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West and Central Africa Regional Office UNFPA'S WEEK OF 3-6 DECEMBER 2018 IN DAKAR,SENEGAL
Newsletter REGIONAL MANAGEMENT TEAM CONFERENCE
« Scaling up through strategic
partnerships: Leveraging South-South and Triangular Cooperation »
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OPENING OF REGIONAL MANAGEMENT TEAM CONFERENCE IN DAKAR
“Scaling up through strategic partnerships: Leveraging South-South and Triangular Cooperation"
“I hailed the collaboration between the Government of Senegal and UNFPA”
Mr. Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr
Minister of Health and Social Action , Senegal The regional management meeting of UNFPA in West and Central Africa was opened on Monday, 3 December 2018 by the Minister of Health and Social Action of Senegal, Mr. Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr. The Minister hailed the collaboration between the Government of Senegal and UNFPA, stressing the significant results recorded in the improvement of maternal and child health. The Minister also spoke of the urgent need to find "a sustainable solution for young people through harnessing the demographic dividend", while paying special attention to south-south and triangular cooperation for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
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“This meeting offers a unique opportunity to build strong partnerships, the region has no other option than to work hard, better and faster to achieve prosperity for all by 2030”.
Mr. Mabingué Ngom
Regional Director for West and Central Africa
The UNFPA Regional Management Team Meeting for West and Central Africa will leverage South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) as a platform to enhance strategic partnerships in the region. According to the Regional Director in West and Central Africa, Mr Mabingué Ngom, the meeting offers "a unique opportunity to build strong partnerships." He noted that "the region has no other option than to work hard, better and faster to achieve prosperity for all by 2030." Mr. Ngom further noted that the four-year comprehensive review of the United Nations Development System recommended the integration and optimization of South-South and Triangular cooperation in the interest of developing countries.
The SSTC is an essential tool of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) for the rapid realization of the three transformative outcomes outlined in the new UNFPA Strategic Plan 2018-2021, which aims to provide universal access to sexual and reproductive health. This goal cannot be achieved without achieving these three transformative outcomes by 2030: zero preventable maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning, and zero gender-based violence. The Strategic Plan is based on five modes of engagement, including a major one: south-south and triangular cooperation, partnership and coordination.
This regional management meeting is being orgnanised ahead of next year’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development and the 50th anniversary of UNFPA.
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COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY “UNFPA can be proud of its staff in West and Central Africa�
Mr. Arthur Erken
Director of Communication and Strategic Partnership
The gaps and needs are huge in the region and "I am very proud of the work done by the staff," says the UNFPA Director of Communication and Strategic Partnership. For Mr. Arthur Erken, the challenge of the three transformative outcomes is in the African region, and we will be defeated if we do not succeed in meeting the challenges here," he says. He expressed his satisfaction with the theme of the Dakar meeting, which is partnership and South-South cooperation, indicating "this is what we must do in the region to achieve our ambition".
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UNFPA PARTNERS WITH RESEARCHERS TO ACHIEVE THE DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND “We need to work together to achieve the Demographic Dividend”
Prof. Latif DRAMANI Coordinator of CREFAT
A regional centre of excellence on population and development issues based in Thies, Senegal, is the result of a partnership between the Centre de Recherche en Economie et Finances Appliquées de Thiès (CREFAT) and UNFPA. According to CREFAT Director Professor Latif Dramani, the centre was established in 2017 under the leadership of UNFPA Regional Director Mabingué Ngom and serves to "share research at the continental level on issues related to the demographic dividend", he said. For the researcher, there is a strong demand for leveraging the demographic dividend on the continent, and doing so will require collaboration in order to scale up the impact at the country level. Professor Dramani believes that "UNFPA is a leader on the issue of the demographic dividend", but driving the issue is hampered by a lack of critical mass and human capital, he explains. To consolidate and maintain its leadership on the demographic dividend, the United Nations should invest in training new generations of specialists on population issues.
“Governance is key to achieving the demographic dividend ”
Nigéria / Pr Olanrewaju OLANIYAN, Director CESDEV University of Ibadan
According to Professor Olanrewaju Olaniyan, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Development (CESDEV), and Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Ibadan, demographic dividend issues can change rapidly depending on the interest shown by the authorities. He argues that researchers need to develop policies and a framework to address these issues, and to "realize that the demographic dividend is a governance issue that can be facilitated by good leadership".
