South Africa grants NEPAD Secretariat Diplomatic Status

The NEPAD Secretariat has been accorded diplomatic accreditation with the legal status to function as an international organization. This is in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Host Agreement signed between the Government of Republic of South Africa and the African Union Commission in October 2008.

It is recalled that the Secretariat had operated under the auspices of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) from its inception in 2001/2002, following the decision of the original promoters of NEPAD to operate a core management structure to drive the NEPAD vision and mission, as adopted by the 37th Assembly of the then OAU.

With this landmark development, resulting from the signed the Host Agreement which recognizes the NEPAD Secretariat as the Interim African Union (AU) Office operating from its base in Midrand, South Africa, the Secretariat now operates as a fully-fledged international organization with its distinct diplomatic and legal personality, from 26 January 2009, when it was formally registered in the Official Diplomatic and Consular List of the South African Department of Foreign Affairs. It is also connotes the commencement of operationalizing the Host Agreement for the NEPAD Secretariat as an essential component of integrating NEPAD into the structures and processes of the African Union.

For information, the Secretariat has moved from DBSA premises to a temporary location at the : International business gateway, Gateway park B, corner Challenger & Columbia Avenues - Midridge office park, Midrand 1685, South Africa, Phone : +27 11 256 3600 - Fax : +27 11 256 3655 - Website : www.nepad.org - Email : nepadregistry@nepad.org

AU/NEPAD integration on track for finalization by July 2009

African Leaders have agreed that the whole process of Integrating NEPAD into the Structures and Processes of the African Union should be completed by the next 13th AU Assembly in July 2009. The 20th Summit of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) which was convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 2009, recommended this position to the 12th African Union Assembly which endorsed it, having urged an early conclusion of the integration process, which should usher in the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Authority.

The Assembly welcomed the commencement of the Study on the structure and profile of the incoming NEPAD Authority following the appointment of the Consultant in December 2008 and re-affirmed the 13-point conclusions of the Algiers NEPAD Brainstorming Summit of March 2007, subsequently reinforced by the outcomes of the Dakar NEPAD Review Summit of April 2008 as constituting the basis and roadmap for AU/NEPAD Integration, with the necessary flexibilities as underlined in the 2003 Maputo AU Assembly decision.

Participating HSGIC Leaders had reiterated that the NEPAD vision and its program, from inception, have been an intrinsic part of the African Union System and should remain so. In this regard, they further called upon the African Union Commission and NEPAD Secretariat to harmonize their work programs and smoothen working relations in the interim period leading to integration. Pending the final determination on integration, it was decided that the NEPAD Secretariat will, henceforth, use the African Union emblem, concurrently with the NEPAD emblem in all documentation, in order to retain the brand identity of NEPAD and the existing reporting structures of the Secretariat.

The recent signing of the Host Agreement for the NEPAD Secretariat by the AU Commission and the Government of South Africa received the commendation of the Heads of State and Government as they urged for the prompt and smooth implementation of the Agreement.

On Africa’s engagement with external partners, the 12th AU Assembly endorsed the need for continued interaction and strengthened relationship with the G8/OECD Partner Countries, underscoring the essence of institutionalizing the Follow-up Mechanism, which was agreed to at the 2008 Hokkaido Toyoda G8 Summit in Japan, as a means of stimulating better G8-Africa Outreach engagement. The Summit proposed that Africa’s representation and agenda at upcoming G8-Africa Outreach should reflect a systemized and institutionalized arrangement.

The 2009 Report on the Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness (MRDE), jointly produced by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), was presented to the 20th HSGIC Summit by the Executive Secretary of the UN-ECA, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh.

The 12th AU Assembly welcomed and endorsed the appointment of Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki of the Republic of Niger as the new Chief Executive Officer for NEPAD Secretariat, in line with the 10th African Union Assembly decision of January 2008 and entrusts him with the mandate to lead the transformation of the NEPAD Secretariat into the NEPAD Authority. In this respect, African Leaders expressed appreciation to the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Secretariat, Ambassador Olukorede Willoughby and Dr. Hesphina Rukato, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, comprising the interim management team, for their dedication and diligence in leading the Secretariat for the past one year.

The 20th NEPAD Summit, which traditionally holds prior to the AU Summit, was chaired by H.E. Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Chairperson of the NEPAD HSGIC, while H.E. Colonel Muamar Gaddafi of Libya presided over the 12th AU Assembly in his capacity as the President of the African Union.

