Day: May 11, 2022

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Delegates in Fifth Committee Consider Cost Savings, Efficiency, as Supply Chain Chief Unveils Plan to Revamp Operational Logistics Support for Peackeeping Missions

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budget) today asked for details on cost savings and efficiency as the Organization’s top official for supply chain management unveiled the Secretariat’s plan to restructure the way the Department of Operational Support manages and delivers equipment and services to peacekeeping missions around the world.

Christian Saunders, Assistant Secretary-General for Supply Chain Management, gave Member States a comprehensive briefing on the new Strategic Deployment Solutions concept, which revamps the existing Strategic Deployment Stocks concept to more effectively and efficiently deliver supplies and services to these missions. At the same time, it would not increase the portion of the United Nations Logistics Base budget related to these activities.

With the new supply chain plan, the United Nations Logistics Base in Brindisi, Italy, could even expand its services to meet the equipment and services needs of special political missions and humanitarian operations, Mr. Saunders said. The logistics base is also known as the United Nations Global Service Centre. “It will make the UN more efficient across the board,” he said. “And it will give Member States much better return on their investment.”

For example, one problem the new concept would tackle is the depreciation, and even obsolescence, of peacekeeping operations equipment, such as bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment, used at missions. Rather than remaining unused with a mission after it accomplished its job, the equipment would be brought back to a central location, refurbished, and then sent out to another mission as needed, he said. That would provide for more effective and cost-efficient use of equipment.

The Department would also gain better pricing by placing orders for vehicles, vaccines, and even blood well in advance through a central buying mechanism rather than waiting for each mission to place and pay for an order.

When the floor was opened for questions, the representative of Italy asked for more details about the factors affecting the project’s estimated implementation time of three to five years. Mr. Saunders said many factors could impact the timeline and explained that the Department would begin the application of the new supply chain system with one or two of the 40 categories of supplies, perhaps engineering and medical supplies.

Responding to the delegate of Mexico’s question on the financial implications, he said the only implications would be those as described. During his presentation, Mr. Saunders had mentioned the reclassification of a P4 Logistics Officer post to a P5 Senior Logistics Officer post, and the creation of one P4 post of Movement Control Officer. This person would manage additional Strategic Deployment Solutions elements and the increased workload of inbound-outbound shipments. Costs would not increase for the clients or the missions.

To the speaker for the United States’ query about how savings will be tracked and reported to Member States, and how a baseline cost — on which to base such savings — will be presented, Mr. Saunders said the costs and accompanying savings can be tracked but the process has become more complicated as inflation has increased prices. The data will be tracked and the Global Service Centre will initially track a few solutions and present the results to the Fifth Committee. He noted that the peacekeeping missions, not the United Nations Logistics Base, will accrue the savings. The missions will also save time through more efficient deliveries.

The representative of Japan, noting the interconnectivity and similarity of stocks in Brindisi, Entebbe and various missions, asked how strategic deployment, regional deployment and mission stocks will be balanced. Mr. Saunders said these missions and Brindisi and Entebbe will work hand-in-hand to improve equipment delivery. For example, the placement of stocks in regional warehouses, like Entebbe, can then be used to more quickly supply missions in remote locales. These remote missions can then reduce their stocks, resulting in less waste and obsolescence.

Responding to the United Kingdom’s delegate on how expansion of a client base will impact efficiency, Mr. Saunders said the United Nations aims to reduce duplication. To do so, the Organization must be considered as one family. An example of how Strategic Deployment Solutions have already supported the entire United Nations family is in Ukraine, he said, where it has provided armoured vehicles to many United Nations agencies, enabling them to implement their programmes quickly. Vehicles in Brindisi were driven by volunteer drivers to the Polish border. Some were brought back; others remained. He said the presentation of a progress report on the Strategic Deployment Solutions concept to the Fifth Committee after 48 months will be important and create value.

The representative of Cameroon, speaking for the African Group, highlighted the importance of stock management, as this issue is connected to those of supply, personnel and sustainable development. Also spotlighting the importance of circularity, which allows for economies of scale and the efficient use of resources, he pointed out that a recent field visit revealed that the cost of shipping certain vehicles to Central Africa from Brindisi exceeds the cost of those vehicles. He said cost-benefit discussions will be followed going forward.

On that point, Mr. Saunders said the use of regional warehouses will allow greater purchases from local and regional vendors, a more efficient use of resources. This will also reduce the transfer of goods over long distances, which will curb the pollution created by ships and aircraft.

The speaker of Iraq thanked the Assistant Secretary-General for his proposal and expressed hope that the same will guide the Fifth Committee to allocate proper resources for the United Nations Logistics Base and other United Nations entities.

