Addis Ababa — The Economic Commission for Africa's Committee on Gender and Social Development will meet for the first time in Addis Ababa from 17 -18 December 2015 to review the progress of gender and social development in Africa.
Established in 2013 as part of the reforms of the ECA and convened by ECA's Social Development Policy Division, the Committee is charged with mainstreaming human development and concerns, such as employment, population and young people, social protection, and urbanization issues, into regional and national policies and strategies.
The theme of the first session, 'Sustainable Development Goals in Africa: Enhancing gender-responsive and social development policies' is consistent with the current global discussion on development and reflects the seriousness of dialogues and ideas and agreements made on matters of development during 2015 in the Financing for Development Conference, the Sustainable Development Goals launch and the recently concluded COP21.
The Committee expects the results of its first session to contribute to framing Africa's gender and social development priorities. It will also identify challenges, what works in regional and global gender and social development policy processes, and implementation gaps to ensure the desired impact is obtained. The participants will discuss recommendations from several reports: Report of the Social Development Policy Division to the Committee; African Gender and Development Index; Draft African Social Development Report; African Social Development Index; Report on Urbanization; and the African Youth Report.
The participants will leave these discussions with an understanding of the approaches that can be used to deal effectively with gender and social development challenges, during the policy formulation, implementation and reform processes. The Committee is mandated to provide recommendations for strengthening ECA programmes to better serve member States and regional economic communities. As ECA is charged with assisting African countries in formulating and implementing policies and programmes that will lead to sustainable economic growth and inclusive development, the Committee is meant to strengthen the capacity of member States to develop, implement and monitor gender and social development policies and programmes.
Other outcomes of the session include strengthened partnerships for enhanced responses to social development opportunities and challenges in Africa and an enhanced grasp of the role that Africa's population and ongoing urbanization processes could play for the inclusive and sustainable transformation of the continent.
The delegates of this first session will be experts from ECA member States drawn from relevant ministries and departments; African Union Commission and the regional economic communities, as observers; representatives of the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and civil society, as observers; and ECA as convener and Secretariat of the Committee on Gender and Social Development. Mr. Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission and Mr. Abdalla Hamdok, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa will open the session.
As one of its roles, the Committee on Gender and Social Development reviews follow-up activities pertaining to global conferences and regional action programmes in the areas of social development, including the global and regional frameworks on gender equality and women's empowerment. It also reviews major trends and issues of regional interest regarding human and social development. The Committee meets biennially.
