What are key capacity building
and knowledge sharing needs
over the coming two years?
Insights of SDPlaNet-Africa
Regional Workshop Series, Nairobi
Kenya, 3 – 5 March 2014
Gibson: LEAD
WORKSHOP RESULTS: GENERAL
Achieving SDGs will require:
• A shared goal that everyone knows and agrees
to and is committed to accomplishing;
• A climate of trust, openness and honest
communication;
• A sense of belonging;
• Diversity valued as an asset;
WORKSHOP RESULTS: GENERAL
Achieving SDG will require:
• Team work/interdependence: required to
reach consensus and resolve
conflicts/problems;
• Participative leadership
• Creativity/Innovation
• Risk-taking
WORKSHOP RESULTS: GENERAL
Delegates agreed that:
• Community of practice is a welcome idea but need to
identify vibrant members with a common vision. A
number of networks exist in the region.
• UNEP live should be widely used as it offers a
platform for accessing up-to date information
• Since IEA and reporting includes looking into the
futures, the tool should be adopted widely
WORKSHOP RESULTS: MULTI-STAKEHOLDER
PROCESSES AND INSTITUTIONS
Current Positive State: Existence of NCSD and related
structures at different stages , with varying roles,
mandates and operational procedures across Africa
Current Negative State: Regressing NCSD (none
existent in some cases); SD poorly understood; topbottom approaches; poor communication skills;
resource constraints; good strategies but poor
implementation; differing visions among stakeholders
Knowledge sharing needs/Capacity Building: Develop
a guideline for stakeholder engagement spelling out
roles, responsibilities, tenure, mandates etc; Establish
NCSD and/or strengthen existing structures
WORKSHOP RESULTS: INTEGRATED PLANNING
FOR VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL
COLLABORATION
Current Positive State:
Existence of regional
coordination activities e.g. ECOWAS on mining and
energy. Generally, very limited good examples
Current Negative State: Long list. Luck of political
agreements, luck of harmonized and coherent plans
(sectorial competitions); poor SD converge in education
curriculum, gender blindness, IK not recognized
Knowledge sharing needs/Capacity Building:
Participatory development of plans and their
subsequent implementation to instil ownership; Revise
education curricula; more gender mainstreaming in SD
WORKSHOP RESULTS: SCALING UP
IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH CROSS-CUTTING
POLICIES
• Current Positive State: Several policies available;
Strategies to implement policies available; Policy
development participatory esp. at top levels; Attempts to
harmonize conflicting policies; policy study and advisory
institutions in place in some countries.
• Current Negative State: Poor implementation of policies;
conflicts among policies within and across borders; poor
monitoring and evaluation of policies; policies not
evidence based; IK not recognized
• Knowledge sharing needs/Capacity Building: Greater
policy integration; policies to be informed by research;
participatory policy development at lower levels to
include IK; establish an interagency coordinating body
WORKSHOP RESULTS: MONITORING, REPORTING AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
Current Positive State: Existence of some programmes
with clear monitoring and evaluation frameworks; STI
capacities and skills improved; signatory to a number of
treaties with M and E frameworks.
Current Negative State: Overall dearth of data and
information; Inaccessible/poor sharing of data; poor
logistical support for data collection, analysis and storage;
unrealistic indicators
Knowledge sharing needs/Capacity Building: National and
Regional M and E frameworks with clear indicators aligned
to SD to be developed; Improve research and monitoring,
especially at community level ; introduce incentives for
compliance; More resources for M and E
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SDPlanNet-africa
• Develop and publish regional practices paper, policy
brief and newsletter
• Organize training and capacity building programmes
at country level—can employ on-line approach
• Develop a formal institutional framework that
stipulates who the members are, their roles and
responsibilities, and the overall objective of the
network.
• Build a network of CoP for participation into national
strategies/plans
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SDPlanNet-africa
• Translate SDplanNet website into French;
• Establish NCSD in countries where they do not yet
exist and provide necessary support they may
require
• Revise the proposal on SD capacity building earlier
submitted to the African Capacity Building
Foundation (ACBF) to cover more areas in Africa and
resubmit;
• Recognize and integrate IK systems in all their forms
• Negotiate for more funding
THANK YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS