27 July 1990

37th Plenary Meeting

1990/76. Transforming and strengthening the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres of the Economic Commission for Africa

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling resolution 311 (XIII) of 1 March 1977 of the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa establishing the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres,

Recognizing that, over the years, the Centres have played a vital role in fostering subregional economic co-operation and integration and that the objectives for which they were established are more valid today than they were thirteen years ago,

Considering the imperative need for women to participate positively and effectively in the implementation of programmes aimed at their integration in the process of development in each subregion,

Concerned about the poor performance and achievements of the Centres during the past few years, mostly as a result of insufficient financial and human resources and their inadequacy to meet the new tasks that they are to perform towards economic recovery and transformation,

Welcoming General Assembly resolution 43/216 of 21 December 1988, in which the Assembly, having considered the financial report and audited financial statements for the biennium ended 31 December 1987 and the report of the Board of Auditors, endorsed the recommendation of the Board and the concurring observation of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions that the achievements of the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres be thoroughly evaluated with a view to deciding whether that experiment should be continued or whether the mandate, number and structure of the Centres should be completely reorganized,

Noting with satisfaction the decision of the Secretary-General to appoint a review team whose mandate would be, inter alia, to examine the structure and organization of the Centres with a view to determining their suitability for the execution of their tasks, taking into account General Assembly resolution 43/216,

Noting that the current distribution and location of the Centres are in keeping with the spirit of the Final Act of Lagos in terms of the need to promote co-operation and integration within the framework of the subregional economic groupings,

1. Takes note of the report of the Review Team on the Structures, Organization and Operations of the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres, in which it is concluded that the structure, organization and operations of the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres of the Economic Commission for Africa should be maintained, transformed and strengthened;

2. Warmly congratulates the Review Team on the thorough and objective manner in which it carried out its work and for its findings and recommendations;

3. Strongly supports the conclusions of the Review Team that the Centres' institutions should be transformed and strengthened to provide member States with the required technical assistance and advisory services for the execution of their joint projects within the framework of the intergovernmental organizations;

4. Adopts the new mandate of the Centres as proposed by the Review Team;

5. Strongly urges the General Assembly to provide the Centres with additional human and financial resources to enable them to respond more effectively to multinational and multisectoral programming requirements based on priorities identified by member States, and to provide immediately a minimum core of such resources;

6. Decides that, given the financial constraints and the need for better co-ordination between the Centres and intergovernmental organizations, the Centres should report directly to the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa through the committees of intergovernmental experts that will be responsible for supervising the activities of the Centres at the subregional level;

7. Urges the General Assembly and donor and technical assistance organizations to provide the Centres with sufficient resources for the formulation and implementation of programmes for the effective participation of women in the development process of their respective subregions;

8. Recommends that the current number and composition of the Centres should be maintained since they fit in with the structure of existing subregional economic groupings; their distribution could, however, be reviewed in future to make for the rational use of available resources and to reflect developments in the subregional economic groupings;

9. Takes into consideration the memorandum on the strengthening and transformation of the Centres, submitted by the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa and annexed to the present resolution;

10. Appeals to member States to continue their support and assistance to the Centres through the United Nations Trust Fund for African Development and by any other appropriate means;

11. Urges technical assistance and funding agencies to assist in the implementation of the recommendations of the Review Team regarding the need to provide the Centres with sufficient financial and human resources for the effective execution of their mandate.

Annex

MEMORANDUM OF THE CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA ON THE REPORT OF THE REVIEW TEAM ON THE STRUCTURES, ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS OF THE MULTINATIONAL PROGRAMMING AND OPERATIONAL CENTRES

1. This memorandum is submitted in response to General Assembly resolution 43/216 of 21 December 1988 on financial reports and audited financial statements, and reports of the Board of Auditors, in which the Assembly endorsed the concurring recommendation and observation of the Board of Auditors and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions with regard to the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres. The Assembly called for a thorough evaluation of the achievements of the Centres with a view to deciding whether the experiment should be continued or whether the mandate, number and structures of the Centres should be completely reorganized.

2. Pursuant to the above-mentioned resolution, an independent review team was commissioned by the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, in collaboration with the Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, with the following terms of reference:

(a) To examine the original mandate of the Centres, with a view to ascertaining its continued relevance;

(b) To examine the structure and organization of the Centres, with a view to determining their suitability for the execution of their tasks, taking into account the recommendation made in paragraph 91 of the report of the United Nations Board of Auditors;

(c) To review and report on all aspects of management of the Centres;

(d) To examine the adequacy of resources available and make recommendations aimed at strengthening the Centres for a more efficient execution of their mandate;

(e) To investigate the effectiveness of the linkages with the substantive and service organizational units of the Economic Commission for Africa;

(f) To examine any other relevant matters pertaining to the efficient and effective operations of the Centres;

(g) To report not later than 10 March 1989, or as soon as possible thereafter, to the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa and the Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management.

