UNESCO House. Paris, 25-27 June 1991 Organized jointly by the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cuftural Organization (UNESCO I in cooperation with the Advisory Committee on the United Nations Educational and Training Programme ror Southern Africa IUNETPSAI BACKGROUND PAPER NO. 5 THE UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA: PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE [Note: This brief paper has been prepared by the Centre against Apartheid at the request of the Advisory Committee on UNETPSA.] 91-18138
- 2 - I. UNETPSA: AN OVERVIEW The United Nations Educational and Training Programme for Southern Africa (UNETPSA) was established by the General Assembly in resolution 2349 (XXII) of 19 December 1967 by integrating earlier special programmes to assist persons from Namibia, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Territories under Portuguese administration in Africa. It is administered by the Secretary-General in consultation with the Advisory Committee on the United Nations Educational and Training Programme for Southern Africa, which was established by the Assembly in resolution 2431 (XXIII) of 18 December 1968, and is financed from the Trust Fund made up of voluntary contributions by States, organizations and individuals. It now provides assistance only to young South Africans and, for a transitional period, to applicants from Namibia. At United Nations Headquarters, the Centre against Apartheid is in charge of the overall administration of the Programme. Day-to-day operational responsibilities are being carried out by the Fellowships Service of the United Nations Department of Technical Co-operation for Development (DTCD). Away from Headquarters, the Programme is administered with the assistance of the Geneva-based DTCD Office for Technical Assistance Recruitment and Fellowships, which handles applications for training in Europe, and by the field offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Advisory Committee on the United Nations Educational and Training Programme for Southern Africa was established to the terms of General Assembly resolution 2431 (XXIII) of 18 December 1968. Its role is to advise the Secretary-General on: (a) the strengthening and expansion of the Programme, including in particular, the promotion of contributions to the Programme; (b) the granting of subventions to educational and training institutions in Africa in order to enable them to provide placement for students sponsored by UNETPSA; and (c) any other matter concerning the Programme on which the Secretary-General may seek advice. The Commitee, which is currently chaired by Ambassador Martin Huslid (Norway), is composed of representatives of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Denmark, India, Japan, Liberia, Nigeria, Norway, the United Republic of Tanzania, the United States* of America, Venezuela, Zaire and Zambia. Representatives $fnthe Special Committee against Apartheid, the United Nations High 1.Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Commonwealth
- 3 - Secretariat, UNDP, as well as representatives of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, are invited to participate in its work as observers. Over the years, the Advisory Committee has been active on behalf of major donor countries in promoting the development of the Programme. Through its regular work and through periodic evaluations it has contributed to the formulation and implementation of policy guidelines, particularly as regards a cost-effective allocation of resources, priority fields of education and training, returnability and employability of graduates as well as the decentralization and the strengthening of the administration of the Programme at Headquarters and in the field. With the changing circumstances in South Africa and the enhanced prospects for a negotiated settlement of the conflict there, it is important that the resources of the Programme are spent in a cost-effective manner that will contribute to meeting South Africa's short- and medium-term manpower requirements while minimizing the adverse effects of the "brain drain". This may entail introducing, at the appropriate time and in appropriate manner, some flexibility in the mandate of the Programme so that, while continuing its educational and training activities abroad, it may at the same time address educational needs inside South Africa. UNETPSA has so far offered a broad range of training programmes outside of South Africa, ranging from the upper secondary level to the PhD level of study in a variety of fields. This has enabled black South Africans to get professional training in areas that for so long were closed to them. UNETPSA has trained scientists, engineers, lawyers, medical doctors, dentists, but also holders of graduate and post-graduate degrees in liberal arts, in particular in public administration, political science and international relations. It has also helped train community leaders. In so doing, it has contributed not only to meeting some of South Africa's labour requirements, but it has also afforded young South Africans opportunities for a well-rounded education that has given them access to the broad knowledge, critical thinking and creative abilities that should enable them to meet the challenges ahead in their country. At the end of the 1989/90 academic year, there were 1,200 students sponsored by the Programme throughout the world. Almost 70 per cent of them were South Africans and about 30 per cent Namibians. About 70 per cent of all students sponsored by the Programme were placed in Africa, close to 25 per cent in North America and 6 per cent in Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. A total of about 75 per cent of UNETPSA students were placed in the low-cost countries. At the pledging conference held in March 1991, Governments pledged to the Programme over US $5.1 million.
