ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL QUERIES UNITED NATIONS 'SENEGAL TEAM' ON COORDINATION EFFORTS, ANTI-POVERTY MEASURES
Press Release
ECOSOC/5715
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL QUERIES UNITED NATIONS 'SENEGAL TEAM' ON COORDINATION EFFORTS, ANTI-POVERTY MEASURES
19970709 (Reissued as received.)GENEVA, 8 July (UN Information Service) -- Officials of the United Nations' "Senegal team" -- representing nine of 16 agencies carrying out development and health-based programmes in the country -- described to the Economic and Social Council this afternoon their work and efforts at coordination and efficiency, and then answered questions on such topics as the establishment of a national plan to combat poverty and structural adjustment measures taken by the country to reduce external debt.
Taking part in the "informal dialogue" were Odile Sorgho-Moulinier, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Senegal; Samir Sobhy, representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Pai Obanya, Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Regional Office, Dakar; Christiane D'Almeida, representative of the Regional Bureau of West and Central Africa of the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP); Aster Zaoude, Regional Coordinator of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); Amar Sangoné, Senior Operations Officer of World Bank in Dakar; Kadri Tankari, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO); Joseph Budarara, Director, World Food Programme (WFP); Sidiki Conlibaly, representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); and Francois d'Adesky, Director at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). In introductory statements, the officials outlined the scope of their organizations' activities in Senegal, reviewed cooperative agreements with related agencies to avoid overlapping of work, and explained steps taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their programmes.
The country was described as showing improved economic performance but challenged by a high rate of population growth, a strong trend towards urbanization -- including massive migration to the capital of Dakar -- and extensive poverty which especially affected children. National delegations pressed repeatedly for information on efforts to augment traditional sources of funding for development in the country and for elaboration of the activities of the Resident Coordinator in ensuring that 16 different United Nations agencies could operate in the country without duplicating programmes or services.
Ms. Sorgho-Moulinier said, among other things, that good examples of broad-based programmes developed with the leadership of the Resident Coordinator included projects to improve basic education and to eradicate poverty. She added that funds had been attracted on occasion both from local sources and from bilateral donors such as the Netherlands, through its embassy in Senegal, to augment traditional official development assistance channelled to United Nations agencies in the country.
Mr. Sangoné of the World Bank told the meeting that most structural adjustment reforms recommended in the past for Senegal were in place and that current macroeconomic situation was much healthier, allowing the United Nations and the Bank to put more resources into the country's social sector.
Among those putting questions to the "Senegal team" were representatives of Germany, Senegal, Jamaica, Finland, Bangladesh, Uganda, Canada, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Netherlands, and France.
The Council will reconvene at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 9 July, to begin a day's discussion on the topic of "mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes of the United Nations system".
Statements
ODILE SORGHO-MOULINIER, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Senegal, said 16 United Nations agencies were represented in Senegal; their relations in the country were good and had resulted in a positive atmosphere. The United Nations system was regularly consulted by the Government on questions of policy, especially those related to poverty eradication. The economy had shown encouraging and increasing growth in 1994-1996, but the social situation remained a matter of concern, as indicated by a strong population growth rate of 2.7 per cent, and by a strong urbanization rate -- soon most of the population would live in Dakar. Moreover, a high percentage of children lived in poverty.
A plan on competitiveness and sustainable development through the year 2001 which aimed at continuing growth in the economy and at meeting human needs, she said. It was hoped that efforts by all involved in the process would encourage the population to participate effectively in development programmes.
Coordination was vital, Ms. SORGHO-MOULINIER said; in the field, cooperative programmes include a programme for maternal health in eastern Senegal; the numbers of such projects should be increased, and the national programme to fight poverty should make that possible. It was nonetheless understood that field-level cooperation could and should be improved. Greater harmonization appeared to be needed at headquarters level as well.
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SIDIKI CONLIBALY, representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Senegal, said United Nations programmes on technical capacity-building were wide-ranging, from education and health to finance. To strengthen capacity-building in education, agencies were training voluntary teachers; in the area of population, UNFPA was strengthening non-governmental organizations to manage population problems; in the area of finances, a national team was created to advise private enterprises; in the area of health, staff were trained to care for the health of women and children. Meanwhile, programmes were being elaborated on other issues, including the environment, agriculture and the "brain drain" problem.
