The fourth session of the African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) will be held next month in Dakar, Senegal, under the theme of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development: “Transformation to Sustainable and Resilient Societies” .
The Forum, which tracks progress in implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are themselves at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Global Sustainable Development, will be held from 2 to 4 May.
Nassim Oulmane, Chief of the Green Economy and Natural Resources Section of the Special Initiatives Division of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), says preparations for the forum have reached advanced stages.
The Forum says, provides political leadership, guidance and recommendations for monitoring and reviewing progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda in Africa, which articulates the global development framework around 17 SDGs, which started in January 2016.
“The forum will also help to integrate the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental – in a holistic and cross-sectoral way at all levels,” said Oulmane.
In Africa, the 2030 Agenda is being implemented simultaneously and in an integrated manner with the first ten-year plan to implement Agenda 2063, Africa’s 50-year socio-economic transformation agenda, which aims to accelerate initiatives. of growth and sustainable development on the continent.
Oulmane informs that the theme is timely since Africa wants to redouble its efforts to translate rapid economic growth into sustainable and inclusive development, through development strategies oriented towards economic diversification, job creation, the reduction of inequalities and access to basic services.
For Africa, he said, building productive capacity for inclusive growth requires a judicious balance between economic diversification to achieve substantial and widespread economic development and human well-being as well as environmental stewardship and natural resource management.
By paying particular attention to SDGs 4, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 15 and the objectives of the first ten-year plan of implementation of Agenda 2063, the specific objectives of the Regional Forum are:
Conduct regional monitoring and review of the implementation of both programs and address the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing both agendas;
Provide a platform for peer learning and the sharing of experiences, good practices and lessons learned to accelerate the implementation of both programs;
Deliberate and agree on Africa’s priorities and recommendations as a collective contribution of the region to the 2018 High-level Political Forum session.
The activities of the Regional Forum will follow the following sub-themes: clean water and sanitation, clean and affordable energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, and terrestrial life.
Key issues to be discussed include major trends and progress in implementation, including early results and promising approaches and practices that could be developed and expanded to achieve the goals set; emerging issues, challenges and opportunities to improve implementation; the provision of the means of implementation; the role and status of data and statistics to track progress and inform policy and other actions needed to move the implementation forward finally strategic policy recommendations and actions to accelerate implementation and achieve the goal and the targets set.
The Forum will be preceded by a number of preliminary events whose results will be integrated into the forum.
High-level experts from Member State ministries and agencies in charge of economic planning, finance, environment and social affairs, mineral and mineral resources and science and technology will participate in the Forum as well as representatives of society civil society, academia and research institutes.