The Special Session of the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM-Africa) is scheduled to take place on 24 February 2020, back-to-back with the sixth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-6); which will be held from 25 to 27 February 2020, at the Elephant Hills Resort in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.  This is to allow RCM-Africa senior officials and participants to engage and substantively contribute to the forum.  The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed and the African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson, H.E. Ambassador Kwesi Quartey, will co-chair this special session and attend the ARFSD.

The main objective of the special session of the RCM is to deliberate on the theme “Leveraging the Decade of action for the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063 in Africa: The role of the United Nations System and the African Union organs and agencies”.   In this context, the session will provide a platform to generate rich exchanges on the 2020 African Union theme: “Silencing the guns: creating conducive conditions for Africa's development”.  As a flagship project of Agenda 2063, ‘Silencing the guns by 2020’ was adopted by the African Union Heads of State as a vision to underscore the fact that conflict is one of the biggest challenges for the implementation of Agenda 2063. 

Considering the range of important issues to be deliberated upon, the meeting format will include a round table on the theme, breakout sessions to allow for in-depth discussions and plenary sessions. Amongst the breakout sessions will be one on the 2020 AU theme of year on, “Silencing the Guns” in the context of the “Decade of Action”. The other two breakout sessions will be on the data gateway and the role of youth in realizing the two Agendas. The expected outcomes include: Consensus on actions required on the part of the United Nations Development System, the African Union organs and agencies and stakeholder to accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs and Agenda 2063 goals, taking into account the Decade of Action on SDGs; and Enhanced awareness and appreciation of the 2020 AU theme, and commitment on the part of UN agencies to provide collective and coherent support for the implementation of the African Union roadmap on the theme.

The following organizations are expected to attend the session: African Peer Review Mechanism; African Union Commission; Arab Maghreb Union (AMU); African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD); Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD); East African Community (EAC); Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS); Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD); Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) of the African Union; Southern African Development Community (SADC); United Nations organizations; African Development Bank (AfDB); and development partners.

Stories

• Amina Mahommed hails AU-UN partnership in tackling Africa’s challenges
  Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 24 February 2020

Photos

(Click to see the event in pictures)