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“Investing in human capital is critical ”
Ghana / Professor Sis. Eugenia Amporfu
Associate Professor at Kwamé Nkruhmah University of Sciences and Technology (KNUST)
The partnership with UNFPA has enabled Ghana to benefit from capacity-building on demographic dividend issues. Gambia and Sierra Leone have benefited from this training and for Professor Eugenia Amporfu, "investment in human capital is beneficial" to help capture the demographic dividend. This UNFPA initiative in the English-speaking countries of the region provide a good example of South-South cooperation as countries were able to benefit from exchanging and sharing their experiences. The Kwame Nkrumah University Professor adds that "Ghana must act now" to integrate the demographic dividend into the national economic development plan and that "this is the goal that must be achieved in each country". Good results are expected, especially through mainstreaming the demographic dividend at the regional level.
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NATIONAL INTEREST IN POPULATION DATA REFERENCE CENTRES “It takes not only quality data but also speeding up the availability of results ”.
Mr. Babacar Ndir
Director General of Senegal’s National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD) The expertise of the reference centres in Cape Verde and Senegal is in great demand in the region, explains the Director General of Senegal’s National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD). For Babacar Ndir, Senegal and Cape Verde have benefited from Brazil's experience in using ICTs for the census and this ensures "not only quality data but also speeding up the availability of results".
“The quality and timeliness of data support good decision-making in countries “
Mr. Carlos Mendes
Director of the Methodology and Information System Department of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) of Cape Verde According to Carlos Mendes, Director of the Methodology and Information System Department of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) of Cape Verde, countries should take advantage of the potential of those reference centres that are operational. "The quality and timeliness of data support good decision-making in countries," he says. The Director encourages countries to share knowledge and ideas on the demographic dividend. Even if Cape Verde's context on the issue is different, "we are ready to support the countries that request it," explains Mr. Mendes because "there is no demographic dividend without good South-South cooperation," he says.
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COUNTRIES POSITIONING THE DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND IN THEIR NATIONAL PROGRAMMES UNFPA TOGO REPRESENTATIVE
"UNFPA supports the Government in its establishment and operationalization" -
Mr. Saturnin Epie
Advocacy on the demographic dividend is well underway and "UNFPA supports the Government in its establishment and operationalization," says the UNFPA Representative in Togo. For Mr Saturnin Epie, the roadmap has been launched and Togo will follow in Benin's footsteps to set up a demographic dividend observatory. Mr. Epie said he was delighted by the opportunity offered by the management meeting to meet colleagues from the region. According to him, "South-South cooperation is the driving force behind this Dakar meeting", and Togo will use Senegal's experience to train managers for the general population census in 2020.
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UNFPA CAMEROON REPRESENTATIVE
“The demographic dividend is well integrated into national plans as well as into the United Nations system ”
Ms. Siti Batoul Oussein
For the UNFPA representative in Cameroon, "the demographic dividend is well integrated into national plans as well as into the United Nations system." Ms. Siti Batoul Oussein considers her first participation in the regional management meeting as an opportunity to convey the region's vision in the context of Cameroon. The new representative said UNFPA leads on demographic dividend issues in Cameron because the region has positioned the demographic dividend well and it is also "well integrated into national development plans". In the country, there are several "entry points" on reaping the demographic dividend and integrating Cameroon into the region's programmes , explains Ms. Oussein, referring to the SWEDD and Lake Chad programmes. She mentioned that she had a strategy to engage the UNFPA three transformative outcomes in Cameron while hoping to have the support of the Regional Director and other representatives from West and Central Africa.
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UNFPA SENEGAL REPRESENTATIVE “Many ministers want FassE in their communities ”
Ms. Cécile Compaoré Zoungrana, There has been a lot of momentum since the launch of the project in Fass, Senegal a year ago, says the UNFPA Representative in Senegal. For Ms. Cécile Compaoré Zoungrana, the Fass project offers a good opportunity for the operationalization of the demographic dividend in the field. "Many ministers want Fass in their communities," she says, while advising them to build on the hopes raised by the project to establish credibility and meet the challenges. Located in Fass,
a working-class district of the capital Dakar, the project seeks to invest in human capital and especially youth to accelerate the demographic transition and take advantage of the demographic dividend. This has already had positive outcomes in the areas of training young people and improving health facilities.
UNFPA TCHAD REPRESENTATIVE Dr. Edwige Adekambi The regional management meeting provides us with opportunities for exchanges within and outside the region on South-South cooperation," explains the UNFPA representative in Chad. Dr Edwige Adekambi said he was ready to mobilize the Chadian authorities upon his return to take advantage of South-South cooperation with the experiences of Senegal and Cape Verde, which benefited from Brazil's experiences with conducting an electronic census. She announced that Chad would set up a demographic dividend observatory with the support of the Senegalese organization CREFAT. To get the most benefit from South-South cooperation, the country will draw on the potential of Ghana and Nigeria to have a policy document and monitoring and evaluation strategies
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THE WCA REGION HAS MANY RESOURCES FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION “Exemplary work in promoting South-South cooperation”
Dr Hu Hongtao
Senior Adviser at the CPDRC in China The Chinese government representative at the regional management conference considers Africa as a priority in South-South cooperation. Dr Hu Hongtao, Senior Adviser at the CPDRC in China, says that "the region is critical for achieving the SDGs", and that promoting South-South cooperation "can go a long way towards achieving the objectives". The Chinese government expert revealed that he "greatly appreciates the efforts of Regional Director Mabingué Ngom in promoting South-South cooperation". There are many opportunities and challenges, but China encourages this partnership, which has been progressing since its inception at the Beijing Summit through the China-Africa Forum.
