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Aiming to raise global awareness of the synergies and complementarities between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Africa’s Agenda 2063, the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), the Government of Sweden and the African Union Commission (AUC) organized a High-Level Forum entitled “The Africa We Want in 2030, 2063 and Beyond” on 20 April 2016 at UN Headquarters in New York.
“Both agendas, through their aspirations and goals, aim at structural transformation and a more equitable sharing of income and wealth,” Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said to the forum. “They both stress inclusive growth and sustainable development. These high ambitions require bold and decisive action from everyone involved.”
Participants in the event looked at how the United Nations can work with the African Union to integrate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with the First Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Africa’s Agenda 2063, focusing on three thematic areas which exhibit a strong link between the agendas:
- Towards Transformative Economic Growth and Regional Integration in Africa. This theme specifically links SDG 8 and 9 as well as Aspiration 1 and 2 of the Agenda 2063, highlighting the need for inclusive and people-centred development.
- Empowering African Women: Gender as the Agenda. This theme links SDG 5 and Aspiration 6, which both aim to achieve full gender equality and empower all women and girls.
- Consolidating Peace and Security in Africa. This theme links SDG 16 and Aspirations 3 and 4, which seek to address multiple triggers of fragility and armed conflicts in Africa, including youth unemployment, poverty, and inequality and exclusion, amongst others. In addition, both agendas draw attention to the urgent need to increase women’s participation in efforts to achieve and consolidate peace and security for the continent.
The event also addressed three key issues of implementation under SDG 17 and Goal 19 of Agenda 2063: partnerships, capacity building and financing. Attention was dedicated to the partnership between the UN and the African Union, particularly to the UN/AU Partnership on Africa’s Integration and Development Agendas 2017-2027 (PAIDA).
These various discussions brought leaders and other key actors for Africa’s implementation of both agendas together at a strategic time, as the President of the General Assembly’s High-level Debate took place on 21 April and the signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement was presided over by the Secretary-General on 22 April 2016.
Source: UNDPI and OSAA
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