High-level Launch of the African 10-Year Framework Programme (10YFP) on Sustainable Consumption and Production

Opening Statement

By Mr. Josué Dioné
Director, Sustainable Development Division (SDD), UN Economic Commission for Africa

29 May 2006
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Your Excellency, Mr. Girma Wolde Ghiorgis, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,
Distinguished Representative of the African Union Commission, Dr. Babagana,
Excellencies, members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Dear colleagues of UNEP, UNIDO and other UN agencies,
Distinguished Experts,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh,  it is my pleasure to welcome you to ECA, on the occasion of the high-level launch of the African 10-Year Framework Programme on Sustainable Consumption and Production, organized in conjunction with the opening of the Fourth African Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ARSCP-4). 

I wish to thank UNEP for associating ECA with this very important initiative, and to pledge ECA’s commitment to work in partnership with UNEP and the African Union Commission to promote sustainable consumption and production in Africa.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Africa has made remarkable progress in developing a 10-year framework programme to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production, as called for by the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.  I wish to recognize the valuable contributions of UNEP, UN-DESA, the African Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production and our development partners in making this programme possible.  I also salute the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) for its leadership, and for providing policy guidance for the development of the African 10-Year Framework Programme.

By most assessments of progress towards the MDGs, we know that Africa is far from meeting the targets on basic needs such as food, health, shelter, water and sanitation.  This is against the realities of population growth, rapid urbanization and increasing environmental and natural resource degradation.  The challenge for Africa is to meet these basic needs, extricate itself from poverty and properly mainstream itself in the global economy, without undermining the very resources and environment on which it depends for survival.  This is why I am delighted that the framework programme has focused on energy; water and sanitation; habitat and sustainable urban development; and industrial development.  Africa can accelerate its attainment of the MDGs by scaling up efforts in all the areas of the Framework Programme.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

ECA has been paying closer attention to these thematic areas.  On water, we collaborated with the African Union and the African Development Bank in developing the Africa Water Vision 2025, including a broad plan on water and sanitation, the demand side of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), which must be considered as part of a process of developing water, land and related resources to maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.  The African Water Vision 2025 thus embraces all the critical areas highlighted in the 10-year framework programme, including the management of best practices knowledge to which ECA has contributed through the institution of the African Water Information Clearing House, and the African Water Development Report as a biennial mechanism for tracking progress towards achieving the vision targets.  We also held a series of sub regional workshops to raise awareness and promote the implementation of IWRM.

Our work in minerals clusters development has also benefited Africa.  As you know, many African economies depend on the exploitation of their natural resources endowments.  Changing production and consumption patterns in the continent requires that linkages between the natural resources sector and local economies are maximized, local beneficiation of raw materials is promoted, value addition is increased, and clusters of competitive industries anchored on the natural resources endowments are fomented.  In addition to value chains for agricultural products and by-products, these clusters should cover all natural resources that the continent possesses.  In recognition of this paradigm and in response to calls made at the second meeting of the ECA Committee on Natural Resources and Science and Technology (CNRST) in Addis Ababa in 2001, we identified potential areas for natural resources cluster development at national and sub-regional levels as well as the policy and strategic options to foster their development.

On energy, ECA has been supporting the development of sustainable energy production through regional electricity trade in the context of the regional power pooling, tapping into the vast and mostly unexploited hydropower potential of the continent.  We have further expanded the emphasis of our work to promoting more equitable access to energy for all, especially for rural Africans.

With regard to habitat and sustainable urban development, ECA prepared, in collaboration with UN-Habitat, a report on human settlement, which reviewed progress in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, with particular attention to adequate shelter for all, land-use planning and management, improving physical infrastructure, human settlement planning in disaster-prone areas and means of implementation.  This report showed that in most African countries, actual achievement in the provision of shelter for all are not commensurate with the commitments made in Istanbul and Johannesburg.  The review revealed that African countries are strong on policies, strategies and programmes that guarantee the right to adequate housing and secured tenure, but very weak in implementation.

In line with the 10-year framework programme, therefore, we must try and assist African countries to improve their ability to manage rapid urbanization rates; transform African cities into assets for sustainable development; mobilize domestic resources for human settlement development; empower local government and civil society in managing human settlements and encourage gender mainstreaming in human settlement matters.

As a follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, ECA also organizes Regional Implementation Meetings (RIMs) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), sister UN Agencies and other Africa regional organizations.  These meetings serve as the African regional forum for the review of the clusters of issues to be considered at the global level by the CSD and for preparing reports, statements and recommendations which serve as the region’s input to that effect. 

Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, 

The theme of this fourth African Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production is “Further development and implementation of the African 10-Year Framework Programme on sustainable consumption and production”.  We have a very important task in front of us.  In this regard, I would urge that we take the development needs and capacities of African countries into account and consider, among others, the following issues:

• How sustainable consumption and production can contribute to Africa’s quest for the MDGs and attaining sustainable development;
• How to effectively incorporate sustainable consumption and production considerations into growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development strategies;
• What specific actions need to be considered in the implementation of a sustainable consumption and production plan, and what financing mechanisms should be put in place for the effective implementation of such a plan;
• How to achieve effective partnership arrangements between governments, industry and civil society for the promotion of sustainable consumption and production;
• What types of mechanisms should be put in place to foster development cooperation for capacity building, technology transfer, technical and financial assistance to enable Africa “leapfrog” into more sustainable consumption and production patterns; and
• How to maximize opportunities presented by the Taskforce on Cooperation with Africa, that was launched during the Second International Meeting on the Marrakech Process, and led by Germany.

In addressing these issues, we are fortunate to have at the Roundtable participants with wide-ranging expertise and experience.  I am confident that the outcome of their three-day deliberations will result in a greatly consolidated African 10-Year Framework Programme for “leapfrogging” into more sustainable consumption and production patterns in Africa.

To conclude, I want to thank all those who have worked so hard to ensure the successful launching of the African 10-Year Framework Programme, and the convening of ARSCP-4 to work on the further development and implementation of the Programme. 

I thank you for your kind attention.