|
"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.
Top
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.
Top
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.
Top
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.
Top
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.
Top |
|
