Report of the High-level Side event on: Towards an integrated approach to the implementation of the IPoA: Perspectives from African and Arab LDCs. Organised on the margins of the Comprehensive Midterm Review on the IPoA for LDCs 28 May 2016, Antalya, Turkey 1. Background The Comprehensive High-level MidTerm Review Conference of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action was convened on 27-29 May, in Antalya, Turkey. The objectives of the review conference were to: (i) Undertake an assessment of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action by the LDCs and their development partners; (ii) Identify progress, challenges and constraints in the implementation of the programme; (iii) Identify measures, actions and initiatives needed to overcome them, and (iv) Reaffirm the global commitment to address the special needs of the LDCs made at the Fourth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries and to further strengthen the global partnership for development for LDCs in all priority areas of the Istanbul Programme of Action. Given that the majority of the LDCs (34 out of 48) are in Africa, and in order to focus global attention to the peculiar challenges of African and Arab LDCs, the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) in collaboration with the African Union, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), UN Economic Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Government of Turkey organised a high-level Side event on Towards an integrated approach to the implementation of the IPoA: Perspectives from African and Arab LDCs on 28 May 2016 at the Golf Lounge, Hotel Titanic Belek in Antalya, Turkey, on the margins of the Comprehensive MidTerm Review Conference on the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the least developed countries (LDCs) for the decade 2011-2020. For African LDCs, which account for the majority of the LDCs, implementation of the IPoA will be even more tasking; it must also take into account Africa s Agenda 2063 and its First Ten Year Implementation Plan. In light of the adoption of three global frameworks, including Agenda 2030, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the Paris Climate Agreement adopted at the COP21 as well as the African Union Agenda 2063, the side event sought to explore how African and Arab LDCs could leverage the synergies among the IPoA, Agenda 2030 and 2063 for effective and accelerated graduation from LDC status which is the overarching objective of the IPoA. The meeting also discussed how harnessing the demographic dividend could also contribute to the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the LDCs as well as 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It also discussed how the international community 1
could support the African Union Agenda 2063, especially the flagship projects and programmes of the First Ten Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063. 2. Participation The meeting was attended by high-level government officials, including Ministers, Permanent representatives, Senior Officials from the United Nations system organisations, staffs from the United Nations system organisations, funds and programmes. The high Level panellists included the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chad, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, the Minister of International Cooperation of Sudan, the Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations in New York, USG and Special Adviser on Africa and the USG and High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. Mr. Bartholomew Armah, Chief of the Renewal of planning Section at ECA and Mr. Tarik Alami, Director of the Emerging and Conflict Related Issues Division at ESCWA made technical interventions. Staff from United Nations system organisations, including OSAA, ECA, ESCWA, and OHRLLS participated in the side event. Also participating were staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Turkey and the Republic of Benin; High level panelists from Chad, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Yemen; high level officials of ministries of planning, Finance and Foreign affairs from Africa, Arab countries and Turkey attending the IPoA Mid- Term Review meeting; Representatives from Parliaments and Civil Society Organization of various countries. ECA, ESCWA, OHRLLS, OSAA, Government of Turkey and republic of Benin high level representatives and technical staff included, the Chief of the Renewal of planning Section as head of ECA s delegation, Mr. Tarik Alami, Director of the Emerging and Conflict Related Issues Division as ESCWA s head of delegation, the USG for OHRLLs, the USG for OSAA, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey and The USG and Special Adviser on Africa Mr. Maged Abdelaziz and HE Mr. Jean-Francis Regis Zinsou, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Benin to the UN and Cofacilitator for the Inter-governmental Consultations of the General Assembly s Mid-Term Review of the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action moderated the event. 3. Format The Side-event was held over two hours and consisted of three parts: opening; high level/ministerial segment; and a technical segment; followed by a general discussion. 2
