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 with the theme of “Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 in West Africa: The role of development planning”.

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.

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.

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).