Draft report of CODI III

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UNITED NATIONS

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

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ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA

Third Meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

10- 17 May 2003

Distribution: LIMITED E/ECA/DISD/CODI.3/L

15 May 2003

Original: English

Draft Report of CODI III

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Attendance

1 The third meetins of the committee on Development Information was held at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, from 12 to 1=. May 2003. with pre-meeting events from 10 to 11 May 2003 and post-meeting events from 16 to 17

May 2003.

2 The meeting was attended by deleaates from the following member States of the Commission- Alseria. Benin. Botswana. Burkina Faso. Burundi. Cameroon. Central African Republic Comoros. Cote d'lvoire. Democratic Republic of Congo. Djibouti. Egypt. Ethiopia.

Gabon Gambia. Ghana. Kenya. Mali. Mauritania. Mauritius. Morocco. Mozambique. Namibia.

Netherlands Niser. Niseria. Republic of Congo. Ruanda. Senegal. Sierra Leone. Somalia.

South Africa. Sudan. Swaziland. Togo. Tunisia. Uganda. United Republic of Tanzania. Zambia.

Zimbabwe.

S The meetina was also attended by observers from the following international, regional, sub- regional and national organizations and institutions: Addis Ababa University. Ethiopia: Addis Tribune Newspaper- Ethiopia: Advanced School of Management and Information Technologies Alaeria: African Centre for Women. Information and Communications Technology. Kenya: African Development Bank (ADB). Tunisia: African Media Productions.

Netherlands- African Orsanization for Cartography and Remote Sensing (AOCRS). Algeria:

African Union. Ethiopia? African Youth Initiative (AV1). Ghana: AFRISTAT. Mali: AG3L.

Gabon- A^ence de la Francophonie. Benin: Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophone.

France- Atemaya University Ethiopia: AMULL. Mali: Association of African Universities.

Ghana- BCEAO Senegal: Bizsoft. Ethiopia: Bokk Jang Senegal. Senegal: Canadian International Development Agencv. Canada: CARTEL SECURITE. France: CEMAC. Central African Republic- Center for Media Studies & Peace Building. Liberia: Centre <T information et de documentation economique et sociale (CIDES). Ministere des finances et de 1 economic Niaer Centre de Calcul El Khawarizmi. Tunisia: CERSGIS. Ghana: CNI-CBINET. Burundi:

Comboni Sisters. Ethiopia: COMESA. Zambia: Computer Systems House. Ethiopia: Concepts Data Svstems. Ethiopia: Consultant. Benin: Cote d'lvoire telecom aviso. Cote d'lvoire:

CvberSoft pic Ethiopia: Dail> Monitor. Ethiopia: Department of State for Finance . Gambia:

DFID IMF GDDS Project. Kenya: DIAL. France: Direction de la prevision et de la statistique (DPS) Seneeal: Direction de la statistique. Morocco: Direction de la Statistique. Morocco:

Direction «eneral de la statistique et des etudes economiques (DGSEE). Gabon: Direction nationale de la planification. Mali: DRSP . Burundi: Eastern Africa Statistical Training Centre (EASTC) Tanzania. United Republic of: EC A. Cote d'lvoire: ECA- Central Africa. Cameroon:

Ecole nationale deconomie appliquee (ENEA). Senegal: Ecoie nationale super.eure de statistique et d'economie appliquee (ENSEA). Cote d'lvoire: Ecole nat.onale supeneure polvtechnique. Cameroon: ECOWAS Secretariat. Nigeria: EIS-AFRICA. South Africa:

Election B UNDP Ethiopia: Embass> of Algeria. Ethiopia: Embass> of Burkina Faso. : Embassv of Conso. Ethiopia: Embassv of Gabon. Ethiopia: ENDA. Senegal: EPA. Ethiopia:

ESMT IMPACT-Africa. Senesal: ESRI. United States of America: ESTC-NCIC. Ethiopia:

Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopia: Ethiopian Civil Service College. Ethiopia: Ethiopian Mapping Authoritv Ethiopia: Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation. Ethiopia: Fantsuam Foundation Niaeria: FAO Reaional Office for Africa. Ghana: Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesv German): Federal Strategic Consulting. United States of America: Fenote Selam Newspaper Ethiopia:'Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA).

Kenva- Freelance Seneaai: Global Commerce Network INC. United States of America: Human Sciences Research Council. South Africa: I.I.C.D.. Netherlands: ICT AFRICA. Ethiopia: IDRC.

Mozambique: IGAD Secretariat. Djibouti: Information Systems and Technology Management.

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Malawi; Information Systems Services. Ethiopia: Information Systems Sen ices (1SS).

Ethiopia: Information Technology Solutions (ITS). Ethiopia; Informatique developpement et

Etudes. Tunisia: INRIA & LaBRI. Universite Bordeaux I. France: lnstitut Parios Paris. Congo:

Institute of Surveying. Remote Sensing and Land Information. BOKU . Austria: International Affairs. South Africa: International Cartographic Association (ICA). Sweden: International Development Research Centre. Canada: International Institute for Information Technology (INIIT). Ghana: International ILabour Office. Switzerland: International Policy Industry Canada. Canada: International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Australia:

International Telecommunications Union. Ethiopia: InWEnt - Munich Centre for Economic.

Environmental and Social Statistics. Germany: ITC. Netherlands: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Kenya: Journal N'Djamena-Hebdo. Chad: Junior Achievement of Nigeria- Nigeria: Leica Geosystems. Switzerland: Ligth of Eda AP. Ethiopia: LISA. Ethiopia:

Maghreb arab presse agenc>. Morocco: Maison de la presse de Bujumbura. Burundi: MAPS Geosystems. United Arab Emirates: Maritus Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Mauritius:

MCC. Ethiopia: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Namibia: MENA. Egypt: Mer International Trading. Ethiopia: Ministere de Penseignement superieur. Cameroon: Ministere de la communication, de ia culture charge des postes et des telecommunications. Djibouti:

Ministry of Capacity Building . Ethiopia: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Naniibia:

Mobil Ping Africa. Ethiopia: Modem Sciences and Arts University. Egypt: MoFED. Ethiopia:

Morocco News Agency. Ethiopia: NASRDA. Nigeria: National Burearu of Statistics. United Republic of Tanzania: National Bureau of Statistics. United Republic of Tanzania: National Documentation Centre. Morocco: National Statistical Institute. Mozambique: National Urban Planning Institute. Ethiopia: National Computer & Information Centre. Ethiopia; NCIC.

Ethiopia: Network Computer Systems. Ghana: NIC-MG AMUL. Madagascar: Nile Basin International Discourse. Uganda: OAKAR Services Ltd.. Kenya: OCDE . France: OMAC.

Democratic Republic of Congo: One Ethiopian Herald. Ethiopia: Online Systems House.

Ethiopia: Open Source in Morocco (OSIM). Morocco: Opus Lingua. Senegal: Orebro University . Sweden: Organisation international de la francophonie. Ethiopia: Oxford Polic>

Management. United Kingdom: PACT Ethiopia Development Resource Center. Ethiopia: Pact Ethiopia Development Resource Center . Ethiopia: PARIS21 OECD. France: Partenariat pour le developpement municipal (PDM). Benin: PFI Foundation Ethiopia. Ethiopia: Presidence de la republique. Senegal: Presidential National Commission on information Society and Development. South Africa: Prime Minister Office. Morocco: Radio Afrique Espoir FM . Benin: Radio IFM. Gambia: RCMRD. Kenya: RECTAS. Nigeria: SADC Secretariat.