Press Release :

The NEPAD Secretariat hosts congresswoman Edna Brown from the State of Ohio, USA

Since 2007 the NEPAD Secretariat has been hosting a group of students from the University of Toledo, United States of America (USA). The group visits the Secretariat and meets with various NEPAD sectors who inform them of the Projects facilitated and implemented by the NEPAD Secretariat. The aim of their visit is to facilitate a collaboration between the University of Toledo and South African universities. The proceedings for their visit are a visit to the NEPAD Secretariat on the 8th of July 2009, followed by a Networking Dinner in the evening, hosted by WIPHOLD on behalf of the NEPAD Secretariat. This year, the group will be accompanied by Congresswoman Edna Brown from the State of Ohio, USA. Congresswoman Brown is currently serving her 4th elected term – and 5th overall – representing more than 116,000 constituents in the district. Her idea to bring "no excuse" absentee voting to Ohio was incorporated into a bill that became state law in January 2006. For her efforts, the Ohio Association of Election Officials and the Ohio Secretary of State honoured her with the Jack Wolfe Memorial Award as one of two "Legislators of the Year". In 2007, Congresswoman Brown introduced a bill to immunize young women from the human papilloma virus, and a bill addressing violence

in teen dating relationships. She is a member of the House of Finance & Appropriations Committee and serves as Chair of the Human Services Subcommittee. She is also a member of the House Commerce and Labour Committee, the Elections and Ethics Committee, and the Commerce and Labour Committee. Congresswoman Brown sits on the Ohio Commission on Minority Health Board and serves as Chair of the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund. She is a member of the House Cance Caucus. She is First Vice President of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, and serves on the Executive Committee of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. Congresswoman Brown also works as state director for WILL/WAND, a non-partisan national organization for women legislators.

During her visit, Congresswoman Brown will be meeting with BEE companies in the Gauteng Province, to discuss possible collaboration between these companies and the State of Ohio. The group will also be visiting the University of South Africa, the University of Pretoria and the Kruger National Park.

Uganda embraces NEPAD’s capacity development initiative

Uganda kick-starts process of aligning NEPAD’s capacity development strategic framework into its national development plans

"We would like to use the next three days as a platform for aligning the NEPAD capacity development strategy towards Uganda’s national development plans. This process should be nationally owned", said Dr. Hesphina Rukato, NEPAD’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the start of a recent NEPAD capacity development workshop in Uganda.

The ‘NEPAD Capacity Development Strategic Framework (CDSF) Sensitisation Workshop’ was held from the 9th to the 11th of February in Kampala, Uganda.

Organised jointly by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Government of Uganda through its National Planning Authority (NPA) the theme of the workshop was focused on how to address capacity development issues arising from Uganda’s African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) programme of action.

The objective of the workshop was to define a process through which Uganda will develop a national capacity development plan, based on the APRM programme of action (PoA).

Speaking at the official opening of the workshop, Mr, Fred Omach Uganda’s State Minister for Finance in Charge of General Duties, noted that Uganda presented a unique opportunity for building the CDSF into the APRM process.

"This entire process is very important to us. I hope that an action framework for capacity development in Uganda will be set-up and followed through at the end of this workshop", he stressed.

he workshop was based on the consideration that the CDSF approach and tools of analysis can enable the Ugandans particularly those that are intimately engaged in the APRM process to ably assess Uganda’s capacity constraints as part of the process of implementing PoAs.

It is in this regard that NPA Vice Chairperson Dr. Abel Rwendeire, went on to highlight that although Government was very committed to the APRM process the translation of actions on the ground was still very thin.

"We need to identify real practical actions", he stressed.

Participants at the workshop included civil society organisations, academics, public officials, business and national APRM representatives from across the continent.

Speaking at the end of the three-day engagements Dr. Pascal Odouch of the NPA noted that the objectives of the workshop had been achieved.

"The aim was to signpost on how we can align the CDSF into the APRM’s programme of actions and in-turn into our long term national development plans. This will help us in our plans to move towards vision 2035," he added.

Although Bishop Zac Niringiye Vice-chairperson, Ugandan Joint Christian Council, broadly agreed that the workshop had created a good platform for moving forward in terms of aligning the CDSF into Uganda’s PoA he also felt that there was still a need to bring more Ugandans on board in terms of broadening discussions on issues of capacity, national development and governance. NEPAD News, july 7, 2009