AFRICA IS OUR PRIORITY AND WE MUST WORK TOGETHER
“Greatly appreciates the efforts of Regional Director Mabingué Ngom in promoting South-South cooperation ”.
Mr. Yanming Lin
The head of the UNFPA intercountry cooperation office The head of the UNFPA intercountry cooperation office based at headquarters in New York said WCARO is doing "exemplary work in promoting South-South cooperation". Mr. Yanming Lin believes that the region has many resources to interact with South-South cooperation and this will provide it with tools and knowledge. He explained that the demographic dividend is a good example that benefits from partnering through, for example, the conduct of surveys on reproductive health issues or gender-based violence. Mr. Lin argued that the demographic dividend should be used to help countries in their population control efforts. The focus must be on realizing the potential of young people, he said, and "we must ensure that we have healthy youth" and that the WCARO office incorporates this into its programmes.
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MONITORING AND EVALUATION
“Concrete results are being achieved from advocacy on the demographic dividend ”
Mr. Simon Pierre Tegang
UNFPA regional monitoring and evaluation adviser Efforts deployed since 2015 on the demographic dividend are beginning to bear fruit, says the UNFPA regional monitoring and evaluation adviser. For Mr. Simon Pierre Tegang, "concrete results are being achieved from advocacy on the demographic dividend," he said, citing progress made on the implementation of the AU DD roadmap entrusted to UNFPA by the AU for Agenda 2063, as well as the strong commitment of the region's Heads of States. The monitoring and evaluation specialist gave the example of the Fass project in Senegal as part of the operationalization of the demographic dividend. Speaking on South-South cooperation, Mr. Tegang said that "only through partnership can we make progress". For him, China is a good example of South-South cooperation, and the African -
region should use it as a model to fully benefit from the advantages and all the technology that the Chinese have used to find solutions to population problems.
UNITED NATIONS REFORM
“Help countries to implement the 2030 Agenda and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”. South-South cooperation is a central element in supporting countries in the new United Nations reform. UNFPA headquarters United Nations Reform Specialist Estaban Olhagaray believes that cooperation should "help countries to implement the 2030 Agenda and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals". The United Nations reform specialist said he was reassured by UNFPA’s "good position, which is already invested" in this dynamic of change in the United Nations system. Our mandate will not change, he says, but only "our way of working and collaborating". Mr. Olhagaray announced that the Executive Director would be communicating with country offices in the coming weeks on the reform scheduled for implementation in early 2019.
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Mr. Estaban Olhagaray United Nations Reform Specialist
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Dr. Farah Usmani
Internal consulting group (ICG) secretariat, UNFPA
on day four of the regional management meeting , Dr. Farah Usmani and Rose Sarr of the internal consulting groupe led discussions with the regional management team “We set up an in-house expert group with the practical knowledge of the organization to bring us together and pool our resources to support field offices as needed. So, in the context of our ambitious projects, we need to leverage all the resources we have on a particular area, be it reform or managerial change to be more agile and fast. So we came up with the idea of looking at the internal focus group, and we had a very good session to look at how the new generation of representatives can better help the region and the world. to consider sharing of knowledge.
The other goal is to support the offices in the strategic and transformational changes they want and as we can know, continue to improve our skills.We had 13 missions in different countries first in countries, where the needs were to diversify their areas of expertise, then in others that have new development programs and finally in some that had several administrative constraints for them help find solutions in a context of humanitarian change. The idea is that the different perspectives of regional staff are taken into account at headquarters to really raise the bar higher.”
Editorial Team: Jacob Eben Enoh UNFPA WCARO / Communication adviser Habibou DIA UNFPA WCARO / Media specialist Aminata Touré Sagna Communication Consultant Samba Coulibaly Parole aux Jeunes Intern Photos © UNFPA WCARO/Habibou Dia
United Nations Population Fund UNFPA WCARO - West and Central Africa Regional Office Immeuble Wolle Ndiaye, Almadies P.O. Box: 21090 Dakar-Ponty SENEGAL wcaro.unfpa.org @UNFPA_WCARO