INTRODUCTION

The UNITAR European Office (Geneva) initiated a training programme in the field of external debt management aimed at meeting the priority training needs of LDC debt managers, and emphasizing the legal aspects of debt management. This programme was identified by the UNITAR/UNCTAD high-level expert meeting held in Geneva, 27-29 April, 1987 and subsequently confirmed by the inter-agency meeting held in October 1990, in New York, under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Since the on-set of this programme in 1987 training activities have been successfully undertaken both in East and West Africa, thanks to funding provided by the Swiss Directorate for Development Cooperation (DDA). In light of technical assistance to be provided by the United Nations Development Programme in the coming years, it is planned to develop training programmes in Southern Africa as well, all with a view to building a networking arrangement in African countries in order to enhance local capacity-building. The technical assistance provided by UNDP will be in addition to the Swiss funding.

Following the high-level expert meeting in 1987, UNITAR's European Office organized, with active support of the East African Development Bank (EADB), six sensitization/training seminars in three countries of East Africa. These included.

(1) Awareness Seminar for Senior Officers on External Debt Management in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) in January 1990.

(2) Awareness Seminar for Senior Officers on External Debt Management in Kampala (Uganda) in January 1990.

(3) Sub-Regional Training Seminar on Legal Aspects of External Debt Management in Nairobi (Kenya) in February 1990.

(4) National Follow-up Workshop on Legal Aspects of External Debt Management in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) in July 1991.

(5) National Follow-up Workshop on Legal Aspects of External Debt Management in Nairobi (Kenya) in July 1991.

(6) National Follow-up Workshop on Legal Aspects of External Debt Management in Kampala (Uganda) in January 1992.

The purpose of these seminars/workshops was to create awareness of various aspects of debt management among senior officers, middle-level debt managers, law professors, economists and lawyers from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Similarly, in West Africa UNITAR has recently organized a sub-regional training seminar on legal aspects of external debt management in Accra (Ghana) for 42 participants from The Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria. This shall be followed by two National follow-up workshops, one in Lagos (Nigeria) and the other in Accra (Ghana) in 1992.

Through its experience in African countries, UNITAR has realized that many developing countries need to raise legal capabilities and that greater attention should be given in the future to assisting debtor countries to acquire the necessary legal skills and tools to prepare themselves for loan negotiations, including rescheduling through the London and Paris Clubs. In addition, the very real financial and economic benefits to be realized from improved external debt management, the need for greater technical exchanges and consultations among debtor countries and the need for greater coordination among the providers of technical assistance in this field should also be considered.

Parallel to UNITAR's training activities and following the UNITAR/UNCTAD expert meeting in 1987, an Operational Support Unit (OSU) was established as a matter of priority. After careful consideration of various ideas from several sources, it was concluded that the support unit should be constituted as a mainstay to the various training programmes by assisting in the dissemination of information to the various patties concerned.

Now that the Operational Support Unit is beginning to be operational, it is felt necessary to keep the various players in the field of debt management posted on the activities undertaken by UNITAR. As a first step towards its dissemination activities, the Operational Support Unit is circulating information on current topics of interest and importance in legal aspects of debt management.

The present compilation contains summaries of presentations made by various UNITAR resource persons having extensive theoretical and practical experience in the field of debt management. The topics dealt with in this compilation were considered and studied in-depth in recent UNITAR seminars/workshops. They will hopefully prove useful.

Marcel A. Boisard
Director
UNITAR European Office