Fourth Meeting of the Committee on Sustainable Development (CSD-4)

The opening statements will be delivered by the Chairperson of the Bureau, the Executive Secretary of ECA or his Representative and a Representative of the Government of Ethiopia. This session will be presided over by the Chairperson of the outgoing Bureau, until the new Bureau is elected.

There will be a short break after the opening ceremony, during which the Heads of Delegation will have consultations to elect the new Bureau as provided for in the rules of procedure of the Committee. The Bureau will comprise five members: one Chairperson, three Vice-Chairpersons, and one Rapporteur to be elected on the basis of equitable geographical representation of sub-regions of the continent. The election will be followed by a short statement by the new Chairperson of the Committee. For information, the following countries were elected to the Bureau of the previous CSD meetings:

	CSD 1	CSD 2	CSD 3
Chairperson:	Uganda	Zambia	Egypt
First Vice Chairperson:	Niger	Chad	South Africa
Second Vice Chairperson:	Tunisia	Burkina Faso	Ethiopia
Third Vice Chairperson:	Zambia	Tunisia	Rep. Congo
Rapporteur:	Gabon	Uganda	Ghana

The Committee will be invited to adopt the Agenda and the Programme of Work of the meeting.

4. UNU-INRA Distinguished Lecture on Sustainable Development Outlook for Africa

The Distinguished Guest from UN-INRA will be invited to present his lecture on the sustainabledevelopment outlook for Africa.

5. Report on the Implementation of the Recommendations of CSD-3 and of the SDD's 2004-2005 Work Programme

Under this agenda item, the secretariat will present a report on activities implemented during the biennium 2004-2005, in line both with the SDD's work programme and the recommendations of CSD-3.

6. Managing Land-Based Resources for Sustainable Development: Policy Recommendations

The Secretariat will present the report on "Managing land-based resources for sustainable development: policy recommendations". The report will highlight the main issues related to the sustainable utilization of land, water, energy and mineral resources for sustainable development of Africa, while placing emphasis on participation and partnerships. It will examine the inter-linkages and synergies among land-based resources and how these could be harnessed to contribute to achieving sustainable development. The Committee will consider the main findings, and policy recommendations for guidance and possible adoption.

The Committee will discuss a presentation of the highlights of The Sustainable Development Report on Africa (SDRA). The Report will document and assess the state of sustainable development in Africa and its recommendations. The Report will have two parts. The first part uses indicators to assess the status of sustainable development in Africa while the second part examines the sustainable development and utilization of land, water, energy and mineral resources within public/private partnerships. The highlights will mainly focus on the first part of the Report.

Members will have the opportunity to discuss recent developments in African science and technology policy, particularly taking into account recent efforts by a few member countries to restructure, update or re-design their science and technology policies and systems. Members will discuss the African Green Revolution as a scientific and technological platform for sustainable modernization of agriculture and rural transformation (SMART). They will discuss how to put it on their own countries' development agendas.

9. ECA's Programme for Promoting Biotechnology for Sustainable Development in Africa

The ECA's efforts in support of biotechnology development, transfer and safe application in Africa are mainly directed at : (i) building human resource capacity; (ii) providing technical assistance; (iii) creating awareness and: (iv) helping to strengthening partnership among UN organizations and bodies in support of NEPAD. The paper to be presented by the Secretariat will elaborate on the empowering justification for this support. It will also elaborate on SDD/ECA's activities, achievements and the way forward in relation to the intervention domains mentioned above.

10. Report on the Follow-up and Implementation of the Outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)

During this session, the Committee will be provided with an overview of the status of sustainable development in Africa based on selected indicators that cover the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, as well as institutional issues. The participation of major groups and means of implementation of the sustainable development agenda in Africa (including policies and strategies for sustainable development, resources for implementation and capacity building) will also be given major focus, and so will poverty eradication/reduction, which is the overarching goal of sustainable development in Africa. Challenges, opportunities, success stories, good practices and lessons learned in the course of implementation will also be highlighted. The briefing will conclude with a presentation of the sustainable development outlook for Africa. The Committee will consider the main findings and provide direction for future work.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in 2002, specifically mandated periodic review of the progress made in implementation of the time-bound targets and goals adopted by the Summit. In this regard, ECA, with its partners, undertook to review the progress made on Energy, Industrial Development, Climate Change and Atmosphere/Air pollution. In addition to reviewing the progress made, the reports will attempt to characterize the priority concerns, constraints and obstacles, as well as workable approaches and practices needed to expedite implementation in the above thematic areas in Africa. These reports will serve as African inputs into the UN Secretary General's State of Implementation Report for CSD-14.

Under this item, the Committee will have before it the proposed programme of work and priorities for the biennium 2006-2007, for consideration and endorsement. The programme of work and priorities forms an integral part of the UN General's proposed Programme Budget for the biennium 2006-2007 which is based on the approved programme of work for the same period.

The Committee will be invited to propose a theme for ACSD-5, as well as the venue. If there is no offer by a member State of a venue for the meeting, it will be held at ECA Headquarters.

The Committee is invited to consider any other matter that may be brought to its attention.

The Committee will consider and adopt a report of its meeting including recommendations.