November 2013: African countries agreed on priorities for the post-2015 development agenda at the Africa Regional Consultative Meeting on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs). The event’s Outcome Document proposes 12 goals for Africa, and emphasizes, inter alia, the importance of means of implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
The meeting, which included both Experts and Ministerial Segments, took place from 31 October-5 November 2013, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). Ahead of the meeting, each African sub-region prepared a report on its SDG priorities, which they presented at the meeting.
According to the Outcome Document, poverty eradication is the overriding sustainable development challenge in Africa, and Africa requires adequate capacity-building, financial resources, policy space and technology development, innovation and transfer to address this challenge, as well as an enabling environment backed by good governance, peace and security, infrastructure development and a sound global partnership for development.
The Document identifies six sustainable development priorities: economic development; social development; environment and natural resources; institutions and governance; means of implementation; and an integrated approach to sustainable development. It articulates the following goals: 1) eradicating poverty; 2) promoting sustainable agriculture and achieving food security and adequate nutrition; 3) ensuring quality, adequate, affordable, accessible, comprehensive health services; 4) achieving universal access to affordable and quality education; 5) achieving gender equality and empowering women, youth and vulnerable populations; 6) ensuring social inclusion and protection and decent employment for all, particularly youth; 7) structurally transforming economies to attain inclusive economic growth, accelerate infrastructure development, affordable energy and resilient cities and sustainable human settlements; 8) enhancing the quality, resilience and protection of the environment and promoting sustainable exploitation, use and management of natural resources; 9) combating desertification and land degradation (DLDD) and promoting sustainable land and ocean management; 10) promoting cultures, research, science, innovation and technology development; 11) scaling up global partnerships for development; and 12) promoting good governance at national and international levels.
On Africa’s vision and aspirations for the SDGs, the Document supports SDGs that: take into account regional and national capacities, circumstances and development levels; build upon existing international commitments; and serve as a driver for implementing and mainstreaming sustainable development in the UN system. On key SDG principles and criteria, the Document recommends clearly defining means of implementation for each goal. It says the SDGs should be guided by the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR), build on the MDGs, and have a 15-year time horizon.
On means of implementation, it highlights capacity-building, financing, regional integration, technology transfer, trade and market access and South-South cooperation. It affirms that Africa must take responsibility for its development and step up domestic financial resource mobilization, including domestic savings, public revenue collection and private capital flows.
On monitoring and evaluation, the Document says data should be systematically collected and disaggregated, and calls for a common reporting framework to compare performance. It calls on the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) to monitor global implementation, and on the AU to monitor African progress. It also supports the UN Statistical Commission’s (UNSC) programme of work on broader measures of progress to complement gross domestic product (GDP).
The Outcome Document also includes sections on convergence between the post-2015 development agenda and the SDG process, and on articulating and negotiating Africa’s priorities at the global level. [Meeting Website] [Publication: Outcome Document] [Publication: Final Report: Experts Segment] [Publication: Final Report: Ministerial Segment] [Statement of UNECA Executive Secretary] [IISD RS Story on Sub-regional Reports]