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A Decade of NEPAD - Economic Commission for Africa - uneca

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legitimate rights and interests <strong>of</strong> the developing countries;<br />

and<br />

ӹ Open dialogue with the rest <strong>of</strong> the world to learn from<br />

and draw upon advanced achievements <strong>of</strong> the presentday<br />

civilizations, while vigorously promoting South-<br />

South and North-South dialogue with countries in other<br />

regions <strong>of</strong> the world in pursuit <strong>of</strong> common development<br />

and in an ef<strong>for</strong>t to benefit from the opportunities presented<br />

by globalization.<br />

Following the 2004 AASROC Summit in Durban, the 2005<br />

Asian-<strong>Africa</strong>n Summit was held in Jakarta from the 21-23<br />

April, 2005 with the aim that the Summit would further<br />

enable the two regions to build a solid resilient framework<br />

<strong>for</strong> inter-regional dialogue and cooperation. Out <strong>of</strong> this<br />

summit the members <strong>of</strong> the AASROC launched the “New<br />

Asian-<strong>Africa</strong>n Strategic Partnership (NAASP)”.<br />

Delegates recognized <strong>NEPAD</strong> as “the <strong>Africa</strong>n Union’s<br />

programme <strong>for</strong> poverty reduction, socio-economic development<br />

and growth” and pledged support <strong>for</strong> its implementation.<br />

While also acknowledging the momentum <strong>of</strong> the<br />

more bilateral initiatives <strong>of</strong> TICAD, FOCAC, India-<strong>Africa</strong><br />

Cooperation, the Brunei – Dar es Salaam Non-aligned<br />

Movement <strong>for</strong> South -South Cooperation, the Vietnam-<br />

<strong>Africa</strong> Business Forum, the Korea-<strong>Africa</strong> Forum, the Smart<br />

Partnership Initiative, and the Langkawi International<br />

Dialogue, the delegates also stressed the importance <strong>of</strong><br />

streamlining and aligning existing initiatives <strong>for</strong> coherence<br />

and maximum benefit to avoid duplication.<br />

Bilateral Support<br />

In addition to the support that exists <strong>for</strong> <strong>NEPAD</strong> from the<br />

multilateral community, a number <strong>of</strong> individual countries<br />

have been strong bilateral supporters <strong>of</strong> the initiative.<br />

While, not meant to be an exhaustive rendering, an<br />

Canada<br />

Canada is a major aid contributor to <strong>Africa</strong> through its<br />

national <strong>for</strong>eign assistance agency, the Canadian International<br />

Development Agency (CIDA). A member <strong>of</strong> the<br />

G8 and an early supporter <strong>of</strong> <strong>NEPAD</strong>, Canada allocated<br />

roughly US$6 billion in ODA <strong>for</strong> <strong>Africa</strong> <strong>for</strong> the period<br />

2002 – 2008 and in 2008 raised its annual aid budget to<br />

<strong>Africa</strong> to US$2.1 billion.<br />

3. Public Sector Support <strong>for</strong> <strong>NEPAD</strong> A <strong>Decade</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>NEPAD</strong><br />

Toward this end, NAASP was developed around three<br />

broad areas <strong>of</strong> partnership: 1) political solidarity, 2)<br />

economic cooperation, and 3) socio-cultural relations.<br />

Furthermore, NAASP was to focus on practical cooperation<br />

between the two continents in areas such as: trade,<br />

industry, investment, finance, tourism, in<strong>for</strong>mation and<br />

communication technology, energy, health, transportation,<br />

agriculture, water resources and fisheries.<br />

Institutionally, NAASP would convene a Summit <strong>of</strong> Heads<br />

<strong>of</strong> State/ Government every four years, a Ministerial Meeting<br />

<strong>of</strong> Foreign Ministers every two years and Sectoral<br />

Ministerial and other Technical Meetings when deemed<br />

necessary. A Business Summit in conjunction with the<br />

Summit <strong>of</strong> Heads <strong>of</strong> State/ Government would also be<br />

held every fours years. 29<br />

In September 2006, South <strong>Africa</strong> and Indonesia co-chaired<br />

the first NAASP Senior Officials Meeting in Durban, South<br />

<strong>Africa</strong>, and in October 2009 a Senior Officials Meeting<br />

<strong>of</strong> NAASP was held in Jakarta, Indonesia with the key<br />

agenda item being the organization’s first Summit which<br />

is to be held in 2010 30 .<br />

29 Declaration on the New Asian-<strong>Africa</strong>n Strategic Partnership,<br />

Bandung Indonesia, April 2005<br />

30 Indonesia Hosts Asian-<strong>Africa</strong>n Senior Official Meeting, October 12,<br />

2009 – www.news.xinhuanet.com<br />

assessment <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> the initiatives <strong>of</strong> these countries<br />

is illustrative <strong>of</strong> the growth in support that exists <strong>for</strong> the<br />

<strong>NEPAD</strong> programme.<br />

While a number <strong>of</strong> CIDA funded initiatives aid the<br />

principles <strong>of</strong> <strong>NEPAD</strong> (such as the CIDA funded SADC<br />

Public-Private Partnership development project 31 ), in<br />

2002 Canada launched the US$500 million Canada Fund<br />

<strong>for</strong> <strong>Africa</strong> to support <strong>NEPAD</strong> and the G8 Action Plan.<br />

Four years later, Canada further stepped up and invested<br />

31 www.sadcbanking.orwg<br />

27

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