The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Zimbabwe government have signed an agreement in preparation for the forthcoming Sixth Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) in Harare from 24-27 February
Oliver Chinganya, director of the African Centre for Statistics, signed on behalf of the ECA, while Simon Masanga, permanent secretary of the public service, Labour and Social Welfare Ministry, signed for Zimbabwe.
Chinganya, also acting director of the technology, climate change and natural resource management division at the ECA, said, “We will do our best to support Zimbabwe, especially now when the country and the southern African region, in general, are bearing the brunt of climate change. Discussions will focus on how we can accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and Africa’s Agenda 2063. We cannot afford to fail as a continent.”
Masanga said that Zimbabwe was ready to host the intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder platform that is convened by the ECA in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and the United Nations system to review progress, share experiences and lessons learned and build consensus on recommendations to accelerate the implementation of the two mutually reinforcing agendas.
According to Chinganya, the decade 2020 to 2030 presents an opportunity and a window of hope for Africa to dramatically speed up the pace and expand the scale of implementation to deliver the regional and global goals.
Earlier Chinganya and his team met with the UN Country Team under the leadership of the UN resident coordinator, Maria Valle Ribeiro, who urged all the UN agencies in the country to work hand-in-glove in supporting the successful hosting of the ARFSD.
The ECA team meet senior officials from Zimbabwe’s Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Ministry, which is working with UNESCO in preparation for the African Regional Science, Technology and Innovation Forum, that will precede the ARFSD.
The ARFSD is an annual multi-stakeholder platform which brings together ministers, senior officials, experts and practitioners from UN member States, private sector, civil society, academia and UN organisations to advance an integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the goals set out in Africa’s Agenda 2063.
The overall objective of the sixth session of the ARFSD is to conduct a regional follow-up and review of progress made, facilitate peer learning and advance transformative solutions and actions to accelerate the implementation of the two agendas.