Botswana: Sambus Company Ltd. Ghana: SAP. Kenya: Service des depenses d"eau de letat.

Cote d'lvoire: Southern and Easter African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC). Tanzania. United Republic of: SURF UNDP. Senegal: Swazi Observer. Swaziland: Swedesurvey AB. Sweden:

Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC). Switzerland; Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Switzerland; Tamesol Communications. Ethiopia: Technology Promotion Council.

Gov't of Assam (India). Ethiopia: Tesfa Publishers. Ethiopia: The American University in Cairo. Egypt: The British Council. : Trans World Radio . Kenya: TuniseTeiecom. Tunisia: L'.S Census Bureau. United States of America: U.S. Geological Survey & Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Secretariat. United States of America: UEMOA. Burkina Faso: UNDP. Ethiopia:

UN DP CEA-SURF . Ethiopia: UNDP ECA-SURF. Ethiopia: I/NECA. Ethiopia:

UNECA AVLIN Secretariat. Ethiopia: UNEP. Kenya: UNESCO. Ethiopia: UNHQ DESA SD. United States of America: UNICEF ESARO. Kenya: United Nations Information and Communications Technologies Task Force. United States of America: United Nations University. United Kingdom: Universite de Conakry. Guinea: Universite de Kinshasa et association Congolaise des utilisateurs des logiciels libres (ACOULL). Democratic Republic of Congo: Universite de Nouakchott Mauritania: University College of Lands and Architectural Studies (UCLAS). Tanzania. United Republic of: University of Cape Town. South Africa:

University of Dar es Salaam. Tanzania. United Republic of: University of Ghana. Ghana:

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Lniversit) of Hannover. Germany: University of Ibadan. Nigeria: University of Jos Nigeria.

Nigeria: University of Lagos. Nigeria: University of Wituatersrand. South Africa: University of Yaounde. Cameroon: University of Zambia. Zambia: USAID/Ethiopia. Ethiopia: WAICENT Outreach Programme. FAO. Ghana: WFP. Ethiopia: Women of Uganda Neruok WOUGNET.

Uganda: World Bank. United States of America: ZCP Information. Burkina Faso.

4. The full list of participants is attached in Annex 1.

5. Technical exhibitions were mounted during the meeting. The full list of exhibitors is attached as Annex II.

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Third meeting of the Committee on Development Information

Account of Proceedings

A. Plenary Sessions Agenda item 1: Opening

6. The plenary session was opened b> a remark b> Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The Director of the Development Information Sen ices Division

then outlined the goals and objects of CODI.

Agenda Item 2: Election of officials and organization of work

7. The outgoing Chairperson informed the meeting that the heads of delegations had met

earlier and elected the bureau for CODI III as follows:

• Chair; Uganda

• First Vice-Chair: Niger

• Second Vice-Chair: Gabon

• First Rapporteur: Namibia

• Second Rapporteur: Egypt

8. The meeting approved the elected bureau and adopted the agenda and organization of work

proposed by the secretariat.

Agenda Item 3: Key introductory panel: "Information and Governance"

9. Presentations Received:

• Governance. Information and the Public Sphere, by Prof. Mohamed Saiih

• ICTs in support of governance: opportunities and challenges, by Dr. J. Habib Sv

• Geoinformation response to keynote Speech, by Dr. Andre Bassole

• Statistics response to keynote Speech. b> Mr. John Githonso 10. Key Issues Raised:

• Financial crisis of the State hinders the States capabilities in financial resources

• Ideological shift towards economic liberalization, the market and individualism posed a challenge to the State

• Globalization has direct and indirect effect on the State's traditional ability to steer society and the economy

• Public financial management and accountability

• Community empowerment and participation

• Weak infrastructure and institutional capacities

• Fragmented educational and training efforts

• Inadequate human resources capabilities

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• Dismal awareness of ICT potential

• Language and illiteracy problems

• Internal Digital Divide

• Restrictive regulatory frameworks

• Poverty and poor infrastructure

• Accountability and transparent governance

• ICT as a principal driving force to social and economic progress within the context of globalisation

• E-governance does not have a bright future in Africa because of poor telecommunication

• Privatization cannot be taken as a panacea for telecommunication

• Africa does not have manufacturing capabilities

• Africa should develop initiative in Internet

• Access to information is of paramount importance for good governance

• Reliable and up-to-date information is necessary for good governance

• Common enemies are: (I) poverty and unemployment (2) bad governance (3) tack of

empowerment

• Need for consensus on definition of good go\emance

• Access to information should be made available to decision makers at little cost

• Africans are mainly consumers of Technology

• Good governance requires the imolvement of communities and citizens

• Decentralization is a strategy to achieve transparency and participatory democracy

• Need for information for public and private decision making

• Geo-information is part of the infrastructure of a country

• Geodata polic> and detailed geodata at local and national level required for good

governance

• Information available to government is not available to traditional authorities

• Information technology can be used to resolve conflict and tension

11. Actions recommended:

• Enhance citizens" rights to information

• There should be indexing of variables and comparison among countries

• Geoinformation initiatives require private-public partnerships.

• Advance the use of information to promote self-governing

• Improve accountabilirv structures.

12. Other Discussion Points:

• Role of information in the multifaceted debate on governance, public finance accountabilirv. private sector governance, civil society and NGO participation.

Agenda Item 4: Decentralization, community empowerment and the role of the Civil Society

13. Presentations Received:

• GI in support of decentralization and community empowerment, by Dr. Reinfried Mansberger

• ICTs for effective decentralization: first outcome of the pilot Woreda studies in Ethiopia, by Dr. Assefa Admassie

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ICTs in support of local and traditional governance in Africa: the case of Ghana, by Dr.

Irene Odotei

Statistics in support of decentralization: The ECOLOC Programme - case studies:

Burkina Faso. Cote d'lvoire. Senesal. bv Mr. Francois Paul Yalta

14. Key Issues Raised:

• Clear statistics are needed for good governance.

• Lack of clear codes, standards and indicators of good governance at the local, national, subregional and continental levels.

• Lack of communit> empowerment and participation inhibits good governance.

• Decision makers need information (Geo. Statistics. 1CT) for good governance

• Decentralization of power is required for good governance.

• Mismatch between improved political governance and worsening socio-economic conditions for the majority of the African people.

• Rapid growth and development cannot be achieved without effective information flow, transparency, effective management and accountability.

• The quest for good governance to manage national resources for sustainable de\ elopment

• Ghana's dual system of authorit> i.e. Western model and the traditional form which evolved out of the tradition of the people

• The institution of the chieftaincv which is protected b> the Constitution of Ghana

• Chieftaincv. Governance and Development Project of Ghanaaimed at advancing and promoting research and scholarship and premised on the fact that chieftaincv is one of Ghanas most enduring cultural heritage institutions

• Develop codes, standards and indicators of good governance at the local, national.

subregional and continental levels based on a bottom-up, panicipatory and multidiscipiinan. process.