SAMIR SOBHY, representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said coordination among United Nations agencies in Senegal could be summed up as being highly structured and covering not only coordination among agencies but included bilateral and multilateral donors and a number of other actors in Senegal. The system worked very well. Inter-agency coordination took place on several levels: there were regular heads-of-agency meetings every two months, or whenever a major subject cropped up or a major official visited the country; the meetings dealt with major strategic issues such as the Country Strategy Note or Development Assistance Framework. Coordination was carried out with the Government, as in the case of development of the Strategy Note; and joint action occurred frequently, as in the national poverty-eradication programme. There also was participation in programmes with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). In the fields of maternal health, nutrition, advancement of women, AIDS, and other areas, there was coordination between United Nations agencies and in their methods of operation and intervention; and the Government as well was extensively involved in the AIDS project and population activities. In addition a cooperation group was run by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the main issues related to development, while under its umbrella thematic groups dealt with subsidiary issues. These efforts and meetings allowed for transparency in programmes and in decision-making, and for increased efficiency.
ASTER ZAOUDE, Regional Coordinator of UNIFEM, said the organization was a network created in 1988 to coordinate the efforts of agencies on the topics of women and development. UNIFEM allowed donors to exchange information about their efforts, helped avoid duplication and promoted synergy. UNIFEM was successful because donors were interested in gender issues, there was a desire on the part of governments to cooperate closely on the two topics, and members were ready to shoulder the costs and coordinate events.
KADRI TANKARI, Representative of the WHO, said it was difficult to estimate the impact of the various United Nations machinery and programmes on development and capacity-building in Senegal. One indicator was the formulation of national plans, and United Nations agencies played a catalytic role in that. Another was execution of those plans, and close regular
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coordination among the United Nations helped, and the last was the participation of civil society in the execution.
Discussion
Country delegations put a number of questions from the floor. They asked, among other things, what was the total United Nations budget for Senegal, and what was Senegal's proportion of the overall United Nations official development assistance budget; how effective decentralization of development-based decision-making was turning out to be; if an example could be given of how the Resident Coordinator played a role and had an impact in development of a programme of a broad-based nature involving a number of agencies, such as for basic education or basic health; what mechanisms existed, if any, for coordination of United Nations programmes involving Senegal with those involving Gambia, and how effective they were; what was the status of the country in terms of structural-adjustment measures; and if it would be possible to have a United Nations building putting all programmes in a joint premises, and agency representatives would like such an arrangement.
Members of the Senegal "team" said, among other things, that poverty eradication was directly linked to good governance, in that so many resources could be liberated and efficiencies realized if Government functioned well in that area; that the overall budget of the United Nations system for Senegal, based on the UNDP annual report for 1995, and including technical cooperation, amounted to 11.8 per cent of official development assistance; that non-core funding over a recent five-year period for UNICEF operations in Senegal had amounted to between US$16 and $17 million; that UNICEF representatives operated in the field, and in use of funds, with a high degree of decentralization. Capacity-building involving UNDP and the World Bank in Senegal was an important and topical subject, as several upcoming UNDP meetings would deal with capacity-building, and a World Bank report on capacity-building was upcoming. The World Bank and UNDP regularly discussed and harmonized views on programmes anticipated -- but still in the embryo stage -- on capacity-building in Senegal. It was hoped that a joint, well-coordinated programme emphasizing good governance in the country would soon be established.
Senegal, members of the team said, was very concerned with achieving progress with regard to social indicators, as something separate from indicators showing economic growth. They gave as an example of the Resident Coordinator's work in developing a broad-based cooperative programme involving many United Nations agencies involved the recently launched Special Initiative for Africa, which included emphasis on basic education. Such work had been undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry for Basic Education; that the World Bank and UNDP had been given main roles for establishing the Special Initiative in Senegal. The UNDP official had made contacts within the Government to improve basic education and a proposal had been begun with the
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cooperation as well of UNICEF and several other agencies to improve basic education. Another example of extensive cooperation was establishment of a pilot programme for eradicating poverty, which had attracted the participation of bilateral donors.
The World Bank, in cooperation with the Food and Agricultural Organization, had helped the Government establish a conceptual strategy for agricultural development, it was stated. There were no real "differences" between what the World Bank did and what UNDP did -- that it was more a matter of complementarity and synergy, because there was so much to be done that there was no question of overlapping. Most structural adjustment reforms were in place and the current macroeconomic situation much healthier, allowing the United Nations and the World Bank to put more resources into the social sector. The World Bank's portfolio now focused, among other things, for example, on health, women's issues, and combatting major diseases.
On the subject of "co-location", members of the team indicated that some United Nations agencies occupied premises that were in Government buildings provided free of charge; on the other hand, having all agencies in one building would improve coordination and solidarity and help to establish a joint culture and to foster greater dedication to the work being carried out.
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