Both the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 encompass the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, the environmental, and the social. Equitable and lasting development requires careful balance in production, consumption and use of natural resources to ensure that today’s consumption does not compromise the needs of future generations. The achievement of the goals of these two international agendas will require that African nations design appropriate policy measures with respect to their adaptation, implementation and reporting.

Utilizing funds from the United Nations Development Account, the Economic Commission for Africa is supporting five countries to undertake policy analyses for the adaptation of both the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 into their current and/or new national development frameworks. This work involves the modelling and evaluation of policy options, with attention given to the interacting economic, social and environmental outcomes. Any given policy can have emergent second and third order effects, which require careful analysis in order to identify the most promising development options.

An initial support mission to Cameroon in January 2018 focused on two broad areas: tools and methods for the integration of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 into the national development plan of Cameroon, and discussion of the key sectors that should constitute the basis of a policy simulation model for the country.

Following on from this earlier mission, the current consultations will further develop the model of the Cameroonian economy, allowing for detailed discussions on the developmental effects of policy options. An additional focus will be the experiences of Cameroonian development planners in using the tools and methods for integration of the development agendas that the ECA has developed, such as the Integrated Planning and Reporting Toolkit.