What are key capacity building and knowledge sharing needs over the coming two years?

1. 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

2. 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;

3. WORKSHOP RESULTS: GENERAL Achieving SDG will require: • Team work/interdependence: required to reach consensus and resolve conflicts/problems; • Participative leadership • Creativity/Innovation • Risk-taking

4. 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

5. 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; top-bottom 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. THANK YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS