Rabat — The ECA Office for North Africa held, on 18-19 June in Rabat (Morocco), the 6th meeting of the Sub-Regional Coordination Mechanism (SCRM) for North Africa, under the theme: Supporting the achievement of SDGs and strengthening partnerships in North Africa.
More than a dozen UN agencies and development partners took part in the meeting, including the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), AfDB, AIDMO, ARADO, ESCWA, FAO, IDB, ILO, ISESCO, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNIDO and the UN Resident Coordinators for Algeria and Morocco.
In March 2018, the previous SRCM meeting had adopted a regional roadmap to support SDG implementation in North Africa.
"The coordination mechanism and the past year's achievements provide us with a foundation that can be progressively improved and operationalized to develop synergies and improve the effectiveness of partners' interventions," said UMA Secretary General Taïeb Baccouche in his opening speech.
Synergies are all the more crucial since, with only ten years left before the 2030 SDG deadline, significant disparities remain in terms of ownership, integration, governance, monitoring and financing, said Lilia Hachem Naas, Director of the ECA Office for North Africa. "We are faced with a lack of governance mechanisms that can provide a framework for, facilitate the coordination and monitoring of SDG implementation, and formalize the engagement of non-State actors. We also need stronger information systems as well as strategic and innovative partnerships, at all levels," said Ms Naas.
At the conclusion of the 18-19 June meeting, participants agreed on a revised roadmap for 2019-2020, which now covers five thematic areas: 1) Awareness raising, advocacy, monitoring and reporting for the implementation of both Agendas 2030 and 2063; 2) Employment; 3) Food security; 4) Climate change; and 5) Regional integration (implementation of the African Free Trade Area).
They also adopted a framework for the implementation and monitoring of the roadmap, which includes detailed plans for each thematic area, grouped into a consolidated action plan.
Having exchanged their experiences and good practices on the various instruments and mechanisms related to the mobilization of financial resources (partnerships with the private sector, development banks, etc.), participants also insisted on the need to optimize human and financial resources to facilitate the implementation of the road map.
The Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM) and its sub-regional branch in North Africa (SRCM) is coordinated by the Economic Commission for Africa, which serves as its secretariat along with the African Union. The RCM aims to facilitate the sharing of information and good practices between the United Nations system and development partners, the building of a regional vision of existing issues, and helping increase the coherence of actions carried out at the national, sub regional and regional levels.
Communication Team
Economic Commission for Africa
Office for North Africa
Tel: +212 (0) 537 548 749
