African Ambassadors met on 27 March 2012, under the framework of the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership, to discuss and further deliberate on the African common position ahead of Rio+20 in June 2012.
The meeting also highlighted commonalities between the African and EU positions.
3 April 2012: Under the framework of the Africa-EU Partnership, African Ambassadors met in Brussels to further deliberate on the African common position for the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) and to discuss areas of common interest with the EU, UN and other stakeholders.
Organized by the African Union (AU), and held on 27 March 2012, the meeting was seen as an important step to furthering the implementation of the Africa-EU Partnership. Participants highlighted the importance of a common approach to address global concerns, particularly on issues such as energy security, climate change and sustainability. The similarities between the African and EU positions were underscored, with many noting that joint efforts during negotiations could assist in achieving concrete outcomes at Rio+20. Once such commonality was the call for transforming the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) into a specialized agency. Participants suggested the agency address financing, capacity building and technology transfer to further sustainable development.
The Africa-EU Partnership is a joint strategy that goes beyond aid and development and aims to address long-term policy orientations between Africa and the EU. It is based on a number of common principles, including: African unity; gender equality; the right to development; and strong political dialogue. [Africa-EU Partnership Press Release]