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Aid Disbursements under the African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund, and the monitoring and evaluation of the related projects by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation
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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO: 2150 (NW2671E)
PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 25-2012 OF 17 AUGUST 2012
MR IO DAVIDSON TO ASK THE MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION;
Whether, with reference to her reply to question 1318 of 2012 relating to the recipients of aid disbursements under the African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund, her department conducts monitoring and evaluation on projects funded through this fund in order to ensure that the objectives of the fund are achieved; if not, why not; if so, how did each of the projects outlined in the reply to question 1318 serve the objectives of the African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund?
REPLY
(1) With reference to my reply to question 1318, as relates to the disbursement of aid and serving the objectives of the African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund, the Department does indeed endeavour to conduct monitoring and evaluation on projects funded through the Fund wherever possible in order to ensure that the objectives of the Fund are achieved and the finances are applied in the manner for which they were intended. This is done through selected project visits by the ARF Secretariat, and monitoring and follow-up by the political desks and missions concerned. Having said that, this is an area which has been identified through the external audit process as requiring improvement and increased capacity to perform the task comprehensively.
(2) The objectives of the African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund have been served as follows:
2009-2010:
- Support to Sierra Leone to fund 20 Cuban doctors to offer medical services:
To date, a total of 32 Cuban medical health professionals have been deployed in Sierra Leone. The project aims at strengthening and building capacity in the Health Services of Sierra Leone. The achievements of the project include: Providing comprehensive primary health care; training of local human resources; and managing programmes against communicable diseases (such as HIV and AIDS). The evaluation of the project took place in July 2012, during which DIRCO officials visited Sierra Leone, conducted field visits to the areas in which the Cuban medical personnel have been deployed, and evaluated the operations of the project to ensure compliance with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). The objectives of the Fund were enhanced through human resource development.
- Support to Zimbabwe towards supporting the economic recovery programme:
This project is managed by the National Treasury. A number of modalities for monitoring and reporting have been put in place to ensure that Zimbabwe spends this money as planned. A progress report has been submitted. The project meets the ARF objectives of cooperation with African countries, prevention of instability and conflict, and socio-economic development.
- Support for the African Research Centre, which serves as a focal point for ombudsman offices in Africa:
The African Ombudsman Research Centre is located at the Howard College Campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). It is a coordinating, facilitating, capacity, support, advocacy and research arm of the African Ombudsman and Mediators Association (AOMA), whose Secretariat is based in South Africa. This funding was for the launch of the AORC in March 2011 and its programmes for two years. Objectives of the Fund are served through human resource development, which then contributes to good governance. A project report has been submitted.
2010-2011:
- Support for the AU Observer Mission to the elections in Sudan:
South Africa plays a leading role in peace and security activities at regional and continental levels in operations, strategically and financially. This is borne out of our foreign policy objectives, which promote regional peace, security and stability as the key determinants for socio-economic development, and as a critical factor for regional integration. As part of this, South Africa takes part in AU and SADC Election Observer Missions to help ensure that the elections are conducted in a conducive environment and to deepen democracy in the Continent. A report on the Mission has been submitted.
2011-2012:
- Support to the International Atomic Energy Agency for the improvement of veterinary laboratory capacities in Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Botswana , Zambia, Mozambique and Namibia:
This is a newly implemented project. The first Oversight Committee Meeting was held in July 2012, where our Mission in Vienna was representing the Department. The main objective of the project is to support Sub-Saharan African countries affected by trans-boundary diseases (TADs) through building and enhancing capacities for animal disease diagnosis in a sustainable manner. This will be done through training, but also by providing adequate equipment and reagents to enable implementation of different disease diagnostic tests, in particular molecular biology and nuclear-based techniques, guidelines and expert backstopping and support. Another objective is to promote a collaborative network in each region, where main support will be provided to one laboratory per region, with a number of satellite laboratories. This is important in terms of the objectives of the Fund in terms of both capacity building and human resource development in a sector vital to African economies.
- Support for an International Diplomatic Training Programme at the DIRCO Diplomatic Academy. Countries that benefitted include South Sudan, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, Mauritius and Comoros:
The International School of the Diplomatic Academy of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation has since September 2011 hosted three of four diplomatic training programmes on Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD), have trained 89 participants to date, and have held one programme on SADC Regional Integration with 33 participants. The fourth programme on PCRD will take place during October 2012 with 36 participants from various African countries. A further 13 from SADC participant countries will be trained by the SABS on WTO negotiating. This project serves the objectives of cooperation with African countries, capacity building, and promoting the African Agenda. Being in the Department, the Academy provides regular reports and is monitored in terms of the normal auditing procedures in the Department.
- Support towards the economic recovery of Cuba following the 2008 hurricanes:
This project has not yet been implemented as modalities for implementation are being finalised by the DTI and the IDC. Funds have not been disbursed therefore.
- Support for South Africa’s participation in SADC and AU Observer Missions during the financial year. Observer Missions were sent for the elections in Seychelles, Zambia and the DRC:
South Africa plays a leading role in peace and security activities at regional and continental levels in operations, strategically and financially. This is borne out of our foreign policy objectives, which promote regional peace, security and stability as the key determinants for socio-economic development, and as a critical factor for regional integration. As part of this, South Africa takes part in AU and SADC Election Observer Missions to help ensure that the elections are conducted in a conducive environment and to deepen democracy in the Continent. Reports on these Missions have been submitted.
- Support to transport humanitarian assistance donated by SADC Member States to the people of Somalia:
During the 31st Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held from 17 to 18 August 2011 in Luanda, Angola, SADC member states agreed to contribute much needed aid to Somalia in an effort to assist the famine affected people of Somalia. As part of the SADC aid contribution to Somalia, Angola pledged to contribute 6649 tons of food and non-food items, Mozambique pledged 65 tons of food, Namibia pledged 242 tons of food and Tanzania pledged 503 tons of food and non-food items. South Africa offered to transport all the pledged aid to Somalia. The project is in line with the ARF objective of rendering humanitarian assistance to African countries in need. It is recognised that, while the aid will not solve all the challenges of Somalia, it will have an immediate impact of improving people’s well being and saving lives. SADC member states therefore encourage others to continue assisting the affected people of Somalia, as famine and hunger are challenges that they still face today. The project was implemented in two parts in the 2011/12 financial year and in the 2012/13 financial year. A report on the implementation of this project has been submitted.
- Support to assist the DRC to undertake successful Presidential and Legislative elections in November 2011:
South Africa plays a leading role in peace and security activities at regional and continental levels in operations, strategically and financially. This is borne out of our foreign policy objectives, which promote regional peace, security and stability as the key determinants for socio-economic development, and as a critical factor for regional integration. As part of this, South Africa takes part in AU and SADC Election Observer Missions to help ensure that the elections are conducted in a conducive environment and to deepen democracy in the Continent. The money was utilised for payments to the three service providers, i.e. the SANDF (for transporting ballot papers), the IEC (for capacity building) and the SAPS (for training). The bilateral line function Desk was part of the project implementation and a report on the project was done.
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