Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 19 February 2020 (ECA): The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) invites all media accredited to the Sixth Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-6) and media based in Zimbabwe to attend the forum and cover the United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Ms. Amina Mohammed, who will be in Zimbabwe to attend the Special Session of the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM-Africa), an African Youth Engagement Forum and the ARFSD itself, among other events.
WHAT
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.
The Special Session will take place in the Kalala Room from 1400-1830.
The youth engagement forum takes place the same day from 1630 to 1800. Ms. Mohammed and other senior UN officials seek to inspire African youth, in particular young ladies, to actively participate and contribute to the present they live in and the future they want.
The Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development seeks to conduct a regional follow-up and review of progress made, facilitate peer learning and advance transformative solutions and actions to accelerate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 goals.
WHY
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.
Amongst key topics under discussion will be the 2020 AU theme of year on, “Silencing the Guns” in the context of the “Decade of Action”; the data gateway and the role of youth in realizing the two Agendas.
The ARFSD is an intergovernmental platform convened by the ECA in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and the United Nations system to review progress, share experiences and lessons learned, and build consensus on recommendations in the form of key messages to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 of the African Union.
The Forum will be held under the theme “2020-2030: A Decade to Deliver a Transformed and Prosperous Africa through the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.” All the 17 SDGs will be under spotlight at the 2020 regional forum.
WHO
The Special Session will be attended by Vera Songwe, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the ECA, and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed and the African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson, H.E. Ambassador Kwesi Quartey, who will co-chair this special session and attend the ARFSD.
The following organizations are also 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.
The ARFSD will be officially opened by Zimbabwe President, Mr. Emmerson Mnangagwa, on February 25, 2020.
Media Contacts:
Sophia Denekew: Email: denekews.uneca@un.org
WhatsApp: +251 91 119 7696
Sirak Gebrehiwot
Email: sirak.gebrehiwot@one.un.org
WhatsApp: +263772198036
Sandra Nyaira
Email: nyaira@un.org
WhatsApp: +251 929117895