Background
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is organizing the fourth meeting of the African Learning Group on Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Millennium Development Goals (PRS/MDGs-LG), to be held at the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa in Mombasa, Kenya from 16 to 18 December, 2009.
Resolution 866 (XLII) of the forty-second session of the Commission/Second Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance (CAMEF) and the United Nation Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, held in Egypt, Cairo, from 2 to 7 June 2009 requested ECA and the African Union Commission to promote peer learning and experience sharing on the MDGs, including through the African Learning Group on Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Millennium Development Goals (PRS/MDGs-LG).
ECA has organized three previous meetings of the African Learning Group on Poverty Reduction Strategies Papers (PRSP-LG). The first meeting was convened from 5 to 6 November 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while the second meeting took place in Brussels, Belgium from 18 to 21 November 2002. Both meetings were held back-to-back with the technical meeting of the Strategic Partnership with Africa to which PRSP-LG participants were also invited. The third meeting was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 3 to 5 December 2003. The background papers and reports of these meetings are available at www.uneca.org/prsp.
Informed by the outcomes of the three meetings ECA, in collaboration with the African Union Commission and with support from the United Nations Development Programme Regional Bureau for Africa, organized the Cairo African Plenary on Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, from 26 to 28 March, 2006. The Plenary allowed for high level African dialogue on the formulation and implementation of a second generation of PRSPs and MDGs-consistent national plans. The Plenary applauded ECA for setting up the PRSP-LG and requested that its mandate be broadened to include learning on the MDGs to respond to the urgency of meeting the targets of the MDGs in Africa by the target date of 2015.
The establishment of the Learning Group emanated from the need to have a platform for the articulation of an African view on the poverty reduction strategy paper process. It has since expanded to include peer learning and systematic knowledge sharing on the MDGs and other internationally-agreed development goals among African countries. This is particularly important in view of the uneven progress toward achieving the MDGs targets across African countries and within sub-regions. The LG thus provides an opportunity for countries that are lagging behind to learn from those that have achieved remarkable progress.
The Outcome Document, the 2005 UN World Summit and Mid-term Review of the MDGs resolved that countries with extreme poverty adopt, by 2006, and implement comprehensive national development strategies to achieve the internationally agreed goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals. To date, many countries have developed MDGs-consistent poverty reduction strategies or national development plans. The purpose of this meeting is therefore to provide a platform for African policy makers, African experts, African civil society organizations and Africa’s development partners to exchange ideas on lessons learned and share experiences gained in formulating, implementing and monitoring MDGs-consistent poverty reduction strategies and national development plans. The Outcome of the meeting will contribute to the formulation of an African Common Position on the MDGs for the 2010 High-Level Event on MDGs.