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TCDC
and Sustainable Human Development
"Since coming
to UNDP, I have consistently emphasized the importance of TCDC as a major instrument
for promoting the objectives of sustainable human development which has been
adopted by the UNDP's Executive Board as the guiding principle of our institution's
work."
James
Gustave Speth, Administrator, UNDP
(quoted from Administrator's Message in 50th Anniversary Issue of Cooperation
South)
FOREWORD
Over the years,
the Special Unit for TCDC (SU/TCDC) has supported a number of initiatives that
are relevant to the promotion of sustainable human development. With the adoption
of the recommendations of the report on New Directions by the ninth session
of the High-level Committee on the Review of TCDC, SU/TCDC will promote a number
of strategic initiatives in the areas of poverty elimination, jobs and sustainable
livelihood, environment and women in development which constitute the four major
areas of focus in the sustainable human development strategy, although special
emphasis will be placed on poverty elimination. The ultimate objective of TCDC
is to promote increased technical exchanges among developing countries in support
of their development efforts and to contribute to the creation of a genuinely
interdependent global economic order. This publication highlights a number of
TCDC initiatives that have been supported in the four priority areas identified
above and also indicates action that will be taken in the future in these areas.
DENIS BENN
Director
Special Unit for TCDC Top
TCDC
AND POVERTY ELIMINATION
An important focus
of the TCDC New Directions in support of SHD are activities in the different
regions linked to poverty reduction.
Civil Society Empowerment
for Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
SU/TCDC is collaborating
with the Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA) on this initiative which addresses
priorities related to empowering civil society to ensure effective participation
in poverty reduction dialogues, strategies and progammes. The programme is very
participatory and has three modular components including training, observation
of social trends and exchanges of shared learning. This systematic exchange
of learning experiences takes place at several different levels between community-based
grassroots organizations and women's associations as well as between organizations
of civil society and government decision-makers at community, national and international
levels. Exchanges and workshops are also foreseen to share learning from the
piloting of consensus-building initiatives between organizations of civil society
and government decision-makers in some 18 countries. SU/TCDC's partnership with
RBA seeks to expand the social capital derived from the successful lessons and
strategies aimed at reducing poverty and to make a significant contribution
to the effectiveness of the intermediate-level institutions in society. The
target beneficiaries are peasant and women's community- based organizations
and NGO research networks.
Specific pilot
acivities are identified and defined by the beneficiaries themselves. By the
end of the programme, it is envisaged that over 100 grassroots organizations
will have been strengthened in 18 countries, and over 1,500 leaders of these
organizations will be empowered, having defined their agenda and priorities
and have a better understanding of both the upstream as well as the downstream
dimensions of poverty. Over 1,300 decision-makers from government, media, development
cooperation agencies and civil society will be involved in a dialogue aimed
at devising concrete measures to reduce poverty.
Capacities and
Needs Matching Exercise on Rural Credit and Poverty Alleviation
The Capacity and
Needs Matching Exercise on Rural Credit and Poverty Alleviation held in Bangladesh
in December 1994 under the sponsorship of SU/TCDC produced a total of 237 bilateral
project proposals among participating country institutions concentrated in the
areas of employment creation and income generation activities, rural credit
and rural banking, indicating a high preference among the participants to utilize
economic-based measures to eradicate poverty. Other proposals included support
for women's activities, marketing of rural products, macro and local-level planning,
rural project management, research, generation of rural energy, rural environmental
capacity-building and technology transfer. This served to underscore a multi-disciplinary
approach to poverty eradication. SU/TCDC is working closely with the participating
governments to ensure effective implementation of the various agreements.
TCDC to support
Group of Rio Countries to implement World Social Summit Commitments
In a UNDP-supported
meeting that took place in Quito, Ecuador from 15 to 17 November 1995, the Group
of Rio Countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) agreed to establish a Regional
Cooperation Programme and a coordination mechanism to implement the commitments
made at the March 1995 Copenhagen Social Summit. The cooperation programme focuses
on regional technical assistance in the areas of National Social Development
Action Plans and Follow-up Information, Modernization of the Governments' Social
Sector, Relations with the Civil Society, Management of Social Development Instruments
as well as on TCDC for which 36 areas of action were identified and cooperation
agreements in 22 specific activities were concluded. The coordination mechanism
being established will be open to the participation of other Latin American
and Caribbean countries. A Hemispheric Conference on Eradication of Poverty
and Discrimination, scheduled to be held in Santiago, Chile in January 1996,
sponsored by the Government of Chile, RECLAC, IDB and OAS, with the support
of SU/TCDC will review the financial arrangements necessary to sustain the intra-regional
cooperation in this area.