• Building capacity (on the use of ICT to build the necessary capacities within the chieftaincv institution) for the incumbents and other stakeholders of traditional governance so that they fit into the modem governance of Ghana

• Networking and connectivitv for the purpose of monitoring, sharing experiences, information and know ledge and expertise

• It is becoming increasing!} clear that there is a need to integrate traditional authority into the main stream of the democratization process blowing through Africa

• issues of record keeping . packaging and dissemination of indigenous knowledge

• The pilot study was conducted in four Woredas that were purposively selected from Addis Ababa. Oromiya and Benshangul-Gumuz regional states. The selected woredas grouped into three strata, namely rural, semi-urban and urban. Some of the

governmentoffices v isited for the study include Woreda Administration offices. Finance Office. Health Offices. Education Offices. Police Station. Agricultural development Offices etc

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17. Other Remarks:

• The presentation was a Summan and it deals with the general objective of the study,

methodology used, and problems observed

Agenda Item 5: Facilitating transparent public financial management

and accountability 18. Presentation Received:

• Project "IDEAL" dimerconnexion et de Developpement de ('Administration en Liene.

by Mr. Momar Ah Ndiaye

• Information Age Government: Success Stories of Online Land Records and Revenue Governance from India. b\ Dr. K.M. Baharul Islam

• ICTs in support of public financial management: the case of Tunisia, by Mr. Khaled

Marzouk

• Statistics and Indicators in the field of Human Rights and Governance: the METAGORA Programme, by Mr. Raul Suarez

• The Government of Ethiopia's decentralization plan that accords an important role to Weredas in the planning and decision-making processes

• The information and communication needs of public institutions such as health, education and agricultural offices at Wereda level

• Information and communication flow between communities and public institutions

• The need to have a unique parcel identifier

• Legal aspects: electronic governance will give the opportunit> for the population the right of access to information concerning government plans, programs, projects policies

and legislation.

c A national action plan has been adopted by the Government concerning the right of the population to access information, the transparency and the

motivation of the Civil Service.

o A law on Information Technology has been adopted on 18 October 2000 to

facilitate the legal validation of transactions on the Internet allowing citizens to do their business from their places.

• Objectives: Computerization of Land Records (CLR)

o Facilitate the archives management easy maintenatance of the data o Comprehensive scmtim of the data

o Provide the necessary data for the implementation of development programs c Facilitate the detailed planning for the construction of infrastructures c Facilitate the preparation of annual reports and give detailed data for the

collection of taxes

o Facilitate standardized information on land data

o Provide a data base for agricultural censuses

• Success Stories:

c Bhoomi (Land)

• Recorded 20 million records of 6.7 million farmers..

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■ Some sen ices are now available on computer kiosks set up by the department at the sub-divisional offices.

■ 50% increase in the number of mutation requests z Lokmitra (People's friend)

■ Citizen Information Center (CIC) were opened to the public.

■ Public grievances can be heard through these sen ices z Rewari District:

■ Computerization of land records started in 1990/9] with the cooperation

of the National Computer Centre

■ All the land records are now fully available on computers and copies of the land records can be obtained upon requests

• Lessons learned*Challenges faced:

c Data entry was a problem due to erroneous land records kept by village revenue officials. In the pilot project the data entry was done by private agencies.

o Information seminars and consultative meetings were held to the field officials

emphasizing that they would continue to be responsible for field enquiry

c Key political executives w ere completely involved in the project demonstrating a

strong political for computerization

c The monitoring mechanism need to be strengthened, as this serves as a crucial

component for the success of the scheme.

z Need to spread more awareness about the implementation of the scheme among partners in development planning.

c Digitization of cadastral Survey Maps should be done,

o Networking of the scheme at different levels so that data moves from District to

State and then to Centre through NICNET

Phase ! of a strateg} for gradual interconnection and development of on-line administration(the

IDEAL Project)

• The Government Intranet can be used for steady deployment of e-govemance applications.

c Applications to be used in providing basic intranet sen ices

o Essential communication services for public servants to network, improve organizational capacity while reducing telecommunication costs,

c Applications that would facilitate collaboration among ministerial departments with specific reference to managing government projects

c Interministerial management of public projects, sharing of the knowledge base c Applications for digitising shared human and budgetary management resources

• In addition, the government intranet would help to develop capacities for accessing and sharing information among various ministeries. This would be done using a phased approach

c In the first year, the project will be housed in the cabinet offices of the ministeries. the office of the president, the prime minister, and the national assembly

z Within each ministry, the network infrastructure and servers will be boosted z The ministerial departments will be connected directly or indirectly through

telecommunication infrastructure which will form the backbone of the intranet z Cross-cutting applications will be deployed to provide, through the government

intranet, such basic sen ices as dialine. e-mail and web brow sins

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c A consultative framework will be instituted to involve the project steering committee and to bring together major NICI players in the administration

• The follow ing basic constraints were helpful in shaping the design and development of

the various intranet components:

o Ease of using the intranet sen ices and applications and ease of management

c Backstopping the work of the various information science units

c Factoring in the specific needs of certain civil service administrative units

z Flexibility in the adaptability of the technology options chosen.

• Governance and ICT use in the Ministry of Finance in Tunisia

• Operating Systems :

c RAF1C : Streamlining of taxation and accounting operations (basic function of

the system) interactive since 1987 and centralised from 1993

w SINDA - 2000 : Customs Information System c ADEB - 2000 : Budget decision making tool c S1ADE : External Debt Management System z TGT- National Treasun of Tunisia

• New Systems (1):

z SADEC : Fiscal Control System Assistant z AMED : Budget Preparation Assistant

c GEDE : Electronic Archiving and Management

• New Systems (2)

c Online tax return filing ("De'materialisation". improvement of report quality, etc) c Batch processing

• Guidelines for future projects

c Consolidating and securing information s\ stems c Developing the concept of community administration z Adoption of open-source software

c Finalizing the capacity building process in the administration (Arabisation of all the s\ stems

z Complete building the national finance network

• Approaches to be Adopted c Policy commitment

o Use of cost estimates, validation steps

c Phased and cautious initiation and implementation: project management

• Development of human capacity, both short and long term training on information and information management

• Developing a new system of administration and management since the existing system is largely tradition bound

• Identification and application of appropriate ICT technology to the Weredas

• Establishment of community based information service centers by the Government

• Creating enabling environment for private sector involvement in the field of training and supplying ICT equipments

• Ethics should be recognized as a basic foundation for good governance.

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• Lack of standardized procedures and manuals. Shortage of skilled manpower, poor data acquisition and storage, shortage of ICT facilities and inadequate public private

partnership are also discussed

22. Questions raised:

• Land registration systems - How they are giving the parcel numbers.

• Land tenure system in India as a whole.

• How full are the records of data.

• Issues raised:

c Problems emerging as the new systems were being integrated with the existing

systems

c Institution of networking and interactive information systems based on standards with would facilitate integration

c In addition, inter connection difficulties were overcome and the life span of each software programme became renewable

c Adoption of the phased approach

Agenda Item 6: Involving the private sector

23. Presentation Received:

• Public Private partnership in GI development: opportunities and Challenges. Mr.

