At both workshops, representatives from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission’s Development Directorate (the agencies leading the DAC Task Force on nssds) presented the background and objectives of the project, and the roles of the different participants:

It was noted that Agenda 21, agreed at the Earth Summit in 1992, called on all countries to prepare a national strategy for sustainable development (nssd). Five years later, at a Special Session of the UN General Assembly, a target date of 2002 was set for all countries to have introduced such strategies. In the run up to this event, the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) - a forum which brings donors together to harmonise policy – agreed its Shaping the 21^st Century policy document which set a target of 2005 for nssds to be in the process of implementation in all countries, and made a commitment to support developing countries in the formulation and implementation of nssds.  However, no official interpretation of what nssds are, or how to develop and implement them, has been given to assist countries in meeting these targets and commitments, and there is a risk that the targets could result in the production of nssd documents that are poorly implemented, as has often been the case with previous approaches.

The DAC Working Party on Environment (WP/ENV) therefore decided to develop guidance for donor agencies on how best to support nssds, and appointed a Task Force on nssds for this purpose in June 1998. The Task Force identified the need for guidance to be developed in partnership with developing countries, through consultations and dialogues in a number of countries.

In parallel to the WP/ENV initiative, the DAC high level meeting in May 1999 defined an nssd as “a strategic and participatory process of analysis, debate, capacity strengthening, planning and action towards sustainable development”. It also noted that an nssd is not necessarily a new strategic process, but can be developed by incorporating sustainable development principles into key existing policy and strategic planning processes.

Discussion of the WP/ENV initiative began with a Donor - Developing Country Scoping Workshop, held in Sunningdale, UK, in November 1998, to discuss the approach and key themes relating to nssds (see DAC/WP/ENV, Room Document WP(19)1). The workshop endorsed the need for a process of in-country dialogues to learn from experience with nssds and examine the role of donors in supporting nssds. Four key themes were identified:

4.2    Objectives of the project

It was stressed that the purpose of the country dialogues is not to initiate new planning processes, but to learn from those that already exist. However, it is hoped that the dialogues will also make a substantive contribution to nssd processes in developing countries. It is also hoped that they will enable the identification of indicators to monitor progress towards successful sustainable development strategies, and generate a better understanding of what constitutes a nssd.

A representative from the OECD/DAC emphasised the significance of the dialogue process, since, for the first time, policy guidance for the DAC is being developed in partnership with developing countries. The country dialogues are extremely important because the outputs will be used to develop policy guidance for donor agencies. The guidance will be presented to OECD Ministers of Development Cooperation in mid-2001 and, if adopted, may influence key actors such as the UN and the World Bank.

These were confirmed as:

5.    Background paper on nssds

At the Arusha workshop, IIED presented a background paper on nssds highlighting some of the problems with previous approaches (e.g. environment-driven, weak links to decision-making and investment, weak participation and implementation), and identifying key challenges for the future. The text of this paper (“National Strategies for Sustainable Development: the Challenge Ahead” by Barry Dalal-Clayton and Steve Bass, draft 17/3/2000) is available on the project website and CD ROM.

Presentations were made at each workshop on experience of nssds and related issues in participating countries:

In developing Thailand’s 8^th National Economic and Social Development Plan, stakeholders from all levels of society (including the grassroots) were allowed to participate in the planning process. Previous development plans had been very top-down and did not achieve national objectives. The new planning approach, adopted in the wake of an economic crisis, seeks to gain public acceptability to improve implementation. It has added value by generating useful information, creating a new paradigm of ‘people centred development’, strengthening the role and responsibility of civil society in the national development process, empowering local communities to address their own problems, and improving cooperation amongst stakeholders.

Ghana’s Vision 20:20 provides a conceptual framework for sustainable development over a 25-year period (1996-2020) and is being implemented through successive five-year development plans. It is the product of extensive consultations involving all stakeholders, resulting in consensus around long and medium term goals. The approach to planning is human-centred, integrated, participatory, decentralised and long-term. One of the strengths of this approach is the extent of use of new coordination mechanisms, such as quarterly meetings to review government-donor activities, which allow problems to be identified early and all stakeholders to intervene to resolve issues. Similarly, sector partner groups have been set up under the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF) to review project implementation and institutional and policy reforms. However, there are a number of constraints to implementation: weak institutional capacity at district level, very sectoral monitoring and evaluation, limited analysis at district level, and the difficulty of fiscal decentralisation and accountability at decentralised level.

Bolivia has introduced economic and social reforms over the last ten years, including a law on public participation and a law on decentralisation. Following these reforms, and in view of continuing poverty problems, the government has adopted a new approach to planning, based on dialogue, participation and consensus. The results of this new approach have been effective in the fight against drug trafficking. A National Dialogue process to agree a programme for poverty reduction was held in 1997, and another National Dialogue to develop a Poverty Reduction Strategy is planned for July 2000. A Ministry for Sustainable Development has been established, which incorporates four ministries concerned with development planning and environment, and consultative groups have been set up to improve coordination between the government and international cooperation.

Following the preparation of a prospectus for a National Conservation Strategy (NCS) in 1983, the process to develop the NCS started in 1985 and was completed in 1988 when the NCS (“Building on Success”) was endorsed by the government. Implementation began in 1989 and focused on three key areas: environmental planning and assessment (particularly concerning law, pollution control and national heritage conservation); environmental education; and public information. In response to IMF requirements, the National Environmental Policy and Action Plan (NEPAP) was prepared in 1993. Stimulated by Danish interest, efforts have been made integrate environment and development through environmental strategies and policies for several sectors: forestry, industry and water resources. The 8^th Five Year Plan (1992-1997) made an effort to bring past experience together into a separate chapter on the environment. All of the above mentioned initiatives were filtered in the preparation of the 9^th Five Year Plan (1997-2002). IUCN-Nepal helped to draft a chapter on “Objectives of environment and natural resource management” in the plan. A mid-term review of the Plan is to be carried out in 2000. In 1997, an NCS implementation review was undertaken (through a workshop and theme panels) and produced a range of broad recommendations extending beyond the NCS itself. Swiss SDC also conducted an external review of the NCS. In 1998, the National Planning Commission convened a meeting on how to update the NCS into a comprehensive strategy reflecting current needs. Current ideas on nssd approaches in Nepal centre on: income generation and poverty alleviation; model demonstration projects; and coordination.

