27 October 2009
Addis Abeba — In a statement issued on the second day of the ICPD+15 expert meeting gathered here in Addis Ababa to review progress achieved in the implementation of ICPD Plan of Action, members of the civil society attending the meeting made a number of observations and recommendations for the improvement of the final phase of implementation of ICPD Programme of Action (PoA).
The statement underlined the dynamic role played by civil society organizations in Africa since ICPD Cairo Conference in 1994 to contribute meaningfully towards the achievement of the ICPD PoA and the MDGs. It noted however that such role was not adequately matched with the suitable level of involvement of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in charting the agenda and setting the priorities for the future implementation of the ICPD PoA.
"Effective involvement of the civil society in the preparation of the review would have been important and helpful in the inception of country, regional and continental reports as CSOs have gathered and documented useful data through surveys and program evaluations", ECA quoted the statement.
The statement suggested that convening an NGOs Forum as is usually the case in the review process of the implementation of Beijing Platform for Action for the advancement of women would have generated information to enrich the proceedings of the expert meeting.
Increasing the number of CSOs representatives in country delegations, as well as including youth are two aspects, which need to be addressed to ensure a more representative outcome.
Talking about the context under which the current review of ICPD PoA is conducted, the statement underlined the uniqueness of the present context marked by a number of new challenges, which did not exist fifteen years ago when the ICPD Cairo Conference convened. Such challenges, namely global warming and global financial crisis should have been better articulated to help formulate new strategies.
The CSOs statement welcomed the establishment of the UN Economic Commission for Africa - ECA's Committee on Human and Social Development and stressed the need to strengthen it through broader participation of all stakeholders and by laying more emphasis on the ICPD PoA and the Maputo Plan of Action.
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