3.1. Opening In opening the meeting, Mr. Maged Abdelaziz, Under Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa thanked the Government of People of Turkey for hosting the MidTerm Review Conference, and the logistical support for the organisation of the High-Level Side event. He expressed his utmost appreciation for H.E. Mr. Çavuşoğlu, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey, for graciously agreeing to give us a keynote speech today and our sincere thanks to his Ministry for co-organizing this event with us. As we can all attest here, relations with Africa constitutes one of the prime orientations of Turkey s foreign policy to the extent that Turkey defines itself as an Afro-Eurasian state thanks to its long-standing historical and cultural ties with the Continent. Focusing on African LDCs, he stated that African LDCs have made progress on several MDGs, including poverty, maternal mortality, primary education enrolment, gender parity; and fighting HIV/AIDS epidemic and rolling back malaria. For example poverty fell from 56.5 % in 2000 to 48.4 per cent in 2012; Child mortality declined from a high 144 deaths per 1,000 to 65 deaths in 2012. Africa has also made the most progress in increasing women participation in parliament (15 % followed by LAC at 11 %). He highlighted in particular the infrastructure sector which has seen considerable progress continued, underpinned by strong domestic resource mobilisation efforts. According to the NEPAD Agency, national spending on infrastructure projects amounted to $51.4 billion in 2014, representing 63 percent of total funding. Now the focus is on the implementation of the 16 mega infrastructure projects adopted at the Dakar Financing Summit. Partnerships with the new and emerging development partners, most notably China has contributed to this progress, India, Brazil and Turkey have also contributed; Despite this progress, challenges remain, including weak infrastructure especially in transport and power, limited diversification of economies, low intra-africa trade; climate change, as well as persisting political instabilities; all threatening to derail progress made so far. African countries recognise the importance of harnessing the demographic dividend for the region s sustainable development. For Africa s transformation which is the fundamental vision of Agenda 2063 hinges on harnessing the full potential of its youth (which is Aspiration 6: An Africa whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children); Moving forward, increased support to African LDCs in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and AU Agenda 2063, especially its First Ten Year Implementation Plan, through financing, capacity and technology transfer, 3
3.2. High Level Segment Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, Under Secretary-General and High Representative for least developed countries, land locked developing countries and small island developing states In his remark, Mr. Gyan Acharya, Under Secretary-General and High Representative for least developed countries, land locked developing countries and small island developing states (OHRLLS), in his capacity as the Secretary-General of the Conference stated that 34 of the 48 LDCs being in Africa points to the serious structural challenges, poverty and vulnerability facing these countries. However, African LDCs have also seen successes which could serve as a source of hope for others: Two African LDCs have already graduated: Botswana - also a landlocked country and Cabo Verde also an small island. Two others Angola and Equatorial Guinea - have been recommended for graduation. One Sao Tome and Principe has for the first time met the graduation criteria. Furthermore, some of the fastest growing countries in the previous decade (2001-2010) included LDCs (Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Liberia and Sierra Leone). The Arab LDCs in Africa Mauritania and Sudan have also done well, growing at an average of 5% and 6.9%, respectively, over the same period (well above the LDC group average of 3.6). Yemen has grown at 4.8% in the previous decade, but its economy has contracted by an average of 5.1 per year since 2011. While the economies of African LDCs have been growing at a rate of more than 5% per annum since 2010, they have yet to significantly reduce poverty or undergo structural transformation. Much of their GDP growth is based on the export of primary commodities, which is not only vulnerable to oscillations in global commodity prices but is also not sustainable. Furthermore, economic growth alone is not sufficient for achieving the goals of the IPoA or the SDG. In spite of growth rates of around 5% in the last three years and over 6% in the decade 2001-2010, poverty remains widespread in LDCs and economic growth has not translated to structural transformation, employment creation and social development. There are many parallels between the IPoA, Agenda 2063 and SDGs poverty eradication, food security, sustainable agriculture, water and sanitation, energy, sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, industrialization, full and productive employment, natural resources management and others. These of these issues have also been emphasized in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and will be even more critical on the cusp of the demographic shift the LDCs are about to experience. It is critical that the international community find synergies and build coherence into the implementation of these and other development agendas (such as Agenda 2063), since LDCs have limited institutional capacity which must not be burdened by duplicate or redundant monitoring processes. 4
We need to ensure LDCs have all resources as well as policies to make the most of this unique opportunity. Leaving no one behind is especially important for these vulnerable countries, and we must not miss the chance to strengthen our commitment to them. HE Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chad The minister first stressed the need for African LDCs to join efforts for the implementation of the IPoA. Some specific measures and policies are required if LDCs are to increase their chances of graduation. It is in this context that the African Union has developed the Agenda 2063 and its First 10 year s implementation plan. The agenda s objective is among others to add value to natural resources, create decent jobs, develop human capital, infrastructures, science technology innovation and research, promote women and youth empowerment, etc. He said that efforts are also being deployed in the areas of peace and security, conflicts, terrorism, climate change, epidemiology and other destabilizing factors that pose threats for development in general and graduation from the LDCs status in particular. The minister further called for renewed and strengthened support to LDCs. The International Community must reaffirm its commitment to the implementation of the IPoA for the remainder of the decade. Climate change is threatening millions of lives, especially in the Sahel. In that regard, there is need to reinforce