Effective, accountable and inclusive institutions are critical for the recovery from COVID-19

02 November 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to Africa’s sustainable development prospects. The pandemic has reversed progress on the overarching goal of eradicating poverty in all its forms everywhere. The pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity, inequality, unemployment and informality. For the first time in a decade, global poverty has increased, with the United Nations estimating that the pandemic has pushed more than 114 million people into extreme poverty. African countries face fragile and uneven recoveries as a result of surging COVID-19 infections and inadequate vaccination progress in many countries. Climate change, a growing debt burden, inflationary pressures, volatile commodity prices, and supply chain disruptions are also major challenges facing African countries. Going forward, the pandemic has demonstrated the importance of investing in strong policies and institutions, including those that focus on crisis prevention, preparedness and response. Adequate resources and effective, accountable and inclusive institutions will be critical for Africa’s recovery from this pandemic – and building the resilience to cope with shocks to come.
Fortunately, internationally agreed development frameworks and commitments provide a blueprint and inspiration for the way forward from the pandemic and to build back better. Two of the most powerful instruments of change in Africa are the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Importantly, the two Agendas are complementary and mutually reinforcing, providing similar commitments for Africa’s development, including the eradication of poverty, hunger and inequality.

The 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all countries in 2015, have been described by the United Nations Secretary-General as a blueprint for getting back on track and fighting poverty and hunger, confronting the climate crisis, achieving gender equality and much more, within the next ten years. The SDGs can also aid countries on the path to recovery from the pandemic and build resilience to future shocks. More than ever, effective, accountable and inclusive institutions are essential to achieving the SDGs.

Crucially, recovery from the pandemic and attainment of the SDGs should not be sequential or separate. Achieving sustainable development and strengthening resilience requires national policymakers, development partners, civil society and the private sector to adopt a long-term perspective. Collectively tackling the most pressing challenges facing African countries will depend on building transparent and accountable institutions at all levels, based on effective governance for sustainable development, coupled with a steadfast commitment to promoting peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

By and large, African countries have limited levers to influence global economic prospects, international trade, and resource flows. However, strengthening institutions – at the regional, national, and subnational levels – lies in the hands of all countries. Africa has made considerable strides in enhancing review mechanisms on the continent and as an active participant in global processes. For example, of 45 countries that signed up to conduct voluntary national reviews of the implementation of the SDGs in July 2022, 20 are from Africa. The African Peer Mechanism involves countries carrying out in-depth reviews, including of governance performance, with 40 countries having joined.

The implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the AU Agenda 2063 requires their integration and mainstreaming into national policy frameworks and uptake across national and local governments, from planning departments to the offices of auditors general. This means aligning national development plans and strategies with SDGs implementation at the national and local levels. It involves re-orienting institutions towards recognizing the connectedness of issues. For instance, the recently concluded Food Systems Summit underscored that agricultural policy is not only connected with food security, but also has deep implications for biodiversity and also needs to take into account the impacts of climate change. With many African countries experiencing rapid urbanization, the effective and inclusive institutions at the local level will be key to the welfare of millions. Encouragingly, cities and regions are getting to grips with localizing and implementing the SDGs. Across the continent, countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe have seen local and regional authorities conduct voluntary local reviews, taking stock of the local implementation of the SDGs.

The United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration developed 11 principles of effective governance for sustainable development as a pragmatic response to the good governance aspirations of the 2030 Agenda. The principles, which have been endorsed by Member States, are an essential global reference point. To promote their implementation, a series of operational guidance notes on sound policymaking has been prepared and is being expanded to other areas.

The pandemic has fast-tracked changes and trends already underway, from contactless payments to the ubiquity of virtual meetings. Given these changes, we need to closely examine how Africa can harness and leverage this wave of innovation to enhance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063. For example, while evidence suggests that online schooling is not a direct substitute for learning in person, the virtual classroom has a role to play – the challenge is to make use of it in a way so that no one is left behind. This will require action to combat inequalities associated with unequal access to information and telecommunication technologies and services. The pandemic has shone bright – and sometimes stark – light on the crucial role of reliable and low-cost broadband access and inequalities that may be worsened in the absence of reliable and affordable broadband access. There is also much scope for reflection on the central role of institutions in the areas of digital government, health, disaster preparedness, and communication of science and managing and responding to pandemic risks.

The United Nations actively seeks to promote effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions, working with the African Union and its African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), among other partners. As part of this effort, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, together with the APRM, is convening a regional workshop to explore the role of institutions in Africa’s recovery from the pandemic. I hope the conclusions and recommendations of this workshop will help speed progress on implementing the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.

by Ms. Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, issued on the occasion of the “Workshop on Accelerating the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda and AU Agenda 2063 in Africa: Building Resilient Institutions for the SDGs in the time of COVID-19.”