Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 02 September 2026 – The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), through its Subregional Office for West Africa, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is convening a regional technical validation and operationalization of the Digital Monitoring Platform for the implementation of the African Union Roadmap on Harnessing the Demographic Dividend in Africa, from 7 to 9 September 2026 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
This meeting represents a key milestone in the finalization of the pilot phase to the operationalization of the platform. Jointly developed by ECA and UNFPA, the digital tool is designed to strengthen Member States’ capacity to monitor progress, assess results, and facilitate knowledge sharing in support of the implementation of the African Union Roadmap on Harnessing the Demographic Dividend in Africa.
The event will bring together representatives from eight pilot countries in West Africa, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo, alongside technical experts from ECA and UNFPA. Through intensive hands-on exercises, participants will test and validate the platform’s functionalities, strengthen their technical capacities for its use, and generate standardized national monitoring reports. The session will also provide an opportunity to validate the updated version of the platform ahead of its wider deployment across the region.
As a regional monitoring, reporting, and knowledge-sharing tool, the platform will enable Member States to systematically track progress in implementing the African Union Roadmap. It supports the collection, analysis, visualization, and reporting of data, while promoting the exchange of experiences, lessons learned, and good practices among countries. The platform covers the Roadmap’s four strategic pillars: health and well-being; education and skills development; employment and entrepreneurship; and governance and youth empowerment.
By improving the availability, accessibility, and use of reliable data, the initiative aims to strengthen evidence-based policymaking, enhance results monitoring, identify implementation gaps, and accelerate progress toward harnessing Africa’s demographic dividend.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org