Enhancing support of African development.

• Position: Includes a definition of the African Initiative - Special Initiative on Africa - Cover Story

The Special Initiative on Africa, launched globally on 15 March by the Secretary-General along with the executive heads of all UN agencies and organizations represented in the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), aims to give practical expression to the policy commitments made in the past, such as the UN New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. Unprecedented in scope, the Initiative reflects the priority accorded to Africa's development by the international community, the mandates emanating from the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and major UN conferences, as well as the undertakings made individually and collectively by African Governments to accelerate the development of their countries.

In a launch-day Declaration, the Committee called the Initiative "a concrete expression of the commitment of all organizations of the system to enhance substantially their support for the development efforts of African countries".

The Special Initiative has 14 components concentrated in critical sectors, such as basic education, basic health, governance, food security, water and sanitation, peace-building and informatics. The components were chosen for making a rapid, significant and durable impact, and each has its own implementation schedule and financing context, as well as a lead UN agency or agencies responsible for mobilizing funding and oversight.

The ACC will monitor implementation through a Steering Committee co-chaired by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Executive Secretary. The World Bank will lead in the resource mobilization for the two largest components of the Initiative: basic education and health reform. It is also expected to play an active role in all other components.

Themes, Components

As the UN's most significant mobilization of international support for development in a single world region, the Special Initiative includes practical actions which the UN hopes will make a major difference to Africa's future. The Initiative is expected to help rationalize development assistance to the continent and maximize its impact. An effective partnership with donor countries and institutions is viewed as critical to success.

The 14 specific "components" for action are grouped by the UN under four cross-cuffing "themes" stemming from development priorities defined by Africans themselves.

Theme 1: Give Development a Chance

Underlying this theme are four components considered instrumental for creating a climate favourable for development. It recognizes that in countries torn by warfare, it is meaningless to talk of economic development without first addressing peace-building, conflict resolution and national reconciliation.

To support peace processes now taking hold in Africa, the Special Initiative will focus on augmenting: the capacity of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to engage in conflict prevention, management and resolution; selected organs of civil society engaged in peace-building and the promotion of human rights and democracy; and the use of mass media, particularly radio broadcasting, to support peace-building, both through the reinforcement of a culture of tolerance and through the education and empowerment of people to enable them to express their views and participate in the political process.

While tangible backing from the international community remains essential for Africa's development efforts, budgets for external development...