Addis Ababa — The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will in May convene the second session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD 2016) in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss Africa's development, integration and transformation, among other issues.
The ARFSD 2016, which would be held from 17-19 May, will be held under the theme; "Ensuring Inclusive and Integrated Implementation and Follow-up of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063".
The Forum this year follows the adoption in New York last year of the Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2030, to replace the Millennium Development Goals. In joining other world leaders in adopting Agenda 2030, African leaders recommitted themselves to the pursuit of a more sustainable development pathway.
In this context, African countries are confronted with a dual transition; a global level transition from the Millennium Development Goals to agenda 2030 and a regional level transition to Agenda 2063, the continent's 50-year developmental plan.
"By signing onto Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063, African member States demonstrated commitment to the implementation and follow-up on both agendas," said Fatima Denton of the ECA's Special Initiatives Division.
The regional forum will be the first following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015 and will therefore focus on integration Africa's transformation blueprint, Agenda 2063 with 2030 to ensure seamless implementation of the two.
The conference will deliberate on pertinent issues of how countries can harmonise frameworks and establish common mechanisms of implementation, monitoring and evaluation to achieve Africa's collective goals of sustainable development and transformation. A common development framework for Africa has the potential to be a powerful driver of sustainable pro-poor growth in African countries.
The Forum will engage member States, United Nations institutions and other institutions, major groups and other stakeholders on regional priorities for the implementation of the two agendas 2030.
The conclusions and recommendations of the Forum will strengthen national governments implementation efforts and, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 67/290, will also inform the global debate at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which will be convened in New York during July 2016.
APFSD 2016 will be preceded by two preparatory events:
- Africa's major groups and stakeholders
- Member states that have already begun domesticating the two agendas.