Cooperation
between Latin American and CIS countries on Governance and Poverty Eradication
In cooperation
with the Regional Bureau for European Countries (RBEC), support is being given
to implement agreed exchanges between selected LAC countries and countries in
East Europe and CIS on specific aspects related to governance and poverty eradication.
One example is the arrangement being made to expand to all East European and
CIS countries the cooperation agreement between Chile and Romania on management
of Pension Funds. Exchanges through SU/TCDC-supported training and capacity-building
seminars are to be conducted in Santiago and Bucharest in early 1996 leading
to bilateral and multi-bi cooperation agreements in this area. Colombia and
Costa Rica are also expected to participate.
144 Technical
Cooperation Agreements Signed by Latin American and Caribbean Countries with
Haiti to Support its Reconstruction Efforts
In a joint SELA-SU/TCDC
effort, Haiti hosted a capacities and needs matching exercise (CNM) in Port-au-Prince
from 22 to 24 November, 1995. 16 Latin American and Caribbean country representatives
participated in the exercise to jointly analyze with Haitian authorities their
technical cooperation demands and the participating countries capacities to
satisfy them. 144 specific areas for collaborative action were identified as
subjects of cooperation; 18 projects will be fully funded by countries in the
region and are scheduled to begin operations during the next three months. In
addition, Latin American countries agreed to co-fund 72 initiatives: complementary
resources will be sought for the implementation of these and 35 other collaborative
efforts. Among the projects that will be implemented immediately are Argentina's
in-country training for Haitian judges; Brazil's assistance to design and implement,
together with Haitian national authorities, a programme to combat violence against
women; Colombia's decision to assist in the design and implementation of a national
micro-enterprise scheme aimed at increased job creation; Chile's support to
a training scheme to improve hospital management; Guatemala's provision of advisory
services in project monitoring and evaluation; and Mexico's cooperation in areas
related to the provision of safe water. A follow-up mechanism, supported by
a UNDP-IPF funded project, is expected to build national capability in TCDC
programming, contribute to resource mobilization for priority Haitian TCDC projects
and co-fund selected TCDC activities.
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TCDC:
JOBS AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD
Sourcebook on
African Food Production and Processing Technologies for Commercialization
SU/TCDC in collaboration
with RANDFORUM, an NGO in Kenya, has prepared a Sourcebook on African Food Production
and Processing Technologies for Commercialization which seeks to promote indigenous
African technologies and facilitate linkages between African researchers, entrepreneurs,
financiers and policy-makers to bring research results into the development
arena. The project is seen as a catalyst for African entrepreneurs interested
in investing in appropriate indigenous technologies. The Sourcebook identifies
promising African technologies relevant to the production of food and food processing
which require venture capital. These technologies embody traditional approaches
to food processing which are appropriate for the African environment. The Sourcebook
will also play a role in a major private sector meeting , involving The Regional
Bureau for Africa (RBA) and planned with RANDFORUM in early 1996, which will
bring together researchers, entrepreneurs and investors to explore the commercialization
of these products.
Technology Transfer
and Exchange of Experiences in Rural Agricultural Development
As part of the
above-mentioned initiative, a major workshop was co-sponsored by the Institut
Polytechnique Agricole (IPA) and CILCA - a well-known Mexican NGO operating
in the agricultural sector. IPA is a regional center of excellence in francophone
Africa and a member of the CILCA network which includes NGOs from Asia, Latin
America and Africa. The SU/TCDC is supporting cross-fertilization of ideas and
sharing countries' experiences on practical exchanges among CILCA network members
from other developing countries and regions in topics of common concern to the
network members in helping to revitalize rural communities. These areas in which
network members have garnered experience include agricultural credit, techniques
in rainwater conservation, animal fattening, biogas preparation, soil fertility
management, adaptation of technology and utilization of agricultural implements.
