Regional Development Technical Unit, Harare
Project / Program Summary

1. Objectives
   
   
   1. The multi-donor Regional Development Technical Unit (RDTU) or Hub to be located in Harare, Zimbabwe will be a key instrument for enhancing development impact of donor assistance and building African institutional and human resource capacity for sustaining rural development. The Hub will foster regional cooperation through joint donor-government participation in rural strategy formulation, policy analyses, investment preparation, implementation assistance, and capacity building. It will serve as a regional center for capacity building for government and private sector groups through a program of "learning by doing". The three-year pilot phase of the Harare Hub will allow African governments and their international development partners to assess implementation experience and institutional arrangements, after which are initiative will be extended to other countries in Central, Eastern and Western Africa.
   2. Given the backdrop of the ineffectiveness of past donor assistance in Africa, lack of client focus in setting rural development priorities, and weak coordination among donors, setting up the Harare Hub requires urgent action. In its advocacy, technical advisory, problem solving, and networking roles, the Hub will support multiple themes concentrating selectively on upstream and downstream activities with high development impact. Priority setting will be determined in a participatory manner with all national governments, donors, bilateral and the private sector.
2. Activities / contents
   
   
   3. Broad consultation with all donors and national development partners regarding the Hub concept and definition of key aspects (governance structure, legal and administrative framework, organization and management, financing, design of national offices, etc.) are underway. When completed, the multi-donor Harare Hub will provide support to SADC countries for rural development through the following activities:
      • Rural strategy formulation. Assisting national governments in rural development and agricultural strategy formulation, policy analysis, and priority setting;
      • Program preparation and implementation support. Providing critical technical support in program development, preparation and appraisal in a manner that is consistent with the development needs and implementation capacities of participating countries; also, providing support to implementing agencies (line ministries, projects, NGOs) to improve the quality of service delivery and to achieve results on the ground;
      • Regional integration. Providing the framework for greater integration of rural economies and development programs;
      • Capacity building. Supporting efforts at human and institutional capacity development in SADC countries that will have catalytic effects on other sectors, as well;
      • Special initiatives. Supporting for SADC countries in preparing for WTO negotiations, and other such special initiatives; and
      • Regional institutional linkages. Providing linkages to other regional programs such as the Agricultural Policy Networks, ACBF, research institutions and NGOs.
3. Expected outcomes / impacts
   
   
   4. Overall, the Hub will lead to the development of better rural development strategies and policies, improved design and technical quality of investment operations, improved quality of rural services, strengthened donor-government collaboration in rural development, and reduced risks and avoidance of resource duplication through sharing of experiences and best practices. Key impacts of program benefits will include higher development impact of scarce donor resources on poverty reduction, and improvement in the quality of rural life. Client satisfaction and shorter processing time are also important tangible benefits. More importantly, the development of a critical mass of trained African professionals through the capacity building efforts of the Hub will constitute a significant institutional basis for sustaining rural development programs.
4. Features in line with the Agenda for Action
   
   
   5. Focus on rural development, decentralization, capacity building, and poverty reduction.

Sushma Ganguly, Sector Manager, Rural Development and Environment I, Africa Region, the World Bank