Addis Ababa — (ECA) - The Capacity Development Division of the Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) will in June jointly host a High Level Policy Dialogue on Development Planning in Africa in Abuja in collaboration with Nigeria's Budget and National Planning Ministry.
The high-level dialogue, which runs from 28-30 June, will be held under the theme: "Mainstreaming the sustainable development goals into national development plans" and provides an opportunity for African planners and chief executives of planning bodies to discuss and identify approaches, tools and guidelines that can be applied by member States to mainstream SDGs into national development planning processes.
The dialogue also offers participants a forum to share knowledge and experiences in conceptualizing, aligning and measuring SDGs implementation progress with due regard to national development priorities and decision-making processes.
Delegates will also share knowledge on the policy implications of domesticating SDGs to ensure national ownerships of the mainstreaming process.
Head of Development Planning and Statistics in the Capacity Development Division, Sylvain Boko, says localizing the SDGs and making them work for everyone is important as it will improve the lives of people on the continent in concrete ways.
"At the end of the high level dialogue we expect that participants will be better informed and will go back home sharing a common understanding of approaches and tools that can be adopted by member States to mainstream the SDGs into national development planning processes," said Mr. Boko.
Organizers also hope participants will be better equipped to conceptualize, formulate, implement, monitor, evaluate and report on national development plans that integrate the SDGs and have a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities of implementing national development plans aligned to the SDGs.
Adopted by United Nations member States in September 2015, Agenda 2030 is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity, seeking to eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, through 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets in the historic agreement.
"Global leaders when they adopted the agenda said they were determined to take bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path and so this dialogue is one way of furthering that promise on the continent so no-one will be left behind," said Mr. Boko.
The goals cover a broad range of sustainable development issues, including ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests. World leaders want the goals to stimulate action over the next fifteen years in these critical areas for humanity and the planet.
In Africa, the SDGs are being implemented concurrently and in an integrated manner with Agenda 2063, Africa's 50-year strategic framework for socio-economic transformation which seeks to accelerate the implementation of past and existing continental initiatives for growth and sustainable development.
"The successful implementation and realization of these goals will depend on how member states domesticate and implement them at national and sub-national levels," said Mr. Boko, adding success calls for a coherent approach to their localization and implementation.
More than a year after the adoption of the SDGs, African countries are at various stages in the domestication process.
The dialogue is part of the ECA's High Level Leadership Policy Dialogues of African Planners and Chief Executives of planning bodies which recognizes the need to promote coordination and coherence among African planners.