Samuel Aboah

• E-Aligning Africa - working with the private sector to implement innovative e- govemment solutions to address Africa's development goals, by Ms. Otema Yrienkhi

• Le role du secteur prive: Prive-Public L'n manage de raison. by Mr. Kamel Labidi

• Bonne gouvermance et information statisque: un defi pour ie secteur prive. b> Mr.

Moubarak LO

• Public-Private partnership in GI development: opportunities & challenges, by Mr.

Samuel Aboah

A detailed presentation on what Public-Private partnership (PPP) is including history. m\th. case studies and benefits.

Transparency, political leadership, communication with all stakeholders and public sector involvement were said to be the keys to successful PPP.

Other issues raised include that PPP was a collaborative process. PPP opportunities in geoinformation and success stories in geoinformation opportunities.

• E-Aligning Africa - working with the private sector to implement innovative e- governmem solutions to address Africa's development goals. b> Ms. Otema Yrienki

What E-Alignment was - a phrase that illustrates the need for a collaborative &

framework based approach to the design and implementation of E-Gov solutions.

Africa's place in the e-government continuum.

E-government solutions applicable to Africa.

Government's key questions in implementing e-government applications

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Critical success factors for e-governmem applications

• Le role du secteur prive : Prive-Public : In manage de raison. b\ Mr. Kamel Labidi Definition of good go\ernance

Why there was a marriage of convenience

The dilemma of decision makers in private-public sector partnership (human resources, financial resources, technology risk)

Sharing the task of implementing ICT applications with the private sector.

• Bonne gouvemance et information statistique: un defi pour le secteur prive. bv Mr.

Moubarak L.O.

Importance of good go\ernance for official statistics of enterprises

The quality of financial information produced b> enterprises participating in good governance of enterprises

• Increasing demand by the citizens for social sen ices

• Abuse of agreement in the public-private-partnership due to poor supervision from the public sector

• Lack of transparency in the process of public-private-partnership

• Profit moti\es of public-private-partnership override social benefits

• Keys to success of public-private-partnership depends on transparencv. political leadership, communication with stakeholders, public sector involvement, selection of right partner

• Bureaucrac>

• African e-governmeni initiatives are not e-aligned

• Technologv risk

• An increase in the number of participants from the private sector was noted in the successive CODI meetings. Efforts should be made for more participation of the private sector during CODI 4.

• Establishing a framework for Public-Private partnership (PPP) for Africa

• Giving the private sector a role in statistical production.

• Implementing cost recover) operations bv the private sector.

• Planning for governance activ ities

• Running the public sector as a business will make it competitive.

• The strengthening of African institutions, such as the revitalizing of national archives, in light of strengthening the governance process in countries.

• The need for standardizing of access to institutional data through independent commissions, etc.

• The need for overhauling the Private-public sector partnership in ICTs and the need for a virtual forum to discuss the issue further.

• Need to establish a framework for public-private-partnership in Africa

• Develop local capacity

• Define public-private-partnership strategic direction

• Overhaul the relationship between private and public sector.

• African governments to take part more forcefully in the provision o\" information

• The issue of credibility of fiscal data against data from enterprises

• Experiences in land information management.

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• The challenges of the privates sector in the ECOWAS states.

• The Private-Public partnerships in ICTs.

• The issue of private sector ethics in Private-Public partnerships.

• The intellectual property agreements in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

• The validity of data b> international financial institutions.

• Too much bureaucracy in public sector

• Private sector is more efficient and effective in sen ice delivery to the citizens

• Lack of funds in National statistical institute

• No benchmark exists for access to data.

27. Other Remarks:

• Statistical offices can only do the production of official statistics. However, private- public sector partnerships can be made in certain aspects of the statistics production.

• Corruption in the land markets of countries as a result of non-digitized land records (the case of Ghana).

Agenda Item 7: Report of Meeting of the Subcommittee on Information and Communication Technologies Attendance

The meeting of the subcomminee on ICT was anended b> delegates from the following member States: Algeria. Botswana. Burkina Faso. Burundi. Cameroon. Central African Republic. Egypt. Ethiopia. Gambia. Ghana. Japan. Kenya. Mali. Mauritania. Mauritius.

Morocco. Mozambique. Namibia. Niger. Nigeria. Rwanda. Senegal. Swaziland. Tanzania.

United Republic of. Togo. Tunisia. Zambia. Zimbabwe.

The meeting was also anended b> observers from the following organizations: ETC. Ethiopia:

ISS. Ethiopia: Tamesol Communications. Ethiopia: African Development Bank (ADB).

Tunisia: Canadian International Development Agenc\. Canada: Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopia:

Fantsuam Foundation. Nigeria: International Affairs. South Africa: International Policy Industry Canada. Canada: ITU. Ethiopia: Ministere de renseignement superieur. Cameroon:

Network Computer Systems. Ghana: Organisation intemationaie de la francophonie. Ethiopia:

Presidence de la republique. Senegal: Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development. South Africa: Prime Minister Office. Morocco: UN ICT Task Force

Secretariat. United States of America: Consultant. Benin: Opus Lingua. Senegal: Fenote Selam Newspaper. Ethiopia: LUSA. Ethiopia: Maghreb arab presse agency. Morocco: MENA. Eeypt:

Addis Ababa Uni\ersit>. Ethiopia: Addis Tribune Newspaper. Ethiopia: Advanced School of Management and Information Technologies. Algeria: African Centre for Women. Information and Communications Technology. Kenya: African Union. Ethiopia: African Youth Initiative (AYI). Ghana: AG3L. Gabon: Agence de la Francophonie. Benin: Agence

intergouxernementale de la Francophone. France: Aiema\a Uni\ersit>. Ethiopia: AMULL.

Mali: Association of African Universities. Ghana: Bizsoft. Ethiopia: CARTEL SECURITE.

France: CEMAC. Central African Republic: Center for Media Studies & Peace Building.

Liberia: Centre d'information et de documentation economique et sociale (CIDES). Ministere des finances et de Teconomie. Niger: Centre de Calcul El Khawarizmi. Tunisia: CNI-CBINET.

Burundi: Computer Systems House. Ethiopia: Concepts Data Systems. Ethiopia: Cote d'lvoire telecom aviso. Cote d'lvoire: CyberSoft pic Ethiopia: Daih Monitor. Ethiopia: DF1D IMF GDDS Project. Kenya: ECA- Central Africa. Cameroon: Ecole nationale superieure

polytechnique. Cameroon: Election B. UN DP. Ethiopia: Embassy of Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso: Embass> of Congo. Ethiopia: Embass> of Gabon. Ethiopia: ENDA. Senegal: ESMT

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IMPACT-Africa. Senegal: ESTC. Ethiopia: ESTC-NCIC. Ethiopia: Ethiopian Civil Sen ice Ethiopia: Federal Strategic Consulting. United States of America: Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA). Kenya: Global Commerce Network INC United States of America: ICT AFRICA. Ethiopia: IDRC. Mozambique: IGAD Secretariat. Djibouti- Information Systems and Technology Management Malawi: Information Systems Sen ices (1SS). Ethiopia: Informatique developpemem et Etudes. Tunisia: INRIA & LaBRI.Universite Bordeaux I. France: International Development Research Centre. Kenya: International Development Research Centre. Canada: International Institute for Information Technology (INIIT). Ghana: Journal VDjamena-Hebdo. Chad: Junior Achievement ofNiaeria. Niaeria:

Ligth of Eda AP. Ethiopia: Maison de la presse de Bujumbura. Burundi: Maritus Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Mauritius: Mer International Trading. Ethiopia: Ministers de la communication, de la culture charge des posies et des telecommunications. Djibouti: Ministry of Capacitv Building . Ethiopia: Ministry of Information and Broadcastina. Namibia: Modern Sciences and Arts University Egypt: MoFED. Ethiopia: Morocco News Aeency. Ethiopia:

National Burearu of Statistics. Tanzania. United Republic of: National Documentation Centre Morocco: Natl. Computer & Info. Centre. Ethiopia: NCIC. Ethiopia: NIC-MG AMUL.

