The Eighth Regional Forum for Sustainable Development (ARFSD 2022) concluded today, with the adoption of the Kigali Declaration on Good Practices and Solutions to Strengthen the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa .
Adopted by the 54 Member States present, the Kigali Declaration urges African countries to link mutually reinforcing policies for sustainable development and post-COVID-19 recovery to ensure an inclusive exit from the pandemic.
The document calls on African countries to take advantage of new tools, innovative solutions and technologies, including through strengthened partnerships with the private sector, academia, non-governmental organizations, civil society and other stakeholders. , in order to build strong, agile, sustainable national structures and resilient national statistical systems.
He also highlights the need for countries to leverage the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) to support the development of regional value chains, citing the case of minerals used in battery production and electric vehicles as an example.
In his closing remarks at the event, which took place from March 3 to 5, Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), explains that the main objective of the meeting was to Africa’s progress and catalyze action to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. of Kigali which will be presented at the High Level Political Forum in New York.
Ms. Morsy noted that through rich interactive debates and sharing of experiences, delegates “collectively achieved the goals” of the gathering in Kigali. In terms of the way forward, she said Africa urgently needs to make progress on the five SDGs on which the Forum focused, including Goal 4 (quality education), Goal 5 ( equality), Goal 14 (life below water), Goal 15 (life on land) and Goal 17 (partnerships).
For his part, the Rwandan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Chair of the AFRADD 2022 Bureau, Uzziel Ndagijimana, calls on Member States to intensify their efforts towards achieving the 2030 Agenda and Africa’s Agenda 2063 “ for the benefit of our peoples or our countries”.
He cites the diversity of participation in the Forum, the enthusiastic engagement and the momentum observed during the deliberations, as an assurance that “Africa can achieve its development goals”.
The forum also saw the launch of the Alliance of Entrepreneurial Universities in Africa and the African Network for Development and Technology Transfer.
Niger and Côte d’Ivoire have expressed interest in hosting the next forum, which will take place in West Africa in March 2023. The AFRADD office will undertake consultations to decide which of the countries will host the next edition.
The 2022 edition was organized by ECA in collaboration with the Government of Rwanda, the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and other United Nations agencies. The forum was held under the theme, “Building the Future Better: A Green, Inclusive and Resilient Africa Ready to Achieve Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063”.
