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| Towards an African consensus statement for Rio+20 ECA Press Release No. 15/2011 Addis Ababa, 08 March 2011 (ECA) - A source at the ongoing workshop on institutional and strategic frameworks for sustainable development in Africa today assured the Information and Communications Service (ICS) of Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) that participants are close to a set of clear “sustainable development concerns that Africa would like to see reflected in the outcomes of the 2012 Rio+20 Conference”. Convened to prepare Africa’s effective participation at the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), the workshop which opened on Monday has brought together experts and negotiators from among key stakeholders for concrete proposals. For the second day running, participants were on Tuesday discussing a wide range of issues including, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) and the ECA Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development (CFSSD); International Environmental Governance; regional and sub-regional institutions in Africa and their role in advancing the region’s sustainable development agenda; institutional frameworks for sustainable development at regional and sub-regional levels; NEPAD as a framework for sustainable development in Africa. But one of the central themes of the workshop has been on institutional innovation for transition towards a Green Economy in Africa. The ECA Director of the Food Security and Sustainable Development Division (FSSD), Mr. Josue Dione, who has been leading some of the discussions, told participants that the workshop is an “opportunity to examine and adequately define the institutional framework for sustainable development in Africa, taking into account existing institutions at regional and sub regional levels” He said that it would be important to probe the institutions, policies and strategies for sustainable development in order to find out the extent to which those institutions incorporate key requirements of sustainable development. Some of these requirements could include “balanced and integrated development as well as intra and inter-generational equity values”, Dione said. Before the meeting ends tomorrow, there will be presentations and discussions on National Councils for Sustainable Development and National Strategies for Sustainable Development. The outcome of the present workshop will feed into the African Regional Preparatory Conference aimed at adopting a consensus statement for Rio+20 to be presented and hopefully, endorsed by the African Union Heads of State Summit of January 2012. Other preparatory activities include the workshop on Sustainable Development Indicator Framework for Africa, that will follow suit in Addis Ababa; sub regional reports that will serve as background papers for multi-stakeholder consultations in the five regions; and reports on “new emerging challenges to advancing Africa’s sustainable development agenda, and the Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.
Issued by: ECA Information and Communication Service Tel: 251 11 5445098 |
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