. More specifically, the leading role of the regional commissions in coordinating regional and subregional activities towards sustainable development, in accordance with chapter 38 of Agenda 21, must be preserved and strengthened to foster balanced integration. Within the context of strengthening regional institutions, UNEP’s Regional Offices should be further strengthened to support the growing number of regional-based intergovernmental plans of actions, such as the environment initiative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. Sub-regional level • RECs should be supported to enhance institutional coherence and harmonize relevant development policies, plans and programmes among their member States. National Level • At the national level, Rio+20 could reactivate and reinvigorate the National Councils for Sustainable Development, to follow up UNCSD 2012

25. Good Governance: an Essential Element for Sustainable Development Progress made • Progress on good governance include new governance parameters and benchmarks that the African Union and NEPAD have defined; the establishment at the national level of competitive multiparty democracy and watchdog institutions such as the ombudsman, human rights commission, anti corruption commissions, auditor general, inspector of governance or minister for good governance. Challenges • Despite the progress made, a number of challenges exist including fragile and weak institutions, instruments and processes, and the dependence of watchdog and advocacy agencies on governments for funding. Recommendations • There is need for greater tolerance for diversity and more guarantees for gender equality; establishment of mechanisms that promote free and fair election ; including post-election dispute adjudication, and exploring alternative sources of funding for elections.

26. CONCLUSIONS • Africa has responded to the need for a balanced integration of the three pillars of sustainable development with varying degrees of success. Institutional reforms have been undertaken and sustainable development strategies have been developed and implemented at all levels. To a large extent, multi-stakeholder participation has been promoted and institutional and programmatic linkages established. The various long term visions, plans and strategies have also catered for inter-generational and intra-generational equity.. • But the problem that is common across all levels is the difficulty of balanced integration of the social, economic and environmental pillars of sustainable development in planning, budgeting and implementation of plans and programmes. • The challenges in the balanced integration of the various dimensions also relate to the complexity of the notion, and the lack of synergy between the institutions at different levels. • Limited financing is another persistent constraint in the integration of the three pillars in a balanced manner in the development plans and programmes at the subregional, just as it is at the national and local levels.

27. What should Africa expect from Rio+20? • The upcoming Rio+20 provides a unique opportunity for Africa to effectively articulate its needs and priorities. Global Level • In particular, Africa should harness its resources to secure a reformed global governance for sustainable development that promotes the balanced integration of the three pillars at all levels. Regional Level • At the regional level, governance should be strengthened by leveraging upon the comparative advantages of existing institutions to ensure effective vertical linkages, as well as efficiency and effectiveness in sustainable development actions. More specifically, the leading role of the regional commissions in coordinating regional and subregional activities towards sustainable development, in accordance with chapter 38 of Agenda 21, must be preserved and strengthened to foster balanced integration. Within the context of strengthening regional institutions, UNEP’s Regional Offices should be further strengthened to support the growing number of regional-based intergovernmental plans of actions, such as the environment initiative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. Sub-regional level • RECs should be supported to enhance institutional coherence and harmonize relevant development policies, plans and programmes among their member States. National Level • At the national level, Rio+20 could reactivate and reinvigorate the National Councils for Sustainable Development, to follow up UNCSD 2012. THANK YOU, MERCI, SHUKRAN