Addis Ababa — The 18th Session of the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM-Africa) will be held in Dakar, Senegal, from 25-26 March 2017 under the theme, "UN System Support to Harnessing Demographic Dividend Through Investments in the Youth."

The meeting, which takes place during the 2017 edition of African Development Week, presents an opportunity for the United Nations and African Union to dialogue on ways of advancing Africa's development agenda, as explained by ECA's Acting Executive Secretary, Abdalla Hamdok.

"Active collaboration between our two institutions will help sharpen the focus on strategies to speed up the demographic transition, and create conducive conditions for harnessing the demographic dividend, including the development of frameworks for increased active and productive participation of the youth in economic activities," said Mr. Hamdok.

Africa's working age population, particularly the youth, is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2100, compared to a net global increase of 2 billion over the same period. It is important, therefore, for the continent to focus on strategies to speed up this demographic transition and create conducive conditions for harnessing the demographic dividend, including the development of frameworks for increased active and productive participation of the youth in economic activities.

Senegal: Dakar Hosts ECA-AU Conference of Ministers

The joint Annual Ministerial Conference of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC) will be held in Dakar, Senegal, as part of the African Development Week 2017 from 23-28 March 2017 on the theme, "Growth, Inequality and Unemployment." The theme builds on the understanding that the sustained reduction of inequality requires a holistic understanding of the interrelated issues for coherent policymaking. More on the ECA in this BRIEFING. 

The 18th session of RCM-Africa will discuss the implementation of the renewed framework of United Nations-African Union Partnership on Africa's Integration and Development Agenda (PAIDA. The session will also consider the work programme of the RCM-Africa for 2017 and 2018, ensuring that the new clusters are appropriately aligned to support the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The alignment of the RCM-Africa to the Ministerial Conference allows the UN Deputy Secretary General, who is also the co-Chair of RCM-Africa, and senior UN officials to engage directly with ministers responsible for finance, planning and economic development on pertinent issues related to Africa's development agenda.

Participants will include heads and senior officials of organizations and agencies of the UN system working in support of the AU, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund; AU Commission, African Development Bank, NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, African Peer Review Mechanism Secretariat and other regional economic communities.