UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA First meeting of the Technical
Preparatory Committee of the Whole Addis Ababa, 3-8 April 1980
E/CN .l4/753
?4 J",:,:ual'y 19130
?riginal : ENGLISH
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA Fifteenth srssion/sixth meeting of
the Conference af Ministers Addis Ababa, 9-12 April 1980
AFRICAN DEVELOIMENT STRATEGY IN TIlE FRAMEWORK OF THE INTERNATIONAL DEVEI.OIMENT STRATEGY FOR THE THIRD
UNITED NATIONS DEVEI.OIMENT DECADE
Follow-up action on the decisions of the Conference of Ministers at its fifth session on an African Development Strategy in the Framework of the ~nternationalDevelopment
Strategy for the Third United Nations Development UeCbQe
l
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Strategy for the Thira United Nations Development Decade
1. I!'J'I'RQDUCTION
1. Fallaw-up action on 'the decisions of the Conference of Ministers at its fifth meeting concerning the African Development strategy in the framework of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Deve~opment
Decade derived from three resolutions:
(a) General Assembly resolution 33/193, paragraphs 7 and 9 of which respectively request
(i) the Secretary-General to entrust the Director-General for Development and International Economic Co-operation with the resp~nsibilityfor providing over-~ guidance, nrientation and co-ordination for the contributions of the re~evant secretariats of the United Nations system to the formulation of the new
, international development strategy and submit relevant documentation in this regard to the Preparatory Committee;
(ii) the executive secretaries of the regional commissions, as appropriate, to bring their respective regional experiences to bear on the preparation of their inputs to the formulation of the new internatiohal deve~~ment strategy, taking£ully into account the different levels of development and differing development situations of their respective regions;
(b) Conference of Ministers resnlution 332(XIV), paragraphs 5,
7
and 8 of which request(i)'
the Executive Secretary forthwith to transmit the draft Declaration as well as the t'lther working documents (1.e. the Strategy for the African region in the International Development strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade, the reports of the tAU/ECASymp~sium on the Future DevelDpment Prospects of Africa towards the' Year 20f'O,
}j
and the ECA!UNEP Seminar on Alternative Patterns of Development and Life Styles for the Africa Regil'\n 2/ to all member States so that they might study the draft DeclaratIon and thestrategy statement on the basis of the working documents and submit as soon as possible, but not later than 15 May 1979, such comments and suggestions as they t¢.ght have »n thedrn.ft Declaration and strategy statement to the Executive Secretary;
(ii) the Executive Secretary to prepare the final documents embodying the Declaration on Guidelines and Measures for National and Collective Self-reliance in Social and Economic Development for the Establishment of a New International Economic Order and the statement nn strategy having regard to the comments and
1/ E/CN.14/698/Add.2.
3/
E/CN.14/698/Add.1.E/CN.14/753 Page 2
suggestions as they might have on the draft Declaration ahd strategy statement to the Executive Secretary;
(ii) the Executive Secretary t~ prepare the final documents embodying the Declaration on Guidelines and Measures for National and Collective Self-reliance in Social ~d Economic Development for the Establishment of a New International Economic Order and the statement on strategy having regard to the comments and suggestions_
received for submission to the sixteenth session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of Ai'rican
Unity; and
(iii) the Administrative SecretarY-General of the Organization of African Unity and the Executive Secretary of the Economic _Comm~ssior. for Africa to ensure that the final documents as prepared by the- Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa are _ submitted to member States at least thirty days before the thirty- third ordinary session of-the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity; .and
(c) Resolution AHG/Res.96(XVI)/Rev.I of the Assembly of Heads -nf State and Government of the Organization of African Unity on the holding of an extraordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government on economic problems paragraph 2 of which directs the Administrative Secretary-General of the Organization, in close co-operati~nwith the Executive Secretary of the
Economic Commission for Ai'rica and the ministers of member States responsible for economic development, to prepare the grounds for the proposed extraordinary session so as to facilitate a fruitful discussion of the economic problems of Africa by the Heads of State and Government.
2. With respect to the provisions of paragraph 7 of General Assembly resolution 33/193, the Director-General for Development and International Economic Co-operation had in February 1979 requested all the relevant secretariats of the United Nations sys-tem to submit -to his office the list of documents that they propcsed to submit to the Preparatory Committee, inclUding bhcse to be submi.t t.ed by their legislative organs, and the ECA secretariat, in reply, indicated that, among others, ic intended to submit
(i) the Development Strategy for Africa during the Third United Nations Development Decade to be adopted by the Cnnference of Ministers at its
fifth meeting in March 1979; (ii) ~he Report of the PAU/ECA_Symposium on the Future Development Prospects of Africa Towards the Year 2000; and (iii) the Report of the Seminar on Alternative Patterns of Development and Life Styles for.the African Region.
