The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a deep socio-economic crisis which requires, more than ever before, the implementation of an integrated approach for financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The African region has adopted the first steps to build financial strategies for that purpose. Many African countries have developed and implemented integrated national financing frameworks (INFFs), while others are still in the initial stages of the process. Most of the countries are in the inception phase and have already conducted development finance assessments (DFAs).
In the context of the socio-economic adversities of the COVID-19 pandemic, the necessity of INFF to guide the resource allocation and shape financing for sustainable recovery responses is strongly felt. As a result, the United Nations Department of Economic Affairs (DESA), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) organized the regional training workshop on INFFs to support African countries to respond to the emerging situation. The aim of this three-half-days event was to create a knowledge-sharing and learning space for African countries to share experiences on the development and implementation of INFFs and best practices in that area with a view to facilitating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2063 of the African Union.
The workshop was built on the successful experience of a pilot training held for North and Central Asian countries in January 2021 and a training workshop for the Asia-Pacific region in March 2021 but was tailored for the African context and country needs. The event included sessions on the integrated planning and reporting toolkit (IPRT) and INFF building blocks, including country cases and practical experiences. The IPRT session provided insights on aligning the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 and integrating them into national development plans for the African countries, while the INFF building blocks sessions discussed methodology, country cases, and group activity for each building block.
The online training workshop gathered 685 participants from 62 countries, including 49 member States of the African continent. The audience of the workshop was mainly integrated national financing framework focal points and practitioners from African countries, including those working at ministries of finance, economic development and planning. Researchers from academic institutions and other regional stakeholders, including those from United Nations agencies, also participated. An ex-ante and ex-post evaluation was administered to gauge the retention of the knowledge gained through this workshop.