Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities

Purpose of PresentationTo share with colleagues the current

status of the work of the S & HD ClusterTo share key elements of the 2010 workplan

of the Cluster; andTo outline achievements, challenges and

lessons learned

Membership and Structure of the clusterThe Cluster is co-convened by the Dept of Social Affairs and

the UN. On the UN side UNIFEM and IOM are co-conveners.Membership includes: - AUC (Dept of Social Affairs and the Gender Directorate)- UN: UNIFEM, IOM, UNFPA, UNECA, UNICEF, ILO, OHCHR,

WFP, UNAIDS, WHO, UNEP, UNESCO , UNHCR The Cluster has several sub-clusters namely:- Gender and Development- Labour and Employment- Health and HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB & other infectious diseases- Education & Human ResourcesGender is identified as a cross cutting theme in all sub-clusters

2010 workplanHealth, HIV and AIDS, TB, Malaria and Other

Infectious Diseases- Abuja Commitment on HIV and AIDS, Malaria,

Tuberculosis and other Infectious diseases- Assessment of the Maputo Plan of Action on Sexual

Reproductive Health- Maternal and Child Health - Nutrition• Gender- The launch and roll out of the Africa wide

campaign to End Violence against Women and girls

2010 workplan (2)Social Welfare, Protection and Human

Trafficking- Implementation of the Ouagadougou Action Plan

to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, especially Women and Children

• Labour and Employment- Implementation of the Ouagadougou Action Plan

on Employment and Poverty Alleviation in Africa- Youth employment initiative• Youth – promotion of youth volunteerism in

Africa

2010 Workplan (3)Child rights- Ratification, implementation and reporting on

the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC)

- Enhance the capacity of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC)

Achievements in 2010Completion and adoption of the 2010 sub-cluster and cluster

work plans Strong participation and leadership of the cluster by the AUCClear alignment of the cluster work plan with AUC priorities The cluster provided coordinated support to AUC – e.g. - A Report of the 5-Year Review of the Abuja Call for Accelerated Action towards

Universal Access to HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria services (WHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNECA)

- Continental assessment of implementation of the Maputo Plan of Action on sexual and reproductive health & rights (UNIFEM, UNICEF, ECA, UNFPA, UNHCR, IOM, OCHCHR)

- the launch of the Africa component of the SG’s campaign on VAW & various subsequent advocacy-All led by AUC Gender Directorate

- National launches of CARMMA-AUC, UNFPA, UNICEF- AU-COMMIT sub-regional Launches (ECOWAS & IGAD)

Achievements in 2010 July AU Summit – a major f0cus of the cluster due to its special

debate was on maternal, neo-natal, and child health and development (part of cluster mandate)

In June-July the cluster met 3 times to ensure that the heads of state & their delegations had access to knowledge products to support their work. The following resources materials were printed with cluster support (UNFPA, UNIFEM, IOM, UNECA, UNICEF, WHO, UNAIDS):

Background document on the theme of the Summit Five-year review for accelerated Action towards universal access to

HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Services New-born and Infant Mortality and child survival Nutrition and food security Health financing

Achievements 2010• The cluster also worked together to support the other focus

of the Summit – the Year of Peace with its call to “Make Peace happen”.

• The cluster members (UNIFEM, UNHCR, UNICEF, IOM in collaboration with OCHA) partnered with the AUC Dept of Peace and Security to field a photo exhibition at the Summit venue with the theme “Make Peace happen: prevent violence against women in conflict and post-conflict situations”.

• The AUC subsequently fielded the exhibition at the AUC conference centre as part of activities for marking the International Day of Peace.

• The Cluster also assisted the AUC to compile and publish the State of Africa’s Children Report (AUC, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNAIDS, UNLO, UNIFEM, UNECA)

Achievements 2010 The 10th RCM called on the clusters to mainstream gender, youth and communication &

advocacy in cluster activities: International Women’s Day with the theme “Equal rights, equal opportunities, progress

for all” (AUC [DSA & DPS], UNIFEM, UNECA, UNFPA, UNICEF, ILO, UNESCO, WFP, UNEP, UNAIDS, OHCHR) (March 2010)

Commemoration of the International Day of Peace (Sept 2010) Pre-ADF VII workshop on population, health, gender, youth and climate change (AUC,

UNECA, UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNAIDS, WHO, ILO, UNESCO, OHCHR) Commemoration of the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on

women, peace and security (AUC , UNIFEM, UNECA, IOM, UNFPA, UNICEF, ILO, UNESCO, WFP, UNEP, UNAIDS, OHCHR) in collaboration with the Peace and Security Cluster (Oct 2010)-Also research and academic institutions e.g. University of Peace

Development of guidelines & monitoring tool for mainstreaming gender in RCM cluster initiatives (UNIFEM, UNECA)

Launch of the International Year of Youth (UNECA, UNFPA, ILO, UNICEF, UNHCR)

Achievements 2010Active participation and commitment of all cluster members- 1st meeting as early as 10 Feb 2010 chaired by the

Commissioner, Dept of Social Affairs to provide guidance and outline broad priorities & expectations of AUC in 2010

- Subsequent meetings 25 Feb with each section of D/SA presenting its detailed programme for 2010 which formed the basis of the workplan+ agreement on the methods of work.

- Special meeting were held in June/July to focus on support for the AU Summit & the advocacy activities outlined above + ordinary sessions throughout the year

- Sub-clusters have held their own meetings – feeding into the cluster meetings.

AppreciationThe Cluster extends its most sincere

appreciation to the Commissioner and Director DSA; and UN cluster members for the incredible commitment, participation & pooling of technical and financial resources

Also appreciates colleagues in the Peace and Security for the inter-cluster collaboration on specific activities

The cluster appreciates the coordination and involvement of the RCM Secretariat and the emerging strategic role in support of the work of different clusters

Challenges & continuing dialogueRationalising and managing the many sub-clustersHow to ensure a programmatic approach and results

orientation in workplansHow to support DSA in programmatic areas that fall

in different Clusters e.g. population issues & how to bring on board other departments of AUC whose work is relevant to the Cluster priorities e.g. in the area of gender, youth, employment and drugs

How to support & coordinate with other clusters to mainstream Gender & employment in line with the recommendations of the 10th RCM

Lessons LearnedThe absolute importance of AUC Leadership

and guidance at the highest Mutual accountability and need for

commitment within the UN system and developing systems for working collaboratively

Investment in terms of time and other resources

Resourse mobilisation strategy

Opportunities during 2011The planned focus by the DSA on developing/strengthening

monitoring and information management systems should enable the cluster to focus its support AU member states’ implementation of commitments

Following the Kampala Summit and its call on AUC to align the indicators on the Maputo Plan of Action with MDGs 4 & 5; and the indicators under the Abuja Call For Accelerated Action Towards Universal Access To HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, And Malaria Services with MDG 6, the Cluster will focus its support on the AUC response to this call

Review of the Ten Year Capacity Building Programme and development of an actual implementable programme to strengthen AU-UN partnership and inter-cluster collaboration.

Thank you allMerci beaucoup tout monde