Press Release

20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) – West Africa

Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), April 4, 2017 –  The Sub-Regional Office for West Africa of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of Burkina Faso are organising the 20th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) for West Africa in Ouagadougou on May 18-19.

This 20th Session, will be held in an international context marked by two years of efforts by countries to launch the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It aims at debating recent trends that impact the economic and social development of the countries of West Africa in order to identify the main challenges to be met and to make recommendations to accelerate growth and the economic transformation of the sub-region. It will also enable participants and delegates to examine four statutory reports prepared by the Secretariat, a report on the activities of the Office, an economic profile of West Africa in 2016 and the outlook for 2017, a report on the implementation of the regional and international development agendas and a report on sub-regional initiatives in West Africa. At a time when interest in development planning is rising again, the Committee will also focus on the role of this important tool in the implementation of the sustainable development goals.

With the theme of “Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 in West Africa: The role of planning in development”, the 20th ICE will be an opportunity to analyse the efforts made by countries to ensure the coherence of their National Development Strategies and the alignment of their vision with the new global framework of reference represented by the SDGs. It will also be the occasion to discuss the efforts undertaken by countries to set up a monitoring and evaluation framework for the SDGs in general and for development policies in particular.

The ICE will be preceded by an Ad Hoc Experts’ Group Meeting, also organised in Ouagadougou, on May 16-17, 2017, on the “Impact of the Economic Partnership Agreements and the ECOWAS Common External Tariff on the structural transformation and the dynamics of integration in West Africa“.

Delegates from 15 West African States are invited to participate at the 20th Session of the ICE. Invitations will be extended to high-level representatives and experts from the ECOWAS, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the Mano River Union (MRU) and other Inter-Governmental Organisations of the sub-region. The African Development Bank (AFDB), the World Bank and the NEPAD will be welcomed to this meeting as well. Apart from ECA, other agencies of the United Nations System will also contribute to the success of the meeting, as well as other development partners and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

 

Note to editors

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The mission of its Office for West Africa is to support the development of the 15 countries of the sub-region (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) by helping them to formulate and implement policies and programmes able to contribute to their economic and social transformation.

The ICE is a body set up by the United Nations General Assembly. Every year it gathers together high-level decision-makers from Member States with the goal not only of debating economic and social performance and proposing relevant recommendations, but also of reviewing the activities of the Office and supervising the development and general implementation of its Programme of Work, including the formulation of priority objectives for the sub-region. In this way, the ICE provides guidelines for the programmes of the Office by ensuring the best integration of sub-regional priorities and by making recommendations in order to resolve issues that affect the economic and social development of the sub-region. These recommendations may, if necessary, be examined by the joint meetings of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.  

In West Africa, the ICE meets annually to debate economic and social performance on the basis of working documents prepared by the Sub-Regional Office for West Africa of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA/SRO-WA).

The ICE is hosted every year, at its request, by a Member State of the sub-region.

For more information on the ICE, please visit:

Sub-Regional Office for West Africa

428 Avenue du Fleuve Niger

B.P. 744

Niamey, Niger

tel.:    (+227) 20 722961

fax:    (+227) 20 722894

web:     www.uneca.org/sro-wa