The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) launched the report of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with calls for increased investment in industrialization in the region, and generation of strong economic and social data to enable effective monitoring of post-2015 goals and targets.
The event was one of dozens taking place to highlight the report at the regional and national levels.
August 2013: The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) launched the report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with calls for increased investment in industrialization in the region, and generation of strong economic and social data to enable effective monitoring of post-2015 goals and targets. The event was one of dozens taking place to highlight the report at the regional and national levels.
UN Under-Secretary-General and UNECA Executive Secretary Carlos Lopes said the international community has failed to anticipate the data challenges associated with monitoring achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He highlighted recent regional proposals for African Development Goals and an African Common Position, and the regional and sub-regional consultations UNECA has organized in cooperation with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). He called for “a bold agenda” to fast track African economic transformation for sustained growth and development.
Lopes called for more of Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to come from industrial activities, and stressed the importance of creating value-added jobs, revolutionizing agricultural productivity, and making better use of natural resources. He noted that the African Common Position recognizes the importance of development enablers, including good governance, peace and security, and industrialization.
At the European regional launch of the HLP report, hosted by European Commissioner for Development and HLP member Andris Piebalgs and the Confederation for Relief and Development (CONCORD) in Brussels, Belgium, on 9 July, participants said the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders and an accountability framework should be further developed.
Other regional launches of the HLP report have taken place in Bangkok, Thailand, during the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Dialogue at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), from 26-27 August, and in Montevideo, Uruguay, hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) during the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), from 12-14 August.
The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) will hold a regional launch of the report from 12-13 October, in Amman, Jordan. Many other launch events and public discussions of the HLP report have taken place since its release in May 2013, with several others coming up. [Launch Events] [UNECA Press Release] [Statement of Carlos Lopes] [EC-CONCORD Discussion Summary]