Madagascar: OMAC. Democratic Republic of Congo: Online Systems House. Ethiopia: Open Source in Morocco (OSIM). Morocco: PACT Ethiopia Development Resource Center.

Ethiopia: Pact Ethiopia Development Resource Center. Ethiopia: PFI Foundation Ethiopia.

Ethiopia: Radio Afrique Espoir FM . Benin: Radio IFM. Gambia: RCMRD. Kenya: SADC Secretariat. Botswana: Sambus Compam Ltd. Ghana: SAP. Kenya: Sen ice des depenses d'eau de letat Cote d'lvoire: SURF UNDP. Senegal: Swazi Observer. Swaziland: Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC). Switzerland: Tamesol Communications. Ethiopia:^

Technolog> Promotion Council. Gov*t of Assam (India). Ethiopia: The American University in Cairo. Egypt: TuniseTelecom. Tunisia: UEMOA. Burkina Faso: UNDP. Ethiopia: UNDP CEA-SURF. Ethiopia: UNEP. Kenya: UNESCO. Nigeria: UNICEF ESARO. Kenya:

Universite de Conakry. Guinea: Universite de Kinshasa et association Conaolaise des utilisateurs des logiciels libres (ACOULL). Democratic Republic of Congo^ Universite de Nouakchott. Mauritania: University of Dares Salaam. Tanzania. United Republic of: University of Ghana. Ghana: University of Jos Nigeria. Nigeria: University of Wjtwatersrand. South Africa: University of Yaounde I. Cameroon: University of Zambia. Zambia: USAID' Ethiopia.

Ethiopia: WAICENT Outreach Programme. FAO. Ghana: WFP. Ethiopia: Women of Uaanda Netwok WOUGNET. Uganda: ZCP Information. Burkina Faso: University of Ghana. Ghana:

Embass> of Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso: Embassv of Burkina Faso. Ethiopia.

Account of the Proceedings

28. The Sub-Committee on Information and Communication Technoloeies and Library met from 12 to 15 May 2003. The meetings of the African Stakeholders Network (ASN) of the UN ICT Task Force, the African Virtual Library and Information Network (AVLIN) Advisory Committee, and workshops on the Technical Aspects of Building Digital Libraries and Information Networks, and Open Source for Improved Public Administration in Africa were held from 10 to 11 May 2003. A Media Forum on the Information Society was held from 16 to

17 Max 2003. The reports of these workshops w ill be attached as Annexes.

29. Below is the account of the meetings.

Agenda Item 7.1: Opening

30. The current Chairperson called the meeting to order. Then the Director of the Development Information Services Division (DISD) made an opening statement, followed bv that of the

Chairperson.

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Agenda Item 7.2: Election of officers and adoption of programme of

work

31. The outgoing Chairperson from Malawi opened the meeting and held election ofofficers for the new Bureau comprising of a Chairperson. Vice-Chairperson and Rapporteur as follows:

• Chairpesrson: Rwanda

• Vice-Chairperson: Zambia

• Rapporteur: Mauritania

32. The agenda and programme of work were adopted.

Agenda Item 7.3: Report of activities

33. A series of presentations were made regarding progress made in various areas since the last CODI meeting. The session was closed after a question and answer session.

• The follow up of CODI 2 recommendations and the progress made in the implementation of the resolutions

• The activities of the African Technical Advisor} Committee of AISI in relation to New

Partnership for African Development (NEPAD)

• Reservations by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs> on the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) draft action plan not being communicated to Bamako

bureau

• The role of digital libraries and the implementation of the AVLIN project.

• The role of the ASN and its action plans

• The Regional African Preparatory Conference to the WSIS - Bamako 2002.

Actions recommended:

• There was a need for written recommendations to the Bamako Bureau on Africa's

preparation in the WSIS process in general and participation of women and CSOs in particular.

• There is a need to address African oral tradition by addressing language and local content indigenous know ledge issues given the wealth of untapped information among African communities, which is documented, particular!) in the context of the AVLIN project and the promotion of African local content development.

• Review the status of national consultations on 1CT Strategies, and link them to the NEPAD and WSIS processes.

• There is a need to review the status of ICT indicators in the context of achieving the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

• Examine the operational modalities for using ATAC. AVLIN and CSOs for providing

assistance to member States.

• Create performance indicators for the implementation of the AISI.

• Ensure balanced participation of civil society in ongoing AISI initiatives at national, regional and sub-regional.

• The need to build and strengthen infrastructure to improve access and institutional

capacit} such as regulatory bodies

• Promote the use of ICT and particularly geo-information systems.

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• The need lo establish a reliable, comprehensive and effective African database covering

ail ICT related issues

Agenda Item 7.4: ICTs in support of governance: opportunities and challenges

35. A presentation was made on challenges and issues arising from the keynote speech and panel discussion on "Information and Governance", followed by questions and answers.

• The role of ICTs in promoting good governance in Africa (reflections from the plenary

session discussions)

Actions recommended:

• African countries should adopt "free and open source software" as an important tool in

promoting ICT and good governance.

• The need for participation of all stakeholders in formulation, development and

implementation of ICT strategies and plans as a good governance mechanism in itself.

• Mandate ECA to: a) promote dialogue among civil society organizations, governments, international organizations and private sector on the issue of national ICT strategies and

plans, b) provide support to ensure the participation of all stakeholders

• Promote e-sovernance at macroeconomic and social level.

• Ensure consistent use of information systems for decision-making purposes and the

decentralization of services and resources.

• Promote the creation of special funds for competitive educational systems that support

ICTs and governance.

• Serious evaluation of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), mainly its impact on issues such as economic performance, armed conflicts and weak ICT infrastructure

• Redefine the notion of capacity building to integrate the participation of women Agenda item 7.5: GKP Africa Day

10. In collaboration with the Global Know ledge Partnership (GKP) Secretariat. GKP Africa Day presented various ICT initiatives and activities in the area of governance. Before closins each session general discussions on the presentations were held.