the resilience of these countries through initiatives such as the Great Green Wall. Combatting desertification and pollution, as well as good management of land is also crucial. The Minister called all African countries to ratify the COP21 Agreement on Climate Change. He also development efforts of several African countries are threatened by terrorism, human trafficking, radicalization, etc, and all these problems require concerted and focused attention. This underscores the centrality of peace and in sustainable development as rightly recognised in both 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and Agenda 2063 to the implementation of IPOA. HE Naci Koru, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mr. Naci Koru started by stressing that the challenges faced by African and Arab LDCs are global challenges, which require global responses and said What is good for Africa will be good for the world. In this context, he elaborated on the strengthened relations between Turkey and African countries over the last 10 years. For example, Turkey now has 39 resident embassies in African countries, up from 12 just seven years ago; the number of direct flights between Turkey and African countries has also increased exponentially, and so are the number of students, business people and tourists traveling both ways. As a result, Turkey's bilateral trade volume with African countries reached $17.5 billion in 2015, and Turkey's official development assistance reached $3.9 billion in 2015, which corresponds to 0.54 per cent of its gross national income. The deputy Minister indicated that the country's Development Cooperation Agency (TIKA) has actively supported sustainable development efforts in African and Arab LDCs through various projects: more than 1,000 scholarships every year for students from African and Arab 5
LDCs; and technical training programs for young people both at home and in African and Arab LDCs. By way of conclusion he recalled an African proverb whereby If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, walk together, signifying that addressing African countries sustainable development challenges requires a collective global effort. HE Mr Samura M.W. Kamara Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone The Minister stressed the importance of developing an integrated framework to accelerate the implementation of the IPoA. He noted that the adoption of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 represents an opportunity for integrating all barriers hampering progress towards graduation. African LDCs present generic features that warrant fundamental enablers: LDCs have strong resource potential, however there is lack of capacities to exploit them advantageously; they have a high dependency on raw material export and high needs in imported goods and services; they have a high dependency on ODA which is worrisome, especially in light of its declining trend. Several countries have also high level economic growth but so far that growth has remained non-inclusive, showing limited capacity to promote decent jobs creation. There is need to have a development framework that integrate all constraints in human capabilities, drivers of growth and job creation. The Minister also underscored some specific challenges that require attention. For instance there is need to address marginalization through notably reintegrating post-conflict societies. Understanding better the drivers of conflicts is paramount in that task. Furthermore, the Minister recalled that Sierra Leone made commendable efforts in promoting its development. However, the outbreak of Ebola wiped in a short time the gains the country had made. This heightened LDCs vulnerability to external shocks; be they natural disasters, economic or health epidemics. But good lessons have been learnt from that experience, which could serve for developing a toolkit on how to handle this type of epidemic or other persisting issues such as malaria which is the main killer in several countries. In addition, to overcome their capacity gaps, African LDCs need toolkit in several other areas including youth employment mainstreaming; gender mainstreaming; financial management. But most directly related to the present side-event, there is need for a toolkit on how to integrate the various development agendas, that is Agenda 2030, Agenda 2063, and the IPoA into national planning frameworks. HE Mr. Kamal Aldeen Hassan, Minister of International Cooperation, Sudan Mr. Kamal Aldeen Hassan underlined that African LDCs are now potentially benefiting from the multiple global and regional development agendas: the SDGs, the Agenda 2063 and the IPoA, all of which offer a unique opportunity for Africa to achieve an inclusive and transformative development. However, implementation of the three agendas remains critical challenges for African countries. In other words, a shared understanding of these agendas is vital for ensuring effective implementation. 6
The Minister also stressed the essence of country's development planning process since the country has lost almost 75 per cent of its oil production and two-thirds of its foreign exchange earnings, following the 2011 secession of South Sudan. Sudan introduced in 2012 macroeconomic reforms, including tax reform, a gradual reduction in fuel subsidies, nonpriority public spending cuts, and a strengthening of social safety nets for the poor, he said. The government further introduced the 3-year economic salvation programme and national development plan and indicated how their programmes encompass the priority areas of the IPoA and the goals and targets of the Agenda 2063 and 2030. HE Mr. Khaled Al-Yemany, Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations in New York Mr. Khaled Al-Yemany started by explaining the challenges bedevilling conflict-affected LDCs for achieving the IPoA. He argued that conflict itself has significant impacts, including massive loss of lives, displacement of thousands of families and disruption of livelihoods. As a result, conflict-affected LDCs suffer from reduced quality of life and lower opportunities for development. The speaker highlighted that conflict-affected Arab LDCs, including Yemen are currently facing daunting challenges related to their structural vulnerabilities which are exacerbated by humanitarian crisis and political instability, Arab spring in particular. In consequence, these countries fall significantly short of the criteria for graduation from the LDC category. 