The overall impact
of these activities is to increase food production, raise family income and
a programme to protect the environment from overgrazing. This network of CILCA
institutions uses innovative approaches involving the placing of technical research
institutions adjacent to rural development activities . Scientists and technicians
from these institutions work with and in the villages so as to provide the most
effective help to the communities in terms of increasing agricultural productivity
through the application of appropriate technologies.
Assistance to
Economies in Transition
To share experiences
while enchancing performance in development cooperation modalities in an economic
environment of transition, SU/TCDC, jointly with RBEC, helped bring together
senior officials from the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Karakhstan, Belarus and
Poland, together with decision-makers and practitioners of development cooperation
in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay. In this mutually-reinforcing
process of learning through active collaboration, areas of priority for the
CIS countries such as privatization, social safety nets, public sector management,
information practices, administrative decentralization and aid management techniques
have been identified for follow-up cooperation between the countries of the
two regions by way of bilateral and mutilateral arrangements.
Specific TCDC projects
and programmes which are currently being designed are expected to contribute
to sustainable human development in these countries.
Small Enterprise
Development and Employment Generation
SU/TCDC in cooperation
with SELA and the Government of Brazil, and with the backstopping of the Private
Sector Unit of BPPS, will be supporting the organization of a regional network
to exchange experiences among Small and Medium Enterprises helping them to adapt
production and marketing technologies to existing trading and integration arrangements
in an effort to expand their job creation potential. IDB, through the Bolivar
Foundation, is expected to play an important role in mobilizing entrepreneurs
interested in multi-country activities, technology transfer and the provision
of funding; UNIDO, ECLAC and ESCAP have been invited to collaborate. The network
will be formally established in December 1995 in Brasilia during a Seminar convened
with Governmental private sector and other NGOs participation.
Capacities and
Needs Matching Exercise on Sustainable Coastal/Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture
Management
Jobs and sustainable
livelihood are highly dependent on proper management of coastal and inland marine
resources. An important dimension of the Capacities and Needs Matching Exercise
on Sustainable Coastal/Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Management which was
held in Myanmar in December 1994 related to the need to strike a responsible
balance between livelihood derived through the harvesting and marketing of ocean
resources and the need to conserve and preserve fish and other forms of marine
life at a level which will ensure a sustainable stock for future generations.
The 131 project
proposals concluded among the participating institutions of 17 countries reflected
this concern as exemplified by their desire to exchange ideas, experiences and
approaches in the range of issues covering such areas as marine shrimp hatchery,
shrimp disease control, seaweed culture and processing, aquaculture, grouper
breeding and culture, inland and coastal fisheries assessment and management,
algal taxonomy, environmental impact assessment for coastal aquaculture and
fish and shrimp pathology. The role of women in fisheries and the privatization
of fisheries operations were also important topics of discussion.
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TCDC
AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Support to the
Barbados Programme of Action adopted at the Global Conference on the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing States (April/May 1994)
The Special Unit
for TCDC is supporting the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action
for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) at
three levels.
- Preparation
of a directory of scholars and experts on SIDS which UNDP was requested to
prepare in keeping with paragraph 106 of the Programme of Action. This process
is on-going and the directory is expected to be completed by the end of February
1996. When completed, the information will be made available on diskette and
through the INTERNET to small island developing states, UNDP country offices,
UN system agencies, national/regional institutions and the private sector.
The intention is to utilise the expertise identified in the implementation
of the Programme of Action through the TCDC modality.
- Assistance in
the establishment of a SIDS Technical Assistance Programme (SIDS/TAP). Assessment-cum-project
formulation exercises are on-going in the Africa and Latin America and Caribbean
regions to identify high priority technical cooperation needs under the 14
Chapters of the SIDS Programme of Action. The objective is to identify these
gaps and formulate projects to address them using TCDC instruments. The formulation
of projects will also take into account possibilities for operationalizing
the TCDC New Directions mandate, particularly the application of the "pivotal
country" approach and the "triangular" technical cooperation
arrangements;
- Assistance in
the establishment of the SIDS Information Network (SIDS/NET) for the establishment
of internet connectivity and communications infrastructure in small island
states. The technical details of this system, as set out in the feasibility
study prepared on the subject, are currently being reviewed by the governments
concerned.