Giovanna Ceglie, Director of the United Nations Global Service Centre, pointed out that the resources requested to implement the Strategic Deployment Stocks concept — namely, the creation of a new P4 position and the reclassification of an existing P4 position to a P5 position — will also serve other purposes. The new P4 position is required to implement a digital transformation of supply-chain operations. Much of this is currently done manually, and such transformation is necessary for critical operations such as budget expenditure, contract governance, compliance procedures and automatic shipment planning, she explained. The P5 position reflects the increase in skill required to adopt innovative strategic deployment solutions and to redesign comprehensive sourcing solutions. She added that this reclassification is also needed to improve the structure of the section, which has been lopsided for a number of years.

The Fifth Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 12 May, to fill a vacancy in the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), discuss the financial situation of the United Nations, and consider other peacekeeping financing issues.

 

Source: UN General Assembly

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US Interested in Africa Mining Investments, says American Official

A top U.S. energy official says Russia’s war on Ukraine has driven home the need to diversify supply chains, and that Africa can benefit from this. Jose Fernandez made the comment to VOA Wednesday at an annual conference on African mining in Cape Town, South Africa.

Jose Fernandez, the U.S. Undersecretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment, is the highest-ranking American official ever to attend the Investing in African Mining conference, or Indaba. Indaba is a Zulu word for discussions.

Speaking to VOA, Fernandez said the U.S. is very interested in working with African partners to make the kind of investments that will benefit both sides.

“That’s a message that I’m not sure has been made here in the last few years,” he said.

He said Russia’s attempts to weaponize its oil and gas exports to Europe highlights the fact that the U.S., and other countries, cannot depend on one, or two, or even three suppliers for important products.

“Something we need to diversity is our sources of energy. We need to invest more in renewables. That requires wind turbines, it requires solar panels, it requires electric batteries and other components that are going to be critical for the energy future,” he said.

Fernandez said the U.S. geological service has identified almost 40 critical minerals that are going to be needed for a clean energy future as well as in products like cars, computers and chips — noting that Africa has many of them.

How could the continent benefit?

“In order to do that, it’s going to require foreign investment and one way or the best way to attract foreign investment is to have clear rules and a transparent regulatory regime. What I am here to do, is to see how the U.S. can help Africa take advantage of the opportunity and create jobs,” said Fernandez.

Tony Carrol, executive advisor of the conference, says the importance of Fernandez’s attendance cannot be overstated.

“It’s the first truly high-ranking U.S. government official we’ve had at the mining indaba in the 28 years. He is responsible for the energy and natural resource portfolio within the State Department and reports directly to the secretary of state. His meetings here were meaningful and I think they were enthused about this event and looking forward to coming back,” he said.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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Regional Bureau for West & Central Africa Education Newsletter, April 2022

The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), which takes place annually on April 6th, presents an opportunity to recognize the positive role sport and physical activity play in communities and in people’s lives across the globe.

Sport has the power to change the world; it is a fundamental right and a powerful tool to strengthen social ties and promote sustainable development and peace, as well as solidarity and respect for all. In recognition of sport’s broad influence, the global theme of IDSDP 2022 was “Securing a Sustainable and Peaceful Future for All: The Contribution of Sport”, which creates an opportunity for the Day’s celebrations to promote the use of sport as a tool to advance human rights and sustainable development.

Sport in refugee settings is a powerful tool to improve protection and development outcomes for displaced young people and their communities.

The Global Compact on Refugees recognizes the important role that sports can play in social development, inclusion, cohesion, and well-being, particularly for refugee children (both boys and girls), adolescents and youth.

An integrated approach to education and protection should consider sport as a key means of improving social cohesion and psychosocial well-being for all children and youth, both in and out of school. Sport can also contribute directly to increasing school enrolment and retention rates, as well as improving gender equality and preventing sexual and gender-based violence.

 

 

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

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For Macron’s Second Term — a Lower Profile in Africa?

Five years ago, France’s Emmanuel Macron saw big when it came to Africa. Days after his presidential inauguration, he flew to northeastern Mali, meeting with French troops and vowing, alongside his Malian counterpart, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, to wage an “uncompromising fight” against Islamist terrorism.

A few months later in another Sahel country, nearby Burkina Faso, he laid another pillar of his Africa strategy based on a “rupture” of traditional French-Africa relations. France’s 39-year-old leader told students from the University of Ouagadougou he was “from a generation that doesn’t come to tell Africans what to do.”

Today, the Sahel insurgency is expanding southward, and both Mali and Burkina Faso are under military rule. France’s counter-insurgency military operation in the Sahel is downsizing, regrouping and recasting itself under a European umbrella.