3. Hith-respect to paragraph 9, _the Preparatory committee, at its first substantive session in April 1979, decided to invite the executive heads of agencies, organizations and regional commissions of the United Nations to address it during the ~irst part of its second substantive session on the preparation of the new 'international development strategy
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. II.. ACTION TAKEN
(a) Participati6p.a;t the first substantive ..Jle:;;sion of' the Preparatory Committee for the New International Development Strategy, New York, 2-13 April 1979
4. At its organizational meeting at United Nations Headquarters from 1 to 5 February 1979, 'the Preparatory Committee decided to hold its first substantive session at United Nations Headquarters from 2 to 13 April 1979, when apart from procedural matters, the Committee was to take up the sub- stantiveissue of preparation for the new international development strategy in order to be able to meet the deadline established by the General Assembly.
5. It was in the light of the foregoing that the Executive Secretary of the Commission told the Conference of Ministers during the discussions on the'
African Strategy that there was no time to waste and that as sOAn as the Ministers took a decisi~n on the adoption of the strategy as recommended by the Technical Committee of Experts, he would immediately have to send to New York a tentative African position with regard to the Strategy
3/.
Thus, on Thursday 29 March 1979, the Executive Secretary sent two staff members to New York from Rabat(i) to deliver the relevant documents t~ the Director-General for Development and International Economic Co-operation; (ii) to report to the African Group in New York on the decisions of the Ministers and make available to the members of the Group copies of the draft strategy ai.d the reports of the OAu/ECA Symposium on the Future Development Prospects of Africa Towards the Year 2000 and the ECA/UNEP Seminar .n Alternative Patterns of Development and Life Styles for the African Region; and (iii) to participate as observers in the meeting of the Pre- paratory Cl'mmittee and of the Committee for Development Planning, which were
then taking place simultaneously.
6. The staff members held a meeting with members of the African Group, at which a report was made on the deliberations of the ministers on the strategy at Rabat, and their conclusions and recommendations. The strategy document and the reports f"f the two seminars as well as the addresses of the Administrative Secretary-General of the Organization of .African Unity and of the Executive Secretary of the Commission to the Co~erence Rf Ministers were distributed to all African permanent missions to the Ubi ted Nations and the OAU secretariat in New York. The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations, who was the Chairman of the meeting of the Technical Committee of Experts, also explained to the meeting what had taken place in Rabat.
7. Ct>pies of the reports of the two seminars were also made available to members of the Committee for Development Planning.
8. The two staff members of ECA .cater met some "f the representatives
individually. The information contained in the strategy and the other documents constituted part of the contributions of the African Group to the submission of the Group of
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at the ~irst SUbstantive session of the.Preparatory Committee.3/
See Economic Commission for Africa, Annual Report - 5 May 1978 - 28 March 1979,-E/l979/50; E/CN.14/725, paragraph 252.E/CN.14/753 Page
4
(0)
Participation of the Executive Secretary of the. Commission at the second substantive sess5.C'n of the Preparatory Committee .0£.the New InternaE:0ilaJ, Development Strategy, New York,11 :. 22 June. 1979
9.
In accordance with the decision of the Preparatory COmmittee referred to above, the Executive Sec~etary, accompanxed by r ne 01 the two staff members who hsd participated in the first substantive session, participated at the second substantive session of the Preparatory Committee and addre2sed the Committee on 21 JlL~e 1979. The Executive Secretary pointed cut that the InternationalDevelopment Strategy for the Third Deve10pment Decade must satisfy at least three criteria: it must address itself to the pr0blems ahead; lead to specific programmes and projects; and provide a framework for action at the nationaJ and regional as well as international. levels. He felt that no strategy could be viable at the national level wnich resuJ.ted in mere imitation and what the Committee for Development PlalUling at its fifteenth session had described as
"isolated subcultures replacing social cohesion" .. ",::/
lO. He gave a summary of some of the principal findings cf thEi OAU/ECA SYmPosium on the FUture Development Prospects of; Africa Towards the Year 2C.00and of the joint ECA/UNEP Seminar on Alternative Patterns of Development and Life Styles for the African Regi,',n, whj.ch had formed major inputs into~he discussLn and the adoption of the Strategy for the African region at Rabat.
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11. Before his address to the Preparatory Committee, the Executive Secretary had lliet ~embers of the African Group to exchange views with'them and after his address he he Ld another meeting with them to answer further questions. FinaJ~y,
also after his statement, arrangements 1,er2 made for him to exchange views .Iith some members uf the Preparatory Committee, including the Chairnan.
(c) Transmission of the draft strategy document and the reports of the OAU/ECA Symposium and ECA/UNEP Se~inar to States me~ers
of the Comro~ssion
1.2. As indicated abe-ve, thc Jitxec,,-tive Secretary was requested. to transmit the draft Declarativn as well as the 0ther >larking documents to all members to enable them to study the documents and make their comments and suggestions known to him by the date set in Conference of Ministers resoJ~ltion332(XIV) so th'lt he coul.d finalize the strategy document f:r onward t.ransmissioilto the sdxt.eerrth seeso_on of the Assembly of Pea.ds of State and GVvernment of the OAU.
l3. On returning to AddiD Ababa, the documents were d~strillUl.ea. unde r cover of a letter which conveyed the decisions of the Ninisters to member states.
