20 October 2017: Participants at Africa Week 2017 discussed challenges and opportunities for supporting an integrated, prosperous, people-centered and peaceful Africa through implementation of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The week highlighted the mutually reinforcing nature of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda, particularly on issues related to governance, peace and security and sustainable development.

The Office of the Special Adviser on Africa organized the seventh Africa Week, which convened at UN Headquarters in New York, US, from 16-20 October. The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union (AU), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Secretariat, the African Regional Economic Communities and the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) contributed to the organization of the event. It takes place on an annual basis to celebrate and showcase Africa’s achievements on social, economic, political and environmental development and to raise awareness on new and emerging challenges facing Africa.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized Africa’s progress in reducing poverty, reducing child and maternal deaths, diversifying its economies, nurturing growth in the banking, telecom and retail sectors, and building its middle class. Guterres called for building on these and other gains by empowering women and girls, including through increased investments in education, particularly in science and technology; enabling youth participation in economic development for Africa; and encouraging innovation in financing for development (FfD) and leveraging resources, such as through tax reform led by African countries and international efforts to address illicit financial flows and tax evasion.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) President, Miroslav Lajčák, stressed the need for closer cooperation between the UN and the AU, particularly in implementing Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda in a complementary way. He called for “better and more regular engagement” between the UN and the AU “at all stages, including planning, implementation, financing and review” of the two agendas. Lajčák highlighted further areas for cooperation and partnership on the Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, the Framework for a Renewed UN-AU partnership on Africa’s Integration and Development Agenda, for the period 2017-2027, and migration, including the process leading to the adoption on the Global Compact on Migration.

Also on UN-AU cooperation, Guterres said the Joint UN-AU framework for Partnership in Peace and Security provides a basis for working together to sustain peace, security and climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change, and collaboration on prevention, early warning, conflict management and mediation. He said the joint framework on sustainable development and aligned implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 will be completed and signed by April 2018.

The AU Commission (AUC), UNECA, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and UN Development Programme (UNDP) launched the ‘2017 Africa Sustainable Development Report: Tracking Progress on Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals,’ during a high-level event hosted by the African Permanent Observer Mission to the UN. The report focuses on Africa’s progress on six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – SDG 1 (end poverty); SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) (zero hunger); SDG 3 (good health and well-being); SDG 5 (gender equality); SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure); and SDG 14 (life below water) – in line with the SDGs reviewed at the 2017 session of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

UNECA’s Executive Director said “six out of every ten SDG indicators cannot be tracked in Africa due to data constraints.”

The report recognizes Africa’s progress in increasing its agricultural value, improving gender parity in primary and secondary schools, reducing child and maternal mortality and HIV infection, and increasing mobile network coverage and financial inclusion. The report recommends that Africa sustain its efforts on eradicating extreme poverty and gender inequality and improve its statistical capacities to implement and track progress on Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UNECA Executive Director Vera Songwe explained that “six out of every ten SDG indicators cannot be tracked in Africa due to data constraints.” Songwe urged strengthening Africa’s data ecosystem for performance tracking and informed policymaking.

During Africa Week, the UNGA held a debate on the ‘Development of Africa,’ which underscored the importance of NEPAD for Africa’s social and economic development. Participants addressed a range of challenges, including security and stability, widening inequality and demographic challenges, including youth unemployment. UNGA President Lajčák highlighted areas in which faster progress is needed, including poverty eradication, economic diversification, infrastructure, agriculture and trade, calling for harmonization and integration of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063, particularly in reporting, follow-up and review.

Africa Week 2017 discussed a number of other topics, including the importance of African-driven development. UNGA President Lajčák stressed “that no development in African can take hold unless it is led from within” in his remarks. Participants further addressed the need for enhancing finance, technology transfer and market access and ensuring inclusive, sustainable development. According to the UN, it is expected that 75 to 90 percent of the financing for Agenda 2063 will be mobilized domestically.

Africa Week 2017 focused on the theme, ‘Supporting an Integrated, Prosperous, People-centred, Peaceful Africa: Towards the Implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.’ Events throughout the week addressed, inter alia: financing Africa’s infrastructure and agriculture development; NEPAD and the APRM; regional and economic integration in Africa, including involving Africa’s youth across national borders; and addressing the climate change-migration nexus and its implications for peace and security in Africa. [UN Press Release] [UNECA Press Release] [UNGA President Statement at Opening Event] [UNGA President Statement at NEPAD Event] [UNECA Press Release on 2017 Africa Sustainable Development Report] [Africa Week Website] [UN Secretary-General’s Report on NEPAD: Fifteenth consolidated progress report on implementation and international support (A/72/223)]