Key Issues Raised:

• The GKP and SDC ICT for development platform and its opportunities for Africa c Demand (governments, civil society, private sector, development actors)

c Supph (Development agencies, international organizations, funding and

financial agencies

c The structure of the program c The program

c and the Facilities

• The Global Knowledge Partnership: Network, mission, achievements, partners

• AIS1 electronic discussion on e-governance

c Lack of infrastructure, resources, managerial and mobilization capacity for support, political commitment and leadership

• Countries ICT and governance experience:

o Malawi

• Government wide area network is in place

• Telecommunication liberalization took place

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• Improving financial management c The Gambia

• Pipe line project to develop AISI model of e-govemance

• GK.P: Lessons learned from Asia c Challenges faced

• Political consensus

• Readiness of community to accept changes

• Responsiveness, participator., inclusive, equity

• Poor infrastructure

• Monitoring mechanisms

• ICT and governance (UNDP) c Public sector reform c Coordination

c Citizen empowerment and participation c Enhance use of ICTs for governance

• Preliminary reflections to launch an African Action Plan on e-govemance

z Participants were asked to reflect on the subject and provide input to the Bamako

2002 bureau and enrich the draft action plan

o Dead line for contributing to the bureau - 31 May 2003

• ECA's progress report on NIC1 implementation: national, sectoral and regional

strategies, process, results, lessons learned, partnership. vva> forward

• Presentation on selected NICI countries

c Burundi: national strategy, awareness, opportunities, challenges and lessons learned

c Ghana: the rationale for national strategy. situational analysis, framework.

policy, plan, expectations and implementation.

c Namibia: baseline study undertaken, policy drafted and passed to the parliament c ECA SRO-CA: reflection on infrastructure, regional ICT initiatives.

implementation of NICI in Central Africa, cable projects

• Gender, governance and ICT: Case of Senegal: ICT awareness for rural women.

misconception of the gender issue

• Outcome of the study on telecommunication policy and regulation in Africa: Objectives, context, findings, independence of regulators, lack of skilled manpower, licensing, consumer interest protection.

• ePol-Net : concepts, strategic goals, principles & priorities, partnership model, role of ECA. way forward :

• National Scan-ICT baseline studies: objective, partnership structure, methodologv country profiles, problems encountered, remarks and the way forward

• For information dissemination. GKP should address the use of radio which is widely used in Africa b> using civil societ> to reach the grassroots

• African countries should not onlv be consumers of ICTs but producers

• Need to strengthen strategies to use ICT as an enabler of socio-economic development and as a sector to create job opportunities and contribute to development of the overall

economv

• ICTs alone cannot deliver but ICTs together with critical success factors can make the desired impact on development

• The need for sensitizing gov emments on emerging trends in ICTs

• The need to build the capacity of women in high level decision making:

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• Local languages should be promoted on the Internet

• The need for linking NIC Is with telecommunication regulatory frameworks in Africa

• Member States must ensure the independence of regulators back by a need to coordinate

and harmonize regulator) regimes

• ECA to assist in publicizing the ePoI-Net initiative to stakeholders in Africa.

• Encourage ECA in working more on gender mainstreaming and develop indicators to

collect gender aggregated data in the area of ICTs:

• Extend the Scan-ICT project to include other African countries

• The need to review ICT indicators in the light of the MDGs and explicitly address

MDGs in the NIC I development process.

12. Key issues raised:

• The value of library services in development

• Activities of the Information Technolog) Center for Africa

• Report from the Open Source workshop organized b\ the Economic Commission for Africa and the Agence Intergouvernemnetale de la francophonie. 10-11 Ma> 2003

• Report from the AVLIN

• Report on ECA activities in ICT and Library for 2002-2003 and work proaramme for

the biennium 2004-2005

13. Recommendations:

• Recommendations made by participants of the open source software workshop should be integrated in the national development programmes of member States and ECA shall use its convening power for this purpose:

• ECA's Sub- regional offices should be more involved in the NICI development process

of countries that thev are serving;

• In view of the identifiable significant primary role of the library for the expert collation.

organization and dissemination of knowledge, especially in the new ICTs environment libraries should be considered as necessary components (i.e. integral part) of e-

governance in Africa and should not be dichotomous:

• ECA should develop projects focusing on developing infrastructure and human skills.

including digital capacities of African libraries:

• The ECA should commission a study on liberalization and regulation of ICTs in Africa:

• ITCA should undertake activities to publicize NEPAD. as an overall framework of African Development:

• Recommendations adopted during the preparatory meeting to the W SIS organized by

the Agence Intergouvernementaie de la Francophonie (OIF) on "Women and the

information societ> ". April 2003. should be implemented, particularly those dealing

with democracy, good governance and peace". ECA. which participated at this meetina

should ensure to provide support for its member States in their efforts of mainstreaming

gender issues in ICTs policies and plans and e-governance related applications:

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• ECA with the support of AVL1N should strengthen its capacit) building activities to

African librarians in their use of ICTs:

• ECA should ensure that local content using local languages and oral tradition should be taken into account in its activities aimed at developing information and knowledge

resources:

• ECA should put the African youth as one of its ke\ target groups among its activities and ensure that they are the recipients of traditional and indigenous knowledge:

• ECA with the support of its member States should develop Africa wide sectoral portals reflecting African values and information needs:

• Recommendation from the Open Source workshop organized b> the Economic Commission for Africa and the Agence Intergouvernemnetale de la francophonie. 10 - 11 May 2003 should be annexed to the CODI III recommendations and special focus

should be given to:

c The adoption of legal and regulator) measures promoting the use of Open Source Software in public administration in Africa:

c The establishment of a North-South and South-South partnership model based on

mutual benefits for the deployment of a Software Industry in Africa:

c An inter-African collaboration and networking mechanism should be set up to

promote Open Source Software and establish a portal on success stories:

c The civil societ) should sensitise and organize awareness activities on the need to create associations promoting the use of Open Source Network:

c The development of capacity building programs on Open Source Software utilization before the second phase of the World Summit on Information Society:

Governments should play a ke> role in promoting Open Source Software by:

c Introducing appropriate policies and legislation c Stimulating the local software industry:

c Lowering entry barriers for various kinds of new businesses into the IT industry:

The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) should work with ail stakeholders to ensure that Open Source is available as a platform to engineer solution that meet the needs of Africans at affordable prices:

African governments should support the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) to ensure Africa becomes a hub for open source software development:

ECA w ith the support of the African Stakeholders Network (ASN). ePoi-Net and AVLIN must work in partnerships with existing regional knowledge networks such as the Horn and East of Africa Regional %'omen's knowledge Network (HAW KNet) and Women

of Uganda Network (WOL'GNET) in order to strengthen them to serve as regional

information and knowledge portals b> and for African women and the youth:

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African youth must be empowered and involved in the processes that seek to establish Africa as a major partner in the Information Society:

Existing Youth-led efforts and initiatives should be identified and encouraged in order to bridse the Generation Divide:

Agenda Item 7.6: Any other business

Agenda Item 7.7: Adoption of the report and closing

14. The Sub-Committee adopted its report, which was submitted to the Plenary session of CODI.

15. The Chairperson then made some observations on the meeting and its achievements and then called on the chief of DISD to make closing remarks. The Chairperson closed meeting.

Resolutions of the Sub-Committee on ICT

1. Accelerating the process of the formulation, development and

implementation of NICI plans

Noting

That the African Information Societx Initiative (AISI) action plan defines the importance of introduction and application of ICTs to improve public sen ices and facilitate democratization processes, among others.

An increasing number of countries have initiated the formulation process over the past years.

while a number of countries are yet to initiate such processes.

E-sovemance and e-govemment. as important sectoral applications within the framework of NICI plans in African countries.