Establishment
of the International Network on Small Hydro Power
The Network, in
Hangzhou, China which was set up with the support of SU/TCDC is designed to
facilitate the exchange of technical, information, experiences, policies and
practices for the sustainable development of small hydropower. The membership
of the Network includes national energy authorities, regional energy institutions,
private commercial enterprises providing services and equipment in the area
of energy, energy-related NGOs and associations at the regional and international
levels. This activity represents a good example of a triangular technical cooperation
arrangement whereby the initiative (the establishment of the Network came from
China) and the management of the Network largely rests with the member developing
countries themselves (the Coordinating Committee). However, where specific technical
inputs are to be provided both from developing and developed countries.
Inter-regional
Exchange and Transfer of Innovative Urban Management Practices Among Developing
Countries
The Special Unit,
together with host cities in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Arab States
and the Asia/Pacific regions, is supporting the preparations for the Second
United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II). This support is
being provided by convening regional colloquia in all the regions designed to
exchange experiences, ideas, policies and practices among mayors, other senior
urban officials, NGOs and the private sector on sustainable urban development
issues. SU/TCDC commissioned a Monograph on Effective Urban Practices developed
on the basis of case studies drawn from countries in the different developing
regions of the world. This Monograph served as background documentation to the
two colloquia already held namely: The African Mayors' Colloquium held in Accra,
Ghana from 2-4 November 1995 and the Latin America and Caribbean Mayor's Colloquium
on Sustainable Urban Management held in Quito, Ecuador from 6-8 November 1995.
Both of these meetings underscored the importance of establishing twinning and
network arrangements among cities to broaden the choice of development options
in seeking to promote sustainable urban development. Three other regional meetings
are scheduled to take place within the framework of the assistance being provided
by the TCDC Unit: the South Asian Conference of Mayors and Local Authorities
from 8-10 January 1996 in Kathmandu, Nepal, the Asia Pacific Urban Forum from
11-15 March 1996 in Bangkok, Thailand and the Future of Arab Cities from 18-21
March 1996 in Amman, Jordan.
ASEANET, PACINET
and EAFRINET
The Special Unit
for TCDC is supporting the formation of technical networks for the exchange
of knowledge, experiences, policies and practices on bio-systematics, which
is the proper identification and classification of micro-organisms, insects
and nematodes in the Southeast Asia (ASEANET), Pacific Island (PACINET) and
Africa (EAFRINET) regions. The regional networks are also intended to build
capacity in countries in the various regions to undertake biosystematics on
their own. The proper identification and classification of micro-organisms,
insects and nematodes has important implications for the management of bio-diverse
resources, agricultural and food production and is in line with the objectives
of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Covention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and other relevant international
and regional conventions on the subject.
Arab states
SU/TCDC supported
a Regional Workshop on Improved Water Management Technology for Sustainable
Agricultural Development in Cairo, Egypt for the twelve countries of the region
with similar climatic and environmental conditions. Specialists from these countries
reviewed problems relevant to water management, irrigation agronomy and irrigation
engineering in the context of increased agricultural output and better environmental
protection. A plan of action was adopted at the workshop that will serve as
a model for the countries of the region.
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TCDC
AND WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT
Since 1990 the
SU/TCDC, in partnership with Grassroots Organizations Operating Together In
Sisterhood (GROOTS), has supported initiatives designed to enable women's organizations
to network and share experiences in various aspects of women's integration in
economic activities. In 1990, women's organizations in South East Asia, under
the auspices of the Working Women's Forum served as the contact point to enable
women from organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa to exchange
experiences and to develop plans for joint strategies in pursuit of a common
agenda. A similar meeting took place in Ghana (1992) in which African womens
organizations brought together women from other regional groupings under the
aegis of the Lolonyo Women's Club (LWC) to share experiences on leadership support
and organizing for community development and to identify ways to expand the
network. In 1994, SU/TCDC sponsored a network of Latin American and Caribbean
women organizations involving the participation of women's organizations from
other developing regions to examine the experiences of women in survival strategies
and alternative organizing methods and to make plans for Beijing. A final meeting
was held in Kiev, Ukraine from 6-10 April 1995.
