Report on the sustainable development goals for the North Africa subregion

At a time when the international community is assessing the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, evaluating the progress made towards the achievement of sustainable development and identifying the shortcomings that need to be addressed in order to effectively tackle emerging challenges, North Africa must not only make its own contribution but also join the international process by participating actively in the development of a new world vision. This is consistent with the goals agreed upon at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)and the post-2015 development agenda.

As part of the process to prepare this agenda, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized subregional and regional consultations in Africa. The consultations were held in Accra, Ghana in November 2011;in Mombasa, Kenya, in October 2012; in Dakar, Senegal in December 2012 and in Hammamet, Tunisia, in March 2013. The main objectives of the Hammamet regional consultations were to define Africa’s priorities for the post-2015 development agenda, identify the enablers and critical success factors for this agenda, and align the post-2015 priorities with other development priorities and agendas such as Rio+20 and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). In the outcome document of the meeting, it was agreed that the post-2015 development agenda would incorporate the outcomes of Rio+20 and Africa-wide initiatives, as well as documents resulting from national and regional consultations and United Nations forums.