The workshop on “L’intégration régionale: les principaux défis dans la négociation du commerce et de l’investissement – perspectives pour l’Afrique Centrale et l’Afrique de l’Ouest” (26 to 27 October 2011), which was directed by Dr. El Hadji A. Diouf (Executive Director, African Agency for Trade and Development) and Dr. Christian Häberli (Senior Fellow, World Trade Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland) had 16 participants from French-speaking Sub-Saharan African countries. Dr. Diouf and Dr. Häberli both made several presentations on specific issues and shared their insights and experiences with the participants in the debates and discussions at the end of each module.
The following broad thematic areas were addressed in this workshop: multilateralism and regional trade integration, legal basis of Regional Trade Agreements in the WTO framework, institutional framework of regional trade integration in Western and Central Africa, common external tariffs (CETs) in perspective, regional integration, CETs and multilateral trade commitments, systemic approach to regional integration processes in Western and Central Africa, sectoral trade policies at regional level for Western and Central Africa, regional integration and evolution of international trade relations, points of contention related to Economic Partnership Agreements, and way forward towards developing coherent trade policies for Western and Central Africa.
The diversity of participants and countries represented rendered very lively and insightful discussions and debates. 10 of the 12 negotiators and officials who completed and returned the feedback questionnaire distributed at the end of the workshop indicated that that they will likely use the information acquired through the workshop in their job. Likewise, 100% of respondents indicated that they will recommend this workshop to a colleague with similar job responsibilities.
The diversity of participants and countries represented rendered very lively and insightful discussions about topics such as trade regionalism and multilateralism, challenges towards a common market in Africa, and ongoing regional integration processes in Eastern and Southern Africa. All 18 negotiators and officials who completed and returned the feedback questionnaire distributed at the end of the workshop indicated that that they will likely use the information acquired through the workshop in their job. Likewise, 100% of respondents indicated that they will recommend this workshop to a colleague with similar job responsibilities.
On the whole, participants provided very positive feedback on the workshop, below is a comment from a participant:
“A very useful workshop which should be replicated in the capitals as well, since the capital-based officials are not always on top of all of the trade-related issues under discussion.”
(Anonymous comment received through the participant feedback questionnaire)
This workshop is part of a programme of training events organized under the partnership between UNDP RBA and UNITAR which aims to train African negotiators and decision-makers on key issues related to economic and social development. This partnership is expected to strengthen African ownership and leadership of continental capacity development initiatives by enhancing the ability of African officials to participate effectively in multilateral negotiations in the areas of financing for development, regional investment and integration, climate change, and peace and security.
Building on their respective comparative advantages, UNDP and UNITAR are organizing a total of 35 training and networking events in English and in French in 2011 alone. More than 1,100 African negotiators and officials will directly benefit from training and networking activities which incorporate UNITAR’s innovative methodologies and long-standing experience in knowledge transfer and executive learning.
Training will initially focus on four priority areas related to economic and social development of Africa: financing for development, regional investment and integration, climate change, and peace and security. In addition to face-to-face training and networking events, instructor-led e-Learning courses and e-Discussions will be organized to engage and train a wider audience of African officials. UNDP and UNITAR will also disseminate widely through the Internet selected knowledge products developed through the training activities.
It is hoped that his joint UNDP/UNITAR project will not only contribute to achieving sustainable growth and attaining the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the African region, but also provide a practical example of making use of existing synergies within the UN system with a view to “Deliver as One”.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research will organize the workshops and e-Learning courses below in October/November 2011 for the benefit of negotiators and officials from Sub-Saharan African countries. For further information and online registration please click on the event titles below. The full calendar of UNDP/UNITAR workshops and courses is also available at http://www.unitar.org/pft/UNDP
Skills-building Workshops (October/November 2011)
E-Learning Courses(October/November 2011)
- UNDP/UNITAR e-Learning course on "Negotiation of Financial Transactions" (31 October to 25 November 2011) – English
- UNDP / UNITAR e-Learning course on “La négociation des transactions financières” (31 October to 25 November 2011) – French
© Photos: UNITAR/Hatem EFE