A Decade of NEPAD - Economic Commission for Africa - uneca

72 A Decade of NEPAD: Deepening African Private Sector and Civil Society Ownership and Partnership
legitimacy to speak out on issues and whose views
should be incorporated into stakeholder processes. As
arguably each of these CSO constituents has a role to
play in the continent’s development, there is a need to
establish more opportunities for discussion about how
sometimes divergent views can be harmonized or lead
to a collectively held compromise view point.
ӹ Need to Improve Communications Strategy and Capacity
– Consistently from the earliest meetings related
to NEPAD and engagement with CSO community, to
more recent discussions in 2009, many have lamented
that the NEPAD message has been muffled and muddled
(if it gets out at all) when disseminated to Africa’s
citizens. The average African, if aware of NEPAD, feels
very little ownership of the initiative nor an inspiration
to participate in its implementation – in large part
because the correlation between direct improvement in
his or her standard of living and NEPAD’s programmes
has not been effectively made. Thus, NEPAD’s architects
and promoters must work to increase transparency,
accountability and promote a citizen-focus in all of the
initiative’s programmes. The African print and broadcast
Strengths
• Development of ECOSOCC and CCP-AU establishes vehicles
through which African CSOs can work to learn more about the
NEPAD processes
• The AU/NEPAD integration process should bring additional CSO
interest and skill sets to bear within the NEPAD process
• The UN’s OSSA has established a web based database of more
than 2000 African CSOs by sector that can be accessed by NEPAD
programme coordinators to solicit input in the various progrannes
• Growing cadre of competent, technically capable and nationally,
regionally and internationally connected Africa CSOs
• Expanding number of pan-African technical CSO networks for
NEPAD to engage with
Weaknesses
• Lack of adequate number of national and regional NEPAD CSO
focal points cross Africa
• Capacity constraints among CSOs
• Turf and legitimacy issues that periodically emerge between African
CSOs and International CSOs in Africa
• Existing distrust of CSOs that remains in a number of African
governments
• Lingering scepticism about the aims and interests behind NEPAD
still held by some in African CSO community
• Lack of formally incorporated engagement mechanism for CSOs
to be involved in all aspects of NEPAD
media have to become more engaged to get out the very
basis aspects of NEPAD and to report on the successes
and best practices that have come to pass over the past
tenyears.
ӹ Need to Raise the Prominence of NEPAD as a Policy
and Programme Priority at the National Level Within
Member States – Just as African regional integration has
lagged because member states have tended to put national
priorities above regional policy and programmes,
given the strong regional integration and sub-regional
organ and infrastructure development focus of NEPAD,
unless and until most African states make NEPAD a
clear national agenda item and priority, adequate space
will not be created for interested CSOs to engage locally
in the NEPAD processes. As most African CSOs function
locally and give voice to local/ national concerns,
the prioritization of NEPAD at national strategy levels
will definitely enhance CSO focus on NEPAD issues.
A SWOT analysis is also instructive in identifying current
engagement factors that impact upon the African CSOs
relationship with the NEPAD process:
Opportunities
• Diaspora CSOs interested in the work of the AU will also be useful
resources to engage regarding NEPAD
• APRM still relatively young initiative with much to be dome in
almost all African countries
• New revised AAP delineates 2010-2015 project focus- all of which
hold opportunities for CSO involvement
• Growing number of donor funded support programmes that can
aid CSOs – ProInvest, ICF
• The 2009-2010 NEPAD Business Plan explicitly calls on the Secretariat
to step up efforts to engage with CSOs
• Engagement with the various sectoral clusters developing – UN
RCM, Africa-EU Partnership Forum
Threats
• Global economic crisis impedes financial flows to CSO support
programmes
• African governments determining not to create increased spaces
within which CSOs can engage
• Any hiccups or delays in the AU/ NEPAD integration process
• NEPAD inability/ refusal to support capacity development within
CSO community and within the REC community (the latter need
CSO focal points)
• Competition with international CSOs whose agendas are not
aligned with those of African CSOs but who have more resources
to work with and with which to be heard and to use to engage
with NEPAD