Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa today officially opened the Sixth Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) in Victoria Falls calling on African countries to work together to attain sustainable development.
Indeed, if one country in Africa is left behind, our development cannot be sustainable.
The President appealed for unity amongst African countries in finding solutions to their challenges.
The Regional Forum is an intergovernmental platform convened by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and the United Nations system to review progress, share experiences and lessons learned, and build consensus on recommendations in the form of key messages to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 of the African Union. These messages serve as Africa’s collective regional input to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development convened annually under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council.
This year the Forum is taking place under the theme, “2020-2030: A Decade to Deliver a Transformed and Prosperous Africa through the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063”.
President Mnangagwa said sustainable development in Africa cannot be achieved without comprehensive socio-economic reforms and development. He said natural shocks and the impact of climate change were weighing down African countries’ efforts to attain sustainable development
The President further highlighted the importance of development financing saying the funding gap was slowing progress in the implementation of the SDGs in Africa.
Speaking at the same occasion, UN Deputy Secretary General, Amina J Mohammed said Africa had the energy and determination to realise both Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063.
We can raise ambition and accelerate action to ensure a future of dignity, peace and prosperity for all.
She said the success of the SDGs depends on the success of Agenda 2063 and made an urgent call for African solutions to African challenges, adding that the UN family was ready to assist Member States to attain sustainable development.
In his remarks, African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson, Kwesi Quartey emphasised the importance of peace, security and stability for Africa’s prosperity.
Without peace and security, our commitment of leaving no one behind will remain mere talk.
The 2020 ARFSD is an action-oriented Forum and stakeholders are exploring, gaining insight into, sharing and agreeing on sets of concrete and workable actions that will enable the African countries to achieve set targets within the set time. All the 17 SDGs are under spotlight at the 2020 Forum.