3. The Conference of Ministers expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General who, in accordance with the request contained in its resolution 659 (XXIV) on the review of the achievements of the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres of the Commission, has enabled the Conference of Ministers to comment on the report of the Review Team. The Conference of Ministers wishes to reiterate that it welcomes the decision of the General Assembly on the review and evaluation of the Centres, as it believes that such a review is opportune. Finally, the Conference of Ministers expresses its sincere appreciation to the Review Team for the quality of its work and for the recommendations put forward.

4. The Conference of Ministers wishes to comment on the proposals and recommendations of the Review Team so that the General Assembly will have the benefit of its opinion. The views of the Conference of Ministers are a result of the extensive discussion that took place on the report at the twenty-fifth session of the Commission and 16th meeting of the Conference of Ministers, held at Tripoli from 5 to 19 May 1990, which was preceded by an equally extensive discussion at the 11th meeting of the Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole.

5. In the light of its critical assessment of the proposals of the Review Team, the Conference of Ministers fully concurs with the findings of the Review Team that the objectives and purposes for which the Centres were established are more valid today than they were thirteen years ago, considering the socio-economic challenges that will confront the African countries in the 1990s. Member States argue strongly in favour of the maintenance, transformation and strengthening of an institution such as the Centres provided with the additional human, technical and financial resources required for the execution of their joint projects within the framework of the intergovernmental organizations they have established.

6. The Conference of Ministers recommends that the number and membership of the Centres be retained, since they correspond to the existing subregional economic groupings. It will continue to pay the necessary attention to the issue of the subregional distribution of the Centres with a view to ensuring the efficient utilization of available resources and in keeping with the evolution of subregional groupings.

7. The Conference of Ministers expresses its appreciation to the Centres for the services they have rendered and the role they have played in supporting member countries' endeavours to promote subregional and regional economic co-operation and integration in providing technical assistance to intergovernmental organizations in the various subregions. In particular, the Conference stresses the role of the Centres in the establishment of the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Economic Community of Central African States, and the co-ordinating role of the Centres among the more than forty intergovernmental organizations in West Africa.

8. The Conference of Ministers endorses the findings of the Review Team with regard to the relevance of the Centres as an institution to provide technical assistance in its efforts towards subregional groupings, and the need to redefine the terms of reference of the Centres in the light of past experiences and the challenges that are ahead. Accordingly, its supports the following terms of reference proposed by the Review Team:

(a) To provide member States and intergovernmental organizations with technical assistance (advisory services) in project identification, planning and the formulation of multisectoral programmes and projects for execution by the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres in association with intergovernmental organization secretariats and the specialized agencies of the United Nations system;

(b) To provide member States and intergovernmental organizations with short-term advisory services in development planning and to assist in the translation of those plans into multinational and multisectoral programmes and projects, including the identification and formulation of programmes and projects for execution by them or at their request by the Economic Commission for Africa - Subregional Technical Assistance Programmes (Multinational Programming and Operational Centres) themselves, in association with the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, as required;

(c) To undertake pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, research on and analyses of priority areas identified by member States and intergovernmental organizations in order to enhance subregional co-operation and integration;

(d) To provide assistance and support in the development of human resources and in organizing training courses, seminars, lectures, workshops and round tables, and to execute multinational development programmes and projects for socio-economic advancement with a view to strengthening the institutional and organizational capacity of member States;

(e) To develop, in the light of the above, effective working relationships with Governments, intergovernmental organizations, United Nations Development Programme offices and other international organizations, with a view to harmonizing the designing, programming and implementation of technical assistance programmes at the subregional level;

(f) To develop and execute programmes for the more effective participation of women in all aspects of development efforts at the subregional level;

(g) To collect and disseminate, at the subregional level, information and statistical data on macro-economic indicators in member States and to assist them in establishing compatible systems for exchanging information among themselves and with their development partners.

9. The Centres should continue to play the important role of co-ordination among intergovernmental organizations and should contribute to the establishment of the African economic community by undertaking studies for the harmonization and progressive linking of the various subregional economic groupings. They should also contribute to the implementation at the subregional level of strategies contained in global prospective studies carried out by the secretariat of the Economic Commission for Africa.

10. The Conference of Ministers realizes that the inadequacy of resources has been the major constraint in the ability of the Centres to fulfil their mandate. The build-up of their staff was severely affected by the financial crisis that the United Nations faced during most of the 1980s. Similarly, their operational activities were severely constrained by their lack of resources - financial and human. The Conference of Ministers is concerned about the resulting negative impact on the delivery of the Centres during the past few years. The capacity of the Economic Commission for Africa to decentralize staff and resources to the Centres was stretched to the limit in spite of its own severe resource constraints. It is not surprising that under such circumstances the impact of the Centres began to dwindle.

11. The Conference of Ministers fully endorses the proposal of the Review Team, contained in chapter VI of its report that the financial and human resources of the Centres be significantly increased. It proposes that the Centres be provided with a cost-effective minimal core staff that will enable them to have an immediate impact on their respective subregions.

12. The Conference of Ministers does not preclude the possibility of changing the name "Multinational Programming and Operational Centres", in the light of the evolution of their mandate and activities.

13. Finally, the Conference of Ministers reiterates its firm commitment to the Centres. As in the past, it will continue to make every possible effort to create the environment necessary to enhance their effectiveness.