Official Visit to Denmark of Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa

Addis Ababa , 9 May 2008 (ECA) - The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Mr. Abdoulie Janneh recently visited Copenhagen, Denmark as a guest speaker at an international conference on ‘Migration and Development' where he spoke about “ Exploring the Development Potential of Migration in Africa ”. Mr. Janneh also took the occasion of his visit to hold an official meeting with Ms. Ulla Tornaes, Danish Minister of Development Cooperation.

In the course of the meeting Mr. Janneh briefed Ms. Tornaes on ECA's on-going activities and thanked her for Denmark's support to ECA, especially in the context of their existing Memorandum of Understanding. It was agreed that such cooperation should continue to be strengthened across various sectors and in this regard, Mr. Janneh invited the Danish Minister to participate in the Sixth African Development Forum taking place in Addis Ababa in November 2008. Mr. Janneh also saluted the setting up of the Denmark Africa Commission and confirmed ECA's support and willingness to work the Secretariat of the Commission.

On her part, Ms. Tornaes expressed appreciation for the on-going cooperation between Denmark and ECA. She also presented Mr. Janneh with an MDG 3 Torch that is to be kept burning until the September 2008 High-Level Event on the MDGs. Ms. Tornaes also invited the Executive Secretary to make accompanying commitments in this area. The commitments made by Mr. Janneh are to:

•  “ Monitor and evaluate trends in gender equality and women's empowerment and report on them to the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development ”.

•  Bring together the continental organizations of the African Union, African Development Bank and other UN agencies within the framework of the African Development Forum to adopt practical commitments with targets on gender equality and women's empowerment under Goal 3 .