JOHANNESBURG, 1 July 2014 — The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Johannesburg to establish a collaborative partnership for economic and social development in Africa.
NEPAD’s Planning and Coordinating Agency, the implementing agency of the African Union Commission (AUC), is a strategic partner in the implementation of economic and social development programmes in Africa.
The MoU provides a framework for collaboration on a set of key African development matters, particularly around adolescent and youth development, gender equality and women’s empowerment, and reproductive health (including human resources for maternal and newborn health and the use of information, communication and technology (ICT) to advance maternal and newborn health). These are framed to further implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Beyond 2014, and the regional Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development on Harnessing the Demographic Dividend, in the context of Africa’s Common Position on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
NEPAD CEO, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, said t he objective of moving towards joint programming between NEPAD and UNFPA was well on track. “The linkage that has been created with the signing of the MoU will bring even more possibilities for NEPAD to move forward in implementing its strategic plan, to which Africa’s demographic dividend is central,” he said.
The challenge for politicians is accountability to the sizeable youthful population, especially in terms of job creation. UNFPA and NEPAD are attempting to foster regional integration through strategic frameworks. UNFPA has accumulated important knowledge of the issues of population dynamics, and this can be tapped into by NEPAD in order to improve implementation capacity. “The cooperation we want to forge with UNFPA will help us promote a more multisectoral approach,” Dr. Mayaki said.
Big things start from small beginnings
UNFPA is accelerating its efforts to improve health outcomes for women and adolescents in Africa, and to ensure that young people can realize their full potential.
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director, said that “Big things start from small beginnings. This MoU with NEPAD is timely and will help accelerate and harmonize our work at regional and country level. We are dealing with a large youth population and a good proportion of them are dependent. We need to think creatively in order to harness the very best of these demographic dynamics,” he said.
UNFPA works with the African Union and its Member States through three regional offices, a Liaison Office to the AU Commission/UNECA in Addis Ababa and 54 Country Offices in all the 54 African Countries. Its efforts ensure sustainable social and economic development, with national leadership and ownership.
UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Director Dr. Julitta Onabanjo said the Regional Office, which supports a third of the continent, was excited about this new collaboration and what this will mean for enhancing the development of the continent. The next steps would be the articulation of a time-bound and costed work plan to concretely operationalize the partnership.
Technical meetings have been scheduled between NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency and UNFPA on implementation of the MoU.
For further information, please contact:
Adebayo Fayoyin, UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office, Regional Communications Adviser: 011 6035308; 079 517032011; fayoyin@unfpa.org
Lindsay Barnes, UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office, Communications Analyst: 011 6035329; barnes@unfpa.org
