Technical, Administrative and Logistical Assistance for the Joint Africa-EU Strategy Support Mechanism (JAES SM)

Detailed description of project Back

The Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) was adopted at the II. Africa-EU Summit in Lisbon on December 9^th, 2007. The JAES aims at putting the Africa-EU relationship on a new strategic footing, and to strengthen the political and policy dialogue as well as the technical cooperation at all levels. The JAES defines several inter-related priority areas, and is implemented through successive Action Plans which currently cover eight thematic partnerships: i) Peace and Security, ii) Democratic Governance and Human Rights , iii) Trade, Regional Integration and Infrastructure, iv) MDGs, v) Energy, vi) Climate Change and Environment, vii) Migration, Mobility and Employment and viii) Science, Information Society and Space. The Action Plan comprises both enhanced political and policy dialogue, as well as operational initiatives and programmes that should result in concrete and measurable outcomes in all areas of the partnership. The present JAES Support Mechanism (JAES SM) seeks to provide, on a flexible and demand-driven basis, the necessary targeted technical and administrative support to the implementing actors of the thematic partnerships, with the aim to make the JAES working arrangements more effective and efficient, and to facilitate the delivery of more concrete results.

The main expected results of the service contract are:

• Improved functioning of JAES-related structures through improved technical expertise and other support;
• Synergies between JAES thematic partnerships mobilized through a common framework;
• Improved communication and outreach to key JAES stakeholders;
• Improved information and tools to facilitate M&E of roadmap implementation;
• Efficient and effective management of the JAES SM.

Key stakeholders on the African side include the African Union Commission (AUC), the RECS, the Member States, the African Development Bank, the Pan-African Parliament, the private sector and key non-state actors; and on the European side include the European Commission, the European External Action Service, the EU Member States, the European Parliament, the European Investment Bank and key non-state actors.

Priority areas under the Action Plan 2011-2013 per thematic partnership include:

Peace and Security

Coordination with the TA contract on the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) providing the AUC and Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms support on the Action Plan of the Peace and Security Partnership and further support in the organisation of specific events and meetings.

Democratic Governance and Human Rights

i) Enhanced dialogue and cooperation at the global level and in international fora; ii) Cooperation in the area of Governance Initiatives; iii) Strengthen cooperation in the area of cultural goods and other areas of cultural cooperation.

Trade, Regional Integration and Infrastructure

i) Dialogue on the political dimension, policies and experiences on regional integration in Europe and in Africa and on integration in the global economy; ii) Customs and Trade Facilitation. The expected outcome is the creation of efficient customs systems in Africa, enhanced dialogue on Non Trade Barriers (NTB) issues and improved trade within Africa and between Africa and the EU; iii) Improve the competitiveness and the diversification of African agriculture and industry notably by strengthening African capacities in the area of rules, standards and quality control; iv) Operationalization of accelerated industrial development for Africa (AIDA) Plan of Action; v) Raw materials; vi) Support quality statistics in Africa; vii) The expertise to be provided for the infrastructure strand of the partnership will be complementary to the Africa-EU Infrastructure trust fund as well as to the PIDA programme.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

i) Health: Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) and promotion of best practices on Maternal, Infant and child Health; Monitoring of the Implementation of Maputo Plan of Action; ii) Gender: equality and women’s empowerment; iii) education; iv) Agriculture; v) water and sanitation; vi) disabilities.

Energy

In coordination/complementarity with Energy Initiative’s Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF): i) Energy Access; ii) energy security; iii) Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency; iv) institutional capacity building in Africa, v) scaling up energy investment; vi) dialogue on energy issues.

Climate Change and Environment

i) Combating land degradation and increasing aridity, including the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI); ii) Climate information services using earth observation data; iii) strengthening climate adaptation; iv) fighting against deforestation; v) Enhancing African negotiators” capacity; vi) Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR); vii) biodiversity conservation.

Migration, Mobility and Employment

In coordination with the EC funded programme ‘Support for the Africa – EU partnership on Migration, Mobility and Employment’: i) Migration ( Diasporas, remittances, brain drain, migrant rights, social consequences of migration; Regular migration, including circular migration, mobility, visa issues; Illegal migration, trafficking in human beings, smuggling of migrants, readmission and return, and refugees, asylum and protection); ii) Employment (Decent work initiative; Labour market governance and capacity building; Regional and sub-regional fore on employment, labour, social protection and labour migration; Access to finance and guarantees); iii) Mobility (Nyerere Programme, Pan-African University, African Higher Education Harmonisation and Tuning).

Science, Information Society and Space

(i) S&T capacity building for the implementation of Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action (CPA); (ii) Support the development of an inclusive information society in Africa; (iii) Enhance Cooperation on Space Applications and technology.

Type of services provided

The consortium provides the services of a Technical Assistance Team (TAT) of 3 LT experts based in Brussels (Head of TAT/TL; Programme Management and Administrative Support Expert; Communication, Visibility and event organiser Officer), with an antenna in Addis Ababa at the AUC staffed by 1 LT expert (Programme Management Expert). The LT expertise is complimented by a pool of specialised short term expertise (2.800 m/d).

Core services include:

• Provide support to the establishment and promotion of jointly agreed standards for the thematic partnerships’ roadmap planning and implementation, including support to resource mobilization and allocation for the activities foreseen in the roadmaps;
• Provide technical support (expert advice, studies, etc.) to the informal Joint Expert Groups (iJEGs) and other stakeholders and structures within the JAES architecture, with a view to support the implementation of the JAES Action Plan;
• Mobilise external expertise relevant to JAES Action Plan meetings (e.g. key note speakers, panellists, rapporteurs, facilitators or moderators);
• Provide administrative and logistical support as needed to recurrent meetings within the JAES architecture, such as iJEGs and JTF; and for other specific conferences, seminars, workshops and events;
• Provide support to the identification of common interests and issues shared by two or more thematic partnerships, and subsequently provide related administrative, logistical and technical support to planned joint activities;
• Facilitate and contribute to the design, implementation and regular updating of the JAES Communication Plan, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the JAES Communication Plan;
• Carry out baseline studies, which will act as the basis for assessing progress of implementation within the various thematic areas of the JAES Action Plan;
• Provide support to develop, establish and apply performance indicators to monitor and evaluate JAES Action Plan implementation;
• Support key stakeholders, including at the political level, in developing and applying appropriate tools for the monitoring and evaluation (M&E ) of roadmaps and joint activities;
• Support the preparation and execution of an external mid-term evaluation of overall JAES AP performance;
• Carry out needs assessments for the different JAES partnerships thematic areas or crosscutting issues;
• Ensure timely planning of programme activities, including the preparation and review of Work Plans, as well as coordination of the approval process;
• Carry out the necessary coordination activities to ensure the timely implementation of JAES SM activities;
• Contribute to on-going monitoring of JAES SM implementation, including the setting up of an internal programme monitoring system, collection of baselines data, refinement of indicators, and on-going data collection;
• Ensure timely reporting on programme activities, including preparation of six-monthly Progress Reports and coordination of the approval process.

Main staff provided:

• Head of TAT/TL (660 w/d);
• Programme Management and Administrative Support Expert (660 w/d);
• Communication, Visibility and event organiser Officer (Brussels) & Programme Management Expert (Addis) (966 w/d).