- 4 - In quantitative terms, from 1968 to 1990, a total of 34,699 formal applications for assistance have been received by the Programme from inhabitants of southern Africa and former Territories under Portuguese administration. During this period, 7,967 new awards were granted, while 15,721 others were extended. More than 7,000 students have so far completed their studies under UNETPSA. From 1968 to 1990, a total amount of $60,785,395 was pledged for UNETPSA. During the last decade alone (1980-1990), contributions and pledges exceeded $43,850,000. Since the Programme was established, its main goals have been: (a) to provide education and training abroad for young South Africans and Namibians who had been deprived of such opportunities in their countries; and (b) to enlarge the cadre of black technical and professional personnel in South Africa and Namibia. Individual awards in both cases were contingent upon not only the applicant's ability to successfully complete a selected course in a priority area but also on his/her commitment to return home upon the completion of studies and be of service to his/her country of origin. II. PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE Now that major forces both inside and outside have committed themselves to a negotiated settlement of the conflict leading up to a non-racial constitutional democracy, it is hoped that the relatively large cadre of competent personnel trained by UNETPSA and other scholarship programmes will return home and set to energize their communities, help mobilize and allocate resources, increase productivity and assist in addressing the fundamental economic and social inequities in South Africa today, thus buttressing the momentum towards a multi-party democracy in that country. The Programme's main goal now is to increasingly contribute within its mandate to South Africa's human resources development, particularly in the short and medium term, so as to facilitate the transition to a non-racial and democratic South Africa. The Programme will strive in particular to train young black South Africans to take up high- and middle-level jobs in educational and research institutions, business organizations, trade unions, media, academic and research institutions as well as in community organizations. However, it should be pointed out in this regard that any human resources development strategy in a country such as South Africa, which is going through a rapid process of
- 5 - change, has to contend of necessity with unpredictable economic and political factors. Whether in South Africa or elsewhere, no democratic political scenario is secure unless it can offer acceptable economic and social standards for all. As a result of a recent evaluation initiated by the Advisory Committee, UNETPSA is now looking into new directions characterized by: a) the need for a greater intake of students from inside South Africa. It should be recalled in this connection that the Programme's mandate since inception has been to train South Africans, Namibians and others abroad. As a result, most of the students who had access to opportunities offered by the Programme were those outside South Africa; and b) greater concern for the returnability and employability of graduates that has henceforth been included in the criteria of selection. It is expected that a return of approximately 40,000 exiles over time, including thousands of graduates of the Programme will soon be able to bring at long last to bear on the South African scene the full weight of their skills, talents and experience. In order to minimize the adverse effects of the "brain drain", leaders of several political organizations and academic institutions have recently expressed a clear preference for the gradual establishment of new training programmes inside South Africa, particularly those that will strengthen and upgrade Black universities, businesses and communities. South African educators and experts present at the International Conference on the Educational Needs of the Victims of Apartheid in South Africa may wish to expand on these matters. Their views on how the United Nations and the international community at large can intervene, what priority fields of study and programmes they should consider and whom they should approach to initiate and implement cost-effective educational and training projects, will be of utmost significance to donors, scholarship agencies, educators, universities and students alike. The Advisory Committee, on its part, has always favoured projects with a "multiplier effect", as well as training and educational activities where UNETPSA had a comparative advantage because of its ready access to Governments, intergovernmental organizations, agencies and programmes of the United Nations system, NGOs, universities, research institutions, etc.
- 6 - III. CLOSER CO-OPERATION WITH SCHOLARSHIP AGENCIES IN 1991/92 For the academic year 1991/92, the Programme intends to give special attention to the following activities, in cooperation with other scholarhsip agencies: (a) short-term training programmes to upgrade management, administrative and accounting skills of personnel actively involved in political and community organizations; (b) short-term, work-related courses in the United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe for returning exiles; (c) short-term graduate student and junior faculty programme, in cooperation with the University of Western Cape (UWC) and the African American Institute (AAI) to strengthen the graduate capabilities of UWC. The thrust of this programme is to transfer the technical skills and return participants to South Africa. This programme may be extended to other Black universities; (d) training of high- and middle-level Black personnel needed for the transition to a post-apartheid South Africa, particularly in the following fields where shortages are reaching critical proportions : - Information technology, computer science, systems analysis, programming, etc.; - Mining, design, electrical, chemical and mechanical engineering; - Management: the group of managers in South Africa today is too small to cope with fundamental growth requirements, i.e. resource mobilization and allocation and increased productivity; - Training in entrepreneurial skills to cater to the large informal sector of the South African economy; - Accounting; - Microbiology, medicine, dental medicine, public health; (e) Internship programmes designed to provide graduates with work experience prior to their return to South Africa, as a built-in-component of management training schemes; (f) Promotion of cooperative arrangements with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the International Institute of Education (HE), AAI, the South African Education Trust Fund of Canada (SAEF), UNDP, International Labour Organisation (ILO), World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank and other organs and agencies of the United Nations system, private foundations, educational institutions and grass-roots organizations.
IV. - 7 - TOWARDS A HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT FOR SOUTH AFRICA It seems clear that educational and training programmes by themselves can only be part of the answer. To be successful, they need to be integrated into a comprehensive human resources development strategy. Hence, the significance of this timely International Conference whose main practical objective is, in the views of the Advisory Committee, a) to consider ways and means for the international community to contribute to the formulation and implementation of a human resources development strategy for South Africa; and b) to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and a mechanism for concerted international action by donors, educational programmes and scholarship agencies, academics and research institutions, foundations and others concerned. In this connection, UNETPSA, which has been commended unanimously time and again by the General Assembly of the United Nations as a genuine international humanitarian effort, may be called upon to be a focal point for bilateral and multilateral programmes of assistance to South Africa at this critical juncture in the life of the country. Its sole goal in the future is to be evermore relevant to meeting some of the critical educational needs of South Africa and thus contribute a building block for a future non-racial and democratic South Africa.