-Schedules to be held 23-25 April 2024
ADDIS ABABA –UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) announced that Ethiopia will host the 10thAfrica Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-10).
Natural Resource Management Division of the ECA, Nassim Oulmane, pronounced the 10thARFSD is scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa from 23-25 April 2024 at the African Union Commission’s headquarters.“ARFSD-10 is a timely opportunity to address shortcomings and capitalize on emerging opportunities to ensure robust, accelerated and timely implementation of the SDGs and Agenda 2063. In addition, participants will play a key role in mobilizing Africa’s inputs for the Summit of the Future to be held in September 2024,” she said.
Nassim stated that African member states are midway through implementing the 2030 Agenda, but progress on most Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is slow or below 2015 baseline. Achieving the SDGs by 2030 requires ambitious solutions and action.
Nassim said, “For Africa, integrated implementation of the SDGs and the Agenda 2063 is essential; and we need actions and solutions at scale to achieve both. ARFSD-10 will be key messages comprising specific issues of importance, and a declaration, which will inform the forthcoming global UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development later in the year.”
According to ECA data, participants will include high-level policy makers and experts from ministries and agencies responsible for finance and economic development, social affairs, environment and natural resources management, statistics, agriculture and food security, science, technology and innovation and other ministries from the 54 ECA member States.
Several pre-events and side events aligned with the theme and subthemes of the Forum will precede ARFSD-10 from 17 April to 22 April.The Forum aims at assessing progress and exchange knowledge, best practices, and policy solutions to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in line with regional priorities. ARFSD is one of the three mechanisms mandated to follow-up, review and catalyze actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by UN Member States in September 2015, it was stated.
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 10 APRIL 2024
