Rabat, 6 March 2015 (ECA) - At the conclusion of the 30th meeting of its Intergovernmental Committee of Experts considering the theme: Implementing Agenda 2063 for the development of Africa, the ECA Office for North Africa called for stronger North African participation in the negotiation of the post-2015 development agenda so that the subregion’s priorities, capacities and specificities would be better taken into account.
This four-day meeting brought together more than 150 experts, Government officials, businessmen, North African associations and representatives of such international organizations as the WTO, ILO, FAO, UNDP, UNIDO, ESCWA and UNESCO Rabat offices.
The Committee also called on member countries to pursue the efforts they were making to structurally transform their economies, integrate regional value chains and facilitate regional trade in support of subregional industrialization. At the conclusion of a Round Table parallel event on the theme: Strategy for a Sustainable Green Economy in North Africa, the Committee also called for the gradual establishment of environmental governance architecture for the subregion comprising legal framework incentives, innovative financing mechanisms and monitoring indicators, to encourage a transition towards the green economy.
Participants concluded that it would be important for North Africa to participate strongly in the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (CoM2015), scheduled to be held on 30 and 31 March 2015 and the third International Conference on Financing for Development, scheduled to take place from 13 to 16 July 2015. Both events will be taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Its Office for North Africa is tasked with supporting the development of the seven countries of the subregion (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia and Sudan) by helping them to formulate and implement such policies and programmes as would contribute to their economic and social transformation. For further information on ECA and to download its documentation, please visit the website at www.uneca.org.