The United Nations and African countries are working as one to support the continent’s people in realizing their hopes and aspirations for peace and development, which will require “bold and decisive” action, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said today at a special event on the continent’s future.

Last year, when the world adopted the historic 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the Paris Agreement on climate change, Africa adopted its own transformative Agenda 2063 and Ten-Year Implementation Plan.

“These global and regional frameworks share a focus on people and their well-being on a healthier planet. They include pledges on justice and are rooted in respect of human rights,” Mr. Eliasson told delegates attending a High-Level Forum entitled The Africa We Want in 2030, 2063 and Beyond.

According to the UN, both the 2030 Agenda and Africa’s Agenda 2063 aim at structural transformation and a more equitable sharing of income and wealth, stressing inclusive growth and sustainable development. “These high ambitions require bold and decisive action from everyone involved. The people of the world are looking to their leaders on all levels to act and to be accountable for their actions,” said the UN deputy chief.

Organized by the African Union, the Government of Sweden, and the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, the meeting aims to delve into thematic areas which exhibit a strong link between the agendas. In his remarks, Mr. Eliasson underlined his wish to focus on three points in particular:

• Women’s empowerment is one of the main themes of the meeting and a vital area for the global community’s work;

• Both agendas stress the importance of ending conflict, through Sustainable Development Goal 16 and Agenda 2063’s aspiration for “a peaceful and secure Africa”;

• Sufficient resources, both in terms of capacity and, financing, will play a decisive role in tackling the UN and African agendas.

“Carrying out these agendas will require stronger policy-making capacities and effective cooperation and coordination,” the Deputy Secretary-General insisted, adding that there is work to be done on data, indicators, and monitoring mechanisms.

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Outcome Document

The Africa We Want in 2030, 2063 and Beyond

1. Towards Transformative Economic Growth and Regional Integration in Africa

• The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the AU Agenda 2063 are strongly aligned. Both agendas are firmly rooted in a people-centred approach to tackle poverty and promote accelerated, inclusive economic growth with equity that is socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable and can lead to socio-economic development.

• The integrated implementation of both agendas is essential to deliver results. It is imperative to domesticate the goals and targets of both agendas in national and regional plans as well as develop a common and harmonized review and reporting framework to promote synergies and support a mutually reinforcing implementation.

• The importance of capacity development of national and regional institutions, including data and statistical systems to be able to produce timely, accurate and reliable data, track progress and identify gaps in the implementation of both agendas.

• The revitalized and enhanced global partnership for sustainable development should support Africa’s efforts towards socio-economic transformation by focusing on Africa’s development priorities, identified in Agenda 2063, including structural economic transformation, regional integration, infrastructure development, agricultural development, industrialization, human capital, services, trade, climate resilience, women empowerment, youth employment, peace and security and urbanization.

• The importance of supporting and promoting partnerships, including for advancing progress in critical areas such as resource mobilization, addressing tax avoidance and evasion and curbing illicit financial flows, promotion of trade and investment, technology development and transfer and capacity building. The role of public-private partnerships and private sector engagement in driving industrialization, value addition and job creation including through small and medium enterprises (SMEs) cannot be overemphasized.

• While underscoring the role of domestic resources as the main source of finance for the two agendas, we recognize that ODA remains an important source of financing for development, particularly for African countries, the least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and countries in conflict and post-conflict situation. Innovative financing mechanisms must be explored to support the attainment of development objectives.

• The need to strengthen UN mechanisms mandated to mobilize international support, advocate for Africa’s development objectives and strengthen UN coordinated and integrated support for Africa, including the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on African Affairs chaired by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa.

• The need for an effective framework for follow-up and review at the national, subregional, regional and global levels for the implementation of the SDGs and Agenda 2063. Recognizes the emphasis placed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on effective linkages between the High Level Political Forum and the follow up and review arrangements of all relevant United Nations conferences and processes.

• The importance of the contribution that the United Nations Monitoring Mechanism, established by GA resolution 66/293, can provide to the High-level Political Forum in realizing the synergies in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 through reviewing progress in the implementation of commitments made towards Africa’s development.

• Multilateral development banks (MDBs) and international financial institutions (IFIs) must increase their support to projects and cooperation frameworks that foster crossborder trade and investment and regional and sub-regional integration in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda as well as support building resilience in African countries against emerging threats to peace, security and development such as health crises including through instruments like the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility developed by the World Bank.

2. Empowering African Women: Gender as the Agenda

• The designation by the AU of 2015 as the “Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063” and 2016 as the “African Year of human rights, with particular focus on the rights of women” reflects the commitment of the African leaders to empowering women, enhancing women’s political and economic participation, including access to means of production, land and finance as well as and promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. This emphasis on women empowerment in the implementation of development strategies must be further encouraged and supported.

• African countries have committed in the Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 to achieve full gender equality and significantly empower African women by 2023. This goes in line with the global objective of SDG 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. It is imperative to ensure that a gender perspective is mainstreamed in the implementation of both agendas.

• The need for international support for the efforts by African countries to implement existing human rights instruments, including the Maputo protocol to ensure full respect for the rights of women and ensure that women and girls are involved in the implementation of both agendas, including in the promotion of peacebuilding in Africa as well as in addressing the negative impact of climate change through involvement in the implementation of the COP21 climate deal “the Paris Agreement”.

• Women empowerment, socio economic engagement of youth and the inclusion of people living with disabilities must be vigorously pursued. This must be accompanied by peace and security, efficient governance, institutional building and rule of law among others.

• The importance of building on the results of the Global Study on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security and the adoption of Security Council resolution 2242 (2015) to further strengthen the link between gender equality and international peace and security and ensure women participation in all stages of conflict resolution.

3. Consolidating peace and security in Africa

• The importance of further promoting peace and security in Africa as a prerequisite for creating a conducive and favourable environment for the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda.

• There is a need for closer cooperation between the UN, AU and sub-regional organizations in all areas of conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding as recognized in results of the major reviews undertaken in the UN of the UN Peace operations, the peacebuilding architecture and the implementation of SC Resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security.

• The importance of taking concrete steps, including by Africa’s development partners, towards supporting the realization of Africa’s ambitious and bold initiative “Silencing the Guns” to end all wars in Africa by 2020. The UN General Assembly and Security Council have committed to consider defining a concrete five-year plan in support of the initiative’s goal of achieving a conflict-free Africa by 2020.

• More progress needs to be made on enhancing the coordination between the African Peace and Security Council and similar bodies at the level of the Regional Economic Communities.

• The importance of making progress on critical areas for consolidating peace and security on the continent, including the speedy operationalization of the African Standby Force, enhancing early warning mechanisms, ensuring transparency in the exploitation of natural resources, promoting women participation in peace processes and directing more investments towards post-conflict reconstruction and development.

• There is a need to ensure a central role for the AU, NEPAD Agency, Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in the implementation of both agendas, given their important role in facilitating peer review, identifying common challenges and sharing of best practices.

• The need to redress the historical injustice done to Africa and to accord it permanent representation in the Security Council. While almost 65% of the Security Council work is on Africa and the majority of UN peace operations are deployed on the continent, Africa has no permanent seat in the Security Council.