3.2. Technical Segment The technical segment was chaired by HE Mr. Jean-Francis Regis Zinsou, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Benin to the UN and Co-facilitator for the Intergovernmental Consultations of the General Assembly s Mid-Term Review of the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action, and consistent of two technical presentations: Mr. Bartholomew Armah, Chief, Renewal of Planning Section of the Macroeconomic Policy Division in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Mr. Bartholomew Armah delivered a presentation on African LDCs' key perspectives on an integrated approach to the implementation of the IPoA. He started by analyzing African LDCs' overall performance on the IPoA. In that regards he noted that African LDCs have registered improvement in several priority areas of the IPoA, including infrastructure, health, education, women empowerment, domestic resource mobilization and governance while several challenges still remain: high dependence on commodities export and vulnerability to external shocks, and declining official development assistance. 7
Next the presenter introduced the key features of the Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and underscored that an integrated approach to their implementation is imperative in a situation where the adoption of the two frameworks marks the beginning of a two-pronged transition for Africa: a transition from the MDGs to the SDGs and a transition from NEPAD to Agenda 2063. In view of providing some insights on the need to integrate the two agendas and on how to do so, Mr. Armah presented a mapping highlighting the areas of commonalities and areas of divergence between Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030. In addition to that he also presented a table mapping the eight priority areas of the IPoA with the two agendas. These mapping exercise stressed very clearly how interlinked are all three frameworks. For a successful integration process at country levels, the presenter made the following recommendations: undertake sensitization and awareness raising about the multiple agendas; develop an integrated results measurement framework; proceed to an integrated implementation of all agendas; and conduct an integrated follow-up and review of them. By way of example of integrating, the external agendas into national development planning frameworks, Mr. Bartholomew Armah presented the experience of two African LDCs, namely Ethiopia and Rwanda. He said that Ethiopia has already undertaken the process of integrating SDGs and other global and regional agendas into their national plan by. The country did that by integrating indicators and targets related to these agendas into its sectoral plans and national plans. Rwanda s strategy for integrating the SDGs into its national planning frameworks consisted in three steps supported by effective institutional arrangements: a gap analysis (Dec 2015 Mar 2016); the integration and adaptation of SDGs indicators (Apr 2016 May 2016); and full integration of SDGs into their national planning framework (Apr 2016 Jun 2016). The presenter concluded his intervention by mentioning some integration and mainstreaming toolkits which allow assessing how national policies, strategies, plans and activities are interlinked with the Agenda 2063 and SDGs. Such toolkits are meant to support national capacities and to enhance developmental outcomes. Mr. Tarik Alami, Director of the Emerging and Conflict Related Issues Division, ESCWA Alami Mr. Alami noted that the midpoint of the IPoA finds us at a markedly changed global landscape than its signature in 2011. Increasing number of violent conflicts, refugee flows, man-made and natural disasters are posing daunting challenges for the world s most marginalized populations, heightening human suffering, diverting scarce resources away from addressing critical sustainable development priorities. The ESCWA representative noted that while a great number of LDCs have made notable progress in poverty reduction, reaching significant milestones in education, health, water and sanitation over the past two decades. However, progress remains uneven for conflict affected LDCs which constitute 1/3 of LDCs globally. The share of the world s poorest population 8
living in fragile states, including low-income countries, has doubled from 20 percent in 2005 to 40 percent today with increasing concentration of poverty in conflict affected LDCs. Under current conditions, by 2030 it is estimated that 2/3 of the world s poor will be living in countries affected by violence and fragility. Looking ahead at the next five years of IPoA implementation, the ambitions and integrated nature of globally agreed goals and frameworks, call on us all to make bold steps towards a more coherent, flexible yet differentiated approach for conflict affected countries. It is clear that conflict, left unaddressed will impede the achievement of SDGs, unless political commitment and concentrated efforts are intensified now to address its root causes. Bold steps translated in a) concrete commitments for support measures and b) a differentiated approach of engagement with conflict affected countries, to ensure that they do not continue to be left behind. Firstly, Mr. Alami stressed that if the international community is to reverse the adverse impact of conflict and increasing number of crises, there needs to be a long term vision that looks more into prevention and addresses the root causes of conflict, rather than only response. Conflict prevention measures with adequate early warning and risk assessment tools can assist better understand, prepare, manage and mitigate the escalation of risks. Far more so than in stable LDC s, addressing such risks needs to be embedded in national strategies and translated into special support measures by the international community. Lastly, financing needs ought to be discussed afresh. This involves not only the total amount of funds available for development assistance, geographical distribution but also their nature and the need for diversification. ODA to conflict affected LDCs remains not commensurate with their greater exposure (ESCWA, 2014). ODA should be smarter and better targeted in order to trigger change in conflict affected LDCs. 4. General Discussion This section summarizes the key issues raised and recommendations made during the general discussion that followed the various interventions. The main issues raised are as follows: 4. 