4/
See Report of the Preparatory Committee for the New Inte:;:-r,ational Development Stra1",cgy, Vol. II, page 17, paragraph 10.:2/
~, page 16, paragraph 7..~
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Cd) Meeting of the Heeds of State and Government of Economic CommurJity of West African states (ECOWASJ, Dakar, Senegai~
27 - 30 May 1979
14. In view of the initiative of the Government of Liberia in the preparation of the Draft Declaration of Commitment of Heads of Ste.te and Government of the Organization of :\frican Unity on Guidelines and j'~easures for Nate':onal and Collective Self-reliance in Social and Economic Development for the ES1;abllsh- ment of a New International. Economic Order (annex B of the strategy), the
President :of Liberia had addressed a letter tc the other Heads
0"
State andGov~nment of ECrWAS explaining further the impcrtance of the Strategy and the draft Declarati.'n. The lettel' was to be discussed at the meeting of the ECOWAS Heads 01' 3tate and Government, which took pJ~ce at Dakar, Senegal from
27-30
May 1979, and in order to facilitate discussions, the Government of Liberia invited the Execu~ive Secretary cf ECA to send one of his staff members to that meeting.
'(e) Finalization of the Strategy taking into account the cr,rements and suggestions of members for transmission to the sixteenth
session of the Assembly of Heads of State ,and Government of the Organization of African Unity
15.• As indicated above, the Strategy and the other documents were distributed to member States. Unfortunately, however , by the deadline net many member States had submitted their comments and suggestions. Moreover, those which replied to the request for comments and recommendations did net have any significant ~olllllrent$" and suggestions to make; Thus the only work that was donevou theSt'rat6gy before it',~as Sent to the sixteenth session of the Assembly of Heads ~f' state and ~vernment was purely editorial.
16. Witp the co-operation of the Secretary-General ef the Organization of African Unity., the document was distributed to States members of' OAU in accordance with the instructions contained in Conference of Ministers
resolution 332(XIV) ~nd the subject inserted in the agenda of' the meeting of the Council of Ministers of OAU which, after exandni.ng it, recommended it for full discussion and adoption by the AssembJ.y of Heads rf State and Government.
(f) Tnirty-third Ordinary Session ,of the Council of' Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, Monrovia, Liberia,
6..;t4
July 1979 and sixteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of state and Government of the Crganization of' African Unity, Monrovia, Liberia, 16 - 20 July 197917. In order to assist in the discussion of the Strategy for the African Region in ~he International Development Strategy for the Third Development Decade and other relevant economic issues at the thirty-third ordinary session of the Council of Ministers and ehe sixteenth Ordinary Session of' the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity, the Executive Secretary sent an advanced team of five of his staff under the leadership of his deputy to the two meetings. He was supposed to join the team later, although staff' problems and other urgent United Nations matters prevented him from doing so.
E/CN.14/753 Page 6
1.8. As expressed by many of..the Minist<>rs during th<>ir interventions in the debate on the general deveIopmenfprc,tJlems"of Africa'aiici the speclific contents of the draft strategY;' the thiity=-thiid ordinary session
o'F
the 'Council of Ministers was the first time that African Ministers of Foreign' Affairs were to discuss profoundly the economic' and other development problems facing Africa.The debate '.ccupied the better half of an afternoon session and the whole morning session of the. following day with over
25
countries intervening more tba.nonce.19. Because of.the thorough dloscussions of the issues involved by the ministers and the high level of· int.erest shown by tIle }leads of State and Government, it was not difficultfor·the latter to come up with
a
positive decision on theadoption of the strategy and theDecl~rationof Commitment.
20. In the end with the necessary amendraent.s and additions, the Strategy was adopted under the title "Monrovia strategy for the Bconomf,c Development /'If"
Africa" and it waS decided that the General A.ssembly of the United Nations should consider the"Monrovia Strategy as an integral part of the New Inter- nationalDevelopinent'shiit-egy:Thii' Assetnb·}gof'Heads of state and Government also adopted the DeCIaraH6n iiI' Cc,mmitment~'Finauy, the
Asseinbiy
of Heads of State and Governme'ntadoptecfresoluHon AHG!R'es~96(X1iI)IRev.I"ri
the need to hold an extraordinary summit on the economic problems of Africa in Lag~s, Nigeria.,; ,tow!!-!,ds the end of 1979 or some time in 1980 bet'ore the seventeenthsummit
conreeence ,(g) Intersecretari!':t meetings between staff members ofOAU and ECA outhe establishment of the provisiona:l agenda for the extraordinary sUllllllit
21. 0n the basis ~f resolution AHG/Res.g6(XVI)/Rev.I, the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and the Executive Secretary of the Commission decided to establish an intersecretariat committee C"'mprising staff members o.t' l"AU-and. ECA to work out the substantive items "f the provismnal agenda for'the extraordinary sUmliiit
and
the lOOdalities for the preparations for and servicing ot' the sUllllllit. ...22. The intersecretariat committee met twice in October 1979 and established the substantive items of the provisional agenda, 1-1hich now constitute the core 0:1;' itEmf6 "if the prOVisional agendii;f6f .the .first meeting: of the
TechIiic%1're:p,,;j'atory Committee of' thetvliole: andc:if the siXth meeting of the
Confer~ilce--6fMinis'ters .
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