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Fourth Meeting of the Committee on Sustainable Development (CSD4) Opening Statement By Josué Dioné Addis Ababa, 24 - 28 October 2005 Chairperson, Excellencies, On behalf of our new Executive Secretary, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, who is known to most of you, it is my honor and pleasure to welcome you to sunny Addis Ababa and to the fourth meeting of the Committee on Sustainable Development (CSD-4). This is a critical period for Africa and for your Committee. It is a time that we must take serious account of why sustainable development continues to elude many of our countries in spite of the vast natural resources our continent is blessed with. Africa has 9.4% of the world's oil; about 8% of the coal and almost 6% of the world gas. Yet, access to energy resources, which we all agree is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, eludes millions of our people. In sub Saharan Africa, only 23% of the people have access to electricity. The MDGs will remain a distant dream until we redress this. Africa is richly endowed with minerals and its share of the world's minerals market is considerable, 62% for aluminium silicate; 59% for platinum, more than 50% for vanadium, vermiculite, diamonds, palladium and chromite; and more than 20% for gold, uranium, cobalt, and manganese. So, how can a continent so blessed remain so poor? In the next few days, I encourage you to give serious thought to this paradox of want in the midst of plenty: why does Africa, with so much, continue to lag behind in development? Distinguished participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, The challenge facing us is how to harness our land-based resources - land itself, water, minerals, etc - for improved livelihoods of the people and the sustainable development of Africa. This is why the theme of this fourth meeting of your Committee is "Managing land-based resources for sustainable development". We must face and address the policy, institutional and technological causes of our failure to turn Africa's rich endowments in land-based resources into wealth and jobs for her people. We must address the part that poverty, corruption and greed play in the degradation of our natural resources and environment. In the foreseeable future, increasing population and the impact of rapid urbanization are expected to increase demand for land from different sections of society. This in turn would exacerbate conflicts between competing land uses and land users and create further pressure on the natural resource base. Against such threats, African countries must plan ahead for the sustainable use of land and land-based resources. Peace, security, and good governance are critical to the successful implementation of Africa's sustainable development agenda. Our continent has demonstrated significant efforts in these areas, especially within the framework of the AU/NEPAD. Yet, as we would all agree, there is still much room for improvement. Over the last two years, ECA has continued to support critical policy making in our member States with analytical work in selected areas of particular relevance for Africa's sustainable development, including land tenure, small-scale mining, power pooling, environment impact assessment, water resources management, etc. We also carried out a study on the status of national councils on sustainable development in selected African countries. You will find relevant publications on these issues in the set of documents and CD-ROMs prepared for this meeting. Mr. Chairman, Distinguished participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, During your third meeting (CSD-3) here in Addis Ababa two years, you stressed that ECA could only carry out effectively its mandate if member States begin to report regularly on the state of sustainable development in their respective countries through the Commission. Unfortunately, very few countries have responded positively to this crucial decision. At this meeting, I encourage you to come up with the modalities for such regular reporting with a view to helping ECA serve you better. By mandate and as a follow-up to your decision at CSD-3, this fourth meeting of the Committee on Sustainable Development will also serve as Regional Implementation Meeting (RIM) for the Fourteenth Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-14). As Africa's RIM, you are invited to review the cluster of issues which will be considered next year at CSD-14. These are energy for sustainable development; industrial development; atmosphere/air pollution; and climate change. The recommendations and issues arising from your review will guide Africa's input to the UN Secretary General's state of implementation report for CSD-14. Your review should, therefore, be aligned with the targets agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and the issues identified in the Africa Chapter of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) as they pertain to the four thematic subject matters to be reviewed. As the UN regional arm in Africa, ECA is committed to ensuring coordinated and integrated implementation of the WSSD outcomes at the national, sub-regional and regional levels within the context of the MDGs and NEPAD. From this year, and onwards, we embark on the publication of the "Sustainable Development Report on Africa" (SDRA) on a biennial basis. The first edition of this Report to be released this year will address the availability, suitability and utilization of indicators for tracking African countries' progress on sustainable development. So far, our efforts in this analytical exercise clearly indicates that, although the situation is improving, there is still a general lack of reliable, up-to-date data in many countries and, consequently, a great need for capacity building in this area. The first issue of the SDRA will also examine issues of land-based resources management for sustainable development in selected key areas, and provide a set of related policy recommendations that we have already synthesized and submitted for your consideration at this meeting. At the regional level, ECA convenes and chairs regular consultations of UN agencies working in Africa, which provide a mechanism for interagency cooperation and coordination in support of the implementation of the WSSD outcomes within the framework of the NEPAD. These consultations have so far resulted in the creation of the UN thematic clusters to provide the necessary leverage and entry points for the elaboration and implementation of programmes in a comprehensive, coordinated and coherent manner. In close partnership with relevant agencies, programs and funds of the UN system, we are pleased to report real progress in emulating the successful inter-agency cooperation model of UN Water/Africa in the fields of energy (UN Energy/Africa) and biotechnology (UN Biotech/Africa). It is in the same spirit of inter-agency cooperation that ECA collaborated with UNEP, UNIDO, UNDP, ADB and the NEPAD Secretariat to jointly prepare the reports for the cluster of issues to be considered by CSD-14. I commend these institutions for their commitment and team spirit for the development of our region. Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, During this meeting, you will receive reports on our stewardship in the last two years. You will also see and hear presentations by various officers of your Secretariat on key sustainable development issues in Africa. I urge you to critically examine those and ask any questions that may help clarify thorny issues. After all, effective policy implementation at the country level is only possible when all the concerned stakeholders reach a full and shared understanding of the central issues involved. I have no doubt that your meeting will decisively move us towards that goal. I thank you for your kind attention.
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