November 2011, Geneva, Switzerland. The workshop on “Multilateral Financial Negotiations: Key Challenges for Africa” (8 to 9 November 2011), which was directed by Dr. Yenkong Ngangjoh Hodu (Associate Professor at University of Manchester) and Dr. Carlo Cattani (Senior international consultant on Finance and Development) had 17 participants from 12 Sub-Saharan African countries. Dr. Ngangjoh Hodu and Dr. Cattani both made several presentations on specific issues and shared their insights and experiences with the participants in the debates and discussions at the end of each module. In addition, Mr. Dusan Zivkovic (Expert, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) made a presentation on negotiations at the Paris Club of Creditors. The objective of this workshop was to equip middle and senior-level African negotiators with the necessary background knowledge and understanding of development finance, international financial architecture, and key negotiation issues pertinent to financing for development as well as the required skills to perform effectively in multilateral financial negotiations.
The diversity of participants and countries represented rendered very lively and insightful discussions and debates. All of the 17 workshop participants who completed and returned the feedback questionnaire distributed at the end of the workshop indicated that that they will likely use the information acquired through the workshop in their job. Likewise, 100% of respondents indicated that they will recommend this workshop to a colleague with similar job responsibilities.
On the whole, participants provided very positive feedback on the workshop, below is a comment from a participant:
“A very useful workshop which should be replicated in the capitals as well since capital-based officials are not always on top of all of the trade-related issues under discussion.”
(Anonymous comment received through the participant feedback questionnaire)
This workshop is part of a programme of training events organized under the partnership between UNDP RBA and UNITAR which aims to train African negotiators and decision-makers on key issues related to economic and social development. This partnership is expected to strengthen African ownership and leadership of continental capacity development initiatives by enhancing the ability of African officials to participate effectively in multilateral negotiations in the areas of financing for development, regional investment and integration, climate change, and peace and security.
Building on their respective comparative advantages, UNDP and UNITAR are organizing a total of 35 training and networking events in English and in French in 2011 alone. More than 1,100 African negotiators and officials will directly benefit from training and networking activities which incorporate UNITAR’s innovative methodologies and long-standing experience in knowledge transfer and executive learning.
Training will initially focus on four priority areas related to economic and social development of Africa: financing for development, regional investment and integration, climate change, and peace and security. In addition to face-to-face training and networking events, instructor-led e-Learning courses and e-Discussions will be organized to engage and train a wider audience of African officials. UNDP and UNITAR will also disseminate widely through the Internet selected knowledge products developed through the training activities.
It is hoped that his joint UNDP/UNITAR project will not only contribute to achieving sustainable growth and attaining the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the African region, but also provide a practical example of making use of existing synergies within the UN system with a view to “Deliver as One”.
For more information about UNDP in Africa, visit:
http://www.undp.org/africa/.
For more information about UNITAR’s Public Finance and Trade Programme, visit: http://www.unitar.org/pft.
© Photos: UNITAR/Hatem EFE