In his opening remarks, the CEO of APRM, Prof. Eddy Maloka expressed appreciation to the Government and People of Egypt to host such a high-level while commending the political leadership to support African efforts in combating COVID-19 impact on the continent. Prof. Maloka emphasized that the APRM has been diligently observing the daunting consequences of the pandemic on the socio-economic and political resilience of African countries and many societies across the globe.

“In the same vein, the mechanism has been working hard on providing necessary support precisely pertinent to governance reforms for African countries to tackle such a shock while revising the APRM’s ‘modus operandi – methods of work’ to meet the needs of member states, said Prof. Maloka.

Throughout the two days of the forum, different topics were discussed, including the progress towards BAPA+40 outcome document and current efforts by the development banks, i.e., Islamic Development Bank, to develop an eco-system for the domestication of SSC into national planning.

Furthermore African countries including Cameron, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Kenya reflected on their national experiences to benefit from SSTrCs for health governance practices and issues related to food insecurity, peace and security and economic governance and diplomacy.

The forum also addressed the role of business and private sector in building resilient societies and supporting the role of government in promoting social cohesion during shocks. Additionally it presented the role of academia and youth and civil society groups and think-tanks in nurturing cooperation between countries of the global south. Participants also emphasized the significance of digitalization and digital platforms in building capacities of civil servants and sharing best practices on governance responses to COVID-19.

On the margins of the forum, the APRM signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the APC-Colombia to forge stronger partnership with Colombia for accelerating the SDGs and Agenda 2063 implementation in Africa. Both partners intend to create a community of practices between African and Colombia for peer-learning and technical support in thematic areas: national planning, monitoring and evaluation, policy coherence for SDGs and  APRM Agenda 2063 Officer in charge Ms. Sara Hamouda said the APRM also launched a virtual training on the South-South cooperation and Agenda 2063 to raise awareness on the significance of SSC as a modality for development among nations of the global south. The training covers four modules to enrich African youth and experts’ understanding of origins of SSC, Agenda 2063 and different modalities of cooperation between African countries and development partners.