Recommends that

Member states

• Establish sensitization programmes for government to promote the dexelopment of NICIs and e-govemment projects

• Strategize on the use of ICTs as an enabler lo fully contribute to the socio-economic development and the creation ofjob opportunities

• Promote better e-go\ ernment in ensuring consistency in information systems across

sectors

• Combine the ICTs with other development instruments for the desired impacts on development

ECA

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Sub-regional offices increase their involvement in the N1CI development processes, particularly in the area of e-governance

Promote ICT networks for African parliamentarians and help build their capacity to promote the development of e-govemance at the parliamentarian level: and enhance the participation of members of parliaments to the formulation and implementation of national ICT policies.

COD1

• Official 1\ designates The Gambia as an A1S1 e-Govemment case study, which will consequently be evaluated and replicated in other African countries.

2. Promotion of participator)' approaches Considering

The participation of civil society, mass media, private sector and academia will ensure the successful formulation and development of NICI policies and plans.

Recommends that

CODI requests that the Bamako Bureau on Africa's preparation to the WS1S take into account the civil societ\ and women's participation, including other major concerns and ensure that Africa takes a common platform in the U SIS process.

Member states

• Promote dialogue with civil societv and the private sector and provide support to ensure their participation in the formulation, development and implementation of ICT policies and plans.

• Take into account the participation of women in policy formulation and building capacity of women for decision making, and development of media programme for gender sensitization.

• Encourage African \outh in activ ities in the production and dissemination of knowledge resources as well as ensure their full participation in the WSIS process.

ECA

• Support member states in mainstreaming gender issues in ICT policies and plans.

• The ePol-NET activ ities be included and linked into the AISI Outreach programme and other African-based ICT initiatives, such as IMPACT Africa that can strengthen information and know ledge sharing among member states.

3. Putting in place a mechanism to measure the progress in ICTs

Noting

The need to systematical!) collect baseline data, set indicators and monitor progress of the impacts of ICTs on socio-economic development.

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Recommends that

Member states

• Develop ICT indicators relevant to achieving the AISI goals in line with the MDGs in all African countries, using the SCAN ICT framework/

• Give full support to Impact Africa to ensure the use of ICTs for measurins MDGs and the PRSPs along with the SCAN-ICT.

ECA

• In collaboration with member states, develop gender indicators in ICTs and also

aggregate data within the framework of SCAN ICT.

• Together with partners, extend the Scan-ICT project to include other African countries.

• Create performance indicators for the implementation of AISI.

4. Improved content creation and assistance towards enabling African languages

Recognizing

That local content and language capabilities are ke> to democratize access to information and

know ledge for all in the continent.

African countries should not only be a consumer of ICTs but a producer of new technoloaies.

Reiterates that

Member states involve the media in all issues of ICT and governance for development using appropriate local languages in disseminating information on ICTs for their effective

participation in the governance process

ECA

• With the support of its member states should develop Africa wide sectoral portals

• Together with its partners support the development of local African languages for content creation through the effective appropriation of open source software for utilization in the governance process and to enable citizens gain access to ICTs in

general.

5. Enhanced partnerships and collaboration

Considering

The number of ICT initiatives on the continent, the linkage and collaboration as well as sharing

experiences and lessons learned has been weak.

Recommends that

ECA

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• Together with member states, establish national committees on NICls. NEPAD and the WSIS.

• Operationalise AVLIN and intensity the participation of ATAC and Civil Society for providing assistance to Member states

• With partners to assist existing information and know ledge networks among different sub-regions taking into consideration geographic and balance

• Together with GKP. should address the need for wider use of radio in Africa through CSOs to reach the grassroots

The African Stakeholders Network (ASN) should with support from ECA initiate ICT activities in member states.

6. Enhanced role of libraries Noting

The crucial role that libraries can pla\ in promoting dissemination of knowledge and involvement of e-governance projects in Africa.

Reiterates that

Member states develop appropriate training programmes for information professionals.

ECA

• Assist member states to develop infrastructure of African libraries and other information institutions.

• Support member states to promote African local content-indigenous know ledge, oral tradition with respect to Information Society development, particular!} in the context of the AVLIN project.

• Assist member states in undertaking baseline studies on the availability of information and libran sen ices within countries and ensure that AVLIN coordinates at the national levels and with the other sub-committees - nameh Geoinformation and Statistics.

7. Promotion of Free and Open Source Software

Noting

That free and open source software can provide cost-effective solutions to African member states and society

Emphasizes that

Member states

• Adopt free and open source software as an important tool in promoting ICT and good

governance.

• Pla> a ke> role in promoting open source software by:

c Introducing appropriate policies and legislation o Stimulating the local software industry:

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c Lowering entry barriers for various kinds of new businesses in the IT industry:

Consider the political and economic security issues associated with the use of OSS and work with ECA to undertake research on how issues of national sovereignty can be safeauarded.

ECA

Together with partners and member states establish an inter-African collaboration and networking mechanism to promote open source software and a portal site on success stories.

Assist civil society to sensitize and organize awareness activities on the need to create associations promoting the use of open source network.

Develop capacitv building programmes on open source software utilization for the development of ICT industry in Africa.

AVLIN and the other sub-committees to promote the use of OSS in their work.

8. Facilitating the Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

Noting

The development of ICTs and its application in various sectors depends on the senices and products offered b> the private sector. The public sector has a key role to play in creating an enabling environment to ensure the development of vibrant ICT industry.

Recommends that

Member States encourage and license local telecom operators to invest in rural areas, and that ECA establish a framework for Public-Private partnership (PPP) for Africa in the use of ICT- enabled equitable development.

9. Rationalization of initiatives

Noting

The proliferation of programmes responding to the needs of ICT development in Africa

Recommends Member States. ECA and the international community to promote coordinate ICT initiatives to narrow the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world with the

objective of establishing a digital solidarity fund.

Agenda Item 8: Sub-Committee on Statistics

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Attendance

1. The session of the Sub-Committee on Statistics of the third meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI-3) was held at the Headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia, from 12 to 15 May 2003. with a pre-CODI Working Group on "Statistics and Governance" convened on 11 May 2003 and post-CODI meeting devoted to the formal launchins of the Advison Board on Statistics in

Africa (ABSA) on 16 May 2003.

2. The meeting of the Sub-committee on Statistics was attended by delegates from the following member States of the Commission: Algeria. Angola. Benin. Burundi. Cameroon.

Comoros. Congo. Cote d'lvoire. Democratic Republic of Congo. Djibouti. Egypt. Ethiopia.

Gabon. Gambia. Ghana. Guinea. Kenya. Mali. Mauritania. Morocco. Mozambique.

Namibia. Niger. Nigeria. Rwanda. Senegal. Sierra Leone. Somalia. South Africa. Sudan.

Swaziland. Tanzania. Togo. Tunisia. Uganda and Zambia.

