Africa should leverage COVID-19 response as a springboard for building a greener and more resilient Africa using sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 as the blue print. The call was made by President Paul Kagame while officiating at the Eighth Session of Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-8).

“Instead of being a setback, Pandemic response and recovery can be used to as a springboard to speed up progress, and innovate smarter ways to invest in human capital development,” President Kagame said.

Held under the theme “Building forward better: A green, inclusive and resilient Africa poised to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063”, the three day ARFSD-8 conference will focus on rebuilding Africa’s economies after COVID-19 pandemic while advancing the implementation of SDGs and Africa Agenda 2063.

Unique to Africa, the ARFSD is the only Forum focusing on continental and global sustainable development goals. Participants will undertake a follow-up and a review of both the United Nations SDGs and the African Union Agenda 2063, as the two Agenda provide a synergistic framework for achieving inclusive and people-centered sustainable development in the region.

ARFSD-8 will focus on the implementation of five selected SDGs and Agenda 2063 goals; identify strategies and policy actions to build back better from COVID-19 and dramatically scale up implementation in 2021-2030. In addition, the forum will facilitate learning through sharing approaches, experiences and lessons learned from national implementation efforts.

Finally, participants will deliberate and agree on Africa’ collective input to the 2022 meeting of HLPF to be held in New York in July 2022. This will be based on an outcome document from the Forum, consisting of Africa’s priorities and policy recommendations to accelerate implementation of the two Agendas.

This synthesis will be presented to HLPF by the Chair of the Bureau of the ARFSD. Rwanda will present Africa’s position at the high-level segment of the 2022 HLPF to be held in New York, from Tuesday, 5 July, to Thursday, 7 July and Monday, 11 July to Friday, 15 July, and Monday, 18 July 2022.

The ARFSD-8 is organized by the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) and the Government of Rwanda in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and other United Nations bodies.

It will bring together Ministers, senior officials, high-level policymakers and experts from ministries and agencies and practitioners from UN member States, as well as from the private sector, civil society, academia, and UN organizations.