Meanwhile, Macron’s ambitious promise of transforming France’s relationship with Africa is still in the works.

“The goal should be to accompany local efforts rather than expanding French interests in Africa,” Cameroonian intellectual Achille Mbembe told French broadcaster RFI. If that happens, he added, “It would be possible to finally get out of France-Afrique,” describing Paris’ old and tangled ties with its former colonies.

Yet, as Macron officially begins his second term this Saturday, Africa appears to be taking a back seat to other, more immediate priorities, both domestic and European, as the war in Ukraine takes center stage.

French-African relations barely figured into an election campaign that saw him facing off anti-immigration, far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the runoff.

“It would be hard to see Macron completely changing his African strategy” in his second term, Africa analyst Antoine Glaser told France 24 TV in a recent interview. “I think what will change will be the method … he will be a lot less on the front lines,” giving African and European partners a bigger spotlight.

Other analysts agree France should be more attentive to African concerns, mindful it now competes against many other foreign players on the continent, including in former French colonies.

“France and Europe fail to properly listen to the priorities of different African states,” said Africa-Europe researcher Cecilia Vidotto Labastie, from the Paris-based Montaigne Institute research institution. “This creates space for other partners — or competitors or enemies — to act.”

Breaking with the past

Still in his first term Macron did listen and respond to several key African priorities, recognizing more painful aspects of France’s legacy on the continent — and in doing so, going further than his predecessors.

He acknowledged his country’s role in Rwanda’s genocide and crimes committed by French soldiers and police during Algeria’s war of independence — although he ruled out an official apology to France’s former colony. In both cases, Paris set up expert commissions to dig into historical archives.

Those steps, among others, helped cement ties between Macron and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, following years of rocky French-Rwandan relations.

Ties with Algeria remain strained, however, including over other, more recent issues, like French visas and Macron’s remarks about Algeria’s post-colonial rule. Nonetheless, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune congratulated his French counterpart on his reelection last month and invited him to visit.

Macron also became France’s first leader to restore looted colonial-era treasures — returning a dozen artifacts to Benin and a sword to Senegal. Those gestures helped to unleash a broader restitution debate and similar moves elsewhere in Europe.


“The fact he has so much energy and interest in this, in a way it obliged other countries to do the same,” said analyst Vidotto Labastie. “This is something that is new. In a way, it’s now part of Europe-Africa relations.”

Less successful has been Macron’s support for efforts to reform the West and Central African CFA currency, and for a France-Africa summit that featured civil society rather than the continent’s leaders last October.

Aimed to “reinvent” France’s relationship with the continent, the summit in Montpellier, France, also offered a forum for young Africans to air grievances against Paris’ alleged tolerance of corruption and dictators in Africa.

“Emmanuel Macron wanted to shake up French-Africa relations,” one participant, Ivorian historian Arthur Banga told Jeune Afrique news magazine, but still described changes the president has realized to date as largely in form, rather than substance. Over Macron’s next term, Banga said, “The first steps he initiated over five years must now deliver results.”

Sahel setbacks and moving forward

Macron’s biggest challenge and setback, analysts say, has been in the Sahel.

The civilian presidents he met with five years ago in Mali and Burkina Faso have been ousted and replaced by military juntas. The Islamist insurgency that French and African troops hoped to conquer has spread. Russia-based Wagner mercenaries are implanted in Mali, and anti-French sentiment is mounting in some countries.

Last month, Mali’s military rulers suspended French broadcasters France 24 and RFI, over their reports of alleged rights abuses by Malian forces. Last week, as the two countries traded accusations over hundreds of bodies found buried in the Malian desert, Mali announced it had terminated a nearly decade-old military cooperation agreement with France — even as French troops were already leaving the country, as part of a full withdrawal planned over several months.

Macron’s strategy in the Sahel was a failure, France’s Le Monde newspaper wrote, its fallout “casting a sandy veil over his record.”

Not everyone agrees.

Montaigne Institute’s Vidotto Labastie believes Macron’s Sahel setbacks were partly due to a mix of factors beyond his control — including the death of Chadian leader Idriss Deby, whose country was a linchpin of the regional counterinsurgency fight. They should also be seen within a wider European Union context, she adds.

“It depends on how you define failure; France was never alone,” she said, noting Denmark’s announcement in January it would withdraw its forces from Mali and West Africa. “Was it a failure for Denmark? For the EU?”

Moving forward, Vidotto Labastie said, France and Europe need to be more attentive to Africa’s demands in sectors like energy and migration.

“The more France and the EU lack clarity in the region, the more space there is for Russia and also Turkey” along with other foreign powers, she said. “They will be ready to exploit any difficulty of the Sahel strategy and French action.”