As a result of
these TCDC activities, women-led organizations were able to share innovative
and strategic ways of responding to the economic difficulties faced by women
in the developing countries. Experiences of various women's organizations formed
the basis of the case studies which were featured in an SU/TCDC-commissioned
report, sponsored in association with GIDP and UNIFEM, entitled "Restructuring
Economic and Social Policy: Cross-Cultural Gender Insights from the Grassroots".
The report not only examined the impact of structural adjustment policies on
women but also sought to identify the relevance of the approaches adopted by
women in reshaping economies and social policy. The report has made an important
contribution to the ongoing search for optimal policies aimed at addressing
specific economic challenges relevant to gender and participatory approaches
to development. The study was presented at the NGO forum in Beijing.
An early outcome
and follow-up of the CNM Exercise on Sustainable Coastal/Inland Fisheries and
Aquaculture Management held in Myanmar in December 1994 was a regional exchange
of ideas and practices on the Role of Women in Fisheries Development which was
held in Iloilo City in the Philippines in July 1995. This activity brought together
fisheries officials, representatives of regional NGOs concerned with fisheries,
regional fisheries associations, and national women's groups from 17 developing
countries. The three working groups exchanged ideas and experiences and agreed
on follow-up actions on women's empowerment, the need for gender sensitization,
development support programmes for women and women's regional programmes based
on TCDC and ECDC. The meeting also adopted the ILOILO Declaration which focussed,
among other things, on the role of the woman in the poor fisherfamily.
In support of the
preparatory process leading to the Fourth UN Conference on Women held in Beijing,
SU/TCDC assisted in organizing a Regional Conference in Cicinau, Moldova in
which the conditions of women in Eastern Europe and in the CIS countries were
extensively reviewed by women's NGO groups. The Conference adopted a regional
strategy designed to reduce gender inequality, recommendations to improve women's
social, economic and political conditions based on the experience of the governments
and NGOs in the region throughout the area.
Similarly, in response
to an initiative from Grass Roots Organizations Operating together in Sisterhood
(GROOTS) an international women's NGO, SU/TCDC provided support for the holding
of a Regional Workshop in Kiev, Ukraine, which reviewed the role of women and
their productive role as partners in development in the countries with economies
in transition. The workshop adopted a number of policy positions, with particular
emphasis on self-help among women's groups, which were presented at the Fouth
UN Conference on Women held in Beijing.
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DEVELOPMENT
OF A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DATABASE, FOCUSING ON INNOVATIVE EXPERIENCES IN SHD
FOCUS AREAS CAPABLE OF REPLICATION IN OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES THROUGH THE
TCDC MECHANISM.
One of the key
initiatives supported by SU/TCDC is the TCDC Information Referral System (INRES)
which involves the compilation and dissemination of information on institutional
capacities in developing countries as a means of insuring the increased utilisation
of technical capacities in the South in pursuit of priority development objectives,
including those in the four SHD focus areas. In keeping with the endorsement
by the ninth session of the High Level Committee for the Review of TCDC of the
recommendation contained in the Report on New Directions for TCDC, SU/TCDC has
been mandated to expand TCDC/INRES into a Multi-Dimensional Data Base which
will contain information not only on institutional capacities but also individual
expertise, centres of excellence as well as innovative technical cooperation
experiences that could be repeated in other developing countries, using the
TCDC modality. In compiling innovative technical cooperation experiences, every
effort will be made to document and disseminate experiences which have made
tangible, measurable and sustained improvements in the quality of life of people
in the developing world in the core themes of UNDP's Sustainable Human Development
Strategy, namely, poverty elimination, jobs and sustainable livelihood, the
regeneration of the environment and the advancement of women in development.
Such a systematic compilation and dissemination of 'innovative experiences'
will locate in one place information that could serve as a useful model of development
from which others could learn and adapt to their own development context. It
will also provide national governments and international organizations involved
in development with easy access to relevant information. The proposed expanded
data-base could also serve as a useful source of information for donor countries,
particularly those interested in promoting triangular cooperation, in assessing
the capacities and needs of developing countries and also in seeking to develop
SHD projects and programmes for both bilateral and multilateral funding.
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