3. The meeting was also attended by observers from the following organizations: African Development Bank (ADB): Observatoire Statistique et Economique d'Afrique Sub- Saharienne (AFRISTAT): Banque Centrale des Etats de I'Afrique de TOuest (BCEAO):

Book Jang (Senegal): CERSGIS (Ghana): Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA): Department for International Development (DFID. UK); Developpement

Insertion International (DIAL): Eastern Africa Statistical Training Centre in Dar-es-Salaam

(EASTC): Ecole Nationale d'Economie Appliquee de Dakar (ENEA): Ecole Nationale Superieure de Statistique et dEconomie Appliquee d'Abidjan (ENSEA): Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for Africa: International Monetary Fund (IMF):

International Labour Organization (ILO): Switzerland: InWent:-Munich Centre for

Economic. Environmental and Social Statistics: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD PARIS21): Oxford Policy Management (UK): Partenariat pour le

Developpement Municipal (PDM): Swiss Federal Statistical Office: US Bureau of census:

United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD): University of Ghana: the World Bank.

Agenda Item 8.1: Opening

4. In the absence of the outgoing Chairperson (Mauritius) and the outgoing Vice-Chairperson (Benin), the outgoing (Morocco) call the meeting to order soon after the outgoing Vice- Chairperson took the chair. Then the Director of the Economic and Social Policy Division (ESPD) made an opening statement.

Agenda Item 8.2: Election of officers, adoption of the agenda and organization of work

5. The Sub-committee elected the follow ing Bureau:

■ Chairperson: Senegal:

■ Vice-Chairperson : Zambia:

■ Rapporteur: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

6. The meeting adopted the draft agenda and programme of work without amendments.

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Agenda Item 8.3: Statistics and Governance

7. Issues raised

■ Need for a clear definition of the concept of governance, the variables it implies, the related domains and the most valuable methodologies and measures

■ Need to prioritise the different subjects related to governance

■ Good statistics for good governance and the need for good governance of national statistical offices (NSOs)

■ What are the different domains related to governance where NSOs can play a role without loosing their credibility? (Coverage of governance and sensitive sectors)

■ The role of statisticians and NSOs in the different domains/sectors of good governance

■ What statistics can add in measuring governance? (Comparative advantages of NSOs and other components of the national statistical system in the process of measuring governance:

NSOs. NGOs. etc.)

■ Variables related to governance and the methodology to measure them

• Type of statistical data on gov emance to make available to decision-makers and the general public

■ What are the most valuable measures and their applicability?

■ Difficulties of proxv-measures of governance

■ Need for a clear distinction between statistics, which is a technical process, and politics

■ The risk of having indicators computed b\ non statistical institutions or non-statisticians

■ How the debate at the international level is perceiv ed and implemented at the national level?

■ The legal framework for NSOs involvement in the measurement gov ernance

■ Confidentiality and prevention against the use of statistical data for repressive ends (fiscal.

etc.)

■ Need for moral authority for NSOs to lead the process

■ Statistics needed for the African peer review mechanism

■ Applicability of the African peer review mechanism for national statistical system

■ Need for ownership, accountability, participatory and multidisciplinary process 8. Actions recommended.

■ Measurement procedures must deal with both positive and negative aspects of governance.

■ Statisticians should carefiill) review the Declaration of African Heads of States and Government and refer to it as a legal framework in developing indicators on governance at the national and regional levels.

■ Establish a Working Group on peer review mechanisms for the assessment of statistical capacity and to deal with conceptual and methodological issues pertaining to the development of indicators on governance, as well as other issues such as the identification of comparative advantages of NSOs and other components of the national statistical system in this area.

■ Strengthen the national statistical system by allocating adequate financial, human and material resources to its various components involved in the collection and compilation of statistics and indicators on governance, the NSO playing the kev role in this process.

■ ECA should assist in the establishment, at the country level, of the legal framework needed to ensure proper coordination of the activities of the various entities dealing with governance issues

■ Reformulate or rev ise. should be need arise, existing statistical regulations in order to take into account emerging data needs, including those pertaining to governance.

■ It is recommended that Member States adopt a process for assessing their statistical

capacity: initially, volunteer countries should undertake the testing and adoption of tools

and processes for the peer review of statistical capacity for adoption as part of the New

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Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) commitment supported b\ an expert group provided by ECA/PARIS21.

Other Discussion points

" The meeting also received a presentation on "Statistics and indicators in the field of Human Rights and Governance: the METAGORA programme", which was a continuation of the plenary session on the subject.

Agenda Item 8.4: Country reports

9. Issues raised

■ The low number of country reports received b\ ECA

■ Status of the statistical development in the following countries: Algeria. Benin. Burundi.

Comoros. Democratic Republic of Congo. Djibouti. Ethiopia. Gabon. Ghana. Kema. Mali.

Mauritania. Morocco. Mozambique. Nigeria. Republic of Congo. Rwanda. Senegal. Sierra Leone. Somalia. Swaziland. Tanzania. Togo. Tunisia. Uganda. Zambia

• The possibility of standardized format of country reports

■ Dissemination of country reports

10. Actions recommended

■ Countty reports should be prepared and forwarded well in advance to ECA and the Sub committee, so as to enable a fruitful exchange of experience among the NSOs. should devote sufficient time to their review

■ ECA should work out a standard format on the basis of the outline adopted by the Sub committee at its second session for the preparation of country reports: such a format should be tailored to the concerns, themes and agenda of failure sessions of CODI.

• Countn reports ma> be supplemented by country profiles.

■ ECA should synthesize the countn reports and make a presentation: selected countries could be invited to make presentations on countn good practices.

■ Other components of the national statistical system, such as Central Banks and sectoral agencies, may be included in the reporting process

■ Statistical training centres should also report on their activ ities during future sessions of the Sub-committee

■ Countn reports should be posted on the Web sites of the NSOs in countries where such dissemination facilities exist

Agenda Item 8.5: Follow-up of the conclusions and

recommendations of the second meeting of the Sub-Committee of CODI on statistics

11. Issues raised

■ Follow-up of the evaluation of Addis Ababa Plan of Action for the Development of Statistics in Africa during the 1990s

■ Implementation of the 1993 SNA

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■ Conclusions and recommendations of the working group on statistical capacity building for poverty monitoring in Africa

■ Use of statistical databases and information systems for decision-making

■ ECA's statistical activities

• The Sub-committee took note of the report and adopted it.

Agenda Item 8.6: The implementation of the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA 93) in Africa

13. Issues raised

■ Human resource constraints at the ECA secretariaL which prevented the Commission from earn ing-out and in-depth assessment of the implementation of the 1993 SNA

■ An overview of AFRISTAT and ECOWAS acti\ ities in the area of National Accounts

■ Harmonization of methodologies, data quality, timeliness and comparability and compliance with international dissemination standards

■ An implementation strategy should be adopted at the country level.

■ African go\ernments should provide adequate financial and human resources to NSOs.

■ Specialized training programmes should be encouraged.

Agenda Item 8.7: Report of the Working Group on "Statistics and Governance"

15. Issues raised

• Involvement of NSOs in the electoral process at country level

■ NSOs ma> play a more efficient role in the electoral process by providing to the government departments in charge of elections all the statistical data needed to ensure the smooth organization of this process without violating confidentialit} principles.

■ The sub-committee adopted the draft report with amendments

Agenda Item 8.8: Regional and sub-regional initiatives for statistical development in Africa

17. The following major partners presented reports on their initiatives and work programmes aimed at promoting statistical development in the African region: ADB: BCEAO: FAO:

IMF: AFRISTAT: CNSD: PARIS 21: US Bureau of Census: EASTC.