Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 28 February 2020 –  The APRM launched its first Report on Assessing Governance Mechanisms for the Implementation of the African Union Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for the ‘’Africa We Want’’. The launch of the Report took place on the margins of the 6^th Africa Sustainable Development Forum, which took place in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from 24-27 February 2020.

“The Report resonates with a special significance since it is the first Report conducted by the APRM Continental Secretariat to highlight national governance mechanisms, policies, and approaches of the AU member states concerning national domestication, monitoring, and evaluation of both agendas’ goals”, said APRM’s Agenda 2063&SDGs Expert Ms. Sara Hamouda.

Ms. Hamouda explained that the Report sheds light on different governance mechanisms including institutional coordination tools at the national level, political ownership, and awareness of national bureaucracies including executive legislative and judicial branches of both agendas.

The Report is developed through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods including a survey designated superficially to assess the mentioned issues including the role of partnerships and regional economic communities (RECs) in the attainment of Agenda 2063 and other cross-cutting issues. Approximately 50 experts from the continent responded to the APRM survey.

The event was chaired by H.E Ambassador Salah Hammad of the African Governance Architecture with the participation of more than 50 participants from the AU countries including Civil Society Organizations.

Among the Report’s main findings are the following 1)Overall awareness of agenda 2063 is lower than Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, especially among the legislative and judiciary officials 2) integration of SDGs and Agenda 2063 into national development plan remains challenging and does not necessarily guarantee that countries are ‘walking the talk’ concerning the reporting on the implementation of the said goals or indicators; 3) role of media in raising awareness on both agendas remains limited and variant from country to another; 4) Africa has serious financial gaps to fulfil the implementation of Agenda 2063 aspirations, especially for the regional integration projects since it needs approximately an additional US$50 – US$93 billion per annum on infrastructure (5) the private sector has a moderate engagement to implement both agendas, and thus African Union and member states shall actively engage public-private partnerships; 6) Gender Inequality remains one of Africa’s impediment challenges as 49 African countries are lacking an inclusive legislations to protect women from domestic violence regardless of supporting the women’s political rights and participation in many African countries, especially Rwanda 7) the Voluntary National Reviews – which have been conducted by more than 35 African countries from 2016-2019 are foreseen as a practical and efficient approach to monitor the implementation of Agenda 2030 as well as Agenda 2063. Therefore, it is recommended to encourage bilateral peer-learning on VNRs preparations between the AU member states is highly encouraged; 8) Focus on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at the local level, through local governance structures.

The APRM also engaged actively in different panel discussions and pre-forum events, including the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) Regional workshop, the panel on SDG 16 and peace-governance nexus in Africa as well as the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) – Towards the implementation of Migration related SDGs in Africa. The panels brought together different experts and stakeholders from the UN, AU organs, youth organizations and CSOs to exchange perspectives on how the GCM can be effectively implemented in Africa, as well as to create awareness on the 2020 regional reviews.

The forum provided an opportunity to display the APRM’s current reforms and its innovative generation of country reviews (The Targeted Reviews) to the AU member states.

The APRM was represented by Ms. Janet Mabwa, Senior Coordinator for Targeted Reviews and Ms. Sara Hamouda for Agenda 2063&SDGs.

For further info on the Victoria Falls declaration, please visit https://www.uneca.org/arfsd2020

For inquiries please contact: Liziwe Masilela (Head of Communications APRM)