Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) convenes Member States to strengthen development planning processes

Development planning experts from countries across Africa concluded a Peer-Learning Workshop to exchange ideas on strengthening development planning processes in support of the implementation of SDGs and Agenda 2063. The workshop was also attended by development partners and representatives from various divisions within the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

The workshop, organized by the Macroeconomics and Governance Division of the ECA, was held from November 15-16, 2023, in Addis Ababa. It was designed as a platform for the experts to discuss emerging issues in development planning and map solutions to these issues, share experiences and best practices in the development planning process, take stock of the utility and efficacy of the ECA’s Integrated Planning and Reporting Toolkit (IPRT) Platform, and discuss ways in which ECA can improve its support to member states.

In his intervention, Adam Elhiraika, the Director of the Macroeconomics and Governance Division at ECA emphasized the significance of development planning in the context of resource utilization, mobilization, allocation, monitoring, and reporting. He further applauded the regained prominence and advancements achieved by Member States in the areas of development planning and financing.

H.E. Nemera Gebeyehu Mamo, the State Minister of Planning and Development of Ethiopia, stressed the importance of development planning and appreciated the ECA for facilitating a platform for cross-country learning. He noted that the platform will enable Member States to assimilate best practices from one another, taking into account the specificities of their respective contexts. His Excellency moreover requested ECA to adapt the implementation of the IPRT to align with the unique circumstances of each country.

The various exchanges, ranging from innovations in development planning to accelerate implementation of the two agendas, financing of plans and the agendas, strengthening monitoring and evaluation frameworks, sectoral planning and more, equipped the participants with ideas for more effective development planning in their national contexts. It also fostered relationships that can be leveraged with counterparts in other countries, and demonstrated the potential of building a network of planners. In their feedback, the Member States and development partners indicated a strong desire for the workshop to occur frequently, and to involve participants from more Member States.

During the workshop, Member States that had used the IPRT emphasized the efficacy of the tool and highlighted its superiority in comparison to other tools previously utilized. This generated much interest among countries that had not yet adopted the tool, prompting them to request ECA’s support to initiate its rollout within their own countries.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).