Development institutions present digital guide to help African countries fast-track SDGs, Paris Agreement and AU’s Agenda 2063 implementation

Three leading development partners have presented a digital application at the COP 25 climate conference in Madrid to help African countries grappling with the simultaneous implementation of key global initiatives.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), African Development Bank Group, and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) on Tuesday unveiled the Guide for Integrated Planning in Africa.

The guide will help mainstream the Sustainable Development Goals, AU Agenda 2063, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change/Nationally Determined Contributions, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and The New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States into African countries’ national development plans. The step-by-step guide provides African planners with a new generation of national development strategic and operational plans that mainstream these global initiatives.

Aliou Dia, UNDP Resident Representative in Togo, called the guide a welcome addition. The new guide “will help governments in the continent to accelerate the delivery of the SDGs in the decade of implementation; it will also support the implementation of UNDP’s Climate Promise whichs help countries revise and submit enhanced NDCs by 2020, and reflect them into their new national development plans,” he said.

“Good planning tools enable us to streamline our work; better planning facilitates efficient resource allocation and effective delivery. We are committed to working with Regional Member Countries to mainstream the global development agendas in the national development plans with the ultimate goal of ending poverty, generating jobs for youth and protecting the planet,” said Anthony Nyong, Director for Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank Group.

Estherine Fotabong, Director of Programme Innovation and Planning at the African Union Development Agency, said: “The Guide supports our vision to harness knowledge to deliver the Africa we want, fostering the development of the continent through effective and integrated planning, coordination and implementation of Agenda 2063 with Member States, Regional Economic Communities and Pan-African institutions, by leveraging partnerships and technical cooperation.”

The Guide for Integrated Planning in Africa will be available as a digital application, and in handbook format. The digital application will make it easier for African planners to search for and apply tools for developing a new generation of national development plans. Additional features include interactive pages that allow planners to apply tools directly on the online platform and deliver outputs, such as results frameworks or the theory of change.