Durban 17 March 2023, The United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs (UN DESA) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), in collaboration with the Government of South Africa, organised the African capacity building workshop on Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) for the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and Domestication of Agenda 2063. The workshop took place in Durban, -South Africa, and brought together representatives of twenty-six (26) African countries including Malawi, Somalia, South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Rwanda, Gambia, Eritrea, Botswana, Cote Ivoire, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Liberia, Cameroon, Sudan, Egypt, Lesotho, Niger, Togo, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo , Eswatini, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, Zambia, and Tunisia. The workshop also benefited from engagement by the Agenda 2063 Technical Working Group (AUDA-NEPAD), UN Economic Commission for Africa, and other partners.
The workshop aimed to enhance the capacities of African countries to get back on track and accelerate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including by implementation through local and regional governments, and building institutional capacities at national and subnational levels. It stressed the central role of an effective, accountable, and inclusive public sector in responding to society’s needs, building resilience to shocks and dealing with emerging challenges and crises when they arise. This annual gathering offered a regional platform for peer learning, through countries sharing challenges, gaps and good practices on the integration and implementation of both the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063, guided by the principles for effective governance for sustainable development, which were composed by the Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) and endorsed by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
This year, the workshop featured sessions on lessons learned from countries that had prepared VNRs and Voluntary Local Reviews in 2022; institutional and coordination mechanisms for the SDGs and Agenda 2063; monitoring and evaluation tools to report on both Agendas; enhancing the role of women, youth, groups in vulnerable situations and civil society in implementation, monitoring and evaluation; guidelines for the 2023 VNR presentations at the HLPF, with updates from all seven African countries presenting this year; and the significance of Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs). There was also a session dedicated to the energy-water-infrastructure nexus for sustainable, safe and inclusive communities in Africa, which addressed progress made towards the SDGs under review at the HLPF in 2023: Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation, Goal 7 on affordable and clean energy; Goal 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure; Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities; and Goal 17 on partnerships for the Goals. These have a strong resonance with priority areas for Agenda 2063. The HLPF in 2023 will be organized under the theme ‘Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels.’
On behalf of the APRM Continental Secretariat, Prof. Eddy Maloka highlighted the importance of APRM-UN DESA partnership to respond to the growing demands of AU member states for capacity building on Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda. Furthermore, he noted that more than 200 experts from around the continent had benefited from this continental platform over the past four years and stressed the importance of sustaining and enhancing the collaboration at national, sub-regional and global levels in pursuant to African countries’ needs and priorities.
In his opening statements, Mr. Junhua Li, Under-Secretary-General, UN DESA underscored that UN DESA and the APRM have built a productive relationship under the umbrella of the AU-UN Cooperation Framework since 2018. This collaboration has enhanced DESA’s national capacity building support to African countries for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. He encouraged the seven African countries presenting Voluntary National Reviews at the high-level political forum on sustainable development this July to use the CEPA principles to inform their review processes. He also urged all countries to engage in the SDG Summit this September as the Summit will mark the mid-point of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and will be an opportunity to launch new momentum to reverse negative trends and to provide high-level political guidance on accelerated actions to achieve the SDGs.
Mr. Amson Sibanda, Chief of the National Strategies and Capacity Building Branch in the Division for Sustainable Development Goals at UNDESA, also underscored the need for continued APRM-UN DESA collaboration. He noted that the workshop complements and builds on the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s annual Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development. He noted that UN DESA’s work with the APRM in the past four years increased cooperation, partnerships, and continued collaboration with African partners. Mr. Sibanda clarified that multi-level stakeholder committees and platforms are aiding implementation through national measures such as legislation and institution building, as well as through local actions that engage and empower women, youth, and other community groups, to implement innovative solutions.
It is worth nothing that 53 African countries have presented their Voluntary National Reviews at the HLPF at least once. Togo has presented VNR four times, while Benin, Egypt, Niger and Sierra Leone have each submitted three VNRs. Most African countries have prepared two VNRs. During the HLPF in 2023, seven African countries are expected to present their second VNRs, including Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia.
For more details, please follow the APRM VNRs page APRM- UN DESA Continental Capacity- Building Workshop on the Voluntary National Reviews for the 2023 HLPF and the Domestication of Agenda 2063 | African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) website: aprm.au.int