Burkina Faso is a dominantly rural country where economic growth is very dependent on agriculture. The government prepares regular Five Year development plans and currently the main economic development objective is fighting poverty. This is supported by sectoral policies but their preparation lacks consultation and they are not clearly articulated with each other. The government has signed the main Rio conventions but these are proving difficult to implement. There is therefore an urgent need for a framework to provide harmonisation and a holistic approach. The National Council for Management of the Environment (CONAGESE) was established in 1995 by law, based at the Ministry for Environment and Water and chaired by the Prime Minister. CONAGESE is in effect a framework for consultation which promotes the principles of environmental conservation and sustainability within development. It has responsibility for a range OF activities including the programme against desertification. Government departments, civil society and the private sector make proposals for CONAGESE activities.

An external review of the past activities of CONAGESE and other technical ministries active in the rural sector by OECD/Club du Sahel and CILSS, and subsequent discussions with Burkina Faso officials, has shown that effective co-ordination of development and co-operation policies is a key challenge involving several dimensions:

An initiative has been launched to harmonise planning and to integrate environmental issues in development planning in a participatory manner. This initiative aims to test a prototype planning approach to integrate global and transnational priorities in existing sectoral planning frameworks. It is hoped that this will result in: the main players in sustainable development in the country reaching consensus on an nssd approach; CONAGESE being better perceived at the national level as the coordinator of environmental management; a clearer definition of institutional roles at the highest level; and a revised national environmental action plan.

The process envisages several phases and steps (see Appendix 6) and is scheduled to conclude in February 2001 with a methodological document containing new proposals for planning and policy integration.

Tanzania

A process to develop a National Conservation Strategy (NCS) was initiated in 1988. Following UNCED, it was renamed the National Conservation Strategy for Sustainable Development (NCSSD). A draft was approved by the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) in 1994 but has never been effectively implemented. A National Environmental Action Plan prepared by a World Bank consultant was approved by the President, also in 1994. It too has remained a shelf document. Lack of implementation has, in part, been due to overlapping institutional mandates for environmental issues and inter-institutional rivalries. The Institutional and Legal Framework for Environmental Management Project is currently seeking to address these issues. Tanzania is currently developing a Poverty Reduction Strategy.

7.    Methodologies for analysing nssds

7.1    Methodological approaches

However, the approach in each dialogue country is a matter for local decision and, during workshop and other discussions, it has been suggested that the two elements might be best be undertaken in parallel or merged rather than be carried out in sequence.

At each workshop, DFID presented a draft topic guide (see ‘Topic Guides for Status Reviews and Dialogues’) with possible issues to be considered during the status review (Topic Guide 1) and dialogues (Topic Guide 2). The guide was originally developed for a similar exercise in Uganda to determine the extent to which policies, plans and processes take account of sustainable development issues. The basic format is essentially the same as the analytical framework proposed by IIED (see section 7 above) with Topic Guide 1 covering the context, actors and integrating institutions, and Topic Guide 2 covering processes and impacts.

In Arusha, working groups considered which additional questions and topics should be included in the topic guides, which ones should be excluded, and what methodologies might be employed to address these questions. At the London workshop, participants discussed the topic guides in plenary and suggested some revisions, The following general comments were made:

Note: In the light of specific suggestions made at both workshops, the issues covered in the two topic guides and in the presentations of methodologies for nssd analysis are now being revised and merged into a single, more user-friendly document intend as a ‘prompt’ for analysis and debate. This will be circulated to all project participants and placed on the website.

Workshop participants discussed the need for a communications strategy for the project. The dialogues will only be possible if participants are well informed. At present, there is very little awareness about the project in the dialogue countries, and it will be important to market and propagate the initiative in the initial phase. The DAC Task Force should help to raise awareness amongst donor agencies (e.g. DFID has recently visited the World Bank and UNDP to discuss the initiative).

It was agreed that it was important to ensure a multiplier effect, so that other countries learn from the process. In addition, it will be important to link up with other countries that have initiated similar reviews.

One mechanism to promote communication and learning is a proposed project website (see next sub-section) but it was agreed that other means of communication need to be explored, such as the preparatory consultations in advance of the Rio +10 conference.

With funding from DFID, IIED and the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) have developed a prototype website for the project and this was demonstrated to workshop participants. The website provides the architecture for holding: detailed information about the project, participating countries, organisations and individuals and the on-going dialogues; the texts of a wealth of documents on nssds and closely-related issues as well as documents from participating countries and other organisations; and hyperlinks to a wide range of useful related websites including those in participating countries. The basic structure of the website is as follows:

During the two workshops, dialogue country teams presented their proposed approaches to the dialogues and their proposed workplans. Brief details are provided in appendices:

Appendix 3    Thailand

Appendix 4    Tanzania

Appendix 5    Bolivia

Appendix 6    Burkina Faso

Appendix 7    Nepal

11.1    Timetable

11.2    Workshop objectives

11.3    Information and communication

11.4    Initiating the country dialogues

11.5    Drawing lessons from parallel learning countries

Pakistan

Namibia

11.6    Feedback on workshops

Participants made several suggestions for future workshops: