| From The Executive
Secretary |
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| SHARING
KNOWLEDGE FOR CAPACITY BUILDING AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT: ACBF HOLDS FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF
KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS |
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Opening Session of Fourth
Annual Meeting of TAP-NETs: Third
from left: Hon. Minister of Planning and
Land Management, Mali,
Prof. Marimantia Diarra; Mr. Mande Sidibé,
former Prime Minster, Mali and Chair of Opening
Session; and Mr. Bassary Touré, former
Minister of Finance, Mali and former Executive
Director, World Bank. Others on the high table
were: Dr. Rene N’guettia Kouassi, Director,
Economic Affairs, African Union Commission
(extreme right); Mr. Abdellatif Bernoussi,
Manager, Network and Research Division, African
Development Bank (extreme left); and Dr.
Boubacar Macalou, Director, CERCAP, Mali |
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The
Fourth Annual Meeting of the Technical
Advisory Panels and Networks (TAP-NETs) that
are rapidly emerging as the flagship of the
Foundation's knowledge mana-gement system was
held in Bamako, Mali on March 28-30, 2007.
It was held with logistical support by the
Government of Mali and co-hosted by the ACBF-supported
project, CERCAP. The three-day meeting was
attended by a former Prime Minister of
Mali, Mr. Mande Sidibé; Mr. Bassary Touré,
former Minister of Finance, Mali and Executive
Director of the World Bank; and Mali's Minister
of Planning and Land Management, Prof. Marimantia
Diarra; 41 members of the TAP-NETs; a team from
the African Union Commission led by Dr. Rene
N'guettia Kouassi, the Director of Economic Affairs;
and the Manager, Network and Research Division
of the African Development Bank, Mr. Abdellatif
Bernoussi. Other participants included Directors
of ACBF funded projects in Mali; Coordinators
of ACBF-sponsored Country Level Knowledge Networks;
a team from the Canadian International Deve-lopment
Agency (CIDA) led by Ms. Micheline Chartrand,
Knowledge Management Adviser for West and Central
Africa; and economists from economic ministries
and agencies in Mali. In all, a total of 80 participants
were present at the Fourth Annual Meeting. The
opening session was chaired by H.E. Mr. Sidibé,
while Prof. Diarra, Minister of Planning and
Land Development, delivered the keynote address.
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In
his keynote address, the Hon. Minister of Planning,
M. Marimantia Diara, noted that the African continent
had on average posted positive economic growth
over the past several years, noting that that
sixteen African countries had registered annual
economic growth rates in excess of 4% over the
preceding decade. M. Diara further noted that
this notable growth rate had registered positively
on health, access to portable water, and good
political governance. However, the Hon. Minister
underscored the fact that Africa continued to
face enormous challenges in development. He asserted
that an efficient response to these challenges
would involve a significant scaling-up of the
quantity and quality of external and domestic
financial resources earmarked for development;
political stability; good governance (political,
economic, administrative, corporate and social);
and enhanced strengthening, utilization, and
retention of capacity. The Honorable
Minister emphasized especially the need for Africa
to build sustainable capacity to be able to harness
the benefits of new technologies, foster a knowledge
and information sharing culture, support the
emergence of knowledge-based organizations, and
systematically document what is working and what
is not working in development. Noting that the
conceptualization of the TAP-NETs pandered in
large measure to these concerns, the Minister
of Planning therefore looked forward to the planned
deliberations of the TAP-NETs Meeting, and declared
the Meeting duly opened.
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Prof.
Marimantia Diarra, Minister of Planning
and Land Management (middle) delivering
his keynote address at the Opening Session
of
the Fourth Annual Meeting of the TAP-NETs.
Listening attentively is Mr. Mande Sidibé,
former Prime Minister, Mali and Chair of
Session. |
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The
meeting observed a moment of silence in honour
of, and paid tribute to,
Hon. Hawa Ogede Yakubu, a member of the TAP-NETs
who passed away on March 20, 2007 after a brief
illness. Hon. Yakuku was an active member of
PARLIANET. Until her passing, she was the second
Vice Chairperson of Ghana's Ruling Party and
a former Minister of Tourism. Hon. Yakubu also
served as a member of ECOWAS Parliament.
The meeting, during the opening
session, also provided information on occupational
mobility of, or new career assignments or responsibilities
taken up by, members during the preceding year.
A member of PARLIANET was appointed Mali's
Ambassador to Berlin, Germany; a member of
VOICENET got appointed to a chair at the University
of Warwick, United Kingdom as professor of
international migration studies, while another
member of VOICENET took up appointment as Vice
Chancellor of a University in Nigeria. A VOICENET
member was appointed by the University of Ibadan,
Nigeria to help launch a post-graduate degree
program in Legislative Studies - a responsibility
for which guidance by the Foundation/TAP-NETs
was sought at the Fourth Annual Meeting. All
these members remain strong, active and committed
supporters of the TAP-NETs helping to open
up additional channels
for the promotion of the visibility and utility
of the networks.
The Fourth Annual Meeting
discussed progress reports on Annual Position
and Working Papers prepared by the TAP-NETs.
The papers were part of the activities of the
TAP-NETs work plans for 2006/2007 and consisted
of the following:
The papers are expected to
provide inputs for on-going efforts by the
Foundation, especially in the development of
performance measurement framework and indicators
for its interventions in capacity building.
So far, they have provided valuable guides
in the development of the Input-Process-Output-Outcome/Results
framework that underpins the Foundation's framework
in performance measurement and indicators for
interventions in the building of capacity to
strengthen Parliaments and Parliamentary Systems,
National Statistics and Statistical Systems,
and Gender Equality and Women Empowerment.
Five of the Working Papers have been processed
and circulated to stakeholders. |
- A Review of Parliamentary Scorecards in
Africa; Annual Position Paper, PARLIANET;
by Hon. Bosley, Mrs. Constance Mompei, Mr.
Ayodele Aderinwale, Dr. Benard Nzo-Nguty,
and Mr. Michael Mataure.
- A Review of the Effectiveness of Parliamentary
Networks as Tools for Capacity Building in
Africa; Working Paper 3, PARLIANET; by Professor
Severine Rugumamu and Mr. Ayodele Aderinwale.
- A Review of Public Expenditure Management
in sub-Saharan Africa _ Experiences from
Ghana, Tanzania, and South Africa; Working
Paper 1, PAMNET; by Dr. Pundy Pillay, Mr.
Ashwajit Singh, and Dr. Peter A. Hall, presented
by Professor Mutahaba.
- Capacity Building Implications of Public
Sector Financial Management Reforms in Developing
Countries _ a Review of Conceptual Issues
and Country Experiences; Working Paper 1,
FIMANET; by Mr. Andy Wynne, Mr. Stephen Emasu,
Mr. M.R. Hove, and Professor Ato Ghartey.
- Towards Reforming National Statistical
Agencies and Systems _ a Survey of Best-practice
Countries with Effective National Statistical
Systems in Africa; Annual Position Paper,
STATNET; by Mr. Peter Wingfield-Digby, Prof.
Milton Iyoha and Prof. E. Koffi-Tessio.
- Reactivation of the African Statistical
Association; Working Paper 1, STANET; by
Prof. Nicholas Biekpe and Mr. Martin Balépa.
- Exploration of Best-practice Schemes in
the Financing of National Statistical Agencies
in Regions from Which Africa Can Draw Beneficial
Lessons; Working Paper 2, STATNET; by Prof.
Egnonto M. Koffi-Tessio and Mr. Dieudonné Dahoun.
- Gender Budgeting as a Tool for Poverty
Reduction: Concept, Practices and Capacity
Implications; Working Paper 1, VOICENET;
by Dr. Gloria Braxton, Dr. Josephine Odera,
Mr. Warren Nyamugasira.
- Development of Virtual Interactive Portal
for Communication in the Context of Operations
of Africa's Knowledge Networks and Virtual
Policy Think Tanks; Working Paper 3, EPANET;
by Professor Val Samonis.
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Opening Session
of Fourth Annual Meeting of TAP-NETs: Mr.
Mande Sidibé,
former Prime Minister, Mali and Mr. Bassary
Touré, former Minister of Finance
and former World Bank Executive Director
sharing a reflection during the Meeting.
Mr. Sidibé Chaired the Opening Session. |
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The
Fourth Annual Meeting, as it has become customary,
gave ACBF partner institutions an opportunity
to share information on their knowledge-related
activities and to solicit comments on seminal
ideas that are being developed in the field of
capacity building. In this connection, the African
Union Commission presented its Journal on Regional
Integration Studies and called on the TAP-NETs
to assist in sustaining contributions to the
publication.
The Fourth Annual Meeting
also deliberated on TAP-NETs work plans for
2007/2008 and provided an opportunity for the
Coordinators of the Country Level Knowledge
Networks (CLK-NETs) to learn from the operations
of the TAP-NETs and strengthen working relationships.
As part of their work plans for 2007/2008,
all TAP-NETs will be expected to contribute
to on-going efforts by the Secretariat in the
development and refinement of the emerging
performance measurement framework and indicators
for interventions in the building of capacity
in all six areas of the Foundation's core competencies.
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The
organization of the Fourth Annual Meeting in
Mali met one of the crucial objectives of the
annual meetings - and that is, to give visibility
to the activities of the TAP-NETs at the country
level so that governments and other stakeholders
can draw on this knowledge resource. To this
end, the Fourth Annual Meeting provided policymakers
and development practitioners in Mali an opportunity
to learn more about the TAP-NETs and how ministers
of finance, planning, economic development, among
others, can draw on this resource in capacity
building and policy and program development and
management.
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