Analyst Glaser agrees France’s Africa strategy needs to be attuned to a more competitive and opportunistic reality.

“France was in a dominant position for 30 years, until the fall of the Berlin wall,” he said. “Now it’s a globalized Africa … the world is changing, and Africa is changing even faster.”

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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North West Legislature meets Rural Development and Agriculture over their expenditure plans, 11 May

North West Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development to meet Department on their business expenditure plans

The North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Economic Development, Environment, Tourism, Agriculture & Rural Development will hold a meeting with the Department of Rural Development and Agriculture over their expenditure plans for conditional and equitable share grants.

 

 

 

Source: Government of South Africa

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Small Business Development hosts roadshows in North West to unlock opportunities for SMMEs, 12 to 13 May

Department of Small Business Development and its agencies to host roadshows in North West to unlock opportunities for SMMEs and co-operatives for economic growth and job creation

The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) and its agencies, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) will host Roadshows in the North West targeting SMMEs and Co-operatives on 12 – 13 May 2022.

The development and support of SMMEs is critical for economic recovery and job creation. SMMEs are the key drivers for job creation, therefore unlocking value chains for the benefit of small businesses remains critical in recovering an economy that has lost over a million jobs due the pandemic. Minister for Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams and Deputy Minister Sidumo Dlamini are leading countrywide roadshows themed: “unlocking opportunities for SMMEs and Co-operatives for economic growth and job creation”.

The purpose of the roadshows is to showcase the work of the DSBD, its agencies and other strategic government departments. It is crucial for various stakeholders to work together in ensuring the desired impact, through the assessments of various challenges and highlighting lessons learnt in various districts. This can only be achieved through partnerships with both the public and private sectors. The Department will also utilize these roadshows as a partnership dialogue to engage with different stakeholders. These roadshows are critical in ensuring that there is a seamless engagement across all spheres of government.

 

 

 

Source: Government of South Africa

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City pilots innovative MyCiTi bus traffic signalling system

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas, joined the team responsible for transport network technology yesterday, 10 May 2022 as they were switching on one of the newly installed bus signals along Blaauwberg Road, Table View. These signals form part of the pilot project to test a new bus traffic signal system for the MyCiTi bus service.

The City of Cape Town will test a new bus traffic signal system for MyCiTi at four intersections along Blaauwberg Road in Table View from today, 11 May 2022. The new bus traffic signals are aligned with international best practice and are being tested in consultation with the National Department of Transport over the next six months.

If successful, these signals will be implemented across the MyCiTi system and be included in the South African Road Traffic Signs Manual for use by other cities and transport systems in South Africa.

The main motivation behind this pilot project was to introduce a signalling system that could prohibit confusion among motorists at these intersections, which up until now served both private vehicles and MyCiTi buses. The bus signals were often mistaken as signals for vehicular traffic, which resulted in private vehicles reacting erroneously and causing unfortunate collisions.

The new pilot system introduced today does not use red, amber or green, and is therefore less likely to be confused with the normal traffic signal system that uses these colours. The new MyCiTi system’s only colour is white, using new symbols and will ultimately only be installed along MyCiTi routes.

These signals have been installed at the following intersections in Table View:

  • Blaauwberg Road and Table View MyCiTi Station (R27)
  • Blaauwberg Road and Raatz Drive
  • Blaauwberg Road and Grey Avenue
  • Blaauwberg Road and Janssens Avenue

The City asks that road users, motorists and pedestrians please pay attention and adhere to the normal traffic signals. The new bus signals only apply to the MyCiTi bus service.

‘I am always encouraged by projects that showcase innovation and align our practices here in Cape Town with that of international standards. The road safety of all road users is of great priority to the City, so my hope is that this new traffic signal system will cause less confusion and incidents among motorists in the area. It makes me proud that our teams have been involved with this IRT bus signalisation project as it is the first of its kind in South Africa,’ said the Executive Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis

‘I advise road users in Table View to approach these intersections along Blaauwberg Road with caution during the trial period and to remember that the new bus signals apply to MyCiTi buses only. All motorists, pedestrians and other road users must continue to follow the rules of the road and the ordinary traffic signals that apply to them. I believe this pilot project will be a success and that this new traffic signal system will prove to work just as efficiently in Cape Town as it currently does in other European cities,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas

Examples of existing bus and light rail signals from across the world were considered in deciding on the alternative bus signal proposal. The preferred system is a white single aspect light system, used in the United Kingdom and some European countries, in combination with a new directional information sign to clearly identify applicable bus movements where necessary

The bus drivers on the relevant MyCiTi bus routes have received training on the meaning of the respective bus signal displays prior to implementation.

 

 

Source: City Of Cape Town