Mr. Amson Sibanda, Chief, National Strategies and Capacity Building Branch, DSDG/DESA
Capacity Building on Public Policy Development, Review, Evaluation and Coordination for the Acceleration of the SDGs in Namibia
Opening Remarks by Amson Sibanda, Chief, National Strategies and Capacity Building Branch, DSDG/UNDESA
September 3, 2020
Your Excellency Hon. Obeth Kandjoze. Director General, National Planning Commission,
Ms. Rachel Odede. Resident Coordinator ai, UN Namibia (UNN)
Mr. Sen Pang. Resident Coordinator designated, UN Namibia (UNN)
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen;
It is my privilege and pleasure to welcome you all on behalf of Mr. Alex Trepelkov, Officer-in-Charge of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals and Mr. Juwang Zhu, Director, Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government, United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs to this Official Launch and Scoping Webinar, which marks the first step in a series of Webinars on Capacity Building on Public Policy Development, Review, Evaluation and Coordination for the Acceleration of the SDGs in Namibia that we will be jointly implementing with United Nations Namibia.
At this juncture, I wish to extend my utmost sincere thanks to the team in the Office of the Resident Coordinator at UN Namibia, that has and for a very long time now been diligently coordinating all stakeholders, to ensure that we make it, to today’s occasion, under the leadership of the Government of the Republic of Namibia.
Having the UN family come together in support of Namibia’s development aspirations will go a long way in ensuring that whatever we do as the United Nations development system, our work is driven by national priorities, including through the United Nations Partnership Agreement Framework (UNPAF 2019-2023), with the building of national capacities in such areas as statistical systems, data analysis, policy formulation and the mainstreaming of Sustainable Development Goals into national development plans and strategies continuing to be a core area of our focus.
Further, this partnership allows us to provide support to the Government of Namibia as well as compliment the work of the UNCT, led by the Resident Coordinator, by aligning DESA capacity development activities with UN Namibia’s priorities and needs as expressed in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.
Our efforts also complement the important work that is being undertaken by Namibia’s development partners such as GIZ, civil society organizations and the private sector.
As DESA, we recognize that building state capacity is crucial for ensuring that countries have the necessary capabilities to intervene and correct market failures and to allocate public resources
efficiently. States that are able to obtain, improve, and retain the skills, knowledge and tools needed to deliver inclusive growth and quality public goods and services are also able to correct policy errors that may arise either because policies in place do not address a problem in the right way or when policy “errors” occurred at the policy formulation stage by, for example, not fully engaging all critical stakeholders.
Further, we are also aware that African countries have had varying experiences with development planning and the integration of the 2030 Agenda and AU Agenda 2063 into national plans and strategies, but successes in other regions show that successful integration of internationally agreed development frameworks as well as inclusive, well-articulated and well-resourced development plans play a critical role in spurring progress, including the structural transformation of economies.
It is also critical that countries articulate credible macroeconomic frameworks that can underpin successful planning processes. The adoption of evidence-based policy, planning and practices will also make development sustainable, more resilient and less vulnerable to the negative impacts of emerging challenges such as COVID-19 and climate change.
With those few remarks, I would once again reiterate that a key objective of this capacity building Webinar series is to ensure that the UN development system effectively contributes to building national capacities in “Public Policy Development, Review, Evaluation and Coordination for the Acceleration of the SDGs in Namibia”.
By listening to you today, it is our hope that we will be in a better position to respond to Namibia’ development priorities and capacity development needs as we formulate the series of capacity building Webinars. Our collective efforts will contribute to improving planning processes in Namibia by strengthening institutional and human capacities at various levels.
The United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs stands ready to support Namibia achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, AU Agenda 2063 and other regionally agreed development goals.
Together, we will build sustainable and inclusive societies and to leave no one behind through cooperation. This is only the beginning of a journey we will continue to undertake, jointly.
Thank you!
Opening Remarks by Amson Sibanda, Chief, National Strategies and Capacity Building Branch, DSDG/UNDESA
September 3, 2020
Your Excellency Hon. Obeth Kandjoze. Director General, National Planning Commission,
Ms. Rachel Odede. Resident Coordinator ai, UN Namibia (UNN)
Mr. Sen Pang. Resident Coordinator designated, UN Namibia (UNN)
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen;
It is my privilege and pleasure to welcome you all on behalf of Mr. Alex Trepelkov, Officer-in-Charge of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals and Mr. Juwang Zhu, Director, Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government, United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs to this Official Launch and Scoping Webinar, which marks the first step in a series of Webinars on Capacity Building on Public Policy Development, Review, Evaluation and Coordination for the Acceleration of the SDGs in Namibia that we will be jointly implementing with United Nations Namibia.
At this juncture, I wish to extend my utmost sincere thanks to the team in the Office of the Resident Coordinator at UN Namibia, that has and for a very long time now been diligently coordinating all stakeholders, to ensure that we make it, to today’s occasion, under the leadership of the Government of the Republic of Namibia.
Having the UN family come together in support of Namibia’s development aspirations will go a long way in ensuring that whatever we do as the United Nations development system, our work is driven by national priorities, including through the United Nations Partnership Agreement Framework (UNPAF 2019-2023), with the building of national capacities in such areas as statistical systems, data analysis, policy formulation and the mainstreaming of Sustainable Development Goals into national development plans and strategies continuing to be a core area of our focus.
Further, this partnership allows us to provide support to the Government of Namibia as well as compliment the work of the UNCT, led by the Resident Coordinator, by aligning DESA capacity development activities with UN Namibia’s priorities and needs as expressed in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.
Our efforts also complement the important work that is being undertaken by Namibia’s development partners such as GIZ, civil society organizations and the private sector.
As DESA, we recognize that building state capacity is crucial for ensuring that countries have the necessary capabilities to intervene and correct market failures and to allocate public resources
efficiently. States that are able to obtain, improve, and retain the skills, knowledge and tools needed to deliver inclusive growth and quality public goods and services are also able to correct policy errors that may arise either because policies in place do not address a problem in the right way or when policy “errors” occurred at the policy formulation stage by, for example, not fully engaging all critical stakeholders.
Further, we are also aware that African countries have had varying experiences with development planning and the integration of the 2030 Agenda and AU Agenda 2063 into national plans and strategies, but successes in other regions show that successful integration of internationally agreed development frameworks as well as inclusive, well-articulated and well-resourced development plans play a critical role in spurring progress, including the structural transformation of economies.
It is also critical that countries articulate credible macroeconomic frameworks that can underpin successful planning processes. The adoption of evidence-based policy, planning and practices will also make development sustainable, more resilient and less vulnerable to the negative impacts of emerging challenges such as COVID-19 and climate change.
With those few remarks, I would once again reiterate that a key objective of this capacity building Webinar series is to ensure that the UN development system effectively contributes to building national capacities in “Public Policy Development, Review, Evaluation and Coordination for the Acceleration of the SDGs in Namibia”.
By listening to you today, it is our hope that we will be in a better position to respond to Namibia’ development priorities and capacity development needs as we formulate the series of capacity building Webinars. Our collective efforts will contribute to improving planning processes in Namibia by strengthening institutional and human capacities at various levels.
The United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs stands ready to support Namibia achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, AU Agenda 2063 and other regionally agreed development goals.
Together, we will build sustainable and inclusive societies and to leave no one behind through cooperation. This is only the beginning of a journey we will continue to undertake, jointly.
Thank you!