1 Graduation from LDCs status and its constraints Local currencies are sliding against US dollars in a several African countries, having an impact of the economies and their development prospects. LDCs need to find a way to ensure that there local currency is stable against international currencies. This can be done through exports. However so far LDCs export raw material and get very little resource from their exports. Industrialization is the solution. There is need to put resources together for energy development, which is indispensable to industrialize, add value and draw more benefits from exports. 9
African Central banks have reserves over 6000 million USD in foreign countries. Even if half that amount was given to the African Development Bank, it could be used for beneficial development projects including in the area of energy. Lack of connectivity is hampering industrialization and graduation prospects. Africa needs to stop talking about landlocked countries and should rather improve its roads and talk about Land connected countries. Africa experienced many shocks in the past decade. There was the global financial crisis in 2008-2009; that was followed by climate related shocks. In 2014-2015 was the Ebola outbreak which effects were severe on three countries mainly but still affected several other economies of the continent. More recently commodity prices plunged with considerable impacts on LDCs. These multiple shocks are making graduation very complex. There is need to improve on the management of such shocks and related crises. 4.2 Integration of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 How do requirements in human and financial resources play in ensuring the integration of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063? It would be interesting to have good examples of countries that have successfully coordinated their human and financial resources for the implementation of the two agendas. An important step before bringing the integration of the two agendas at country level is to proceed to an harmonization of the two agendas with the view to mapping their commonalities and divergence and coming up with a single framework. Further to integration at country level, providing for budgetary allocation at national level is also critical for an effective implementation. Integration of these external frameworks into national ones will make their implementation easier, however it might put huge burden on countries. Countries might be wasting time tracking the respective results/performances recorded in each agenda at the expense of real implementation. There is need to integrate result measurement frameworks and M&E processes at all level in order to avoid duplicating efforts and to allow reducing transaction costs due to the existence of multiple agendas. 4.3 Means of implementation The means of implementation along with effective resources mobilization strategies would be vital in achieving the development aspirations outlined in both agendas. In this context, a more significant effort to balance between official development assistance and domestic resources, and to tackle illicit financial flows is particularly required at this stage of African LDCs development. 4.4 Lesotho s progress towards graduation 10
A representative from Lesotho hared some information about the progress of its country towards graduation. The country meets the GNI per capita criterion and is on course for the Human Asset Index criterion. However there are serious challenges including a declining ODA in recent years despite new ambitious agendas; High HIV and TB incidence limit ability to increase productivity; Recent drought requires additional resources to deal with emergencies. 4.5 Conflicted affected countries Innocent people are being killed every day in Yemen. UN should be putting enough pressure on the rebels who are destabilizing the country. In this context it is interesting to understand and improve on how UN resources and efforts are directed to Yemen. Adopt a long term vision aiming prevention and addresses the root causes of conflict, rather than only reacting to conflict. International community should make renewed efforts to keep their commitments and aim to increase the proportion of country programmable aid in countries most in need. Programmable aid will also encourage investment to address root causes of conflict such as: poverty reduction, income generation activities, especially for the youngest segments of the population and create the foundations for transition out of fragility. International community and donors when engaging in fragile settings should become more flexible and risk tolerant to on-budget aid modalities integrated into national institutions and planning cycles. Strengthen and expand partnerships to improve responses to conflict by forging more effective coalitions and enhance national capacities to mitigate external and internal shocks and support member states transition out of conflict. 6. Policy Recommendations The meeting concluded with a recap of the main recommendations that emerged from the general discussion. There is need to: Integrating the two agendas as well as their M&E frameworks to avoid overburdening countries; Finding a way of contending multiple shocks affecting adversely LDCs effort to graduate; Coordinating and fostering good management of resources in order to promote industrialization; Promoting win-win approach in global partnership for ODA to still come and focus better on LDCs priorities; Enhancing support to conflict affected LDCs. 11
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